There was always Tracey’s offer to pay for the cost through Agent servitude. It seemed like a reasonable solution for now. Jioni closed her eyes. It was just another quick solution that would cause long-term suffering down the line. Everything at once became hopeless by the second.
Then reality set in as she saw the rows of empty bookshelves, the smell of mildew, and then volumes of dusty, damp, old books. Not a single thing was new; everything was worthless and replaceable. She left from the side of the door and looked somewhere else in the area.
“Ok, so something old is fine,” Jioni said. “But it has to be shiny, valuable, and in good condition—and that’s nothing in this room, at least not in a long time.”
Her search continued. She looked in every nook—maybe something would appear between the floorboards or in the walls, anywhere, but nothing came of it. The hunt became pointless. Jioni didn’t want to go to Outergen anymore—but she needed to—but every time she thought about it, she saw Brandon’s concerned look, and her heart immediately broke. Jioni cupped her hands on her face for awhile, then continued to search for something that wasn’t there.
