Spectra: The Eternity Vault

4 | The Warning

"Thank you, come again!"

Val waved off what was very likely the last customer of the day, they were set to close up shop in just a few minutes now. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he leaned over his work bench and took a few moments to simply breathe, giving himself a brief respite after the day's labor.

Note stood over by the counter, collecting credit cartridges from their register and adding them to their income total of the day. Val raised his head, watching her as she tapped on their gaunt and performed the calculations. When it seemed that she'd finished, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. "So ....?"

She gave a sigh of relief. "We've met our quota for the day and then some. On track to pay rent at the end of the month."

He tiredly pumped a fist in victory. "That's the best news I've heard all week."

"No kidding. Maybe you can actually sleep in for once."

He actually snorted at that, shaking his head with a chuckle. That thought led to another thought, however, one that had been crossing his mind since Rila had suggested it. "Hey, Note?"

"Yeah?"

"I think ... maybe we should take a few days off. For Ascension Day, I mean."

Note froze midway through her cartridge collection, tilting her head up as though she hadn't heard him right. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, last night got me thinking," he explained. "It has been a while since we took any time for something other than scraping enough money together for rent. And so long as Rila's covering it ... a few days off from work wouldn't kill us, right?"

"You mean it?"

He was surprised to hear such blatant enthusiasm in her voice. "I take it you like the idea?"

"God, yes," she confirmed. "I'm just surprised you actually considered her offer. I mean, let's be honest, you haven't exactly been the definition of 'easygoing' over the last few months. Hell, I practically had to pull teeth just for you to agree to dinner last night."

He held a hand up, conceding. "Okay, fair. Don't expect me to throw a party anytime soon or anything, but I think a few days of relaxation would do us both some good."

"One of us more than the other, but yes."

Note began to pack the credit cartridges into a bag, preparing them for the journey to their local banking terminal for deposit. She stopped, however, as she heard Val clear his throat and she looked up to see him staring at her from his bench. "What?"

"One last thing we need to take care of." He gestured to his bench and then to her. "I got my exercise in today at work, now you need to get yours in."

She suddenly knew where he was going with this and rolled her optics. "Do we really have to do this right now? We both know it's going to be the same as it always is."

"We've got time. Come on, just a quick test."

Note knew that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Setting the cartridges and bag down in resignation, she walked around the counter and over to his bench. He reached for her forearm, grabbing the gaunt and slipping it off of her.

Setting it on the workspace, he stepped back and gestured at her to begin. "Okay, give it a shot."

She focused on the device as it sat there, inactive. Concentrating, she raised her right hand up, initially closed in a fist, then spread her fingers and flexed them outward.

Nothing happened.

The metal components of her face pinched together, narrowing the glow of her optics. She extended her fingers up, tightening her joints and squeezing as though an invisible fruit were being crushed in the palm of her hand. Finally, the barest glimmer of crimson light manifested from her fingertips.