Work In Progress

Dawn crept over The Bygone, its light trickling through the window and casting a dim glow on the walls. The faint sound of birdsong echoed.

Zephyr was up. He'd been so for an hour or so now.

He figured Audra was still asleep. That suited him just fine; he could get some chores done before she woke—like the most important one, making something to eat.

The fridge opened with a tug. Its contents were laid bare: some eggs, leftover rice, and vegetables.

"That should do."

The induction heater did its magic as he started prepping things. A pile of green and white onions, carrots, peas, minced garlic, and a bit of ginger.

It was perfect.

The wok flared to life as he doused it in oil. He tossed in the white parts of the onions and garlic. Then came the eggs once things startled to really sizzle.

The rest of process came to him by instinct: Dump in rice, follow by vegetables. Stir quickly with a dash of soy sauce, ginger, white pepper, and sesame oil. Then keep the ingredients constantly dancing to ensure nothing got burned.

He loved this part, waiting for the work-in-progress to finish.

Zephyr briefly thought back to the first time he'd tried to cook this. It'd been a complete disaster. The entire thing tasted more limp charcoal than food. Yet now, nearly thirty years later, it was one of his favorite things to make.

He wished he had gotten into cooking sooner rather than later. His parents had tried to convince him to do so when he was young, but he'd been too stubborn to do it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to learn; he simply didn't have the time for it. He had ambitions—a goal—and he had wanted to focus on that instead.

A hint of bitterness invaded his face. Just how many things had he missed while he chased after completion? Hobbies, friendships, people…?

More time with her?

Something in the mixture popped loudly, snapping him back to reality. He downed the heat.

Retrospection was a dangerous game.

Sure, it helped him not repeat his old mistakes, but it could easily slide into melancholy and regret if he let it. He knew that well.

As the smell of food began to waft through the house, he quickly added the rest of the green onions. Then, with one final toss to mix everything together, he set it aside on the warmer.

The work-in-progress was done.

He glanced at the clock. 6:45 AM. There was still at least another forty-five minutes or so until the sun rose. That was plenty of time to finish cleaning and get ready for the day.

His eyes drifted toward the workshop's direction.

Or… perhaps he could use this time to work on a project.

With a shrug, Zephyr gave in to the urge. He had something in mind for the ex-squatter. Now would be the perfect time to start on it.

***

When Audra finally woke, the sun was shining through the bedroom window. A quick glance at the clock next to the bed told her it was already 8:30 in the morning.

She sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and yawned. Her hair was disheveled, and her body protested as she stretched. Once the bad memories had faded, she'd slept well last night—better than she had in a long time.

But that wasn't important right now. No, what was important was the fact that she was hungry—really hungry.

A savory smell caught her nose and invoked a loud growl from her stomach.

Zeph had cooked something, huh? That, or he'd ordered food. Either way, she was definitely going to investigate.

Audra quietly opened the door and peeked out. The hallway was empty, but the scent of food was stronger now. There also seemed to be some noise coming from the workshop: the faint clanking of metal, the whir of tools, and a low hum of electricity.

Interesting.

The two options tore her apart: investigate whatever Zephyr was doing in the workshop or follow the scent of food and search for breakfast.

"…"

It took a few moments of painful deliberation, but ultimately, hunger won out. She could check on Zephyr after stuffing her face.

She tiptoed into the kitchen where a pan of steaming fried rice sat on the back burner like a pedestal. Her mouth watered the moment her eyes laid sight on it.

"Damn, that's beautiful."

Without thinking, Audra scooped up a spoonful and shoveled it directly into her mouth.

"!" Her eyes lit up in delight. Holy crap. It tasted beautiful too!

The aroma of green onions and soy sauce embraced her. Tastes lingered on her tongue. She immediately dug in for another bite. She had to.

Her tongue raved with joy as it frolicked.

She couldn't believe that Zephyr actually had the ability to cook something THIS good. The ramen last night had lowered her expectations. But no, apparently, he was the sleeper build of chefs.

After a few more bites, Audra's restraint caught up to her.

"Ugh, what am I doing?"

She wasn't some sort of animal. No, she had manners, and she would use them!

With a huff, she grabbed two bowls from a nearby cabinet, one for her and another for Zephyr, and carefully served equal portions of the food into each.

There, that was better.

She felt a little proud of her self-restraint, and she rewarded herself by taking another bite. Ooh. That was good!

Then, with both bowls in her hands, she walked over to the workshop, trying to ignore the fact that she had already eaten a quarter of the stuff directly out of the wok.

"Zeph? Breakfast's ready!"

She used her prosthetic leg to push open the heavy door to the workshop.

"Erm, I mean, you probably already knew that unless your memory is shot. Anyways, I've brought you your portion and…"

Her words died in her throat as she saw what was being worked on.

"Oh wow, what on earth is this?"

The electric bike that she'd dragged into the pod truck yesterday was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in its place was something more akin to a motorcycle.

The frame? Reshaped and reinforced. The motor? Bigger. Wheels? Slightly smaller but bulked up like a sumo wrestler. The seat? Expanded to flow alongside the frame, and an actual dashboard sat between the handlebars.

Zephyr finally noticed her, looking up from his work.

"Oh, good morning, Audra. Sleep well? I know the bed isn't the comfiest."

She blinked at the marvel in front of her.

"Er. I slept just fine. Thanks. Anyway, what the heck did you do to my bike?"

He patted the fiberglass. "This? I uh, just gave it an upgrade. Since you were planning on using it like a utility vehicle, I figured I'd give it the makings of one."

"H-how?"

"I drafted up a new design that incorporates some conceptual aspects of the Elysium from back in 2001 together with a bit of the 2040 Gainsborough."

He said it so casually, puffing out his chest a bit as he presented the thing.

"I also reworked the electric motor to give it more power since it'll be hauling a lot more weight, but I'm not done yet. I still want to add a cargo rack, a headlight, and maybe a bit of armor plating for protection."

"A-armor plating? The heck? What are you planning on making this a combat-ready?"

"Oh, of course not—not anymore at least. It's just something lightweight to protect the internal components of the bike from damage. A rock can kick up and hit something the wrong way at high speeds."

He ran his hand over the dash. "That reminds me, I still gotta put in a windshield, roll cage, and camera too."

Audra's jaw hung agape. She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or horrified.

"I mean, I like it. But… you don't have to go to all that trouble."

Zephyr waved her off. "Nonsense. It's a simple project. Besides, it's good practice. Keeps my skills sharp and all."

"R-right, sure. I guess if you're going to do all that to it, can you also add a GPS tracker, a radio, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker too?"

Her quip wasn't even a speedbump to the young geezer.

"Well, a GPS tracker and radio are already built into the dash since I took it from an old minicar. I could fit an electric thermos to the bike to act as something like a mini fridge, but I'm not sure where to get the coffee maker from."

"…I was joking when I said those things. You know that, right?"

He flashed a smirk. "Well, yeah, I know, but that doesn't mean we can't make them a reality. We've got the parts here. All we need is the will."

Audra was still in disbelief. She'd never seen someone so dedicated to a random project, especially not one that they didn't even need to do. It was honestly a bit intimidating to see how serious he was.

"Anyways, enough about that. Thanks for bringing me breakfast. Just give me a moment to wash my hands."

Zephyr stepped out of the workshop, and Audra followed close behind.

"Tell me, how long did it take for you to do all the work on the bike?"

He counted on his fingers. "Mmm. About an hour and a half if the clock is right. I started working on it a few minutes after I finished making breakfast. Thought I might busy myself until you woke up."

An entire motorcycle remodel, and it took less than two hours to complete?

Audra had some experience with engineering of course—mostly tinkering and maintaining her own bionics. But that was nothing compared to whatever sorcery Zephyr had just committed.

"Are you sure you're human, Zeph?"

"Yep, pretty much. I've just had a lot of practice after all these years."

He washed the grime off his hands, not bothering to look back at her.

"…" Unbelievable.

If what Zeph said about his age was true, then that could explain his mastery over something like this. Still, it almost seemed like he had a superpower or something—a prodigy at the bare minimum.

Her head was hurting the more she thought about it. For now, she should just focus on eating. Yes. Food was good.

Audra felt her worries melt away once they were both seated and moaning over the food.

She was going to need a full stomach if this was just the beginning of her day.