"They say the ENGINE chooses the worthy, finds the PRIME," Emily sang as she walked with Elijah.
Her feet echoed underneath the hardwood flooring while subtle baroque rhythms reverberated in the museum. Portraits of previous PRIMEs aligned the wall while statues stood center stage, bathed in natural sunlight. The scent of fresh citrus, perfume, paint, and Elijah's cigarette smoke lingered in the air. Emily's hands grazed over a portrait of the ENGINE staring down at a previous PRIME standing on top of a mountain.
"They say the ENGINE chooses the worthy, finds the PRIME. But I'm no PRIME," Emily sang as she glared at the depiction of the ENGINE.
Elijah exhaled a cloud of smoke and then flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Kid, you're the most pessimistic person I've ever met."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you expect, sourpuss... I'm a street rat orphan?"
Elijah shrugged and chuckled. "Not any longer, and I say you never really were."
Emily stopped walking as she raised an eyebrow at Elijah. "This mask changes nothing, and that is why if I can't escape the ENGINE, I will make sure it doesn't get what it wants."
"Well, at least you're just not assuming your fodder."
"Rachel and I teamed up during the pilgrimage. Strength in numbers in all that stuff."
"No surprise there."
Emily rubbed her hair and laughed. "Is it really that obvious?"
"As obvious as my cigarette addiction."
"Blah... that Shiyu woman is unfortunately tagging along. She won't leave me alone," Emily whispered as she saw Shiyu following her from a distance.
Elijah nodded as he lit another cigarette. "So is this the part where you try to recruit me to your merry party?"
Emily crossed her arms. "Kinda yeah."
"I'll think about it."
Emily's eyes widened as her heart sank. "Oh, yeah... um, that's fine."
Elijah chuckled. "I am just kidding, kid... lighten up. I was tagging along anyway."
Emily rolled her eyes as she sighed. "I will lighten up when I can get this stupid mask off my face. Like, how the fuck am I supposed to wash my face with this shit?"
"Good point, imagine getting an infection underneath that thing?"
"Gross... just like your smoking habit."
Elijah chuckled and exhaled smoke at her.
Emily waved the smoke out of her face. "You think you're funny? Oh, that reminds me, we need to pick up our clothes from Ashley."
Elijah nodded. "Where is Rachel, by the way?"
Emily shrugged as she stopped at a marble statue of the seventh PRIME—a grizzled, muscular man in a leather jacket and camo jeans. Resistance tattoos covered his arms while he wielded a heavy Gatling gun. Her eyes lingered on the golden plaque.
"Cameron Wallace, born in the small town of Avalanche, became the seventh PRIME in the year 700. He was an Ether miner and resistance fighter in his mortal life. We celebrate Cameron PRIME," Elijah read as he smoked.
"He looks cool," Emily said as she glanced up at the statue of Cameron PRIME. "He got the whole fuck the system vibe about him... except he became the system."
Elijah chuckled. "Damn... guess he really did. Ain't that some shit?"
"Or maybe the system became better?" Shiyu retorted as she crept up on them. "We can't get rid of the system any more than we can breathe in space."
"Or maybe we figure out how to do that?" Emily replied.
Shiyu laughed. "You would defy the sun, Emily."
"I'll defy the damn universe," Emily snarled as she crossed her arms.
"And that's perhaps why the ENGINE made you chosen."
"You talk about the ENGINE like it's some all-knowing entity and not some extremely powerful eyeball chilling in the sky. We just need to punch it really hard."
Elijah laughed. "Vivid imagination there, kid, but I would be more concerned about surviving the pilgrimage than trying to punch something you can't even reach."
Emily rolled her eyes as Elijah and Shiyu snickered. Her eyes drifted towards other statues as they strolled towards the exit. The faces of previous Primes burned into her memory as she glanced up at their faces, forever memorialized for the world to see. She rubbed her white mask, then sighed as melancholy crept up her spine like a slithering snake.
The warm afternoon air illuminated Emily's freckles as they exited the museum. Trees swayed in the wind as Leonore citizens gossiped and shopped at merchant stalls. Flower petals and confetti splotched the cobblestone streets while the scent of holiday spirit lingered in the air. Baroque music echoed down Main Street while people huddled around the chosen, hoping to bask in their magnificence.
"Which way to that seamstress? I want to check if your order is done," Elijah asked as he glanced around.
Emily gestured for Shiyu and Elijah to follow her as she headed down Main Street.
She groaned as she spotted Sarah at the seamstress stall.
"We meet again, Emily of Leonore. Funny how you fly around me like a moth to a flame," Sarah joked as she noticed Emily heading towards the merchant stall.
"More like you're a mosquito and I'm a bug zapper," Emily replied as she rolled her eyes.
"Now that was not very nice, Emily of Leonore, and here I was about to compliment you on your live cello performance."
"Wait, really?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You made that cello weep, Emily of Leonore. I must say we would make an excellent duet," Sarah replied with a smile as she purchased a garment from Ashley.
"I must also admit that was indeed a marvelous performance, Emily of Leonore," A baritone man chimed in.
Emily turned around, her eyes narrowed as she observed a young man with a mulberry colored mask. His coffee-brown skin complexion radiated in the sun's glow, while his long, black dreadlocks hung down his shoulders. She felt exposed beneath his grayish-green eyes, which stared back at her with stoic precision. Her eyes drifted away from his gaze as she fixated on his urban street clothes.
"Even the ENGINE listened," he said as he glanced up at the ENGINE in the heavens.
Emily raised an eyebrow, then glanced up at the slumbering ENGINE. "Wait, what?"
The man nodded but did not respond. His eyes fixated on Emily's body language.
"Well, the ENGINE really knows how to pick its chosen," Sarah said with wide eyes as she looked at the man. "Amos from the empire of Augustine. Looks like the pilgrimage just got more competitive."
"I see my reputation precedes me," Amos replied with a slight nod and a smile.
"I'm sorry, I do not know who you are," Emily replied, shrugging.
"That's fine, but you will."
Emily blinked slowly. "Is that a threat?"
"No, a promise."
Emily's eyes narrowed as she looked into his eyes, as he put his hands into his pants pockets and met her gaze.
"Peculiar," he muttered. "You don the white mask."
"What's your point?"
Amos chuckled. "Statistically, the white mask becomes PRIME more often than the other colors."
"Yay me."
Amos nodded. "I would love to see your attitude when you're the statistical outlier who doesn't become PRIME."
"I would love to see what your face looks like smacked against that wall," Emily replied.
Amos smirked, then looked up at the ENGINE before glancing back at Emily. "You're going to have to wait till the pilgrimage, he replied as he shrugged.
Emily sighed as Amos vanished into the sea of people. His words echoed in her mind as she rubbed the white mask stuck to the right side of her face. She then turned around and smiled at Ashley as her eyes glanced towards the star-speckled hoodie hanging behind her.
"Sorry about the wait. Glad you're back, chosen," Ashley said as she focused her attention on Emily and Elijah.
"How is Emily's outfit coming along?" Elijah asked as he lit a cigarette.
Ashley clapped her hands and smiled. "It is done and even, and I even made you a new jacket, even though you said you didn't want one. "
"That wasn't necessary."
"Perhaps, but I am increasing my odds of dressing the next PRIME," Ashley explained as she pulled out a dark brown leather jacket.
Elijah picked up the jacket and examined the many pockets woven into the fabric, and then the insignia on the right sleeve. "I am honestly impressed. Not too heavy and feels very durable. What is this made of?" He asked as he took off his weathered utilitarian jacket and put on the jacket Ashley crafted for him.
Ashley waved a finger. "I am glad you like it, but I can't be revealing trade secrets. All I can say is it's not just the materials and fabric that make a good garment … It's about the stitching."
Elijah nodded as he put his cigarettes into his new coat pocket.
"Sarah was one of your customers as well?" Emily asked.
"She is a regular, actually. I craft all her outfits. Leonore has the best seamstresses in the world after all," Ashley explained, then grabbed the hoodie hanging up behind her. "For the future Prime," Ashley said as she handed the hoodie to her.
Emily smiled and removed the protective plastic over it. Her eyes widened as she clutched the oversized black hoodie sewn with durable but light designer thread and stitching. Ashley's insignia adorned the hoodie's cuff. The black thread featured subtle speckles of stars woven into the fabric that could be mistaken for accurate astrological patterns of the very cosmos. Emily felt like she was wearing the night sky as she slipped the hoodie over her head. The hoodie's warmth washed over Emily as it clung to her skin, seeming to be designed just for her.
"I love it," Emily said as she hugged Ashley.
"Pleasure is all mine. You looked like someone who wouldn't like something I would have crafted for Sarah or Elijah," Ashley replied.
"Perhaps I should request your services myself," Shiyu said.
Ashley looked Shiyu up and down and then nodded. "I think I can whip something up for a Sage. Come back tomorrow if you are not heading out for Reunion Day by then."
"What's reunion day?" Emily asked.
"It's when the ENGINE beckons all chosen to make their way over to where the previous PRIME lived before they ascended," Shiyu explained.
"Can we just say no?"
Shiyu shrugged. "Technically... but you won't meet your competition and would be at an extreme disadvantage."
"Don't care."
Elijah chuckled. "So you're just going to stay until Leonore and do what?"
Emily shrugged. "Probably sleep, to be honest."
"You're going. I want to see who else we've got to deal with," Elijah stoically replied.
"Same," Shiyu added with a nod. "Also, the ENGINE just might turn you into a Hollow if you ignore the call."
Emily sighed. "Fine, whatever," she replied as she gazed up at the ENGINE.
"It's the thread pulled tight," Ashley sang as she helped another customer. "And I am the needle's bite. Piercing through chosen skin. Stitch by stitch, I dress. For I am the Seamstress."
Emily's eyebrow raised as she listened to Ashley sing as she worked. Goosebumps formed on her pale skin as the lyrics lingered in her mind like an ominous melody. Inspired, she pulled out her notebook and scribbled down lyrics before walking down the road wearing the clothes she had made for her.