“So…” Shei traced the rim of their cup with one finger. “Vaalorre’s Minister of Finances was murdered in Coloksha early this morning by someone who was at least part giant, you have virtually no leads beyond the giant thing and a half cycle to solve it, when they could be a world away?”

“Mmhm,” I took a sip of my tea.

We were now in Shei‘s kitchen. A ceramic teapot sat in the center of the table on a slightly stained doily, and each person held a cup - strangely none of them were from the same set - of freshly brewed tea. I had just finished explaining the case in detail, given I had been too busy this morning to do much more than send a message that said “The Vaalorian Minister’s murder is mine. Prepare for an adventure.”

“Figures,” Shei sighed.

“Sounds about like your type of case, though,” Abi said, lounging with one leg over the arm of their chair. Their walking suit sat in another chair, poised as if it were just another person in the kitchen. With the suit still dressed in its campy pirate attire, Abi had (in classic Abi fashion) changed into a different outfit: a leopard print bathrobe with red trim, a red headscarf, and matching slippers. My first thought had been Abi, you melodramatic fuck.

We didn’t know why Abi was entirely like this. Although they had been rather… theatrical in life, they had been know to unwind by assuming a more masculine persona. No makeup, no wig, no flashy wigs, just them. Shei reported that they had not seen said masculine persona since before Abi had passed. We had all theorized that it was a result of death, given most ghosts became single-minded, only retaining a few personality traits after death (since these traits were often negative and were usually applied to violence, it explained the public’s… apprehension about ghosts). Even though Abi was remarkably stable for a ghost - especially since they had died the way they did - it was still… a mite concerning.

“So, I’m assuming you two are coming?” Shei directed their attention to Nadrire and Ella.

“Absolutely,” Ella said, grinning. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Well, it’s paperwork season. I have to get my reports somehow,” Nadrire responded, nonchalant. As Ambassador (a somewhat misleading title) for the Universal Peace Bureau, Nadrire was required to travel, periodically collecting reports from each government she passed through, taking her own notes, and bringing any sort of issue to the UPB. The actual work part of Nadrire’s job was rather boring in my opinion, but she seemed to enjoy the travel and meeting new people. I caught the twinkle in her eyes and knew she was excited. This, for her, is a new and exciting sort of travel.

“And, well, we can’t leave our favorite detective without her crew,” Ella added, directing her smile at me.

“Oh, please,” Abi interjected. “She only needs Shei and me to fly the ship.”

I ignored Abi and instead smirked a little at Ella. “Aw, so now I’m your favorite? I thought you said Luk was your favorite.”

“Yeah, but Luk’s a.. spy guy. You’re a detective. That’s different.”

“I see, I see,” I rolled my eyes, then drained my cup and stood. “So, are you two both packed?”

“I mean, I am,” Shei said, draping their jacket over one arm as they rose to their feet. They adjusted the elegant metal brace around their torso and grabbed their cane. “Abi has, like, four trunks, and they need to pare it down.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, child,” Abi scowled. “Also, I already pared it down.”

“I’m twenty-six years old, Uncle,” Shei countered. “And you’ll never fit it in your cabin.”

“I’m a ghost! I don’t even need a cabin!”

Nadrire, rubbing the bridge of her nose, muttered something under her breath, and then calmly interfered. “Well, you both sound like children. So, are we going to see the ship or not? I, for one, want to see the improvements you’ve made.”

Ella bounced to her feet. “Yeah! I wanna see!”

“It might be a wise idea to pare it down while Shei’s giving us the updated tour,” I told Abi in a low voice as Shei let us out to the room.

Abi merely glared at me.

———

“And here’s my new shop,” Shei gesticulated to the room in front of us.

It looks very much like the old shop (since it was merely a renovated version of the old shop, this was unsurprising): counters cluttered with tools and gadgets along the sides of the room, a large round table, with a round hole in the center like a doughnut, also cluttered with tools and gadgets, several cabinets bolted to the walls, and and Shei’s customary rolling chair, with its extra padding.

I stride into the center of the room and ran a hand across one of the handrails. “These handrails are new. It doesn’t look they were bolted on this time… and the metal is different.”

“Yep! I can’t yank them off this time,” Shei let out a chuckle. “Or melt them by mistake.”

“A much needed improvement, I think.”

Nadrire was examining the countertops. “This is definitely new.”

“They’re magnetized,” Shei explained, grinning. “Watch this.”

They leaned over to a switch on the wall - it looked like a dimmer light switch - and moved it upward. There were a multitude of small clicks as the tools and spare parts on the table were magnetized to the table. Ella, who had been leaning on the counter, poking at one of Shei’s gizmos, found her hand stuck to the table. She pried it off with a reasonable amount of effort and examined it.

Nadrire snickered at Ella. Ella gave her a dirty look and tried to pick up a screw to throw at her, but her fingers got stuck instead. Nadrire laughed again, louder this time. Ella stuck her tongue out at her.

“How old are you two again?” I muttered under my breath, then turned to Shei. “I’m assuming this means that hopefully none of your delicate projects will end up on the floor.”

“Gods, yes. I’m still finding bits and bobs from the church mouse fiasco.”

“Seriously? Wasn’t that, like, a year ago?”

“Mhm.”

“Shei, what’s this?” Ella had continued poking around in Shei’s tools, being careful not to touch the counter, and was now pointing at… something. It was hidden from my view by a couple of tools and a half-finished contraption that sort of resembled a mechanical lung. I glanced around the gadget and gasped.

“Shei, is that…”

“A forging sphere? Yep.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to have those on ships!” Ella had taken a step back. “Because… Because they explode!”

“Well, normally, you aren’t,” Shei admitted. “But… I got approved with the UPB Scientific Board here in town, because I may have made… some improvements.”

The forging sphere wasn’t much to look at when it wasn’t turned on: four curved metal pipes, each flat to the part of the counter it was affixed to until it reached the edge, where it curled abruptly upward and then flattened, facing directly inward towards a second pipe across the table. However, after Shei fiddled with a few switches and pressed a button, a sphere of what I knew to be pure magical energy formed in the center of the pipes. I would compare the sensation of being in the same room as it as being too near a campfire, but the magnitude of the sensation of radiation was in no way comparable. The energy seemed to fill the whole space with its vibrancy and warmth. And not in a good way.

I frowned. “How… is this one different?”

“So, you know how when forging spheres get tipped or tilted while you’re using them and they release stray sparks of energy?”

“Mhm.”

“Well… this one has a program that upon facing any sort of turbulence, it automatically shuts off the power source.”

I saw Nadrire’s eyebrows shoot up. We made eye contact, both knowing we were thinking the same thing: Shei, how did you make this work, you’re a genius, no one has been able to do that before.

“Additionally, the power source itself is different,” Shei continued. “It’s a hybrid energy source, so it’s not as powerful, but it’s a lot more stable.”

At that point in time, we all heard someone clear their throat. Abi floated in the doorway, now dressed in a tight, strapless, floor length scarlet dress, matching opera gloves, and a faux fur shrug. Their hair was piled on top of their head and a small hat, decorated with gears to match the detailing on the bodice and at the waist, was perched off to the side on their head.

“If you’re done being a total nerd,” Abi said, arms folded. “I managed to narrow it down to two trunks, and I need you to validate my sacrifice.”

Nadrire and I snorted, Shei chuckled, and Ella burst into all out laughter.

“How dare you mock this incredibly difficult decision! I had to leave so many sparkles behind!” Abi threw up their hands and stormed out in a huff. “I’m leaving!”