Prologue

“Are you insane?!”

Adam rolled his eyes playfully, tossing a casual grin to the table. He had gathered his friends and family to celebrate his 24th birthday, but used the opportunity to inform them of his plan and had braced for this sort of reaction.

“Please don’t,” his mother begged, her eyes wide from panic. “It’s too risky. A Little traveling alone, that close to Yamatoa. Please —”

“Look, I’ve done my research,” he calmly replied, putting his hands out to ask for calm at the table. His friends granted it, but his family was muttering and shaking their heads. “Goryeo is a safe place for tourists. It is the height of dishonor to kidnap someone visiting in good faith.”

“That’s what the Amazons say,” his best friend John muttered darkly, following up his comment by chugging the remainder of his beer.

“And it’s illegal,” Adam countered with a stern look at John, who rolled his eyes as he stood.

“When has that ever stopped an Amazon?” blurted John, throwing his hands out wildly as he approached the fridge and grabbed the entire six-pack of beers to bring to the table.

“What if Yamatoa invades?” his mother gasped, her mind racing with all of the possibilities of how this could go wrong. “What if your plane makes a landing there? What if –”

“I’ve charted my trip to avoid flying over Yamatoa,” Adam interrupted with a pleading look to his father, hoping he would jump in to calm her down. Unfortunately, his father only grimaced at him. “Hanseong has bunkers in case of an attack, which mirror the city above. Since I’ll be staying in a Little-friendly section of the city, the bunker will be just as Little-friendly.”

“Fine, you’ve got it all figured out,” his sister Lilith snapped in irritation, leaning forward on the table and glaring at him. She knew this tone – he was already committed; he didn’t make announcements without having the answers thoroughly prepared. He smiled at her despite her irritation, grateful she was skipping to the best part. “Here’s my question: why?”

“Joomi Ma is the genius of our generation,” he eagerly started, unable to hide the excitement on his face when answering. “She doubled the range of wireless power charging at the age of eleven! She invented tangible holograms by twenty! She’s been hidden away and producing for Goryeo for the last two decades – and Hanseong has exploded as a technological marvel and world superpower – that’s not a coincidence!”

“So?” Lilith snidely added, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. “What do you think meeting her will accomplish? You’ll magically get as smart as her?”

“Nooo,” Adam sighed as he looked up to the ceiling in frustration. “But she’s been hinting at wanting an apprentice for years now.”

“You really think she’ll take you in?” his sister asked aghast, shocked by his ego. “You?”

“I want to try,” Adam replied as his throat tightened, irritated at the implication, and shot a glare at her. But as he took in a calming breath, he took control of his emotions again and smiled, “And I’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

“So you – you want to move there?” his mother stammered, and the room winced, hearing her heart breaking.

“No, no,” Adam reassured her quickly. “I just need to make contact with her. Their tech would easily let me work remotely.”

“Is she an Amazon?” his father cut in lowly, his face tilted down, making his furrowed eyebrows appear to overtake his eyes.

There was a silence at the table. His friends looked uncomfortable, his mother’s face oozing with concern, and his father staring through him.

Adam swallowed.

“Yes.”