A breathtakingly beautiful but disheveled scientist who looked like he belonged on the cover of a dystopian fashion magazine.
And trailing behind them, squeaking loudly with every step, was a tiny girl marching with the severe posture of a military drill instructor.
Because she was walking on her own, Dia suddenly had unrestricted access to the third-floor merchandise. And she fully intended to exploit it.
"System," Dia muttered quietly as they passed a high-end designer shoe store.
"Target acquired. The stiletto heels."
[SYSTEM: Host! Why do you need stilettos? Your tiny feet are the size of baked potatoes! You will break your ankles!]
"Pretty."
[You are five.]
"Pretty."
[You can’t walk in those.]
Dia frowned.
"I don’t need to walk in them."
She looked at the heels.
Then at the empty mall.
Then at the heels again.
"They can be weapons."
[...OH.]
Dia nodded solemnly.
"Take them."
[SYSTEM APPROVES THIS LEVEL OF HOARDING!]
A faint shimmer filled the air.
An entire rack of five-thousand-dollar designer stilettos vanished into her spatial Ring Pop.
Adrian glanced over.
’The elongated carbon-steel heels can be repurposed as improvised lockpicks or projectiles in a close-quarters combat scenario. Hoard them.’
A faint shimmer filled the air as an entire rack of five-thousand-dollar designer stilettos vanished into her spatial Ring Pop.
Adrian, noticing the sudden absence of the shoe display, chuckled. "Stocking up on weapons, little scout?"
"Affirmative," Dia replied, not missing a beat.
Dia nodded.
"They are pointy."
Adrian considered that.
"Fair."
Dia immediately spotted something else.
"Those!"
Adrian followed her finger.
"Bath towels?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"They’re soft."
Adrian blinked.
"That’s it?"
Dia nodded.
"Soft things are important."
Then she thought about it.
"And they can clean blood."
Adrian nodded.
"Okay. Take them."
Poof.
An entire tower of Egyptian cotton towels disappeared.
Silas, leaning heavily against Adrian, watched this happen with wide eyes. "She... she’s a spatial ability user? A child? But the mana required to maintain a dimensional pocket of that size..."
Dia thought for a moment.
Then held up her Ring Pop.
"With this."
Silas stared at it.
"...That explains absolutely nothing."
Dia smiled faintly.
"Good."
Silas looked at Adrian.
"She’s terrifying."
Adrian grinned proudly.
"She’s full of surprises, Doc," Adrian said proudly.
"She’s got a magic pocket, magic stickers, Infinite snacks."
Dia corrected him.
"Not infinite."
Adrian looked down.
"Not infinite?"
"Not yet."
Adrian burst out laughing.
"...and a serious attitude problem. I’m Adrian, by the way. Adrian Pendelton. Vanguard Base, Sector 4."
Silas stiffened. Everyone in Sector 4 knew the name, Adrian Pendelton.
The Thunder God.
The Reaper.
A man known for absolute ruthlessness and uncompromising military might.
Yet, here this terrifying warlord was, walking at a snail’s pace to accommodate a toddler, cheerfully allowing her to steal decorative hand soaps.
"Silas," he replied cautiously, his icy green eyes calculating. "Silas Thorne. National Medical Research Institute. Or, what’s left of it."
Adrian whistled low.
"Thorne. I’ve seen your face on the pre-apocalypse broadcasts. The genome prodigy. You were trying to crack the cellular decay of the virus before the government fell. No wonder someone tried to gut you. Information like yours makes you a very valuable target."
Silas tensed, his body going rigid against Adrian’s side.
He had been betrayed by his own security detail, stabbed and left to bleed out because a rival faction wanted his research and his uniquely mutated blood type for themselves.
He fully expected Adrian to demand his research right here and now.
He expected to be taken prisoner.
"Don’t worry, Doc," Adrian said casually, feeling the tension in Silas’s frame.
"I’m not interested in your lab notes. I just needed to clear the third floor before I take my kid shopping."
Silas blinked in pure bewilderment.
’His kid?’
He looked down at Dia.
The girl was currently standing in front of a shattered jewelry kiosk, pointing a tiny finger at a massive, ostentatious crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Uncle Adrian."
"Yeah?"
"That."
Adrian followed her finger.
Dia’s eyes sparkled.
"Can we take it?"
Adrian looked at the chandelier.
Then at her.
"What are you going to do with it?"
Dia thought.
"Make a laser."
Adrian nodded.
"Of course."
"The refractive properties of that glass could be utilized to create a focused laser array if paired with Uncle Adrian’s electrical output," Dia calculated aloud.
"System. Hoard the chandelier."
’CRASH-POOF.’
The massive light fixture detached from the ceiling and vanished mid-air.
Adrian shook his head, laughing.
To Adrian, it felt like the little girl was experiencing the world for the first time.
She looked at everyday objects not as a child would, but with an intense, calculated curiosity, as if she knew the molecular breakdown of a toaster but had never actually seen one toast bread.
"Alright, that’s enough hoarding for one floor, you little loot goblin."
Dia puffed out her cheeks.
"But it’s pretty."
"We’ve got enough pretty things."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Dia crossed her arms.
"You’re mean."
Adrian grinned.
"The escalators to the fourth floor are right there. Up we go."
The escalators to the fourth floor were frozen.
The manual climb was agonizingly slow.
Dia’s legs were too short to clear the steep metal steps efficiently.
She had to hike one knee upward, grab the grooved metal step with both hands, and pull herself up.
After three steps, she stopped.
She looked upward.
Then downward.
Then upward again.
"This is hard."
Adrian, carrying Silas, patiently took one step for every three of Dia’s.
"You’ve got it."
"My legs are tiny."
"I know."
"They’re tired."
"I know."
"They’re five years old."
"I know."
Dia sighed.
"Can you make the stairs smaller?"
"No."
"Can you carry me?"
"No."
"Can you make Silas walk?"
Adrian looked at the doctor.
Silas looked offended.
"I am walking."
"He’s already doing his best."
"I can walk on my own," Silas muttered, his pride taking a hit. He was a dignified researcher, not a damsel in distress.
"Shut up and lean, Doc. You look like you’re going to pass out," Adrian replied bluntly.