Work In Progress

The smallest bit of light trickled through the living room window, casting a dim light on the walls as dawn began to creep over The Bygone. Zephyr was already up and about, and he had been for at least an hour or so now. He hadn't heard any noise from the bedroom, so he figured Audra was still asleep. That suited him just fine; he could get some chores done before she woke.

He opened the fridge, peering inside to check what was there. There were some eggs, leftover rice, and vegetables.

Mmm, that should do.

He let the induction heater do its magic on the wok as he started prepping things. A pile of green onions, white onions, carrots, peas, minced garlic, and a bit of ginger.

Perfect.

Once the metal was heated enough, he quickly doused the cookware in oil and tossed in the white onions and garlic first. Then came the eggs.

From there, the process was fast and simple: 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 gets burned.

As the fried rice happily sizzled, Zephyr briefly thought back to the first time he had tried to cook this. It'd been a complete disaster, and the entire thing tasted more limp charcoal than food.

Yet now, nearly thirty years later, it was one of his favorite things to make.

The sounds of the waking world drifted through the window as he reminisced.

He wished he had gotten into cooking sooner rather than later. His parents had tried to convince him to learn how to cook when he was young, but he had 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. There was no time to waste learning how to cook.

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

More time with her?

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

*sigh*

It was pointless to dwell on it too much.

Retrospection was a dangerous game; it certainly helped him make sure he didn't repeat his old mistakes, but it could easily slide into melancholy and regret if he let it. He knew this. He knew it well.

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

It was done.

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

He took a glance toward the workshop's direction. Or… perhaps he could use this time to work on a project. After all, there were a few new things that he could try to tinker with.

…Eh, she probably wouldn't mind. Right?

With a shrug, Zephyr headed off to the workshop. He had a project in mind for the ex-squatter.

***

When Audra finally woke up, the sun was shining through the bedroom window, casting a soft, warm glow on the wall. 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 messy and disheveled, and her body ached slightly 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. It smelled like Zeph had cooked something. That, or he had ordered food. Either way, she was definitely going to find it and eat it.

After throwing on a new set of clothes, 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.

Curious.

Immediately she felt torn between the two options: go and 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, and without thinking, Audra scooped up a spoonful and shoveled it directly into her mouth.

"!" Her eyes lit up in delight. It tasted delicious!

The aroma of green onions and soy sauce filled her nose as the taste lingered on her tongue, and she immediately dug in for another bite. There were so many complimenting flavors mixed together that it made her tongue rave with joy.

She couldn't believe that Zephyr actually had the ability to cook something THIS good. The fact that they'd just had 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 and she realized what she was doing.

She wasn't some sort of animal that just devoured things without a care in the world; 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. If one ignored the fact that she had already eaten a quarter of the stuff directly out of the cooking pan, that is.

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.

"Zeph?" she called out, using her prosthetic leg to push open the heavy door. "Breakfast's ready. I mean, you probably already knew that unless your memory is shot or something. 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 did you do?"

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, elongated, and reinforced. The motor? Bigger. Wheels? Slightly smaller but bulked up like a sumo wrestler. The seat too was expanded to flow alongside the frame, and there was now an actual dashboard in between the handlebars.

Honestly, if she didn't recognize the battery pack that was still barely visible toward the back, she wouldn't have had a clue this used to be hers.

"Oh, good morning, Audra. Sleep well?" Zephyr asked, looking up from his work. "I know the bed isn't the comfiest, so it's totally understandable if you didn't."

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. 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 puffed out his chest a bit as he presented the thing, obviously proud of his work. "I also reworked the electric motor to give it more power since it'll be hauling a lot more weight, but I'm not quite 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? This isn't a warzone… unless I missed some sort of memo."

"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 stared at him for a few moments, her jaw hanging agape.

She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or horrified at how he was transforming her electric bicycle into some sort of super motorcycle.

"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 for me. 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 about it.

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

As Zephyr stepped out of the workshop, 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. I thought I might busy myself as I waited for you to wake."

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

Audra had some experience with engineering through 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?"

He washed the grime off his hands, not bothering to look back at her. "Yep, pretty much. I've just had a lot of practice after all these years."

"…"

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

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

Audra felt her worries melt away once they were both seated at the table, ready to dig in.

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