When we crossed the Gate to Earth, of course, there was a torrential rain. What else did I expect? It matched my “excitement” for being here perfectly.

  Rue immediately pined. “Rue hate rain!”

  That reminded me of something, and I asked him, “In Lumis, when we were sailing, and it rained, you had no problem with it. Why is it a problem now?”

  “Rain in Lumis nice. Rain oh not nice.” He decred forcefully.

  “What’s the difference? Both are wet.”

  “Rain in Lumis with mana. Rain oh dirty.” He sounded put upon for having to expin something so basic.

  Huh!

  I didn’t notice, but apparently, he did. “Let’s fly fast,” I told him.

  While we flew, I could see his outlie the invisibility. The water droplets didn’t pass through him and painted a outline of his body. I hoped nobody would look up. That gave me an idea. I cast Mana Shield on myself, and immediately, the water stopped soaking me. Instead, it ran down the shield.

  “Buddy, cast Mana Shield,” I sent to him.

  “John smart!” came the enthusiastic reply, and I could dis his tail wagging and flinging rain in all dires.

  That took care of the rain issue and leasant discovery.

  We reached the house Mahya and Al rented, but nobody was home. Fortunately, Mahya gave me a spare key the st time I visited so we could get inside and dry out. Rue immediately demanded a movie, and I went to cook.

  In the m, I was waking up when I felt Mahya approag. When I got downstairs and looked out the window, I saw her drive an RV into the driveway. It looked very he thing had white paint, with some retro brown and gold stripes running along the sides, giving it a bit of an old-school charm. The front had that cssic boxy shape, all business, but still cozy. It gleamed in the sunlight like it had just rolled out of the showroom. Mahya hopped out, looking proud of herself, while I stood there, and held my fingers crossed that my idea would work.

  Suddenly, she turned sharply and looked at the house. I heard her in my head, “What? You couldn’t stay away? Aren’t you afraid I’m going to kill you?”

  Oops! She sounded pissed.

  Lifting my hand in surrender, I said, “No matter how much you shout at me, it won’t be worse than what I told myself. I know I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

  She narrowed her eyes and stared at me through the window for a minute. I saw her shoulders rise as if she sighed, and she nodded, looking resigned. Still, when she walked into the house, she spped the bay head hard and said, “Idiot!”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  She poi me and said, “This is the most annoying part. I ’t even shout at you properly when you readily admit defeat. I need you to e up with excuses so I shout at you.”

  “There’s no excuse. I fucked up, and I know it. Sorry!”

  She threw her hands up in exasperation and said, “Fine! As long as you know you’re an idiot.”

  I nodded vigorously, and she growled, “Grrrrrgh!” and spped the bay head again.

  I stayed silent; I deserved it. When I saw she got it out of her system, I asked, “Where’s Al?”

  “Hunting.”

  I was fused. “Hunting? Hunting what? Where?”

  “In Chugach State Park. I think he’s hunting bears, wolves, and cougars.”

  “Why oh would he do that? Is he pnning to turn them into potions or something?”

  Mahya burst out ughing. “No. I don’t think even Al will try to make potions out of them. He wants to get a mage css, as you know. Initially, he po expose himself to criminals. But then he decided to thin out the aggressive predators around here. One more mana level up, and the waves will start. Those predators will groidly and bee very aggressive. He wants to help as much as possible. By culling them, he might get the css he wants and save a lot of people.”

  That was an excellent idea. “Smart,” I said.

  “Yeah, he has his moments,” Mahya said. “So, what brings you back this time? Another core? And why did I buy an RV?”

  I scratched my head. “I’ll tell you first. We need darko ahe RV question.”

  I told her everything that had happened in Lumis since my st visit. When I told her about the assassins’ ambush, she hit the bay head again! Called me an idiot and scolded me for not esg instead. She ged her tune when I told her about the css upgrade I got as a result. She couldn’t stop ughing when I told her about the robbery and all the gossip iy afterward. We spent the whole day talking and joking. She already finished verting one Jeep, but still didn’t get the css she wanted.

  When it got dark, I said, “e. I’ll show you the reason for the RV.”

  Pg the core on the ground, I said, “Disguise yourself as a wagon.” After the wagon grew around the core, I made an invitiure towards the back part. “Ladies first.”

  Inside, she looked at my house’s standard living room and tapped her cheek with her finger. “If we feed the RV to the core, I don’t think it will work like with the wagon. The result won’t be mobile. We o take it apart first. If we feed the RV to the core with a detailed version blueprint, it might do the rest—like it did with your electric toys. If not, I’ll have to get it back, do the plete version, and then have the core absorb it agaiher way, it’s a great idea. For now, I’m removing the idiot title.” She looked at me with narrowed eyes and said. “Until you do the stupid thing, that is.”

  I sighed and nodded. I still deserved it, but then I thought of something. “You knew we needed a detailed blueprint for the core to vert the electric toys? How?”

  “What do you mean? Of course, it needs a blueprint. It ’t think.”

  I got exasperated. “Why didn’t you say anything? I was sure the core did all of it by itself! Only when I found Lis’s blueprints did I realize it hem.” I excimed, my tone rising.

  She looked at me unprehendingly for a minute or two and started ughing. “You thought I did everything just like that?! Shit, of course, you did. We keep telling you it’s not se. And I’m guessing you didn’t check the blueprints Lis left you, hmm?”

  I shook my head and got another sp at the back of it. If this tinued, I would get a perma bruise there.

  She sighed, muttered something, and said, “We’ll start w on the RV tomorrow. I’ll postpohe Jeep for now. Let’s go to sleep.”

  For the following two weeks, I helped Mahya work on the RV. Luckily, in San Francisco, I bought meical books about every type of vehicle. We had to take apart not only the motor but the whole thing. Wiring ran through the RV walls and pipes for water and gas, and we had to take apart everything and incorporate it into the blueprint. Every piece had its purpose. The electrical system o be dismantled entirely so we could map out each e, down to the st fuse. We ripped out the plumbing—pipes snaking under every surface—beling each se, so nothing got lost in the chaos. The interior fixtures, ets, and even the fl came apart, revealing the structural framework beh. We carefully removed the tanks for fuel, water, and waste, figuring out how they could be verted. Even the insution had to e out for the modifications.

  After two weeks, we had an enormous pile of parts with bel stickers ohing. Mahya gave me the initial blueprint on paper and told me to put Trottie back together agairottie was the new pet name of our RV, and I had no idea why. She came up with it one day and refused to call it anything else.

  After ten days, she fihe blueprint, but I hadn’t fihe “putting back together” project yet. It was much more challenging to assemble than to disassemble. She joined me, and it progressed faster.

  Finally, Al came back. When he saw me, he hugged me with a y bad asked, “Another core?”

  “No. Had to leave Lumis,” I replied, gng away.

  “Why? Something happehere?” he asked, his voice tinged with worry as his brow furrowed.

  “Yeah ... sort of. I’ll tell you about it ter,” I said, fidgeting in embarrassment, rubbing the bay neck awkwardly. “Did you get the css you wanted?”

  “I got an offer for three ability points, which is good enough,” he said with a satisfied nod. “Now I o tinue using spells I earned until I get it for free.”

  “I thought you wao tiil you got the css,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, but I was out of predators and had to travel a long distao find any,” he expined, his tone shifting to a bit of frustration, his hand running through his hair. “The offer unlocked the possibility. Now, I o tinue in the same vein until I get it. It is much easier to achieve after you unlock the option. That is the important part.”

  “I hope it happens quickly,” I said, squeezing his shoulder and a reassuring smile.

  “Yes, me too,” he agreed, exhaling sharply as his eyes nded on the RV. “What are you doing with this truck?”

  “It’s not a truck, but an RV. And you’ll see once we are done,” I replied, trying to sound mysterious.

  “Did y me more herbs?”

  “Umm, no?” I hesitated, scratg my head. “I thought you had enough between the s and what I got you the st time.”

  “Yes, for now. I only asked to verify,” he said with a casual shrug.

  “If you need me to get you more, tell me. I fly there a as much as you need.”

  He nodded. “Thank you. I will think about it,”

  It took us awo days to finish assembling the RV—it went much faster with Al’s help. When it was done, I stored it at night, and we drove to a secluded area to do the experiment. I removed my core and instructed it, “Open the house in the smallest figuration possible, but extend the deck.” When the deck en, I removed the RV from my ste onto the ded told the house, “Absorb the RV.” The core sucked it in like a vacuum. With an almost imperceptible gulp, it disappeared into the deck without a trace. I put the blueprint on the ded said, “Absorb the blueprint and apply it to the RV.” The blueprint disappeared as well. “Close the house.” I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and said. “Disguise yourself as an RV.”

  The RV grew around the core. It differed from the way the house grew. Whehe house opened from the core, it was like a flower blossoming. The RV, however, expanded around the core like a sed skin, growing until it stood fully formed in front of us. We ehrough the side door, and inside, my living room greeted us.

  Mahya said, “O test. Pray to the Guiding Spirits and cross your fingers.” She moved to the driver’s seat and started the RV. We heard nothing, but I felt the subtle vibration of the engine underfoot.

  “Yes!” I jumped enthusiastically, pumping my fist in the air, and hit my head on the ceiling. I couldn’t uand how it happened. I hadn’t activated my Jump skill, so how the hell did I get so high?

  Hmm ... Yeah ... I might have actally added a little windy push.

  Mahya and Al were ughing their asses off, and I just stood there, rubbing my head.