Jollies squeezed Alex’s finger and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. “We should probably get going and get fitted, though. Whoever it is probably won’t be nearly as sweet as Primrose was.”
“That’s true. I’m going to have to make sure I don’t attack them.”
Jollies and Alex went down to the dragonriders’ tailoring department. It was not the same place Alex had originally gotten her cadet uniform. Apparently, they were completely different departments.
Alex was glad she had listened to Jollies’ advice about leaving early. It took them both a long time to figure out where the department was. By the time they found the door, it seemed like they had been wandering around the Nest for the last two hours, although after checking her watch, Alex knew that wasn’t the case.
Jollies placed her palm on the datapad that appeared in front of the two girls, and the doors to the department whooshed open. The room was bare of any decoration. There was no one there, either. The only feature was a glowing blue circle on the floor that was giving out an ominous humming sound. “Hello?” Alex called. “Is anyone here?”
A mechanical voice answered Alex. “Hello, Alex. I’m glad you made it to your fitting. Please step into the circle so I can adjust your credentials and armor to official dragonrider status.”
“Er, who are you?”
“Why, I’m the tailor. I’m an AI program created by the Nest to facilitate your uniform requirements. Do you have any more questions before we begin?”
“Uh, yeah. Can Jollies go first?”
“Certainly.”
Jollies’ jaw dropped as Alex stepped behind her and pushed her forward toward the circle. “By the gods, are you serious? I just told my parents how brave and caring and understanding you are!”
Alex laughed as she pretended to force Jollies into the circle. “I still am all those things,” she whispered to Jollies. “But I’m also prudent, and not sure I’m trusting enough to obey a disembodied voice just so I can get a new suit.”
Alex stopped pushing Jollies once the pixie was close to the ring. “I’m just kidding, Jollies,” Alex said reassuringly. “I’m going to go first.”
Jollies was gripping her chest and panting loudly. “You had me fooled!”
Alex stepped into the blue circle. “Ready whenever you are,” she said.
The tailor responded, “Commencing armor and credential upgrade.”
A bright light shot from the ceiling, creating the illusion that Alex had been encased in a blue tube, and the color of her armor started to shift. Within seconds, it was the red of the official dragonriders’ armor. Then the light died.
The tailor said, “You may step out of the circle now. Jollies, please step into the circle.”
Alex jumped out of the circle and patted her roommate on the back. “Doesn’t hurt,” she said encouragingly. “Go for it.”
Jollies slowly flew into the circle, grumbling under her breath as she eyed the ceiling suspiciously. The same blue light shot down, and Jollies’ armor changed to red to match Alex’s. Jollies flew out of the circle after the light vanished.
Alex walked back to the circle, uncertain of where she should address the voice. “Thank you!” she exclaimed. “Can you tell us about the upgrades we got?”
The tailor answered in its monotone voice, “Predominantly, your upgrades are to the way your suit interacts with your central nervous system. Your physical abilities have been augmented, and you are able to access more information and menus in your HUD. Thank you for stopping by.”
Alex and Jollies made their way to the door. “Well, that was kinda weird,” Alex said.
“’Kinda’ isn’t the right word. Come on, we gotta go to the stables next.”
Finally, Alex thought. She was really looking forward to telling Chine about the upgrades and even more excited to see what he was getting.
When Alex and Jollies arrived at the stables, Tribble was walking between the two dragons who were up on their outfitting pedestals, Chine and Amber. Chine smiled down at Alex when she walked into the stables, and Alex felt a warm glow wash over her.
Tribble walked up to Alex and Jollies and nodded gruffly. “All right, let’s get you ready,” she grumbled. “Hope you got some idea what you’re picking.”
Alex did a double-take that made Tribble grumble louder. “So, you didn’t read the email we sent?” Tribble asked.
Alex shook her head and avoided Tribble’s eyes. “No, I-I mean, we get hundreds of emails a day,” Alex explained. “It’s hard to keep track of which ones are important and which ones should go in the trash.”
“You got me there,” Tribble admitted. “If there’s one thing I want Myrddin to fix around here, it’s the communication. None of us like being flooded with emails about what’s going to be on the lunch menu. Not important.”
Alex walked farther into the stables, approaching the platform Chine was lying on. “So, what are we supposed to do?” she asked.
Tribble came after her and pointed to the console on the platform Alex was standing on. “Your new dragonrider credentials give you access to the different weapons configurations you can use with your dragon. They were pretty basic before since you were just cadets.”
Alex thought back to the armor and weapons Chine had worn the last few times she had ridden him. They did seem pretty basic, just lasers and rockets. Now that she thought about it, that tech paled in comparison with everything around her.
Chine sat up and yawned lazily. Looking forward to seeing how you would like to engage in battle, Dustling. Choosing weapons is more than just how you want to blow something up. Certain weapons provide you with different tactical options.
Alex turned to ask Jollies a question, but the pixie had raced off and was gibbering to Amber, who was fluttering her wings nearly as fast as Jollies was. They seemed to be a good energy match.
Instead, Alex turned her attention to the console in front of her. She activated it and looked through the menus and options.
