Chapter 101: Put Her Name Down

Alexandra finished putting the equipment away before allowing Liam to stand. She took the heavier bag herself, leaving him with the screwdriver and his phone, then checked the bench once more before switching off the light. Outside, the air had cooled enough that she pulled her jacket closed while they waited for Clara. Liam watched her search through her bag for the car keys before remembering that she had agreed to leave the Flying Spur and eat with them.

“You can still drive yourself.”

“And have you complain that nobody wants to sit with you?”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You were thinking about it.”

Liam smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him carefully, keeping away from the brace, and stayed there until the Bentley turned into view. Clara lowered the window, looked at the bag Alexandra was carrying, and nodded with obvious satisfaction.

“Good. He listened.”

“I was outnumbered before you got here.”

“You usually are.”

They ate near the apartment, and for most of dinner Liam managed to keep his phone in his pocket. Alexandra told Clara about finishing the recorder repairs, then spent several minutes explaining why she didn’t want to start another project simply because the bench was empty. Clara understood that better than Liam expected. She had assignments waiting, dance practice to attend, and an apartment that still needed things she kept discovering only when she tried to use them.

“Like what?” he asked.

“A laundry basket.”

“You bought an apartment and forgot a laundry basket?”

“I remembered the apartment. That was the expensive part.”

Alexandra laughed, and Liam let the conversation move on. By the time they returned, he felt less inclined to answer every problem before sleeping. Alexandra collected her things and headed back, while Clara went straight to the shower. Liam placed the screwdriver’s cradle on the table and spent ten minutes practicing the three instructions before putting it away. There was no reward panel, but it returned correctly each time.

He stopped before he became impatient enough to ruin that.

The next morning, Clara found him sitting at the kitchen table with the screwdriver resting beside an empty cup. His notes were open in front of him, although he wasn’t reading them. He had told the tool to wait, then spent the last few minutes checking messages and letting his attention move elsewhere. It remained where he had placed it, even when he imagined calling it over.

“Is it behaving?”

“Better than yesterday.”

“Should I be worried that you’re saying that about a screwdriver?”

“Probably.”

She put breakfast beside him and sat across the table. Liam gave the next instruction without reaching through the connection to move it himself. The tool rose, approached his open hand, and stopped just above his palm. He shifted the empty cup away from its return path, waited a moment, then sent it back to the cradle instead of the spot beside the cup.

It hesitated.

Liam kept the instruction clear.

The screwdriver turned, crossed the table, and settled into the cradle.

A green panel appeared before he could smile.

[Side Mission Complete: Teach the Sentient Omni Emerald Screwdriver to wait, approach, and return without direct movement control.]

[Reward: Basic Tool Coordination.]

[AMPLIFYING THE REWARDS BY 10,000X…]

[NEW REWARD: God Tier Tool Coordination.]

Liam straightened as the knowledge settled into place. The connection didn’t become louder or stronger. Instead, he understood where he had been making it unnecessarily complicated. He had been mixing the result he wanted with constant corrections, sometimes giving the tool a direction and pulling it somewhere else before it had finished responding.

Now the difference felt obvious.

[Improves precision and timing when coordinating with compatible tools. Does not increase the tool’s power, operating range, or available energy.]

‘Fine. I’ll take being less fucking confusing.’

Clara watched him lower his hand.

“You got something.”

“Tool Coordination.”

She looked toward the cradle.

“Can it wash dishes?”

“No.”

“Then we still need the dishwasher.”

Liam laughed and returned to his breakfast. After eating, he tested the skill with an empty cardboard box on the floor. He gave the screwdriver a clear destination inside it, let the tool choose the short path around the chair, then recalled it while picking up his notebook with his good hand. Both movements finished without the little pause he normally needed to separate them. He tried again with the chair moved and stopped after the third attempt.

The wrist remained injured.

The screwdriver still drew on him when it moved.

But he no longer needed to spend the whole movement correcting something that already understood where to go.

By late morning, he had finished class and was walking toward the exit when Megan called. He stepped away from the flow of students before answering. She sounded tired, though the careful stiffness from the hotel had eased enough that she complained about an assignment before explaining why she had called.

“Are you free this afternoon?”

“I’m meeting Alexandra later. Before that, yes.”

“Yeji wants to see me.”

“The audition?”

“Yeah.”

Liam stopped beside the door.

“What did she say?”

“That I’ve ignored two messages and she isn’t putting my name down unless I answer her.”

“Then answer her.”

“I did. That’s why I’m calling you.”

He could hear movement around her, followed by the sound of a door closing. Liam waited while she found somewhere quieter. He hadn’t heard her mention Korea during everything with Rudolf, but the opportunity hadn’t disappeared simply because the rest of her life had become difficult.

“Do you want me there?”

“Yes. But don’t tell her everything.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t offer to pay for the whole thing before she finishes speaking.”

Liam looked down at his phone.

“People keep giving me that instruction.”

“Maybe think about why.”

She ended the call before he could answer.

‘Wonderful. They’ve started sharing notes.’

He met her outside the practice room shortly after lunch. Megan had brought a folder, a bottle of water, and the expression of someone who had prepared several explanations and disliked all of them. Liam took the water while she checked her phone, then handed it back when she realized what she was doing.

“How’s Granny?”

“Resting. Clara went over after dropping off my things.”

“And the appointment?”

“I spoke to them yesterday. I told them about Jim, the calls, and the papers.”

“Good.”

“It didn’t feel good.”

“I know.”

Megan looked at him for a moment before putting her phone away. He didn’t ask her to repeat the conversation. Erto already had the documents, and she had spent enough time explaining Rudolf to people who needed dates and names. She had asked Liam to come here for something else.

Yeji opened the practice-room door before Megan could knock.

“There you are.”

“I said I was coming.”

“You also said you were replying yesterday.”

Megan accepted that without arguing and followed her inside. Liam stayed near the wall while Yeji cleared a chair with her foot and handed over a printed sheet. There were notes beside several names and a short list of things each person still needed to provide. Megan found her own name quickly.

There was no mark beside it.

“I’m not asking you to decide your whole life today,” Yeji said. “I need to know whether you’re still trying.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then we can work.”

She took the sheet back before Megan could start explaining. Liam felt a small amount of appreciation for her immediately. Yeji asked which song Megan intended to use, what she had prepared for the dance portion, and whether the recent café performance had changed her choice. Megan answered the first question confidently, hesitated over the second, and reached for her folder when Yeji asked to hear the opening.

“Now?”

“You brought it.”

Liam took a seat while Megan put her things down. Yeji moved a few chairs out of the way, checked the music on her phone, and told her to begin with the dance. There was no audience to impress and no introduction to hide behind. Megan took her position, waited for the count, and started.

The first section was clean.

Liam had watched her move before, but sitting this close made the difference between practicing and performing easier to notice. She knew where every movement belonged. Her timing stayed steady, and she covered the space without checking the floor. Then she reached a transition, glanced toward Yeji, and shortened the next step.

Yeji stopped the music.

“Again.”

Megan returned to the starting point.

“From the beginning?”

“From where you stopped trusting it.”

Liam leaned back and kept quiet. Megan tried the section again. This time she finished the turn properly, but rushed the movement after it. Yeji demonstrated the timing once, then made her repeat it until she stopped trying to correct everything at the same time. By the fourth attempt, Megan looked irritated enough to forget about being nervous.

The next one worked.

“There,” Yeji said. “Keep that.”

Megan took her water from Liam and drank without sitting down. Her cheeks were warm, and the tension in her shoulders had changed into the ordinary strain of practice. He handed her the towel she had left inside the open bag.

“You’re enjoying this.”

“A little.”

“Traitor.”

“You did ask me to come.”

She gave him the bottle and returned to the cleared space.

They moved to the song after a short break. Liam expected her to choose the safest piece, something she had sung often enough to perform without thinking. Instead, she took out the page from their recent set and placed it on the chair in front of her.

Yeji glanced at it.

“Yours?”

Megan nodded.

“Then let me hear you.”

Without Liam’s guitar beneath her, the opening sounded more exposed. Megan noticed it too. Her first line was careful, but she settled before the next one, allowing the phrase to finish instead of rushing toward the part she felt certain about. Liam could remember the rehearsal versions, the words she had replaced, and the argument over an ending she had once thought was selfish.

She kept that ending.

When she finished, Yeji took the page and read through it before handing it back.

“Use this for the practice recording.”

Megan looked toward Liam.

He smiled, but let her answer.

“All right.”

They spent the next half hour choosing the section and recording a rough attempt. Liam held the phone when asked, made sure Megan stayed in frame, and resisted every urge to turn the room into a production. There was no need for lights, a hired studio, or a new microphone before she had even watched the first attempt.

She watched it once.

Then she asked for another.

The second was better.

By the time they finished, Yeji had written beside Megan’s name. It was a small action, barely worth noticing from across the room, but Megan watched the pen until it lifted from the paper. She collected the list of things she still needed to prepare and put it carefully inside her folder.

“I’ll send you the next recording.”

“Before I chase you.”

“Before you chase me.”

Outside, Megan stood beside Liam without opening her phone immediately. Students passed them on their way into the building, and somewhere behind the door another track began playing. She looked down at the folder, running her thumb along its edge.

“I nearly told her no.”

“Why?”

“Because it felt stupid to think about this while everything else was happening.”

Liam shifted his bag higher on his shoulder.

“You’ve already spent enough time on what Rudolf wants.”

Megan remained quiet for a moment. Then she took out her phone and opened a message.

“What are you doing?”

“Confirming.”

She typed before showing him the screen.

Put my name down. I’m preparing for the audition.

Liam nodded, and she sent it.

He walked her back before heading to Alexandra’s workshop. When he arrived, the lamp was already running and the notebook lay open beside it. Alexandra glanced at the time, then at him.

“You’re on time.”

“I’m experimenting with it.”

“Keep doing that.”

He sat down, placed the screwdriver’s cradle away from the live equipment, and took out his notes. Alexandra turned the notebook toward him to show the readings she had collected so far. Before she began explaining, his phone vibrated with a message from Megan.

It was a photograph of the list.

This time, her name had a mark beside it.