A/N: Hey, fam. This is the last update for the Inyanga's Star and Other Constellations book for a while. I am about to mark it as complete and submit book 1 to the Wattys, and the series will be on hold for a while.

I don't have a completed story ready, but there's one more piece to share with you before these characters take a haitus.

It's a future part of Bay's Star, just to show a sneak preview of where it is going. Bay's arc has been on my mind for some time. Her first episode ends with a really unethical choice to test whether she can get away with stealing from the till, by pinning it on Impala. A few scenes and pieces are missing to click this into place, but I hope you will enjoy what's here so far. She's one of my favorite characters because even I don't know how she will turn out. Will she keep making choices that hurt others, or will she find a way to survive in this world without compromising morality? Please let me know what you think of the story 💜

Bay's Star Episode II – Continued

A surveillance officer needed an office, or so Bay had argued.

The boss lady's office wouldn't do, Bay had argued, because doing the job would distract Yue from hers. Yue had paperwork and managerial work to complete, and all the action and noise from the surveillance replays would make it hard to get much done.

The office Yue had conjured as an addition to the Cloud was not the first protuberance on its otherwise spherical body. Other modular additions included escape pods (as per bylaw 19-2020SE), a new pizza forno, a smoking lounge for performers (separate from the dining area as per bylaw 6-2018SE), and an enclosed solar patio for pets (only service animals were permitted inside as per bylaw 31-2011SE).

The office was a tiny pod. A small bubble, it provided Bay a secure place to download a week's worth of surveillance footage into her brain in a split second, then lock the door and take a good dose of story.

The knock on the door of Bay's surveillance office came precisely on time. A good sign of obedience. "Come in," said Bay. She had only been awake for a few minutes. The Story she kept taking was getting better and better. Only when she felt fully restored to her senses had she unlocked the door with a command of the Stellar tablet — too lazy to get up just yet, but wasn't that the entire point of modern magic?

Amber came in with a tray and closed the door behind her a mano. The waitress gave Bay a sarcastic bow, the only rebellion she was willing to risk. Bay kind of didn't mind. Even if it was sarcastic, it made the service feel all the more fancy. "Did you get the matcha crepe cakes?" asked Bay as the smells of pan hot leavened naan and spiced mulligatawny soup reached her nose.

"You don't want dessert served at the same time as hot soup," said Amber. Good point.

"Is Impala bringing them?" Bay licked her lips as the platter was placed in front of her, steaming rich aromas her way.

"Sure, let's go with that." Amber took a seat across from her, picked up a spoon, and asked, "Anything else I can do for you, highness?"

Bay dipped some naan in, almost just burning her fingers. Amber took a spoonful from the same bowl and started to blow on it. "I'm thinking we should discuss next steps, right? This can't go on forever. But ideally it would. If Yue's going to keep me on the surveillance job, every once in a while I'm going to have to actually aid her in her loss prevention efforts. Right? I'm going to have to give her someone, just like I had to give her Ocean in order to get this gig. If I'm not giving her Ala, or you, who am I giving her?"

Amber swallowed and said, "The new hires," with a tone that said, obviously.

"Sure, but we don't want to establish a pattern. We can't throw a new hire under the bus every time. Every once in a while it needs to be an OG. There's only so many of us, but we can include the chefs, the lift technicians, the cleaners, delivery magicians, and anyone who could potentially gain access to the Stellar. Anyone I can incriminate by subtly suggesting that they can get away with taking cash from the register, then show Yue the footage later. And maybe any time someone's going to quit anyway, we accuse them of theft. Maybe we find a way to prevent people from actually losing their jobs; only report on people Yue doesn't want to lose, like the top chefs; or turn people in for smaller offenses, like meal theft. Better to turn the same people in multiple times. More sustainable."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'm thinking eventually, though, when it comes down to it, I won't be able to protect both you and Impala. At some point, there will come a day when one of you will need to take the fall. I wanted to let you know well in advance."

"It's going to be me, claramente," said Amber. "You love Ala, and she's giving you Story at a discount. How can I compete?"

"Hey, that's why I'm giving you a heads up. I'm giving you a chance to come up with something. Already I like your punctuality, and the menu items you snatch for our meals together are delicious. In order to really have you beat, Ala would probably need to provide me with the Story free of charge. And who knows, maybe you'll have something better to offer." Bay licked her lips, glanced out the window, and asked, while gazing away, "Say, didn't you have an aunt who works in admissions at magician's college?"

"Sure do. And she likes to be greased. A hundred thou up front," Amber said, fast. Leaning back in her chair, Amber put her feet up next to the empty soup bowl. "It may sound steep, but for the cost she includes a recommendation for a good bursary. With the tuition savings there, it practically pays for itself in four semesters."

That was easy.

"And what cut of that is yours?" said Bay.

"30 percent." Aha.

Bay didn't say "Aha" out loud. Her narrowed eyes said it.

"Thirty percent for me, and on top of the job security previously on the table, I want out of this arrangement."

"Arrangement? You don't like our lunches?"

"The food here's too decadent. Yanyu and I ate at Extra Leaves every day until this started. If I'm going to live forever, I'd rather eat lean and spend less on health care spells. And don't say I could be stealing meals here for free instead of shelling out on mundane veggies. I believe in old fashioned non-magical nutrition, it's worth it to eat healthy in the first place."

"Suns, I thought I twas being nice, letting you eat with me when you're serving me."

"We make this deal, I won't be serving you anymore."

"So I take it the crepe cakes aren't coming."

Amber groaned. "I'll bring them on my next break."

"So Impala is. . ."

"Probably tired of being blackmailed into socializing with you on her time off. Just like me."

Rude. Possibly also true. "I didn't call you in today to socialize. I called a meeting. To gain input on how to move forward."

Amber placed her feet back down on the floor. "It sounds like you have everything under control." She stood and picked up the platter.

Bay leaned into her seat back and bounced in it a couple of times. "Bring the crepes after hora noventa," she said. "I want another two Story sessions this aft." She opened the drawer where she kept her stash. Empty. "Stars damn it, get Impala for me. How did I run out already?"

Another sarcastic bow and a, "Yes, your majesty," and Amber turned and left. Bay bounced more in her chair. The second she was alone she got so bored. No work to do, no one to talk to. She could start her admittance essay, her application, or work out her budget, calculate how much she could undercut the offer to Amber's aunt — but she needed time to get into any of those things, and she didn't want to stop when her Story got here — except that she did want to stop the second her Story got here.

Because she wanted to take the Story.

She felt drowsy after eating, and she wanted to take the Story as soon as she got it, and there would be time later. There would be time after her two scheduled Story sessions and the crepe cakes.

There would be time, there would be time.

Where did that Story go? Tapping her fingers on the desk, with nothing better to do, she wracked her brain.

Six were left last night, she remembered. Today she had taken two so far. Couldn't possibly be out yet, and she paid a good two thousand solidae for the batch of six halfers. Four left. Had Amber robbed me? Into the drawer again, flip through pages, dip fingers around the edges, gone gone gone, Amber stole them, where else could they be? How did she do it? Thoughts racing Bay grabbed the whole drawer and turned it upside down, dumping the entire contents on her office floor.

Four spherical little pills went rolling in four different directions. One straight ahead toward the door, one left, one right, one back behind her rolling to a stop at the sheer rose hanging curtain.

Bay just barely had the discipline — and dignity — to locate all four before she locked her door and settled into her desk chair to pop one in her mouth. The pill had nothing on Yue's delightful dishes. It tasted like dust, both of chalk and of the dirt and dead skin particles on her floor.

Bay's Star continues. . .