Wanted

We went back to the heart of the town the next morning. Now, the whole city had a different atmosphere—lighter, as if the air itself was clearer than before.

The sky above us was a light, bright blue, with only a few clouds to be seen. The air was cool, but not yet chilly. The autumnal freeze was still waiting ahead. As long as you moved, and stayed in the sunshine, you could walk around with the 'spring' setting of my suit. It was nice, actually, to feel a cool gust of air here and there, only to feel the warmth after that again.

We were out shopping, finally getting our supplies. I stocked up on the usual stuff—soups and canned goods, but a nicer meal here and there—while Emelyse took to watching our surroundings closely.

There were still a few things that I wanted to get, namely fresh fruit and vegetables. But with both my hands full with edible foam bubbles (thankfully, I had remembered to take a few bots with me this time to carry my bags) we could take it slower. The streets were busy, with both locals and tourists, strolling around just like we did. There was even a smaller day market, but it didn't have the same magical atmosphere as the one yesterday did. Still, I looked to see a few familiar faces—the man with his bots, and the old lady selling her star candy.

It was a nice, peaceful day. Of course. What could happen on a day like this? At the worst, it would start to rain. But with no rainclouds in sight, I highly doubted that would happen anytime soon.

And yet, next to me, something changed in Emelyse. Her movements got stiffer, and it was almost as if she tried to hide herself next to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

Something was off. But I had no idea what it was, really.

"It's nothing," she mumbled.

"That's a lie, clearly," I huffed. "Just tell me what's wrong."

She shook her head. "Just, uh, let us turn back. We have everything we need, right? We should be on our way."

"We still need some things," I said. "I told you, some fresh fruit would be great..."

"Please?"

Yeah, there was absolutely something wrong here. I looked around. Just what could be the cause for her distress.

"Don't worry," I said softly. "Everything will be fine."

"Of course."

But I could hear the doubt in her words.

I glanced at her. Was her suit malfunctioning? Was she sick? No, even with my lens I couldn't see anything faulty. And she didn't check herself, so it probably wasn't that. Her eyes flitted around nervously, as if she wanted to run away.

So it had to be something around us.

"Are we in danger?" I asked.

There was no threat level on my lenses. But that didn't mean anything - not when it came to things out side of their scope, like Kandarians.

And that was when I spotted them. Two men, taller than most people here, with their eyes hidden behind dark glasses. Their head were shiny, even though they mimicked short hair. Their suits were dark as well, and just like Emelyse, they didn't show off any outerwear.

They were Kandarians, just like her.

"So it's them, huh," I muttered.

I changed my suit to a bigger cloak, which shimmered around me. It wouldn't help much, but maybe it was enough to give Emelyse a little more room.

"You go back to Lottie," I said to her. "I'll take care of the remaining shopping."

"Thank you," she said.

Then, she hesitated. "Are you not going to ask me what's wrong?"

"Will you tell me?"

Again, a moment of silence. "I can't. Not yet."

"Then I won't ask."

If she wanted to harm me, she would have plenty of opportunities to do so.

"I trust you, Em. Just get back to Lottie and wait for me."

"I will. Thank you."

"Just go," I hissed.

Thankfully, the two guys hadn't noticed us yet. They were scanning the area though, and quite obviously at that. They were searching for her, I realized. I didn't know why, but that didn't matter.

We should hurry, really. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Emelyse shrunk back into a dark alley, then turned around and ran back. I trusted her to find her way back to the pod without issue. Now, it was only me, my bags, and my bots. Pretty harmless, if I could say so myself.

Still, the calm atmosphere from before was suddenly gone. Even if the sun still shone, and the air was still fresh and clear, I couldn't enjoy it.

Just relax, I thought. Don't draw attention to yourself.

I could get through this. I just had to find some vendor and got some fresh fruit and vegetables, and then I was out of here. I could just do that in a matter of minutes, right?

But no matter where I looked, I couldn't find a shop with fresh produce. Strange. But not that strange, really—there was the market, after all, where the vendors piled up their wares. And in the middle, I could see several of them, selling all the fresh fruit that I could ever want.

The only problem was that those two guys were heading there as well. I took a deep breath.

You can do this, Toma. You have nothing to hide, and you are a nice girl. They won't even bother you.

One step after the other, I went there. I tried to swallow the tasty bubbles in my hand, but even though they had strong, sour and sweet flavors, I couldn't savor them. I just swallowed, one bursting bite after the other, until my hands were finally free again. Quickly, I stuffed them into the pockets of my suit, and tried to walk as normal and relaxed as possible.

It seemed like I was getting quite a few stares. I tried not to blush at the glances thrown my way. I was not suspicious. I had nothing to hide. So why did it feel like I suddenly didn't know how to human anymore?!