Page 65 of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

“And that cord,” Painter was saying, “is mine?”

“Yup!” Design said. “This won’t cut it. Don’t worry. I’m just lengthening it, and also checking it for problems. I couldn’t think of much else to help—sorry, I’m incorrigibly useless at times. It’s in my Pattern. But at least this will give you a longer leash, so to speak.”

“What is she doing?” Yumi whispered to Painter.

“She’s making it so that we don’t yank each other around,” he explained, “when we get too far apart.”

“Technically you will still do that,” Design said, “but the distance you can go before it happens will be much greater. I can probably get this to several blocks in length without risking any degradation to your Connection.”

That sounded like a good thing, although something about it felt…regretful to Yumi. All these years, she’d been alone. Selfishly, a part of her had liked that there was someone who couldn’t leave her by herself. She shoved aside such impious emotions.

“Painter,” she whispered. “Do you know about this launch the others are discussing? A ship? Sailing the sky?”

“Oh, right,” he said. “Yeah, it’s more like a bus that rides hion into the sky. They’ve been discussing it for years. Off to…” He sat upright, then smacked his hand into his face. “I’m an idiot. It’s going to your planet, Yumi.”

“So?” Design asked. “Nikaro. You’re not going tosneak on board,are you?”

“What? No!”

“Oh,” Design said, sounding disappointed.

“It seems like a strange coincidence, doesn’t it?” Yumi said. “That I should come here mere days before your people send explorers to my world. It could mean something.”

“Wait,” Design said. “Are yousureyou’re from that other world, Yumi?”

“No,” she admitted. “It’s Painter’s theory.”

“I kept noticing the star,” he explained, “on the day when the swap happened. And, I mean, it makes sense. Her world, Design, has this enormous ball of fire in the sky!”

“Most do, Nikaro,” Design said. “Like, practically every world but this one.”

“They do?” he asked.

“Yup.”

“Do they all have heat?” he asked. “From the ground?”

“Heat from the ground?” Design said, looking to Yumi, who nodded eagerly. “No, that’s really strange.”

“Could I be from some other place onthisworld?” Yumi asked.

“We surveyed the planet before coming here,” Design said. “I didn’t pay enough attention, so it’s possible—but I think the entire thing is covered in the shroud.” Design shrugged. “The theory that you’re from that other world—the one that orbits with this one strangely nearby—is solid. You could be from somewhere farther out, I guess, but Connection on this level rarely spans that distance. It was, for example, super hard for me to leave my homeworld, given my Connection to it.”

“Did you…see anything about that world in the sky?” Painter asked. “Before coming here?”

“Afraid we didn’t stop there,” she replied. “Heat from the ground, you say?”

“Yes, and plants that fly!” Painter added.

“Neat!” Design said. “Well, I might be able to confirm it to be sure. Your spiritweb’s Connection to your world will be fainter than the one sticking you two together, so I can’t see it without help. Hoid had some device somewhere in our luggage though…” She shrugged. “Give me some time. I’ll try to dig it out.”

“Regardless,” Yumi said, “that group of people traveling from here to the other planet—probablymyplanet—might be involved in all of this.Thatmight be why the spirits have done what they’ve done.”

“I thought you were sure our swap had to do with that machine,” Painter said.

“They could be related,” she said.

Painter, remarkably, nodded slowly.

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