Chapter 373: A Place for It

Chapter 373: A Place for It

Elsa was at the transit stop ten minutes early with Breeze on a lead.

"He cries if I leave him," she explained. "I’m not starting this by making him miserable."

Breeze appeared delighted with the arrangement. He sniffed every bollard in the commercial district, tried to eat a dropped noodle, and greeted three strangers as though they had come specifically to see him.

By the time they reached the shop, Elsa had said his name so often that Jin was beginning to hear it even when she wasn’t speaking.

The shopkeeper recognised him and glanced at Elsa.

"This is your sister?"

Jin nodded. "We’ve come for lot fourteen."

"Then she’d better have a proper look."

The man led them to the cold cabinet. Breeze put his nose near the vent, sneezed, and retreated behind Elsa’s ankles.

She scarcely noticed.

The blue-grey egg sat at the far end of the lower shelf. Its pale patch was exactly as Jin remembered, a cloudy thumbprint near the blunt tip.

Elsa crouched in front of the glass.

"It’s smaller than Breeze’s was."

"Different species," the shopkeeper said. "You’ll find quite a few differences."

"Is it all right being this cold?"

"It’s healthy. Brinecoat eggs can remain dormant under controlled conditions. We keep the temperature steady and monitor them."

Elsa watched the shell for another moment before asking, "And when it’s ready to hatch?"

"We bring it out of dormancy gradually. That starts active development, so you arrange its care before beginning. Don’t try warming it at home just to see whether it moves."

She took out her phone and wrote that down.

Jin felt some of his remaining nervousness settle. She hadn’t asked when it would become stronger or whether it could catch up with Breeze. She wanted to know whether it was comfortable.

The shopkeeper checked the reservation and completed the sale.

[Brinecoat Penguin egg, lot 14 — sale completed]

[Price: 110,000 Credits]

[Deposit credited: 5,000 Credits]

[Remaining payment received: 105,000 Credits]

[Registered owner: Elsa Astor]

Elsa read the last line twice.

Jin read the payment once, felt the expected pinch, and put his phone away.

Bought it. Stop checking.

The shopkeeper packed the egg in a sealed cold-transit case and showed them the temperature display. Harlow & Pike were expecting them; Jin had confirmed the care arrangement before leaving the Academy.

He carried the case while Elsa walked beside him. She kept glancing at the display.

"It hasn’t changed," he told her.

"I know."

She checked again at the next crossing.

Mr. Pike met them at the hatchery desk. The round, soft-spoken keeper smiled when Breeze poked his nose around Elsa’s leg.

"How’s our Galecrest?"

"He tried to eat something off the pavement," Elsa said. "But he’s very well."

"That sounds entirely consistent."

Pike examined the transit case, checked the attached care information, and led them into the back room.

Jin remembered the amber lamp beneath which they had first seen Breeze’s egg. This time an assistant prepared a compact cold unit with a glass front. Pike transferred the penguin egg, watched the readings settle, and checked the case once more before setting it aside.

"We’ll keep it here under the holding contract," he said. "Controlled temperature, monitoring, backup power. Once you have a hatching plan, we can discuss the next stage."

"What does the plan need?" Elsa asked.

"Suitable housing. Feeding arrangements. Access to appropriate water as it develops. Someone who can advise you about raising the species."

"We have a bath."

Pike’s expression remained perfectly serious.

"Then you’ll need to investigate something more suitable before it outgrows its earliest care setup."

Elsa added another note.

Jin signed the holding agreement and paid the first month’s fee. It was separate from the purchase price and comfortably within the allowance he had already made.

When he finished, Pike brought them back to the cold unit.

"Now we can establish the provisional bond."

Elsa handed Breeze’s lead to Jin and sat in front of the glass. Pike guided her through the positioning and checked the reader beside the unit.

"Gently," he reminded her. "It’s dormant. Don’t keep pushing because the response feels faint."

She nodded.

Jin held the lead loosely while Breeze leaned against his shin. Elsa’s shoulders gradually lowered. Her hands remained still against the glass, her brow creased in concentration.

For a while, Jin heard only the quiet hum of the unit.

Then Elsa drew a small breath.

"There’s something."

Pike looked at the reader.

"Describe it."

"It isn’t like Breeze was." She paused, searching for words. "It’s very quiet. I can feel that it’s there, but it isn’t doing anything."

"That’s enough. Keep the contact gentle."

She waited, and the crease between her eyebrows eased.

The reader gave a soft chime.

[Provisional bond registered: Elsa Astor]

Elsa opened her eyes.

"That’s it?"

"That’s the provisional bond," Pike confirmed. "It doesn’t mean the egg is ready to wake. We’ll keep following its condition."

She looked back through the glass. Her eyes had gone bright, and she rubbed one with her wrist.

"Hi," she said softly. "It’s me."

Breeze chose that moment to press his nose beneath her elbow. Jin allowed the lead to slip through his fingers as Elsa turned and gathered the fox into her lap.

"You’re still mine too," she told him.

Breeze put a paw on her wrist, apparently requiring that in writing.

Jin’s phone vibrated.

He stepped aside before checking it.

[Brinecoat Penguin]

[Eligibility condition met: bonded to a direct blood relative of the Engine owner]

[Intrinsic Enhancement: 1,000 Lives — not purchased]

The price remained as unreasonable as ever.

He thought of the ten thousand Coins earmarked in his notes and felt the brief, familiar urge to open the Engine and start earning immediately.

Then Elsa laughed behind him.

Breeze was trying to look through the glass from her lap, his nose leaving a small mark on the cold surface.

Jin closed the panel.

The enhancement was still far away. But the egg was no longer waiting in a shop, and Elsa had something she was already eager to care for. He could let himself enjoy that much.

At the desk, Pike gave her the care leaflet and arranged short visits.

"Saturday mornings suit the monitoring schedule. We can review how the bond is settling and answer your questions."

"Every Saturday?" Elsa asked.

"If you can manage it."

"I can."

Outside, Jin offered to take Breeze’s lead. Elsa handed it over immediately and opened the leaflet before they reached the corner.

She was still reading on the transit home, with the fox asleep across their shoes.

"Can a wind tamer train a water beast properly?" she asked.

"We should ask someone who’s done it."

"Aldous will know who to ask." Elsa found her pen. "And Pike said Elemental Academy might be able to advise about facilities before I go there."

She wrote in the margin, turned the page, and wrote something else.

"What are you adding now?" Jin asked.

"Questions."

"How many?"

She covered the edge of the page with her hand.

"Enough."

He leaned back against the window. Every few minutes she looked up to tell him something she had read, and he found he didn’t mind hearing the instructions twice.