After the trunk of the SUV was fully unloaded, both parties were very happy with the trade.
"We hope you can come back in the future, it would be nice to see more people willing to trade around these parts", said the man.
For them, this trade significantly increased their quality of life for a least the next year, and they were very grateful.
"We will do our best to come back from time to time! Thank you for the chicks!", said Rayne. She placed the tray of chicks into the now-empty trunk of the SUV, closing the door. Enjoy exclusive adventures from freewebnovel
"Oh there’s one more thing I wanted to give you as a thank-you gift", she said and pretended to rummage through the backseat of the car.
"Oh please, no more gifts! We’re already on the winning side of this trade, anything else would make it feel like we’re robbing you!", said the man’s wife.
Rayne took a carton of cigarettes out of her system, pretending as if she fished it out of a box.
"Here", she said, tossing it to the short man.
The man instinctively reached out to catch it, only realizing what it was a few moments later. His hands shook as he looked down at the carton of cigarettes.
Even his eyes began to water, "Wow, I can’t thank you enough for this! I will cherish these!", he said wiping the wetness from his eyes.
After saying their goodbyes Rayne and Julian got back into her SUV to head back.
"Have you ever tried storing animals in your system? Do you think it would work with the chicks?", asked Julian curiously.
Rayne shook her head, "No, I’ve never tried storing a living thing before". A part of her was scared to try. It would be too heaven-defying if it worked. If she could store a living human and multiply them? Would they be the same person? Would they have a different soul?
There were too many questions, so she never bothered trying it. She looked over at the baby chicks, "Well maybe I can try it with them?", she asked, unconvinced.
"Only if you want to. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with", he smiled. He agreed with her hesitation as it would be a morally grey area.
Rayne reached to the back and scooped up a small, fluffy yellow chick. Holding it in her hands she used a finger to gently pet it a few times.
As she was petting it, she was thinking about whether or not she wanted to try storing it.
"Ugh, fine. It’s only a chick, at least I’ll know", she finally said, tired from the mental back and forth.
She closed her eyes and cupped the chick in her hand, giving the mental command to store.
Moments turned into minutes and nothing happened. There was no dull headache and no warm sensation in her navel.
After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked into her hands. The fluffy yellow chick was chirping like it had been, totally unaffected.
"Well, it seems I cannot. At least not right now? Maybe there’s a different technique? But from what I can tell, nothing happened", she said, filling Julian in on the details of the experiment.
A part of her was relieved that she could not do this, while another part wished she could for the convenience of it.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System