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The far east side's filtration system's air duct is broken. There is a hole in it, leaking out into space. It's not the only one of its kind, but it is the latest. There are summoners already working to fix it. Adana wouldn't be much help. She keeps tabs on it, though - and she does the math in her head. After quite a lot of math, she realizes that with how much oxygen has already been lost, and with the cap on how much their hydroponics can produce...
Shuttles aren't due for another two months. There have been petitions for them to show up sooner, with supplies and extra O2 containers and places for refugees. They have been denied. Favoritism towards one colony over another would breach international treaties of fairness. Without it, they will probably reach the point where they don't have enough oxygen to support everyone. In such an event, administration might be forced to pick a district to - to stop breathing. Respectfully, with a thousand apologies, with all of their last wishes followed and all children evacuated from the area. The resulting casualties would be heroes. But dead they would be.
This is unacceptable.
Adana's a summoner, she does not have to stand for this. Fairies would be completely useless in the situation, and every summoner and their mother is summoning an angel to convert unnecessary items into plants or oxygen. She hopes it will be enough, she honestly does, but she's done more math and doesn't consider the percentage of it working high enough.
But there is another thing she could summon. Something that could just make air, or better yet - a space station or lunar colony that isn't lacking in as much funding as her pathetically run-down home of Bartalamos. She finds design specs from the space station Harmony, tweaks them a bit to shove aside the focus on 'science' and more on 'habitation' and adds lots and lots of places for hydroponics. She checks it over, twice, deems it to be better than Bartalamos, and then - then she is going to summon a demon.
Demons have a certain reputation about what they will trade their abilities for. To put it succinctly: a person's soul, or - certain sexual favors. Adana isn't sure if the soul thing is even possible, but she is not going to take the warnings lightly. She locks herself in her room with her specs and hammers out which is a better option: getting raped or losing her soul or possibly both, or hundreds of deaths.
Not a difficult choice.
She draws up the summoning circle shortly after, hands shaking. She is thinking of how to bind the demon to not speak unless it's about the contract, but then there's an announcement over the comm. It is about how every person on this colony has a duty to their fellows, and that if in the event that there must be a - Adana can't help but call it a slaughter - to save the lives of everyone else on the station... Then that is their duty, and they will be remembered.
Adana skips trying to bind what the demon says. She hasn't summoned a demon before and hasn't needed to with the angels or the fairies she's kept to, and looking it up would waste valuable time. If she's tempted out of her soul, fine, it's worth it, she'll give it up in a heartbeat if it means someone's mother or brother or uncle can keep living. She is careful about making sure the daeva can't get out or do anything that is not part of a contract they set. Nothing that she cannot get legally, nothing that is not hers - other lists. Other things, that she can't give up, that go into every summon.
(There is no clause that says, 'You cannot demand I have sex with you' or 'You cannot demand my soul' - Adana doesn't dare, not when the demon might say no.)
She finishes the circle. Then, shivering - she sends out the call to summons.
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ask_nicely
from_scratch
"I can do computers, but if you want particularly recent models you will need to be more specific. And tell me where you want 'em. You can always resummon me if you think of a new shopping list."
ask_nicely
"True," she agrees. She doesn't voice her actual opinion out loud, 'If you end up killing me, though, I will need to have milked everything possible out of this one shot I have at it.'
Adana names a reasonably nice model of computer, and leads him to where they will be put! Her employees will be getting offices, when she employs them. With money she doesn't actually have. She'd ask him to make her a ton of gold and jewels, but unfortunately that's illegal. Damn the bastards that were worried about the stability of the economy.
Adana names a reasonably nice model of computer, and leads him to where they will be put! Her employees will be getting offices, when she employs them. With money she doesn't actually have. She'd ask him to make her a ton of gold and jewels, but unfortunately that's illegal. Damn the bastards that were worried about the stability of the economy.
from_scratch
Cam deposits computers where she wants them in the model specified, whistling.
ask_nicely
She goes down a list of other minor-but-nice things, like curtains, extra sets of clothing, spare nonperishable food, television sets, extranet ports that she is in charge of (and will sell access to, which is not illegal by a loophole that she is very grateful for), and then spends a ludicrous amount of time making redundant safeties for the redundant safeties. This will be the safest space station of all time.
"Okay," she says, once that is all done. "If the shuttles are all fueled, then I think we are good to go."
"Okay," she says, once that is all done. "If the shuttles are all fueled, then I think we are good to go."
from_scratch
To the shuttle bay they go. Into Video Game Shuttle they get.
He flies her to the moon. To her home colony, even.
He flies her to the moon. To her home colony, even.
ask_nicely
How incredibly useful! That is exactly where she wanted to go!
Once on the colony, she waves to several people that are expecting her here. She needs pilots, and lo, there are pilots. She had a few more talks with the administration of Bartalamos. They are still organizing the refugees themselves, but the pilots were easy enough to retrieve.
Pilots are ferried to the space station, given their shuttles, and then they head off to retrieve refugees, complete with summoners to summon angels to check over Cam's work and fairies to help everyone move in.
Then she is out of things to ask Cam to do.
She lets out a shuddering breath and flops into a chair. She is out of things for Cam to do. Time to leave - manic pixie dream land and head back into the real world. The real world where she could die, get raped, lose her soul (whatever that even does), or get a large amount of people killed.
"Okay. So that was ludicrously huge, and - ... Well, what do I owe you?"
Once on the colony, she waves to several people that are expecting her here. She needs pilots, and lo, there are pilots. She had a few more talks with the administration of Bartalamos. They are still organizing the refugees themselves, but the pilots were easy enough to retrieve.
Pilots are ferried to the space station, given their shuttles, and then they head off to retrieve refugees, complete with summoners to summon angels to check over Cam's work and fairies to help everyone move in.
Then she is out of things to ask Cam to do.
She lets out a shuddering breath and flops into a chair. She is out of things for Cam to do. Time to leave - manic pixie dream land and head back into the real world. The real world where she could die, get raped, lose her soul (whatever that even does), or get a large amount of people killed.
"Okay. So that was ludicrously huge, and - ... Well, what do I owe you?"
from_scratch
"...You look terrified. Please don't be terrified? I just want a booklist."
ask_nicely
"I am a little terrified," she says softly. "Can't help it, sorry. A - booklist? What kind of booklist?"
She looks so small now that she is not fixing things and prepping a space station for refugees. Like she might cry if poked too hard or brushed with a stiff breeze.
She looks so small now that she is not fixing things and prepping a space station for refugees. Like she might cry if poked too hard or brushed with a stiff breeze.
from_scratch
"I mean, this was huge, so as large a list of books that exist as nicely organized as possible, but there shouldn't be any need to spend more than an hour or two collecting it and putting it on a datastick for me. Please don't be scared." He drops into a sort of nonthreatening squat, wings folded, tail still.
ask_nicely
"Okay," says Adana quietly. "I-I'm trying not to be scared but I have run out of things to distract myself with and now I'm - worried that I might die or get people killed or... Or..."
She sniffles a little, then looks away and rubs at her eyes. "A- A booklist I can do, that's - not bad," she mumbles.
from_scratch
"...I'm really tempted to hug you but that seems like it might do the opposite of helping. Considering."
ask_nicely
She looks at him like she is trying to dissect him mentally for answers.
"Go ahead," she decides, at last.
"Go ahead," she decides, at last.
from_scratch
He hugs her. Wings and all; he was deemphasizing them a moment ago but after you've had wings for more than a century leaving them out of a hug seems neglectful.
ask_nicely
"Okay," she says quietly. "I'm scared, anyway, because I don't typically - do things that are - this high stakes."
from_scratch
"Well, next time you summon me you can do it in a nice tidy circle and lay out all of what you want and what I can have for it in advance, if you like. Though I'd appreciate it if you went on letting me talk."
ask_nicely
She laughs a little. "Sure. It feels mean, to - not let you talk ever and just be 'Yes, summoner,' or 'No, summoner.'"
from_scratch
"Plus, when you get an at least minimally nice demon, it's not even safer, because it means I can't ask questions about any details you don't mention. Or suggest additions like the pinhole for gravity."
ask_nicely
Adana nods. "The pinhole for gravity was clever, thanks for adding it."
She is maybe still not at a hundred percent but - well, she's appeared to stop crying, at least.
She is maybe still not at a hundred percent but - well, she's appeared to stop crying, at least.
from_scratch
Cam releases her from the hug and pats her on the head a little, then rocks back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet. He's been barefoot all this time.
"You okay?"
"You okay?"