As the sun set over the hills, Basil groaned. The back tire on the cart was acting up again, and it was too late in the day to do any maintenance. Which meant her plans for tomorrow would be set even further back.
She trudged through the bog and peat and counted her steps. It was long and tedious work, but maybe she would have a warm welcome waiting for her.
She laughed to herself at the thought. It had been a long time since any of the kids had actual news to tell her when she got home from work. But even the small talk was precious. Sometimes anyway.
"Anyway, I'm home everyone!" Basil called out.
To her surprise no one greeted her at the edge of the barrier.
She glanced across the quad and atrium, but it was easily quiet.
Basil dragged her battered body into the main archway. The pathway lights triggered as daylight fled the sky. She sighed, exhausted from her work. The pull cart lurched behind her, the pneumatics hissing as it settled. Piled with dry good barrels, the cart had long since been piecemealed together from spare parts.
Like the ship of Theseus, Basil was no longer aware of which parts were the replacements, and which parts were the replacements for those. One of the bolts securing the rim had snapped, and she’d have to pry the mechanism apart.
She hit a lever on the back flap of the cart, and it dropped with a hiss. Basil took a deep breath as she dragged the first barrel off the sled and rolled it in front of a steel cellar door, located a few steps from the main entrance of the Sanctum.
As much as she liked socializing, it was much easier to perform manual labor without distractions. And so, despite a small sense of uneasiness from the quiet, she made quick work.
Basil tapped an RFID card to a pad next to the door. As it opened with a hermetic hiss, Basil marveled at its inner workings. It was one of the few remaining inviolate pieces of old world tech, A true diamond of the old system. In it was an electronic pulley system and a complimentary sorting machine, leading into an underground warehouse designed to hold an extensive supply of dry goods and non-perishables. The only bit of bureaucracy Basil found comfort in. It spanned nearly a kilometer in length and was filled with racks containing identical barrels.
Basil rolled the barrel onto a latch, and the machine clicked as it began the process to automatically lock it into place. Each barrel had a chip that indicated its contents and destination. She just had to kick it into place to even it out. Basil punched a number sequence into the pad, and the barrel began moving down a conveyor system before being placed on a rack labeled “Navy Beans.”
“Only 15 more of those to transport this week.” Basil felt her vertebrae crack as she stretched. “Ugh, my aching back.”
As the last barrel rolled down, and Basil began the process of resealing the vault, she noticed the familiar presence of her progeny.
Vie slid into place next to Basil. “Mother. Just in time, you would not believe the day I’ve had.”
Basil stared at Vie blankly as the hermetic door began its five step process of sealing. The hiss of gears and locks clicked into place as she waited for Vie to continue monologuing.
“Okay,” Vie Continued “Now, I know you must be tired, but I have taken the liberty of assembling a list of every conceivable avenue in regards to expanding the boundary.”
“What about ghosts?” Basil asked sarcastically, inspecting the cart for further wear as the fourth stage of the lock hisses into place.
Vie paused for a moment, seriously considering the question. “Okay, I’ll admit that the section on whomst to contact in the case of ghosts is… still a bit lacking, but otherwise I think we’re prepared for most any hurdle.”
“Brilliant, hopefully something surpasses contingency plan 29B4Cv3.2,” Basil replied curtly.
“Hey! You don’t have to be so rude! It’s not my fault squirrels turned out to be bad at paragliding!” Vie muttered disparagingly. “Stupid flying squirrels, what a scam name, they deserved to die for setting false expectations.”
As Basil walked past her and towards the entryway of the sanctum, Vie continued to muse, “It’s a shame there isn’t some sort of organization to specifically deal with addressing instances of paranormal entities…”
With a sigh, Basil bemoaned, “Vie can this please wait until after supper? I’ve been out for 12 hours today. Those things don’t move themselves. If you wanted to talk, you could’ve helped me unload.”
Vie raised an eyebrow. “Long day?” she asked mirroring Basil’s sarcastic tone, her voice dripping with poison.
“Yeah, same as always.” Basil muttered. “The commune has been keeping their word on the bartering, but they always seem to have some short sighted idea on how to fix things that ain’t broke.”
“Some fey keep harassing me about my destiny or something. And I have to come home and reiterate it to you, everyday is like that Vie. It’s slowing down work. I’m running out of time to prep before the solstice, and I need to make sure these supplies get here before someone else tries to claim them,” Basil sighed, exhausted.
Slack Jawed, Vie barely managed to contain a scream, “You STILL haven’t-“
“I know you don’t like it. But, sorry, I just can’t be everywhere at once,” Basil groaned, cutting her off.
As if having teleported, Lili was at Basil’s side. With a glare, she folded her arms and muttered, “Your absence was noticed.”
“GAH!” Basil yelped, as she found herself suddenly surrounded. “How do you all manage to ambush me the moment I get home?”
“Years of experience stalking you,” Nyx cooed, as she grabbed onto basil’s cloak and tugged it.
“I feel like there’s a less threatening way to phrase that, but sure,” Basil retorted.
Basil felt an instinctual urge to pry further. While getting ambushed wasn’t new, the coordinated effort to distract her was curious.
“Dinner’s ready by the way,” Asmo projected, while leaning against the entryway.
And more curiously was Asmo telling her that dinner was on.
“…Why is your arm in a sling?” Basil asked with narrowed eyes. She knew she didn’t want to hear the answer, but the words just slipped out.
Asmo paused and cleared his throat.
Lili gestured at him to change the subject, but he watched her frantic hand movement and had other ideas.
He raised an eyebrow as she repeated the gesture to cut it out.
“… cranked it too hard.” He muttered.
“Gahk,” Basil grimaced.
“Well. I asked. So, thanks for telling me that.” Less than 5 minutes on property and she had already facepalmed. “I swear you kids spend all day figuring out ways to mess with me.”
Asmo sighed in relief as she passed him, shaking her head.
Lili elbowed Asmo in his bad arm as she passed, and glared at him. When he tried to pretend to ignore her, she responded by grabbing him by the collar and dragging him along.
*Gah!* Asmo yelped in pain.
“Really?” Lilith hissed, less than an inch from his head.
“What was I supposed to say? You were the one who gestured-” Asmo made an obscene gesture with his good arm, and Lilith responded by smacking him upside his head.
“Just follow my lead okay?” Asmo insisted, while straightening his posture. “Act natural.”
Lili rolled her eyes before scampering to catch up with Basil inside.
“This is why you don’t let dogs come up with plans.” Lili groaned.
Comments (0)
See all