The Marvels

Ep. 32 | AMS

"I need a noun, an adjective, and another noun," Vidya said.

"Tofu, hot, onion."

Vidya twisted around on the couch to give David a look, surprised by how confidently he'd come up with it. "Alright, then," she said, filling in the blanks of the Mad Libs sheet. "After hiding the painting in his tofu for two years, he grew hot and tried to sell it to an onion in Florence, but was caught."

He clapped. "Publish it!"

Vidya laughed and tossed the booklet onto the table. Aisha was out somewhere, so it was just the two of them at the greenhouse dome, wasting their time with stupid jokes. It was fine; she could think of worse ways to spend the time, and with worse people.

"Could you come over here?" David asked. "The new security's glitching, and I need you to scan again. Try the other hand this time."

Vidya rolled off the couch and went over to his worktable. As the tablet scanned her hand, she eyed the array of mysterious, half-finished projects. Taking up the most space was a foot-diameter, two-foot-long tube of metal with wires connecting it to the generator that powered the dome. She tilted her head to look inside it, but shadows obscured whatever features lined the inner surface.

"What is this?" Vidya asked, brushing her finger against the red button on top of the tube.

David winked. "A surprise."

"What's it for?"

"It's a surprise," he repeated, laughing. "What I can say is that this will be one of my greatest inventions...as soon as I figure out how to make it portable."

It looked too heavy to be portable, but David was brilliant, and he'd figure it out. Vidya wouldn't be surprised if she came tomorrow to find it already done. She moved down the table and found two hand-sized cubes of metal with hinges on the sides, as if they were each meant to close around an object. These were also heavy, weighing her down when she picked one up.

"What are these?" she asked, opening it at the hinge. The insides were flat; if something was meant to fit between the halves, he hadn't carved out the shape yet.

"That's nowhere near done...and it's also a surprise."

Vidya sighed. "Is there anything you can show me?"

David laughed and then tapped his arm, encased from elbow to wrist in a sort of black armor. He tapped it again, harder this time, and the armor opened up into a small shield. "It's not as cool as an ice shield," he joked, "but it's the best I can do."

Vidya snorted at the pun.

He smiled. "Why don't you throw some ice at it? I want to see how it holds up."

Vidya nodded and backed up, forming an icicle in her fist.

"Don't hold back," he said, extending his arm so that the shield was as far away from his body as possible. "Hit it with everything you've got." He grinned. "It's for science!"

Vidya obliged and closed her fingers around the icicle, reforming it to have several sharp tips instead of one. She aimed for the side of the shield, not wanting to hurt his arm along the center, and threw it, propelling it forward with a blast of frost. The ice whistled through the air and shattered against the target, but some shards embedded themselves in the shield, sending cracks through it. David twisted his arm around so she could see the tips of ice poking through the other side.

"Needs some work," he murmured, but he looked pleased with it.

"Happy to help," Vidya said, and she took a little bow.