After leaving General Degurechaff’s little garden with two bottles of fine wine sitting in his inventory, Gemini headed over to Emily Lorenze. She lived and worked in one of the many little towers that seemed to be a hallmark of sorts for Ark Interior, and as the two flew in a straight line, Gemini looked down on the equally-straight streets below him.

“Some cake for your thoughts?”

“Hm?” Gemini looked at Lila, who was carried in his hands now. “Oh, I was simply thinking why the Memory Sifter never left her home.”

“What reason did you come up with?”

“Oh, the streets of Ark Interior are too confusing. They’re too uniform, there’s no landmark or anything, save for the Congress building and a few towers,” Gemini replied. “It’s pretty hard for me too, now that I think about it. Even when flying, it’s hard to get a bearing on her place.”

He began to descend. “Only someone who grew up in this place would probably know how to navigate it.”

There was a warm peck on his cheek as he set Lila down, and the Constellation looked around hurriedly for anyone who might have seen them. Most of all, if the Memory Sifter was to see that, she would definitely start up a conversation that was spicy enough to make his face fry eggs, but it would seem that he was safe for now.

Leading Lila by the hand, Gemini walked over to the tower that Emily Lorenze lived in. It was as clean as he last remembered — either there was some anti-dirt property to the material used in its surface, or little hordes of artefacts cleaned it on the regular.

Somehow, the second option seemed more plausible.

The door swung open as the two of them neared, complete with the sounds of machinery spinning up. Gemini and Lila stepped through the door, unfazed. They were used to this; the Memory Sifter had let them into her living quarters directly more than once, instead of having them wait at the reception and ride an elevator.

She had modified the entire tower. It was already an artefact in the first place, but that didn’t mean that it should be able to break all known laws of physics. Somehow, she was able to shift entire storeys around, which meant that if she wanted to, the first floor could be her living quarters in one moment, and then be her storage in another.

Gemini, naturally, was smart enough to never ask about her secrets.

“Lila!” The Memory Sifter popped her head out and waved vigorously. As the two girls held each other’s hands, Gemini couldn’t help but feel a tad annoyed, but whatever enjoyment he derived from watching Lila and her best friend interact had drowned that out over a few times.

As a boyfriend, he had every right to be jealous, but since she was happy, that was more than enough. And besides, it was indeed him who encouraged Lila to make some true friends, so the jealousy was really uncalled for.

Emily Lorenze seemed like an entirely different person whenever Lila dropped by, which was quite often. Gemini would also frequently bring Lila along, whiling away the lunch break to read her reports on the Champion Support System and whatever other treatises she’d authored. Whenever that happened, the two girls would chat about everything and anything that had occurred under the sun and — unfortunately for Gemini — under the bedsheets.

It was mortifying whenever the topic shifted there. Most of all, the Memory Sifter was interested in seeing how the offspring of a demon and a human from Earth would turn out, so she had encouraged it subtly.

Gemini wasn’t sure if he should feel happy at that or not, and in the end, he stopped thinking about it altogether. Physical intimacy was a way of showing love. Sure, the two of them were trying for a child, and they were already…married of sorts anyway, but the point of doing so was that they loved each other, and that was it.

But it was still mortifying whenever the topic went there. Gemini was now an expert on the feelings of men whenever their parents or in-laws asked about making kids. It was, unfortunately, a certification he really didn’t want.

Trying to look like a stone, Gemini looked around the small fence around Emily’s tower. A few little hardy sprouts were fighting a losing war against the weeds, and Gemini was about to head over to give the little plants a helping hand when he saw something.

Backing away, Gemini fixed his eyes on a particularly small shoot…which had just shot a small gout of flame at an encroaching weed, turning it into ashes. The Constellation rubbed his eyes twice, and when he next stared at the shoot, it was looking as innocent as ever.

What on Orb is this? Are there going to be zombies next? Do we have a sequel to that legendary game now? Gemini eyed the shoot warily, and then walked over to Lila and Emily Lorenze.

“What’s with that plant?” he asked.

“What plant?” The Memory Sifter tilted her head. “Oh, the garden? I haven’t been paying attention to it. I’ve been working on a new ship type; the guys up there want a warship or something.”

“Are you aware that there’s a fire-spitting plant in your garden?” Gemini asked, curious. “It just burnt down a weed.”

“A fire-spitting plant?” Emily laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous? What do you think this is? Plants versus—”

“Of course not,” Gemini interrupted. “Still, since your home is at a rather lonely corner of Ark Interior, nothing untoward should happen.”

Still, to leave a fire-spitting plant here…nah, nothing’s going to happen.

“Alright, enough about my little failed garden,” said Emily. “Let’s go in. I baked a nice chocolate cake today. I think you guys are going to enjoy it. Also, I found out some interesting things regarding your CSS, so let’s talk about it inside.”

Gemini glanced at Lila, who immediately pulled him into the room without another word.

The door closed behind them a moment later.