Summer of 346, A.D.
Kai risked a glance in Ariel’s direction.
She caught it and shot daggers at him—she was still furious. He coughed and tried to focus on Sunny’s lecture.
“Einstein once said: Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been,” Sunny began, standing before the sunrise bonfire.
“Scientists care about the path. Engineers care about the destination. Scientists want to understand the world. Engineers want to improve it. Which is better? Ariel?”
“Neither.”
Sunny gave an approving nod. “Correct! Now, Clara and I have prepared a two-day lesson. Today, we’ll explore the advantages of thinking like an engineer. Tomorrow, Clara will show us when it’s best to put on a scientist’s hat.”
She reached into her satchel and pulled out a wooden box. Kai craned his neck for a better look but couldn’t make out what it was.
“Clara, catch.”
She tossed it through the air. Clara caught it easily.
“This is a puzzle box. By moving the pieces in the right order, you can open it. Clara and I will both try to open it and time ourselves. Let’s see who wins—the engineer,” she said with a bow, “or the scientist. Clara, please open the box as fast as you can.” Sunny clicked a stopwatch.
Clara ran her fingers along the surface, delicately feeling for movement. After finding the first click, she quickly unlocked a second, then a third.
“Four minutes and twelve seconds. Not bad,” Sunny said. “Notice how Clara tried to understand how the mechanism worked—thinking like a scientist.”
She pulled out a second, identical puzzle box and tossed the stopwatch to Ariel. “Time me, darling.”
“One, two, three.”
On three, Sunny hurled the box to the ground and stomped on it.
Crack.
“Two seconds,” she declared proudly.
“But you didn’t solve the puzzle!” Ariel protested.
“I never said the goal was to solve the puzzle,” Sunny replied. “I said we had to open the box.”
*
Present, 353rd Daisy exams, Round of 32.
Kai stood above one of the busiest streets in the arena, camera in hand, pointing at the city floor.
“What are you up to, Kai?”
He flinched. Maia was seated beside him, legs crossed like a meditating monk.
“You walk so quietly,” he muttered. “You keep startling me.”
“Perhaps it’s because I don’t have a heartbeat or need to breathe. That makes me less perceptible.”
“Maybe.”
“You didn’t answer my question. What are you doing?”
“I’m using [Zoom] to search the streets below.”
“What do you hope to find?”
“Ingredients. The ones I saw in the library’s recipe book. If not those, then something I can use to grow [Fire].”
“Did you know the ancient Greeks believed fire was stolen from the gods? According to myth, the titan Prometheus took it from Zeus’s hearth and hid it in a hollow reed. He gave it to mankind—to cook food, stay warm, protect themselves. Zeus was so angry he condemned him to eternal torture.”
“I’ve heard the story.”
Kai adjusted the camera's lever, zooming in and out until he settled on a three-times zoom. Clear enough to make out detail—broad enough to scan the street efficiently.
“You also mentioned recipes. Did you know the oldest recorded recipe was for Sumerian beer? First, you crush the barley and emmer wheat. Then—”
“You’ll tell me later, Maia. I’m busy.”
“Of course, Kai.”
She fell silent. Not for long, probably.
He turned his attention to the street. A green cross marked a pharmacy. A massive yellow neon sign showed a cinema. There was a barbershop, a kiosk, and a few other storefronts. The architecture was unfamiliar—sharper lines, flashier colors—but thanks to Ariel and her endless catalog of pre-Turnover movies, he could still recognize most of the buildings.
He scanned lower. Streetlights stood at regular intervals, helping the neon signs battle the rain-heavy gloom. He spotted a phone booth, a pair of red postboxes, and two fire hydrants.
He turned the lens on the people.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
He’d expected them to feel more real up close. He thought zooming in would reveal individuality—faces, expressions, something unique.
Instead, it was the opposite.
Even magnified, all he could see were bodies shielded by umbrellas and drowned in raincoats. The storm had washed away any sense of variety. No smiles. No color. Just moving shapes, hunched under the weight of the weather.
Kai kept his eye on the viewfinder, tracing loose S-shapes through the air as he scanned the street below. He imagined he looked like a snake charmer—trying to move with grace but fumbling with a clunky camera instead.
Then he saw her. A mother walking hand-in-hand with her child.
He zoomed in—eight times.
It was a little girl. She moved with an elegant clumsiness, full of energy. It looked like she only had two speeds: hopping and running. She never walked. Never stood still. Her face was hidden behind a high collar, a pink scarf, and a cozy knit hat, but even so, she was captivating.
This wasn’t one of the recipe ingredients—but he couldn’t help himself. The sight of a child was too moving.
He framed the girl and took the shot.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 11 of 20.
Child ?? (Common)
Young human being in the early stages of life, characterized by growth and curiosity.
1 of 4
HP: 1
VP: 0
Kai gulped.
Why were the stats so low?
Not even the rusty junk he’d found in the factory arena had been this bad.
One HP? Zero victory points? And common?
He gritted his teeth. “Daisy has got to be kidding!”
Maia giggled. “You humans and all your emotions. What is it this time?”
He held up the card. “Look at this! Do you have any idea how precious a child is? And your mother stamped this with a common label? One HP? No victory points?”
Maia tilted her head, thoughtful. “Children are a miracle. That’s true.”
Kai blinked. The statement caught him off guard. It didn’t sound like something an android would say.
“I’m sorry—what?”
“They’re a miracle,” she repeated. “My mother couldn’t make a human child from scratch, even if she wanted to. You can’t make humans without humans. That’s beyond her. It’s... miraculous.”
Kai stared at her.
An android talking about miracles?
Miracles were supposed to be something only humans believed in. But she said it so simply. So reverently.
Then, another thought crossed his mind.
So far, he’d seen two reasons for cards to have abysmal stats. One: they were deceptively powerful, like [Shadow Wolf]. Two: they were junk—barely worth photographing—like [Rusty Gear].
But where did [Child] fall? If Daisy and Maia truly treasured children, would they brand a card of one as barely passable?
Unlikely.
Which meant the other possibility was more plausible: the [Child] card might fall into that rare category—terrible on paper, but hiding massive potential.
Kai had a feeling. Despite the low stats, he snapped a second photo.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 10 of 20.
He wouldn't have taken a second shot if not for Maia’s talk of miracles. Hopefully, it would pay off.
Ten shots left… And six of them need to go toward the recipe ingredients.
Kai focused the lens on the street, hunting for something—anything—that could represent loyalty, sadness, or affection.
It was a while until he saw something that could be it.
A car splashed through a puddle, flinging muddy water onto a pedestrian. The driver didn’t stop. The soaked passerby shouted after the retreating car, hurling their umbrella to the ground and unleashing a flurry of colorful insults.
Kai raised an eyebrow. He kept the camera trained on the spot.
A few minutes later, it happened again. The puddle refilled with rain, and another car sent a wave of dirty water onto an unsuspecting woman in a brown raincoat.
As she threw her fists in the air, shouting into the downpour, Kai snapped the photo.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 9 of 20.
Anger ?? (Uncommon)
Powerful response to provocation or frustration.
HP: 0
VP: 4
There it was. He didn’t need to scan for people or objects. The answers lay in moments—the tiny interactions playing out on the streets.
He kept watching the street keeping an eye out for more displays of emotion.
The puddle trap triggered twice more, but none of the reactions stood out.
Maybe there is only one such scene per street. I’ll move.
He walked to a parallel street.
Through the lens, something caught his attention. A dog.
Kai’s breath caught. Animals had been valuable in this trial so far. Highly synergistic, flexible. He zoomed in, ready to photograph it—
—but stopped.
“Poor thing…”
The dog was curled up on the sidewalk, soaked through, its tail tucked beneath its belly. Fur matted. Shivering. Miserable.
Kai studied it, confused.
There was shelter nearby. No leash. Nothing tying it down.
So why was it still there?
He adjusted the lens, tracing the dog’s gaze. Its eyes were locked on the entrance to a building.
“It’s waiting,” he whispered.
“I beg your pardon?” Maia asked.
“That dog,” he said, pointing. “It’s waiting for its owner.”
“Dogs are remarkable animals. No wonder they are your second-best friends.”
“Second? Doesn’t the saying go that dogs are humans’ best friends?”
“That was before Mother came along. Now we are your best friends. Dogs have been relegated to second place.”
“Debatable,” Kai said.
He looked again at the dog—drenched, cold, and unmoving.
What an incredible creature. Such loyalty.
Suddenly energized, Kai jogged a few meters to the side. He lay flat on the arena floor to angle the shot just right—framing the dog, the rain, and the door it refused to stop watching.
Click.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 8 of 20.
Loyalty ?? (Rare)
Unwavering commitment and attachment.
1 of 3
HP: 1
VP: 6
“Yes!” he hissed. He took another photo.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 7 of 20.
All that remained were [Affection] and [Sadness].
Kai took off toward another street. The puddle incident had played on a loop in one location. The waiting dog had looped in another. If each street only featured a single emotional or abstract scene, then staying put would be a waste of time.
He kept moving.
On the next street, he zoomed in just in time to catch a thief snatching a woman’s purse. He considered it for a moment—too aggressive, too sudden. It didn’t fit what he needed. He moved on.
The clock was ticking. Time was thinning fast.
On the fourth street he checked, he found something else. A man trudged through the rain, head bowed, arms slack. No coat. No umbrella. Just the full weight of the storm soaking into him as he walked.
Kai took the shot.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 6 of 20.
Sadness ?? (Common)
Feeling of loss and sorrow.
1 of 4
HP: 1
VP: 2
He took another.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 5 of 20.
That made two [Sadness] cards. Just one ingredient remained.
He scanned more streets. Found two more with puddles. One with dogs. Three more people walking through the rain, cloaked in sorrow. But nothing that looked like affection.
In his head, he kept picturing a couple embracing. A kiss under an umbrella. Something obvious. But if that kind of display was happening, it was out of sight—shielded by coats, shadows, or the storm itself.
There were only fifteen minutes left.
Kai turned and started toward the tree-lined streets. If all else failed, he could at least gather wood for [Fire].
Then he saw them.
The mother and the little girl from earlier.
[Opinion Fragment ??] + [One Minute ?]
?? | HP: 1 → 0
? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Public Review ????].
Leave your sincere opinion about the novel—it helps a lot!
