Chapter 6 #2
She worked with startling speed. Her hands were capable and confident as they moved over components. She pulled tools from the engineers’ kit without asking, testing connections, checking…whatever she was doing, all while muttering to herself in her own language.
Vax stood next to me, arms crossed, eyes tracking Cleo’s every movement with obvious suspicion.
“There,” Cleo said after several minutes.
She’d removed an outer casing and was peering into the crystalline core of the system.
“The problem isn’t mechanical. It’s a feedback loop in the power distribution network.
See how this crystal is clouded?” She pointed to a component that looked identical to all the others, at least to my eyes.
“It’s not channeling energy properly, which is causing the system to shut down as a safety precaution. ”
“Can you fix it?” I asked.
“Maybe. If I can isolate the crystal and reroute the power flow through the backup channels.” She glanced at Korin. “You have backup channels, right? Most systems this sophisticated would have redundancy built in.”
“We…think so,” Korin admitted. “But we’ve never been able to access them.”
“Because you probably need to access the core programming first.” Cleo was already moving, pulling more components free with careful precision. “Which requires understanding the command language. Which I’m guessing is not D’tran.”
“It’s not any language we recognize,” Korin confirmed.
“Okay.” Cleo’s hands stilled for a moment, and she looked back at me. “This system is a relic, but it’s based on a process I have seen before. There’s something I can try that might fix it, but if I’m wrong, it could potentially damage the system further.”
“Do it,” I said, before Vax could object.
She nodded and returned to her work. I moved closer, ostensibly to observe, but really because that pull toward her was too strong to resist. My marks burned hotter as the distance between us decreased.
Cleo’s hands moved with absolute focus, adjusting components, testing connections, making minute changes to the crystal array.
She wasn’t trying to sabotage anything. That much was obvious from her careful movements, her muttered calculations, the way she triple-checked everything before committing to each adjustment.
She was genuinely trying to fix our problem.
“There,” she said finally, and pressed something deep in the system’s core.
The purifier made a sound that built from a low vibration to the steady thrum we were all accustomed to hearing. Water began flowing through the pipes again, clear and pure, the filtration system engaging properly.
The engineers stared in shock. Vax’s eyes had gone from suspicious black to uncertain amber. And I felt something warm that had nothing to do with my marks settle in my chest.
“How did you do that?” Korin asked, moving closer to examine what Cleo had changed.
“So, the core programming uses a standard binary code that made it easy enough to understand the command structure. Then, it was just a matter of rerouting the power flow and resetting the safety protocols.” She wiped her hands on her tunic, leaving smudges of dust and crystalline residue.
“You should check the other two systems. If they’re the same age, they might have similar issues developing. ”
“An excellent suggestion,” came Zelana’s voice from the entryway. The seer had appeared without announcement, as she tended to do, her eyes bright gold with satisfaction. “Another sign. The outsider has a gift for our ancient ways.”
Cleo rolled her eyes in a gesture that needed no translation. “I spent a decade in school for engineering. Nothing mystical about that, unless you count how I managed to pass linear algebra.”
“Perhaps.” Zelana smiled. “Or perhaps your educational choices are exactly what the prophecy predicted. Technology saved from the old world, knowledge returned with the sky people. Balance restored through the union of what was lost and what remained.”
“Or maybe I just fixed a water purifier,” Cleo said dryly. She looked at me, her expression somewhere between amused and exasperated. “Is she always like this?”
“Always,” I confirmed. Then, to Zelana, “Thank you for your interpretation. But right now, I’m more concerned with making sure our water supply remains stable.”
“Of course.” Zelana inclined her head, still smiling. “I’ll leave you to your practical concerns. But the signs are clear, Lord Rezor. Whether you choose to see them or not.”
She left, her words hanging in the air like smoke.
I turned back to Cleo, who was listening to Korin asking her something about the system’s maintenance.
“Lord Rezor.” Vax’s voice was low, meant only for me. “Shall I have the guards return her to the guest quarters?”
“Wait.” I kept my eyes on Cleo, who was now demonstrating something to Korin using hand gestures and quick sketches in the dust on the floor. “Maintain surveillance. But with less hostility.”
“As you command.”
Cleo finished her explanation and stood, brushing dust from her knees. When she looked up and caught me watching, her expression shifted to something I couldn’t quite read. Not exactly pleased, but not displeased either. Cautious, maybe. Curious.
“Thank you,” I said, moving closer. Close enough that my marks began to glow faintly beneath my shirt. “You’ve done us a great service.”
“No problem,” she said, but there was something softer in her voice now. “I have to admit, it felt good to actually be useful instead of just…sitting around waiting.”
“You don’t do well with inactivity?”
“Not even a little bit.” She smiled, small but genuine. “I like solving problems. Fixing things. Making systems work better. It’s what I’m good at.”
“You’re very good at it.” The words came out warmer than I’d intended. More personal. My marks pulsed in agreement, and from the way her eyes flicked to my chest, she noticed.
For a moment, we just stood there, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in her brown eyes, close enough that the heat from my marks made the air between us feel charged.
Then Korin cleared his throat pointedly, and the moment broke.
“We should let everyone get back to work,” Cleo said, stepping back. The loss of proximity made my marks protest. “But if you need me to check the other systems, I’m happy to help.”
“I’ll send for you tomorrow,” I said. “If you’re willing.”
“I’m willing.” She looked at the repaired system, at Korin, who was still examining her work with obvious admiration, and at the steady flow of clean water. “Everyone needs clean water.”
She left with the guards, and I was left standing in the purification station with the sound of running water and the memory of how her eyes had looked when she’d smiled at me.
Vax moved to stand beside me. “The system works perfectly. She could have sabotaged it. She didn’t.”
“No,” I agreed. “She didn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous.”
I thought about the way Cleo had rolled her eyes at Zelana’s prophecy talk. The way she’d explained complex technology with patience and clarity. The way she’d looked genuinely happy to be useful, to contribute something positive instead of just being a source of fear and disruption.
“No,” I said quietly. “It doesn’t mean that at all.”
But as I left the station and returned to my duties, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the real danger wasn’t what Cleo might do to my village. It was what she was already doing to me.