A memory gap? Trauma response? Sigrun had seen enough messed up things to know how it feels.

  "Someone made you forget," Nikki said quietly. "Psionically induced amnesia, most likely. Perhaps a Jokull agent gave you that egg and ensured you wouldn't remember how you got it."

  "But who would do that?" Even as Xin asked, his hand moved protectively to H?kon. "And why?"

  "Pappa okay?" H?kon chirped, his scales darkening further with worry.

  "I'm okay, buddy." Xin stroked the little Diabolisk's head. "Just confused."

  "HAW-koon con-fused, too! Evah-ry-day!" H?kon's remark made the air around them less suffocating. "World big! So many yummy. Magic! Funny things!"

  Nikki continued her examination. "His growth is stunted by unknown factor, possibly deliberate genetic modification. Normal Diabolisks reach full size within five years. H?kon is three and still..." She gestured at his cat-sized form. "He should be much large as a wolf by now."

  "Is that bad?" Xin's voice was steady, but Sigrun saw his hands trembling slightly.

  "Not necessarily. His cognitive development is actually advanced for his age. Learning language much faster than expected, showing problem-solving abilities..." Nikki pulled up another scan. "And his Lunar attunement is unusually pure for a Diabolisk. They're typically Eclipse-aligned, blood power and destruction spell potentcy. But H?kon..." She pointed to energy readings that glowed silver-blue on the scanner. "He's almost perfectly Lunar-attuned. Rare and smart."

  H?kon chirped happily at the word. "HAW-koon smart-smart good?"

  "Very good, boy. You're the smartest boy." Xin soothed as he stroke H?kon's small back.

  "H?kon's development is even more unique than I initially thought." Nikki straightened. "He needs supplements. Specialized ones designed for Lunar-attuned Radi-Mon growth. I recently developed a new formula with help from some Terra Alliance associates."

  "How much?" Xin's voice was careful.

  "Basic supplements run about $340 per week. They'll maintain his current health, though further scale dulling is…not impossible." Nikki pulled up a price list on her terminal. "Premium Uranus-made formula is $1,700 per week. That would accelerate his mental development and restore his scale vibrancy."

  Sigrun watched Xin's face. Saw the calculations running behind his eyes.

  "Even with the Zephyrium money..." he said slowly, more to himself than anyone else, "that's $25,000 from the bounty. Minus oxygen tax, apartment rent, food, regular expenses..." His voice fell. "Five weeks of Premium. If I'm careful."

  His shoulders sagged slightly.

  "Is there a payment plan?" he asked finally, the words clearly difficult.

  Before Nikki could answer, Sigrun heard herself speak. "Two weeks of Premium. I'll cover it."

  Everyone froze.

  Xin stared at her. Nikki stared at her. Even H?kon went still, his blue eyes wide.

  What the fuck did I just do?

  "Sigrun," Nikki said carefully, "that's $3,400 Atomic Dollars."

  "I know what it costs." She did. She'd been counting every credit for eleven years. Had plans for that money. Needed it for Europa, for answers, for closure.

  But watching Xin, seeing the way he'd carried H?kon in his pocket to keep him warm, hearing that gentle patience as he explained things to a creature most people would kill on sight...

  When was the last time she'd seen someone care for something without expecting anything back?

  Xin opened his mouth. Closed it. Then, in a gesture that looked almost comically formal, he started to bow, full ninety-degree angle, hands at his sides.

  "I thank you. Thank you so much! I'll pay you back, I promise." He fumbled with his words, clearly overwhelmed. "I'll work extra shifts. I'll fix anything you need fixed. I'll—"

  "Stop." Sigrun waved him off, uncomfortable with gratitude. Transactions she understood. This felt different. Risky? Dangerous? "Just...make sure he gets strong. The world's getting dangerous."

  "Sky Lady friend!" H?kon chirped suddenly, his scales brightening from dull gray to pale yellow. "Sky Lady best lady ever!"

  Before Sigrun could respond, the little Diabolisk had waddled across the examination table and pressed his snout against her hand. Warm. Trusting.

  She should pull away. Should maintain distance. But instead, her fingers moved, stroking his scales gently.

  They were rougher and drier than she'd expected. The baby Radi-Mon needed the medicine, without a doubt.

  "Alright." Nikki's voice cut through the moment, professional efficiency reasserting itself. "Let me prepare the premium supplement. But first, an injection."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "That necessary?" Xin's slender body tensed as he turned to the doctor.

  "I'm afraid so. It's required to calibrate his metabolism, so his body can absorb Uranus-based nutrients properly. H?kon, needles." Nikki looked knowingly.

  The little Diabolisk's scales immediately shifted to anxious deep brown. "N-needles? Sharp?"

  "Very sharp," Nikki said honestly. "But it'll make you strong."

  H?kon looked at Xin, seeking guidance. Sigrun saw fear in those little blue eyes. The same fear she'd felt countless times, when the only choice was between pain and survival.

  "I'll be right here," Xin said softly. "And it'll be over fast. Promise."

  Nikki left to prepare the injection. The room fell into awkward silence, just Sigrun, Xin, and a nervous Diabolisk whose scales kept shifting between brown and navy.

  "Hey, I mean, w-w-why did you do that?" Xin asked finally. Accusatory? Confused? "Pay for the supplement, I mean."

  Sigrun looked at H?kon, whose small body trembled slightly in anticipation of the needle. "I don't know."

  She just knew that watching Xin calculate costs, seeing him try to figure out how to sacrifice everything for a creature he'd raised from an egg...

  It reminded her of something. Someone.

  Ivar, holding off Skarn while she escaped. Telling her to live for both of them. And years before that, Ivar showing her Olav at his apartment, where they'd spent their first night together. Olav was Ivar's pet groundhog, bigger than H?kon but just as adorable.

  "Maybe I wanted to see what it feels like to give..." she said finally, running a hand through her hair.

  The words felt strange in her mouth. Foreign. Dangerous.

  Nikki returned with the injection kit. "Alright, H?kon. This is going to pinch."

  The little Diabolisk's scales went full dark brown. He pressed against Xin's chest, trying to hide.

  "H?kon—" Xin started. "Actually, give me just a moment."

  Then he paused. His hand went to his Nucleus Watch, and he pulled up something Sigrun couldn't see. A moment later, a small holographic projection appeared, a delicate green butterfly, translucent and glowing, fluttering just above H?kon's eye level.

  "Look," Xin said softly. "A butterfly."

  "Flutter-by!" H?kon's attention immediately fixed on the hologram. "Pretty-pretty!"

  "Yep. Pretty butterfly," Xin explained, his voice warm. "They used to live on Earth, before the wars. They could fly anywhere they wanted, free and beautiful."

  H?kon reached for the hologram with one small claw. The butterfly danced away, circling above his head.

  "Flutterby come back!"

  While H?kon was distracted, Nikki moved fast in her white clinic robes. The needle slid into his shoulder, quick and professional.

  H?kon chirped once, but his eyes never left the butterfly, both claws raised in excitement. "Flutterby! Flutterby!"

  "All done," Nikki said, withdrawing the injection. She kept one hand gently on H?kon's back, steadying him.

  "Done?" H?kon looked down at his shoulder, confused. "Needle no hurt?"

  Then his scales began to change.

  The dull gray-bronze portion of his small body brightened, color flooding back like sunrise across Europa's ice fields. Bronze to copper to brilliant sapphire, until H?kon practically glowed under the clinic's lights.

  "Ooooh!" The little Diabolisk did a happy wiggle-dance on the examination table, his whole body expressing delight. "Haw-koon strong! Haw-koon pretty!"

  "You're always pretty," Xin said, but his eyes were bright behind his glasses. Relief. Joy.

  Sigrun felt that twist in her chest again. Sharper this time.

  "Thank you, Sigrun." Xin said to her again. Not a bow this time, just simple sincerity. "Seriously. I-I-I don't know how to repay this."

  "You don't need to." The words came automatically. Self-protection. Don't let anyone get close. Don't owe anything. Don't be owed.

  But H?kon had other ideas. The little Diabolisk, scales now brilliant sapphire with streaks of gold, waddled between them. Then he pressed his warm body against both of them simultaneously, nuzzling Xin's hand while his tail pressed against Sigrun's leg through her black pant's fabric.

  And he purred.

  Sigrun froze. The sound was soft, almost like a cat's rumble, but with crystalline undertones that seemed to resonate in her bones. She'd never heard a Radi-Mon purr before. Didn't know they could.

  "He's happy," Xin said quietly. "Really happy. He only purrs when he feels safe."

  Safe. When was the last time Sigrun had felt safe?

  Europa. Ivar's dorm. His arms around her, telling her about philosophy and dreams and futures that no longer existed.

  Eleven years ago.

  "I should go." She stepped back, breaking the connection. H?kon chirped in mild protest but didn't follow. "I—need to get my coat repaired at a place nearby. Rent's due, too."

  "Oh yeah, of course." Xin scooped up H?kon, holding him close. "Thank you again. Really."

  Why did I pay for that?

  The question followed her as she made for the entrance. Her Nucleus Watch displayed her account balance: $847,100 now. Still short of the shuttle ticket to Europa.

  She'd just thrown away $3,400. Two full weeks of some Uranus-made supplements for a Diabolisk she barely knew, owned by a man she'd met hours ago.

  I need every credit for Europa. For answers. For Ivar.

  Sigrun grabbed at her damaged trench coat, shrugging it on despite the acid burns and tears. At the door, she paused.

  "I'll call you later," she said without turning around. "When I turn in the Zephyrium."

  "Thank you! I'll keep my watch on." Xin's response came, eager and grateful.

  Outside in the clinic's hallway, she heard Nikki say to Xin: "That's the first kind thing I've seen her do in years!"

  The words shouldn't have hit as hard as they did.

  After exiting the building, Sigrun kept walking.

  "Ivar used to look at his pet, Olav. That cute little rodent…" She said to herself as pedestrians passed by. Ivar had rescued that groundhog from a lab testing facility. He'd spent hours caring for it, making sure it had proper food, teaching it tricks.

  She'd teased him about it. Called him soft. But she'd loved that about him: capacity for gentleness in a universe that rewarded cruelty.

  Don't think about Ivar.

  But the telescope image burned in her memory. That profile against Europa's ice. The blonde hair. The Jokull creatures around him.

  And what looked suspiciously like a large, armored groundhog carrying equipment.

  Ivar was alive. She couldn't explain how she knew. And somehow, H?kon's genetic markers match Jokull variants. Someone gave Xin that egg and made him forget. Someone wanted that Diabolisk alive, growing, developing.

  Paying for H?kon's supplement was a good investment. Surely. For another clue that could lead her back to Ivar.

  But in that clinic, watching Xin's patience for a creature the universe said he should fear, seeing H?kon's scales shift to sapphire and gold when he felt happy...something had cracked in the ice around her heart.

  She stepped into the autocab where the High-Grade Zephyrium sat in the backseat. Her fingers traced the acid-burned edges of her trench coat's sleeve. Emmanuel could patch it. Add it to the list.

  "Welcome back, Subscriber #6969. Where to?" The VI asked in the usual indifferent tone.

  "Blue Urbana Garden, relaxed route. Call them for takeout, I'll eat on the car." She instructed.

  "Of course. Would you care to browse the menu?"

  Xing Hong's streets blurred around her. Eagle District's expensive shine. Neon blue advertisements for oxygen subscriptions and high-end apartments.