A few men and women, all wearing the same blue-white uniform as Geo-Gai, were staring at a sculpture enviously while sitting around a round table.

“Gai-Us, you made this?” A young man, bright and sprightly, asked.

The boy could somehow feel that the man had inserted a hyphen somewhere, but since this was the naming style of Cybral, he wasn’t going to complain at all. In fact, he hadn’t taken a look at his identity card and energy signature yet, but he had a feeling that a hyphen was probably already inserted at the point where it made most sense.

“Uh-huh,” Gaius replied. “Want one?”

“I’d love one! But…how much would you charge?”

Gaius rubbed his chin, having noticed that he didn’t know how currency worked here. He turned on his googly eyes and turned to Geo-Gai and the woman beside him, and the latter gave Geo-Gai a smack immediately.

“You didn’t tell him anything useful?” she asked, her violet hair rippling with the sheer shock of her smack. “Never mind, let this Vero-Ca teach you how things work here!”

She produced a handful of little crystals. “These are energy salts. We use this to buy and sell things. Every city will use them as their primary currency model, each of them created by someone high up in the Cybral Unified Government, who is the nominal ruler of every city.”

She threw one into her mouth and licked her lips. “You can consume them directly if you really need it, but it’s not really filling. Better to buy energy meals from outside, or cook your own energy meals by crushing a few crystals while cooking your meals.”

Edible currency…now that’s a first. Still, I shouldn’t think of this as odd; by right, I don’t have anything to compare this to. Gaius nodded, both to himself and to Vero-Ca. “How do children like me get more?”

“Hmm. Usually, their parents help, but for newborns like you…you’ll have to make yourself useful,” she replied. “For instance, your sculptures are something I’d gladly buy. They should be around…fifty energy salts?”

“Fifty’s too low,” said the young man who spoke earlier.

“Are you trying to undercut him?”

“I think it’s a good price, though…”

The conversation revolved around the pricing for the next few minutes, and the dishes on the table took up more and more space without anyone noticing it. By the time they finished their debate on what a good price was — seventy-one energy salts — Gaius was already filling up his plate for the third time.

Of course, he wasn’t alone in this, and the boy had taken note to avoid the dishes that were shining — these were the ones that had energy salts used in their cooking. As much as Gaius was hungry, the boy wasn’t going to go overboard in taking advantage of their kindness.

“Well, it’s getting cold, so let’s eat!” Geo-Gai looked at the dishes, and then glanced at Gaius, who looked back innocently. His eyes, framed by a gruff face, twinkled with an amused light, and then turned away to the giant turkey in the centre.

It was, obviously, the most expensive dish. Other than the otherworldly golden sheen it was radiating, the aroma wafting around it had overpowered virtually everything else. Even the veggies he was spearing earlier tasted like roast turkey, which made the boy wonder how the actual thing tasted like.

Unfortunately, by the time he returned to his senses, only bones remained of the turkey, which was also snatched up moments later by the greedy fellows. After sucking off whatever scraps of meat and fat that were left, they turned their eyes towards the side-dishes.

The latter never survived the encounter.

Once they were done, they reclined back on their back, all of them patting their bellies in satisfaction.

“Phew, that was good,” said Vero-Ca. She rubbed her tummy and laid back. “Say, Gai-Us, would you make sculptures for me too? I’ll pay you seventy energy salts!”

“Didn’t we agree on seventy-one energy salts?” Geo-Gai sniffed.

“Our salary isn’t all that high,” she replied. “Gotta save up where we can, right?”

“Cheapskate…” He rolled his eyes. “Considering that I got this for free, I’m not really in a position to say anything, though…”

“Get off your high horse, then,” she replied. “I save one crystal, you save seventy-one…”

The others laughed, and she turned to Gaius. “Well, sculptures aside, we’ll need to get you a place to live in, right? What kind of place are you looking for?”

“You’re asking a newborn about where he wants to live?” someone asked. “Come on, get real. Geo-Gai, you took something for free, go help him out with lodgings.”

“Was intending to.”

“Alright, then let’s get him settled down in somewhere nice before nightfall.” Vero-Ca stood up. “Let’s go first. Gai-Us, follow me; we’ll get you a good little house that fits your skills.”

She glanced at the sculpture in Geo-Gai’s hand enviously, and then pulled the two of them out of the restaurant. A merry jingle followed as the door closed behind them, but without any deliberation, she led Gaius and Geo-Gai away into a small maze of streets.

“Where are we going?” Geo-Gai asked.

Vero-Ca ignored him and turned to Gaius. “Boy, I have a proposition for you. Interested?”

“Proposition?”

“Yeah. I can get you a nice small place, free of charge, but only if you make me a nice sculpture of myself,” she replied. “As for Geo-Gai, he’ll help you settle the administrative things and draw customers to you. What do you think?”

Geo-Gai laughed. “I see, I see! Interesting. Gai-Us, accept her offer. She doesn’t have enough to pay, but you don’t really need that now, do you? Nod your head, and I’ll pay off my debt by doing as she says.”

“Both of you…” Gaius grinned. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“Newborns might have no memories, but they’re as intelligent as anyone else,” Vero-Ca said. “I have never looked down on you before, and nor did Geo-Gai.”

“Good enough for me.” Gaius stopped on the spot and examined the woman closely. “How do you want me to sculpt you?”