They kept walking. The forest was a gorgeous pce. Everywhere Shiloh saw signs of life and thriving. This type of nature had a very particur sound; one of her favorite in the world. There was always something small happening: a buzz, a whistle, a crackle, or a breeze. But they all combined with each other to form an impression of overwhelming silence. Like leaves rustling and birds chirping were not a true sound, instead they more of a texture to the air.
She found herself rexing and enjoying the journey more than she had in ages. Usually, her head was abuzz with constant calcutions. Would the client know to avoid that pnt? What was their fastest way home if someone got injured here? All that and the general low-level wariness needed to move through a pce where you were not at the top of the food chain.
Today she had none of those concerns. Maybe she should take more hikes with professional badasses.
Wade had been thinking on her question while he checked on a little tuft of fur that was caught on a tree’s bark.
“For worldwide good I think I would want to see the future and determine the optimal choices ahead of time. What is the best location for a city? When will the next yer of The Vault open? What will come out of that yer and what can be done now so we handle it perfectly? No second guessing or debating. Just knowing whats best and being able to put our heads down and get it done.”
“Alright,” Shiloh nodded, ”I have some quibbles about how much institutional inefficiency and personal greed would impact the executability, but solid choice.”
“I thought about that,” he said, fshing her a grin that made him seem much less like a weapon-sexual monster killer in love with his own revolver and more like a regur dude. “I think the power would be able to account for it. So, not just what actions had to be taken but, the best paths to make government actually take them.”
“Wouldn’t that be too powerful for a wild talent?” she said. It also sounded like a sort of terrible way to live. No choice, no questions, or thoughts, or puzzles. Just a power that would puppet you through life.
”I’m no expert. I think they’re supposed to have some limitations, you can’t just change continents or dry oceans, but this seems like an ability focused on leverage and accuracy.”
“Alright, I accept future sight. Not a fun power. One that would introduce custrophobia to have. But I accept that one big cheat code of an ability is the best solution to that prompt even if it’s not as fun as something like cow duplication that ends world hunger. What about just personal? Which one would be best for your personal life?”
Wade’s grin slipped, his mouth going tight before he gathered himself back up behind a mask of calm, rexed, focus.
“Healing,” said the Bane, his back returned to its usual ruler straight posture.
“Any healing in particur?”
“Miraculous healing. Not just fixing bodies, but curing age, cancer, magical illnesses, mental health, addiction, and all the other things. Just snap them up and leave health in their wake.”
This one… there was a lot she could read into it. It might be best not to. But she would bet that Wade had seen some stuff as a bane. Probably had moments where he wanted to heal and realized it wasn’t his skill set; he was a gun toter.
“Last one?” she said, letting them move past that hidden depression bomb. ”Shits and giggles?”
They got to the creek she had been moving them towards. She quietly gave herself a pat on the back They were not more than a few strides from the crossing she had been aiming for.
“I’m not really sure,” said Wade, looking back at Jasque. The dark-haired man paused, his eyes unfocusing as he (presumably) checked around them for threats. Then their rear guard nodded and Wade crossed the water by hopping on a few big rocks. Once on the other side he sniffed the air and scanned around them. He kept guard as she and Jasque each took a turn focusing on nothing but keeping their feet from slipping on the rocks. ”That’s a tough one. Let me think on it while you answer.”
“Really? The just fucking around answer should be the easiest. What makes you giggle.”
“I’m not sure I’m a giggler.”
“Whatever Mr. Serious-Stripper-Enchantments-McManly-Man” she said. ”My world-changing choice is Golem minions.”
“Golems?”
“Golems,” she nodded. “But not being built one by one. I’m talking about summoning legions of them with a thought. If they could teleport or fly it would be even better. But producing a force that could make decisions, pilot crafts, but not have a mind or soul to get crushed by menial bor. If I made enough, we could have a utopia. You would always have enough hands for important work, there would be no need to cut corners, and there would be no need to compromise on the important things. Cost and ethics would not be opposition.”
“Don’t you think there would still be competition for resources. Like whatever rare metals the golems would mine?”
“I mean, maybe? But I’m thinking access to creativity would be the real scarce commodity when you had unlimited effort that could be expanded. That and travel time. So maybe you would decide to write poetry so you could pay extra for fresh fish flown across the world, but shelter and non-luxury food wouldn’t be a concern.”
“Well, I suppose—actually, no. Are you looking at this as a puzzle or a daydream?”
Oh. Huh.
“I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before.”
He grinned, “I got accused of being a downer by an old girlfriend. We decided that I like problem-solving more than most people. They had a daydream for a vacation house with a an underground tunnel connecting two pools, I start wondering how to clean leafs from the bottom of the tunnel or what wood siding would be best for the house.”
“Not cheap, but a cedar house would be awesome.”
“Exactly!”
And there were the metaphorical castle doors surrounding Wade Raslow, open and letting light out again. Shit, how did this man have a reputation as dour as it was? It felt like Wade was not just smiling, but that he was smiling directly at who she was as a person. Almost like a child who wasn’t worried about artifice, or st week’s fight. They just saw you and were so happy about what they saw.
As a women you got used to people smiling at your tits, or your fake work-personality. This though… it was nice.
She cleared her throat and went back to the topic at hand “I’m daydreaming more than puzzle solving. I like the idea of no one ever having to do a job they don’t want to. I think life would be wonderful if you could spend it finding the work that moved you and then doing it without so many obstacles.”
“Fair. I know exactly what you mean.”
“Really? Aren’t you already living every seven-year-old boy’s dream? I bet all your cousins are green with envy at the family reunion.”
Behind them, Jasque stepped on a fallen stick, and it snapped so loudly that both of them flinched. She had completely forgotten that he was there.
“Shiloh,” said Wade, eyeing their less armed travel companion with his dead-shark eyes. ”You still haven’t told me your other two Wild Talents.”
“Okay,” she said, gncing between the two. Nikko had been off base. They definitely weren’t together together. But Wade was looking to the other bane a lot. Like he was actually the junior, and he didn’t want to get in trouble with his boss.
“Well, the personal one is pretty simple I think. Just money. A bunch of money.”
“Just money?”
“Just money. Think about it. Getting what you need to be happy isn’t hard. I’d like a comfy house with a bunch of books and maybe an overpriced coffee machine that does all the work for me. I could pick a job that keeps me from getting bored, but not worry about money or benefits when picking. Add in food that will make me fat and enough cash for compensatory liposuction and you’re all set.”
Some small corner of her brain kept the list of things she wanted to buy. It included pets, hot tubs, and the usual luxuries. But beyond that, she also wanted someone who would do chores with her, and talk while they waited for the pasta water to boil. Someone to share bnkets with on cold days. Also, sex. Lots of sex. Often the wild loud sort, and occasionally the soft sort that felt like being adored. She wanted back massages, a person to drive her around, and someone who would be her plus one. Someone who would be worth making up with after they fought. Someone who would be hers.
But fuck a duck is she was going to tell Wade and dead-eyed Jasque any of that!
“Yup,” she nodded, keeping her face from betraying her thoughts, “money seems like it would cover most of the bases. It’s not like I need magic to make those things exist. I just need money.”
“You give me the strong impression of someone who lived in a cabin and compins about how the city smells.”
“Right on the money,” she grinned. “But the final one is easy. Then it’s Jasque’s turn. The shits and giggles for me would be a personal dimension. Like a little pocket world not much bigger than a few acres where you could build a house with weird rooms that were bigger on the inside. There would be funky weather that changed in time with your music, and I’d have beds made out of heated clouds.”
“Beds made out of clouds sounds nice,” then Wade turned a sharp smile to their companion, “So what do you say Jasque-y ma’ boy? What are your three?”
“Easy. To spread crity and harmony, time travel, and time travel but with x-ray vision so I could finally see what my middle school science teacher’s—”
“Wait,” she interrupted, ignoring his pandering as she pointed seven or so feet up a pine tree to where something has left a distinct set of cw marks. “Those are territory marks. We can divert. There’s a path I know, it’ll only add maybe twenty minutes unless this thing’s range is huge.”
The two men shared a look that communicated volumes she wasn’t able to decipher.
“Shiloh,” said Jasque, “we’re blightbanes. We can go straight.”
“Yeah,” Wade said, a look of such intensity coming to his eyes that she could have sworn they fshed a burning blue, “walking into monster territory is what we do.”
“It really won’t be hard to—”
“Shiloh, really, nothing can sneak up on Jasque.”
He turned around like he thought the conversation was over.
“Oh, hell no! You didn’t just say that. Also, stop saying my name in that annoying condescending tone. Shit Wade, now are you going to tell me that tomorrow is your birthday, you retire next week, and that you promise nothing bad will happen to me? How many more ways can you jinx this?”
Wade ughed and called over his shoulder, “Hurry up! What could possibly go wrong? Maybe we should split the group so we can cover more ground. My bones are unbreakable, and it’s my lucky day.”
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