Danielle and her roommates finished their tour of the necessities store back where they’d started, in the fashion aisle. Some girls were excitedly collecting makeup and nail polish, but Danielle stuck to a pair of nail clippers, a tweezer set, and a metal nail file (“good for filing anything, not just finger nails”). Sadie did the same, while Heather added a tube of lip gloss, a bottle of red nail polish, and an egg-shaped two-pair pack of nylon stockings. Danielle had opinions about the value of those items, but she kept her mouth shut – they were small.

  The line for the jewelry counter was almost backed up into the corner by then, so it only took a few steps to be in line. Normally, the locked cases near the door had a number of other higher-value items; electric razors, curling irons, perfume. Some of them were still in there, but they’d all been moved to the far end to make room for a larger than usual volume of low-quality jewelry, some of which was normally not even kept in the case. Danielle supposed it was there now because of the extra limits placed on it by the Sending Authority.

  As they got closer to the front of the line, they could see the selection. It wasn’t anything to write home about, which was to be expected; necessities stores didn’t normally carry any really expensive jewelry. They had a certain amount of gold-looking stuff which almost certainly wasn’t real gold – at the prices listed, it couldn’t be more than the thinnest gold plating at best.

  A depressing amount of it (from Danielle’s admittedly biased perspective, anyway) was also Systemist-themed. The Systemists called their places of worship “temples of the elements” because they believed that the System was organized around six elements: Fire, Wind, Water, Wood, Stone, and Metal. Each one, naturally, had its associated color. Fire was a deep red – technically, infrared, but usually represented by something a little more human-visible. Wind was bright green, water predictably blue, wood was usually a darker or more nature-y green, stone was orange, and metal was bright yellow. Jewelry with six stones, in that set of colors, was extremely common, because Systemists made up nearly half the population.

  Danielle didn’t really want to wear symbols of another religion, but gemstones, regardless of rarity, had an important second reason for people to value them since mana had spread across the earth: enhancements could attach to crystals, imbuing them with System abilities like shielding or lights or seemingly impossible stretching of the space inside a container without stretching the container itself. Wild enhancements, formed by the System without the intervention of human enhancers, could do even more exotic things, sometimes incredibly valuable, other times merely strange. The larger and purer the crystal was, the more mana (and more complex structures) it could support. That meant that even laboratory-made gemstones could end up with magical abilities, and thus become incredibly valuable, if they were worn long enough – and the higher the ambient mana, the sooner ‘long enough’ would come. That was, obviously enough, the reason why the SA was springing for gemstone jewelry for all the Sent.

  Here in Nelson’s, Danielle doubted any of the crystals would be better than tier 2, and most would be tier 1, the lowest grade that could support enhancements. Nelson’s didn’t sell anything that already had enhancements on it, either. They were exceedingly unlikely to have any natural gemstones, but for enhancement baiting purposes, that was just as well; natural gemstones tended to have faults and inclusions and flaws in the crystal lattice. Lab-made was better for holding magic; natural was usually better only for collector’s items.

  That meant that a necessities store’s most popular items came in three categories: lab-citrine “shield” pendants, with their color association with Elemental Stone, were every mother’s pick for children because they could attract safety enhancements such as barriers, Skill-like shields, and damage resistance “buffs.” They were the most likely to be higher tier stones; and even a casual attempt to listen in on the line showed that everybody and their cousin wanted one, or was at least considering one. For the half of the population that believed in Systemism, however, six-element themed jewelry was also a strong contender, and there were several options along that theme. Technically, six-element jewelry would also contain a stone-orange crystal, but it was likely to be smaller. On the other hand, it would also have five more crystals on the same piece. Finally, there was of course jewelry intended for gifting to spouses, courtships, and dating partners; this could be any color, but having a real crystal in it enhanced the value. It was, however, annoyingly likely to be heart-themed. Danielle hoped she wouldn’t have to settle for one of those. Wearing hearts around would definitely invite teasing, and wild enhancements wouldn’t form on the jewelry if she wasn’t wearing it.

  As they inched toward the front, Sadie commented, “Lots of Systemist stuff, but I don’t see any of your kind of crosses. Not even Healer’s crosses, really.”

  Danielle sighed. “Healers probably avoid jewelry at work, so it won’t get blood and snot and who knows what else on it. As for Christians, um, a lot of people feel strongly that crosses shouldn’t have crystals in them, because they don’t want the System touching a symbol of God. I think they’re being a little silly, but since a lot of Christians feel that way, cross jewelry is usually carved wood, or ceramic or something. Metal sometimes, but never with gemstones, unless it’s either older than mana, or specially commissioned by someone who isn’t afraid of letting a cross control a piece of the System.”

  “Hey, just because a carving of an old-religion symbol with a gemstone in it got a wild enhancement, that wouldn’t mean it was controlling a piece of the System!” a boy behind her interrupted.

  “See that?” Danielle said, hooking a thumb at him but talking to Sadie. “That’s the problem. Christians say the System is just another created thing, like mountains and the ocean and, I don’t know, weather and stuff. Systemists like to say that the System is a god, though, and that an enhanced cross belongs to their god now, and stuff like that; and that’s why there’s no Christian jewelry with gemstones in a store that sells cheap, mass-produced jewelry that needs to be popular with massive chunks of the population. I might find something in the non-jewel section.” The boy made an annoyed sound at her.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Are you going with a mother’s shield then?” Heather asked. “That’s what I want, for sure.”

  “I don’t know, I’m kind of eyeing that bracelet with the plates,” Danielle said, lowering her voice. “It’s kind of ugly, but there’s two little gems on every plate, and yeah, it might be six plates but – well, that’s twelve chances to get something good instead of one. Besides, if someone went all mana-crazy, well, that thing looks like it might actually turn a blade. As practical jewelry goes, it’s the best thing I’m seeing.”

  “Hm. You have a point about the six colors, six crystals thing,” Sadie said. “Maybe I’ll get one of those pins with the six-colored star thing. It’s bigger crystals, and like you said, that many more chances to get something good.”

  Danielle nodded. “Any idea what you want for your non-gemstone item?”

  Sadie shrugged. “Probably just a plain chain – something chunky, so I can use it to hang stuff.”

  Heather sighed. “Forget practical, I’m going for something pretty. I may as well get one thing I just like from this rotten shopping trip!”

  Eventually, the three of them got to the front of the line. The store employee there was a grandmotherly woman with gray hair and a kind smile. “Do you know what you want, dear?” she asked Sadie.

  Sadie chose exactly what she’d already pointed out; a pin with diamond shaped, six-elements themed quartzes, arranged in a star. It was essentially the symbol of a temple of the elements, but Sadie didn’t care once the utility of it was pointed out. Her other choice was a chunky gold-looking necklace, though when she called it “that gold necklace” to the old woman, she was gently corrected, “It’s aluminum bronze dear – not a trace of real gold in it.” Since Sadie wanted it to be sturdy, she didn’t care about that either, so her turn went fast.

  Heather got a mother’s shield pendant shaped like a teardrop, with a large enough lab citrine that Danielle thought it just might be tier 2; a good choice, all things considered. Then she held up the line choosing her “just pretty” item, finally taking a “gold” (aluminum bronze again) ring stamped with a flowering vine and enameled in green and white.

  That brought Danielle to the counter. “So, um, I’ve been eyeing that plate bracelet,” she said. “Are the gems in it big enough to attract enhancements, though?”

  “Oh yes, dear,” the woman said seriously. “Anything we can sell to Sent as a crystal-bearing item, we guarantee to contain real crystals, no plastic or glass, and all at least tier 1.” She picked up the bracelet Danielle had pointed out, and checked its label. “Yes, these are lab-sapphires in various colors – you know the difference between lab-sapphire and natural sapphire, dear?”

  “Um, lab-sapphire is naturally clear, and they add all the different colors, just like with lab-quartz,” Danielle said. “Natural sapphire is the same base mineral but with a specific color.”

  “That’s right, dear; mostly blue, and natural gemstones with the same mineral but red colors are called rubies. The marketing people at the crystal labs just didn’t think ‘corundum’ had quite the same ring to it, so they insisted on calling it all sapphire and it stuck. These are lab sapphires, certified tier 1, in what they call true-element colors; that means the clear ones are really frahni – that’s a particular shade of infrared, but it’s also the particular shade of fire-themed enhancements. Likewise, the greens are chosen to best exemplify the System’s preferences for wind and wood enhancements, rather than for purely aesthetic purposes.”

  “Do we need the sales pitch?” the nosy Systemist boy behind her asked.

  Danielle huffed. “It so happens that some of us think it might be useful to learn about how crystals attract enhancements, now that we’re going Outside,” she said. “You’ll get your turn, give me five minutes to listen politely to the only person trying to actually tell me useful information!”

  “I’m so glad you’re paying attention dear, but I suppose we really should get a move on. Did you learn enough to know if this is what you want?”

  “Yes please,” Danielle said. “I’m not sure about the other one either, though. I kind of want something that might, um, also help protect me from, uh, thorns. Or whatever. I don’t suppose there’s any kind of solid-ish bracelets like this on that side?”

  “I’m sorry, dear, the closest thing I have for that is probably watch bands, and that’s a bit of a stretch.” The woman reached behind her to bring over a selection of watches. Some of them were very sporty, with rubbery-looking bands; others had leather bands (or fake leather, more likely) and looked like they were possibly meant to go with work clothes. Danielle was most interested in the ones with metal plates that used alternating top and bottom facing connections to make them stretchy or springy.

  “Can I try on one of those?” she asked, pointing to one with a hands, rather than a digital display, and a face decorated in her favorite color of blue, with a pearly finish.

  “Certainly,” the woman said, sliding it off its plastic display stand and handing it to her to try on. She glanced at the base, and said, “This one is water resistant to 25 feet, and has a light-absorbing feature to help keep the battery topped up; it’s an excellent choice for someone who won’t be able to replace it for a while.”

  Danielle chuckled. “You really are a bit of a salesman, huh? It fits pretty nice – a little big, maybe, but like you said, I won’t be replacing it for a while.” It wouldn’t fall off her wrist, but it wasn’t exactly snug, either; it was held on by the fact that her hand was wider. Still, that was what she needed, right? Something she could grow into?

  “I admit, I normally have customers that need a few more details to make a decision,” the woman said with a wink. “If you like it, I’ll just give you one in a box. Don’t forget a backup battery – they’re on the shelf behind you there, at the very end.”

  Danielle glanced back at the shelf behind the line and spotted the battery section. “OK, sure, give me one in a box, and I’ll dig out the user manual so I get the right battery.” She handed back the display watch.

  “Excellent. One moment,” the woman said, putting the display model back on the stand, and returning all the watches she’d brought over to their place on the far side of the ring of displays. She turned back after a bit of minor rummaging and presented Danielle with a box bearing a photo of the same watch. “Go ahead and pull the battery protection strip while you’re here in store, too; make sure it starts ticking!”

  Danielle nodded and moved aside with a mumbled “Thank you.” She unboxed the watch, putting its product code dutifully in her envelope along with the tag from the bracelet. She pulled the little piece of plastic that kept the battery from running down in the box, and the watch started ticking quietly; setting the time was so easy she didn’t actually need the little folded up instruction sheet. She got it out anyway to confirm the battery size, then put an extra battery in her hip pouch along with the watch and the bracelet. Then she finally walked back past the jewelry counter (where the impatient boy was dithering over his own non-gem item after choosing a copy of the same six-elements star pin that Sadie had taken).