Todor set on the ground in his backyard, cross-legged and with eyes closed. He was trying meditation as a way of 'learning his True Name', even though he had no idea what that meant. But no matter how hard he tried to clear his mind and calm his thoughts, something intruded making his efforts fruitless.

Cassandra actually went to work today, Mab's mother returned from her trip so little squire was scarcely around too. So that left Todor alone with a bit of time to try to figure out cryptic advice of the No Terror's memory. Just a weekend left before I have to start working, damn it. I need some ace in the hole.

Someone knocked on the glass-paned door behind him. He got on his feet and turned to look at the visitor. Apprehension dissipated as soon as he recognized who it was.

"You doing that yoga thing I heard ladies at work mentioned?" Irry asked with a grin.

"Something similar, I am trying to figure out my True Name," he said nonchalantly.

Irry's face went blank for a second before she looked at Todor.

"Be careful with that human magic thing. It can be very, very dangerous."

"I know Irry, I know. But I have to try. I am a constable now. I have to be powerful enough to protect people," he said, a tone of desperation and fear making his voice husky.

"That is why I brought this," she said displaying a wooden box in her hands.

"A box?" he mumbled confusedly.

"No silly, the orbs you asked of me. Remember?"

Ah, my idea of powering force field of my coat with magic, he thought, recalling the concept he briefly envisioned. So much happened I forgot about that.

"Great, wanna hang around while I try this thing out?" he asked taking the box from Irry.

"Sure, maybe I can help if you tell me what you want," she said moving a lock of blonde hair from her eyes.

"I had an idea to power my coat and railgun with this orbs because batteries are crappy. Or maybe these things need a lot of juice so no battery can keep up with them."

Irry cupped her chin and nodded twice.

"I see, I see," she said thinking. "I wonder why no one else thought of that? We use them to power our golems but you need initial mana charge to jump-start the mana-ether reaction inside of them."

Todor stared at her blankly. After a few seconds of silence, he rose his hands in the air.

"I have no idea what you just said."

"It's easy, you see. Fire orbs work by creating a vortex of mana and ether which in quite a neat way create electricity. But like all things, it's not one hundred percent efficient. Orb is not perfect container so mana eventually fades and it loses its power," she explained animatedly.

Todor's shoulders drooped.

"Damn it, I hoped it would make electricity indefinitely," he complained.

Irry laughed and clapped him on the back.

"Why would you think such a stupid thing? You can't just make energy from nothing," she said giggling.

"Well, it's magic," he replied sheepishly.

"It doesn't work that way. You can replenish the orb with that box though when it gets depleted," she added.

"This is not my imagined 'Perpetuum mobile', ultimate defense, and attack monster card. But I guess it will enhance my chance of surviving. Wanna try to help me with this?"

"Perpetu what? And of course but I only know of magic devices, have no idea about your mundane gadgets," Irry said energetically.

"That is the part I need the most. Come," he said grinning and waving for her to follow him.

They went to the garage where he set up a improvise work table with tools and his coat spread open. He ignored the empty space where his Renault four used to be.

"Nice coat. Is this is that thing which is enchanted with technology to give you barrier?" Irry said in awe.

"Yes, here on the spine of the damn thing is a battery. It's flexible and gives enough power to stop two or three shots depending on how much power they have."

"First magical barrier amulets were the same. But barriers don't require much magic and have a weakness."

"You can smack your enemy with a sword," Todor said nodding. "Yes, this can stop blades, arrows even thrown rocks. Anything that radar detects on time, turns the force field on. I have been testing it on and off these past few days while I was free."

"Testing it at home is not same as testing it in battle," Irry said passing her palm over the smart fabric of the coat.

"It saved my life when those cult assassins with golems attacked me," Todor said wincing at the memory of his rampage. Ezezu sent a calm wave of emotions and Todor opened himself for them. Which helped calmed him down.

"Alright, so, you need thunder produced from this orbs to charge the battery when needed," Irry said grabbing her hair and tying it with a string. "Let's get down to work."

They spent hours testing and trying different approaches. When the night came they had a lattice of nanowire programmed to hold the orb under the fabric. Small transformer made out of alchemy regulated current which charged the battery quite well. I bought that transformer hoping it can be usefully for returning the internet, he mused as he fired up a diagnostic program in the coat. The systems programs reported stable current so they took the coat and brought it to the backyard where Todor hang it on the oak tree that grew there. Todor put glasses that controlled the coat and turned the system on manually since the shield wouldn't turn on by itself unless worn.

"Do you want to take a shot?" Todor asked Irry giving her his Jolt special pistol.

"Sure. So just shoot at the thing?" she asked unlatching the safety and aiming. Todor nodded as he observed her long fingers gripping the guns handle.

Irry fired, gunshot echoing around them as the force field shield flared bluish light. Seeing the protection from the outside Todor noticed small hexagonal lines at the point of impact, like a web of honeycombs made of light.

"Wow, you told me it works but I couldn't really believe that a barrier can be made without an ounce of magic. I feel the orb mana-ether vortex in that thing, but the barrier is undetectable with sorceress senses," she said lowering the gun. "No wonder apelings managed to surprise both Morgs and Anadori in Three Banner War."

"Yes, we apelings are smart cookies," Todor said smiling. "Shoot twice more to see if the program works with the orb recharge function."

She nodded and aimed again firing two more times. The shield flared again stopping the killing projectiles. Todor watched as the battery level dropped to three percent then slowly rose to five, fourteen, twenty, twenty-eight. It took only ten seconds for the shield to recharge enough to stop the next shot. So, once the shield drops I need to not get shot for the next ten seconds at least. Half a minute for the entire shield to recharge back to full strength.

"How much magic did orb lose in one battery recharge?" Todor asked almost giddy with excitement.

"Around a quarter I think. You know, this is the first time in the history of this world that technology of this level is paired up with the magical device of such high caliber." Irry said grinning. Todor never saw her with her hair in a ponytail like that. She looked almost ... serious if Irry could be serious at all. She gave him back his pistol carefully double checking the safety. "If the Anadori high counsel knew of this they would send an assassin for your head themselves."

"I hope you will not tell them, Irry. I need some form of protection since all of a sudden everyone wants a piece of me," Todor said solemnly.

"Especially that Morg girl of yours. How is going with you two?" Irry asked with an almost leering smile.

"It's great. We are having so much fun. Facing death together created something between us. Maybe it's just basic psychology and it will fade soon," he shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you love her?" Irry asked slowly.

"I ... don't know. But I definitely like her more and more each day," Todor said honestly.

"Good for you, buddy. A new important job, a girl that you like," Irry said wistfully. "You are far cry from the strange shut in I grew to know and like."

"What about you? We haven't seen each other that much these past few weeks since I left the factory," Todor asked as he retrieved the coat from the tree.

They slowly walked back inside, Todor turning off the light that illuminated his backyard, night reclaimed it right after.

"I have been busy. I have to leave the jam factory as well. My mother is getting ... extremely annoying since my grandpa went back to Anadori lands. He told me to say hello to you before he left, by the way," she stopped talking as they took a seat on the sofa. "And he said that I should make you go visit one of the seers."

"Why?" Todor asked. It's not that thought didn't cross my mind but ... "You told me that seers are not reliable."

"They are not, I shiver every time I remember the words seer told me. But Felixsos is an old bird, knowing something that can save your life can only be useful in his mind."

The main door opened and Cassandra strolled in.

"Can you guess what happened to me? I got a letter from Wendy, she says she is fine and that I don't try anything stupid," Cassandra stopped talking as she saw Irry seated across from Todor. "Hey there knife-ears, you came to watch a movie with us?"

"You two don't mind me butting in like this?" Irry said glancing from Todor to Cassandra.

"I don't mind, the more the merrier," Todor said shrugging.

"Well I asked you, that means I want to get to know you," Cassandra added with a toothy grin.

They ate dinner in the living room while Irry rummaged through his DVD and blue ray collection of movies between the bites. The data storage devices such as those became much more important since there was no way to stream movies and tv shows anymore. Although even when he could have back on Mother Globe, Todor felt better having a physical copy as well. They finished with the dinner when Irry jumped to her feet waving one of his DVD's.

"What kind of movie is this?" she said jumping up and down like a little kid.

"Star Wars? It's a cult classic. Well more cult than classic to be honest," Todor replied jokingly. "Have we seen it together?" he asked Cassandra and she shook her head.

"It is happening out there, in the void?" Irry asked, eyes glittering.

"Yeah, it's in the name," Todor said smiling.

"What's the big deal with the void?" Cassandra asked absentmindedly.

"Irry has a thing for space," Todor explained.

"I am surprised no one else has a 'thing' for space," Irry said offended. " You apelings managed to go to the Moon! With technology! It's incredible!"

So they watched Star Wars: Episode IV. Irry was simply transfixed with it. When it ended she jumped to her feet.

"That was amazing! Is there more?" she asked as she turned to Todor.

"There are like ten more movies, animated tv shows, books, comics, video games. It was a cult like I told you," Todor said surprised at her vigor.

"Oh, we she should do this more often," Irry said with her eyes glinting, "I wonder if such a sword is possible, hmmm?" She trailed off stroking her chin.

"Are you contemplating making a lightsaber?" Todor asked unable to stop a smile spreading across his face.

"What? Oh, maybe, but I think those blasters would be more practical, like that dashing rogue said," Irry said seriously before she shook her head. "Sorry, I got carried away. I'll be going now, but we must watch the sequels next week," she added before taking a deep breath. "Stay safe you two. And try to dip your toes into human magic slowly. Oh, and I talked to the governor about your roommate, Cass. She will do everything to keep her safe."

Cassandra nodded before she grabbed Irry into a hug.

Todor and Cassandra were left alone, dumbfounded by strange Anadori woman's reaction.

"No wonder they call her black sheep of Sunhawk house," Cassandra murmured as she fell asleep on the couch.

Todor smiled as he glanced at the sleeping woman. His couch was her favorite place to sleep for some reason. He had an entire house with larger and more comfortable beds but she would just drop there and start her melodic snoring. What a strange, strong, beautiful creature, you are, Cass, he pondered while he admired her.