Their eyes widened the moment they set in the mirror. Kai just kept on staring at the black leather shirt extending into a tail divided in two, at how the tiny window on their chest was molded enough to let some of their dark skin shine through, and yet be unable to tell whether that's a 'woman' or a 'man'. The white shorts really modeled their legs so well—almost like the jeans back home—and the aluminum sandals were actually comfortable, feeling more like some brand-new slippers.
Kai let their hair hit on their shoulders while holding the beanie in their hands with trembling fingers. For the first time, having it down didn't make them feel any less… a person.
"I like the past," they said.
They went turned around to see their back. The tail made their legs look shorter, and yet, when looking at the front, they looked longer. A tiny giggle interrupted the silence as they went through the hall.
"Damn, even walking feels great in this!"
It took them about three more steps before stumbling on a loose tile on the floor. As they hit the floor Kai stifled their scream and went back to look at the mirror. A huge smirk on their face made their heart flicker as if someone had struck it down with a fist of iron.
"Dad would like this too…"
Kai stood up, wiped the dust off of their legs, and turned to the staircase. Jarek wasn't coming down, so perhaps those guys wouldn't do it at all. Not that day at the very least. Which meant…
"I'M GOING TO VISIT THE BRACELET LADY!" No one answered, they giggled. "Don't follow me and please use protection!" Silence.
They squared their shoulders and left the building as fast they could.
Back in the city, a warm wind welcomed them. Dry air with hints of bread baking at the distance, just like they needed. For a while it was everything but at the same time, it was filled with nostalgic tears of memories long since locked. Back when Baine took care of them, when he said they'd grow to be an amazing agent, and now…
"Now I'm going rogue…" They giggled.
The streets were a combination of sand and broken stone, buildings all rotting and or destroyed blowing away with the wind just as much as dust when someone cleans. Kai took a turn to the right at the decaying pink building before going forward and stopping at the center of the town.
Right there was a building with glass for walls, black metal holding each piece together, and spotted with silver where the paint had runoff. It must have been five stories tall, and though the top was broken, the other floors seemed rather intact. Yet, the thing that took Kai's attention was the signal at the very front.
"Oak." They read. "So is this the beginning of time travel?"
But they kept on walking. Across the street, past the building, and onto the next ones. There they took a left turn and continued straight. Not a single building seemed complete, and the few that did, had no doors so you could rest assured they were burglarized ages ago.
Finally, a couple of empty spaces in front of them, there it was. A store with a blue tent over, protecting from the sun, the aluminum signs shining at their eyes, and the hologram letters making their heart flutter: PRONOUNS BRACELETS.
Kai ran as fast as they could. They stopped once at the store. It only had a single wooden table with a few things on top to showcase what was on sale. Behind the desk were various boxes, all with the bracelets in different colors but all with a tiny word on top 'they/them'.
"Wow…" Their eyes were shining, and their hands closed around the table in a fist. They were standing on their tiptoes and the smile on their face as big as their cheeks could allow.
And yet, the sudden murmur of Xavier's voice came back, laughing and mocking the bracelet. The flutter calmed and the blush on their cheeks went away as their feet completely touched the ground.
"I'm here for work!" They said, shook their head, and waited.
One minute.
Oh, there was some ant-like thing walking on the wood!
Two.
Wait, no, those are more like baby larva… of what?
Three.
Hold on, how could there be larva in a dry climate like this!
Four.
Maybe it was a new species?
Five.
Nope! Those are definitely over-evolved ants! Just look at those tiny bodies!
Six.
Wait no… ants don't have webs, do they?
Seven.
Fuck! That's a spider! It's a spider! A spider! Their first time seeing a spider and stupid Jarek is stuck with Janitor-guy!
Eight.
Welp, the spider must be dead now, it ain't moving!
Nine.
Do spiders move all the time…?
"Are you gonna order something?" Kai flinched and stepped back before lifting their gaze. They had to gulp.
Harry was way prettier in person. Their dark skin was shining under the sun, their black braided hair ending in a ponytail with aluminum decoration here and there made her look even better and then the clothing! Her blouse was a lot like Kai's in the sense it hid whether there were breasts or not under there, but Harry's was closed and pure black. Her pants were beige, her sandals went so well with the light-blue nails and then the pronoun bracelet on her arm.
"Amazing…" They said.
"Want a picture or sure I just charge by the hour you stare?"
Kai gulped once more before recoiling. They made a side smile, raised an eyebrow, and leaned on the wooden table.
"I dunno, which one gets me a date with you?"
Harry raised both eyebrows before eying Kai. Their throat closed. They fucked up, didn't they? But Harry gave back the half-smile and walked behind the desk. She grabbed the spider—it moved so it couldn't be dead—and placed it on top of one of the boxes before coming back.
"Buy me a couple bracelets, I'll go on two!"
"What if you don't like the first one?"
"Then you'd better plan the heck out of your last chance, hotshot!"
Kai felt their head become lighter. They shook their head. Work. They had to get to the bottom of Xavier's murder one way or another! Yes!
"I'm Kai."
"Harry, she/her," she pointed at her bracelet.
"Oh," they felt a nod on their throat. Harry tilted their head, and the nod went away. People here presented themselves with pronouns? "They/them…" They scratched the back of their head. "I mean, those are my… mine… my pronouns."
"Great!" She answered and turned around to grab four bracelets. She placed them on the table and looked back at Kai with a smile. "That'll be thirteen bucks!"
"Thirteen?" They took a closer look at the bracelets. Nothing much about them, other than the bracelets had a hologram for letters. "Seems affordable, are you—"
"Affordable?" Harry cackled. "Where are you from? How do you get money!"
"Right, the second moon's not there yet."
"The second what now?"
Kai smiled back at Harry, "I'll give you twenty if you tell me where would someone get copper?"
Harry rolled her eyes. "Make it thirty and I'll still go on that date."
"You weren't going to anymore?"
"Anyone asking for copper has some business with Oak and I ain't getting into that, got it! I already found a body today, I don't want no more!"
_Right! She found the body!_
"Deal!"
"Good, then pay!"
Kai blinked before going through their pockets. Surely the machine would've printed some money, right?
Wait, this time it was all digital! Right! So, on their phone, the cash-app should work! So they took it out, went through the apps, and landed at the very last one to send Harry thirty dollars. Then went back a couple pages to click on the 'lie detector' one, see if what Jarek programmed actually worked.
"Alright, then. Shall we talk?"
"I really think you should look anywhere else, but your money seems good," Harry put her phone down. Still with the big two-thousands ones, huh? To think the paper-thin ones would be out in a couple years… "What exactly do you want to know?"
"Where do you get it, how do you pay for it, if anyone sells it or those deals with Oak, what are they? Everything like that."
"Well… I used to get it from the mine right under Oak, but those guys took over it like the town belonged to them. We used to have rain, you know? It's been a decade since the last one. Anywho, I get it now from them, I was the only one selling the mandatory bracelets and they didn't seem to want trouble, so I don't have to pay."
"What?"
"Yeah, I think they give me their scraps though. Can't imagine a world-wide enterprise like that giving anyone free copper."
"What exactly does Oak sell?"
"Nothing." She shrugged her shoulders. "They just took all the copper, brought in their machines and some town-people, but no one's come out. Their security is super high, so no one gets in. I just get my bracelets because of our tiny deal, but they hand it to me over a window, so I don't even enter the building."
"Right…" Kai nodded. "Thanks!"
They grabbed the bracelets and put one on. The bracelet shone brighter, and Harry laughed a couple times before getting closer.
"Pick me up tomorrow morning."
Goosebumps went up Kai's spine. "Y-yup!"