Sister Cities

Part 17: Ekko

I wanna contribute to the chaos

I don't wanna watch and then complain

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I know I'll have a lot of people I need to get through when I get back from scouting, and I think I can handle it until I see them, all covered in smiles and frowns and question marks. At that point I tell them I'm sorry and race up to Vi's room too fast for them to catch up.

Jinx is being watched by Tei, who looks like he's gonna explode. When he sees me, he salutes and runs like I did from everyone on the ground. I don't blame him.

Jinx grins and waves at me from her cot. "You look like you've been trampled by a swarm of bees," she says.

"Can I bring you to my room?" I ask.

"Oh boy, a field trip? My leash is over there."

I put it on her and uncuff her hands. She skips after me to my treehouse, blabbering about the songs she sang for Tei and how he was so annoyed that he "screamed and cried on the floor." Somehow, I find that part hard to believe.

I point her to my desk chair, hook her leash to my bed frame, and bring my face paint to the mirror. It's not gonna do anything for our position, but it makes me feel more steady. "I was wondering if you'd help me with something," I say.

"Depends how much fun it is," Jinx says.

I point to the top left corner of the desk. "Those are the comms we took from Sixteen. I got new cords on them, but since they were disconnected, there's some sort of code or mechanism in the way of getting on any of the enforcers' wavelengths. I glanced at it last night, but I couldn't crack it."

"You want to talk to the enforcers?"

"I want to listen to them."

Jinx snatches one of the devices up. "You've come to the right place. Give me an hour."

"Thanks."

She hums. "Did you get any dirt on Sevika?"

"Maybe. I'm still figuring out what I heard."

I'm not, really— I just don't want to tell her, at least until I've carefully chosen my words. I don't think she's listening anymore, anyway. She's perched like a pretzel in my chair, bending over the comm with a magnifying glass she took it upon herself to borrow.

I finish my face paint and sit on my cot with the first copy of what will hopefully be ten windcatchers. The development she made on the original was ingenious, something I would have never thought of, and Heimerdinger probably wouldn't have for another six months. It's gonna make it so we can collect twice the power we planned on.

"Thanks," I say again.

"You said that."

"I know. I'm just— surprised, frankly, that you've been so willing to help us out."

She shrugs without turning.

"Do you not see us as your enemies anymore?"

"I like creating tech," she says.

"But you think Silco's good, and his opponents are bad," I say. "We're his opponents."

She shrugs again and causes an electric sizzle in the space in front of her that I can't see.

"Were you happy?" I ask.

"When?"

"With Silco. With that life. I could never really tell."