58 – Lemon’s StoryA flurry of thoughts rushed through Hector’s mind when he saw Lemon standing across the street. Among them: She looks happy, and That kid looks like her. The loudest thought—the one his grumpy inner voice chose to utter—was Maybe she did want to disappear.“Is that—” Sass started to ask, but Hector interrupted her:“Come on.” He began to turn, not really sure where he was going or exactly why, but then Lemon looked up, saw him, and her eyes lit up as her smile stretched from cheek to cheek.“Hector!” she called, waving.Sass looked at him, eyes narrowed, and Hector cleared his throat before waving back. “Hey…”Lemon looked both ways up and down the street, then, still clutching the little boy’s hand, hurried across. If she’d been hoping to disappear, she had a strange way of showing it. She charged right into him, hugging him around the ribs, dragging the poor kid. “I’m so glad to see you!”“Lemon!” the boy whined. “My arm!”Lemon laughed and let go of Hector, taking a step back to look at him, then at Sass with poorly disguised suspicion. To Hector, she asked, “Why are you here?”Hector wasn’t quick enough to respond before Sass said, “Looking for you!” Her lips twisted into a half-frown, clearly miffed about the measuring—and dismissing—look Lemon had given her.“This is Sass,” Hector said, noting how the younger woman’s skull tattoo had darkened again, nearly obscuring her natural features.“Sass? You’re one of Grando’s new—”“She’s with me,” Hector clarified.Lemon’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?” She gave Sass another look, and Sass responded by narrowing her eyes so they were just narrow, glinting slits inside the sockets of her very angry-looking skull.“Come on,” Hector said, nudging Sass’s shoulder. “Don’t be so grumpy. Lemon’s just curious.”Lemon jerked her gaze toward Hector, one eyebrow arching. “Did my ears deceive me? Were you just speaking in a coaxing tone?”“All right,” Hector said, dismissing the topic. He nodded to the little kid. “Who’s this?”Lemon looked down at the little boy, who was staring at Sass with wide eyes that were a surprising match for Lemon’s. She smiled endearingly and tousled his fine blond hair. “This is my little brother, Kit.”“That right?” Hector squatted down, looking into the little boy’s face. The resemblance certainly held up under scrutiny, so much so that he’d suspected Lemon’s relation to the boy to be more maternal in nature. “Kit, huh? I’m Hector.” He held out a hand, and the little kid immediately grasped his fingers.“Nice to meetcha.” He smiled, revealing two sizeable gaps where front teeth were missing. Hector could see tiny white ridges where new ones were growing in.He grinned, finding it hard not to in the face of such a sunny disposition.“You’re in a good mood!” Lemon said, glancing from Hector to Sass, then back to Hector.He stood and shrugged. “Happy you’re okay. Had me worried.”Lemon’s smile faded, and she nodded, her hat’s brim dipping to hide her face momentarily. “I’m sorry! I had to pawn my data port!” She looked down at Kit and added, “It’s a long story. We were going to get breakfast…for dinner. Want to come?”“Pancakes!” Kit announced.Hector glanced at Sass, and she nodded. Why wouldn’t she? We came here for Lemon, didn’t we? Aloud, he said, “Yeah.”Lemon smiled and, clutching Kit’s hand, walked back toward the train station and—no doubt—the nearby diner. As they walked, she turned to Sass and asked, “Where’d you meet my grumpy friend?”Sass tilted her head to the side. “He’s not really grumpy—”“We met at a tournament.” When Lemon looked at him, Hector added, “In Redwick.”“Oh! How was your trip? Success?”The weight of a solar system bumped against Hector’s back as he stepped off the curb to follow her across the street. Unconsciously, he shifted the backpack and nodded. “Yeah.”Lemon hoisted Kip up onto the opposite curb. He jumped, giggling as she lifted. “Then why are you scowling like the world just ended?”Sass looked at Hector, and her skull tattoo slowly faded as she said, “He lost a friend back in Redwick. Before we left.”“Oh, Hector! I’m sorry!”He nodded, suddenly not feeling like talking. They walked in an awkward silence for about half a block, nearly to the diner by then, before Sass said, “It’s great that you’re okay, though, Lemon. Hector talked about you a lot.”That’s a damn lie.//Hush, she’s covering for your dour countenance.//Hector snorted and smiled crookedly, despite himself. Evie didn’t speak much, but she had a way with words.“You did?” Lemon smiled at him.“Well…I told you I was worried.”“Jump!” Kit said, tugging on Lemon’s hand.“Here we go!” she said, hoisting him as he jumped again.“How old are you, Kit?” Sass asked.“Seven.”“Oh, you’re tall!” Sass said, and the kid puffed up his chest, beaming at her. He only looked at her for a second, though, before looking away and jumping, humming to himself.Lemon chuckled softly. “He’s shy.”Sass nodded. “He’s so adorable…”They were just steps away from the diner’s door by then, and Lemon tugged on Kit’s arm until he stopped. “Um, Sass, will you do me a favor? Do you think you could get us a table while I speak to Hector for a moment?”“Oh, I’d love to,” Sass said, squatting to face the little boy. Hector watched as her tattoo almost completely faded, even the dark parts around her eyes. “How about it, Kit? Will you help me pick a table?”“Go on,” Lemon said, “I’ll be right in.”“’Kay,” the boy replied, grabbing Sass’s hand and tugging her toward the door.Lemon looked at Hector and sighed heavily. “I’m really sorry I worried you. I was hoping I could get things sorted and be home before you. Things didn’t work out as planned.”“Something happen with him?” Hector nodded to the diner, watching as the door swung shut behind Sass and Kit.“Our mom—she died unexpectedly.” She didn’t pause long enough for Hector to say anything. “I was hoping I’d just have to come and collect Kit, you know, figure things out for him when we got back, but my mom had debt. When I got the death notice, they told me she owed just under two thousand, and I scraped that up—”Hector nodded. “That’s why you sold your data port.”“Well, I wouldn’t have had to if Jam hadn’t spotted me. Made me pay some money I owed him. I tried to promise to pay soon, but he was feeling raw about me giving him the cold shoulder and—”“I get it, but why not ask Grando? Why not contact me? I could have talked to him. I could—”“Hector!” She laughed softly as she interrupted him. “Don’t you get it by now? I’m bad with money! I already owe Grando plenty, and I don’t want to owe you. You’ve already given me a lot. I’d be in trouble right now—Kit would be in trouble—without the money you already gave me.”He frowned, glancing at the diner where he could see Sass and Kit sitting in one of the window booths. There didn’t seem to be many people inside. “You’re good now, though?”“Well, sort of.” She sighed and followed his gaze, watching Kit laugh for a few seconds. “My mom owed a lot more than two thousand. That was just what they called an earnest payment. She’d wracked up debt taking care of Kit—paying for medical and childcare services from the company.”“They don’t include that?”“Not exactly. They cover everything for their employees, but the more they give you, the more it tallies up on the debt sheet. My mom was worse than me when it came to managing money. You know how corpo-life is! In her eyes, she got paid two ways: the bits she spent on food and clothes and a little entertainment for her and Kit, and the corporate ‘credits.’ Anything major—healthcare, daycare, even vacations—all paid for with Lombardy TC credit. They took so little out of her pay that she hardly cared about the debt…” She trailed off.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.“So? How much did she owe?”“Not really all that much. I’m sure I can work it off before too long.”Hector’s scowl returned. “What?”“Yeah, well, it was either Kit gets sent off to a Lombardy boarding academy, racking up debt until he’s old enough to work, or I do it. Start working right away, I mean.” As Hector continued to scowl, wrapping his head around the whole indentured worker situation, she added, “Anyway, I didn’t want to talk about all this around Kit. Come on, let’s get some breakfast before we say goodbye.”Hector watched her walk to the door, struggling to formulate a response. Tell her you’ll pay the debt, idiot! His inner voice, usually cynical, was suddenly trying to be a hero. He had to be realistic, though. Lemon had a little kid to look after now. How would that work out if she went back to Helio? She wasn’t exactly working a stable job with Grando. He kept his mouth shut and followed her into the diner.They sat in the booth, Hector beside Sass and Lemon beside Kit, and Lemon gave Sass a big smile. “Thank you for watching my little buddy here.” She put an arm around Kit’s shoulders.“It’s crazy how much he looks like you,” Sass said.Lemon nodded. “Same parents.” She glanced at Hector and added, “Our dad had to go away shortly after Kit was born.”“Dad’s working for the Empire,” Kit said, wriggling out from under Lemon’s arm.“Well, in a way,” Lemon said with a sigh. “He’s at Whisper Rock.”Sass’s eyes widened, and she said, “Really?”Hector knew why she was surprised: Whisper Rock was where the Empire sent traitors—a prison in the belt, carved into a moon-sized asteroid. The thing was, most traitors never went to prison; they were executed. In his old life, it was understood that being at Whisper Rock meant your life held value to the Empire. He wondered if things were still the same.Kit was driving his fork around on the table, pretending it was a train or maybe a spaceship, and Lemon smiled, watching him. “Yeah, he got involved in…let’s call it a movement, and, um, leave it at that.” She looked up at Sass. “Did you two order anything?”“Nope, we waited.” She pulled the menu tablet close and tabbed through it.Lemon looked at Hector. “You two going to stay at the motel? I’m pretty sure you came in on the last train.”He shrugged. “Guess so.”She smiled, but it looked wistful and a little sad. “I don’t have to work early, so maybe—”“You work here?” Sass asked.Hector drummed his fingers on the table, still at war with himself as he said, “Long story, Sass.”Lemon shook her head at Sass. “In the grow domes. Anyway, I was gonna say, maybe we could get breakfast, too.” She huffed a soft laugh. “I mean breakfast for breakfast.” She shrugged sheepishly at Hector and added, “Um, if you’re buying.”He snorted. “Yeah, sure.”Sass pushed the tablet to Lemon, and Hector watched as she helped Kit read the options and select what he wanted. She was a good person and, hell, maybe she was better off working a normal job for a while, right? She was savvy, even if she wasn’t so good with money; she’d find a way out of the corpo-trap, eventually. Besides, what could he offer her? He was on a one-way ticket to…what? Self-destruction? The backpack at his feet and Sass sitting beside him made him feel like a liar.Not a liar—a coward.Hector scowled, ignoring the voice as he took the tablet Lemon slid toward him and ordered some food.###In the gray pre-dawn light, Hector stared up at his motel room’s chem-stained ceiling. A window blinked on his AUI, and he focused on it, reading Evie’s report://Corpus vivum conditioning complete and level advancement has been applied. Pathway convergences clarified, exposing an opportunity for a merger of the Berserker and Watcher archetypes. Possible additional convergence of the Brawler archetype has been discarded as inefficient. New advanced archetype identified. Testing and categorizing has begun; approximate time to completion: 36 hours. Level results are as follows:Strengthened aura pathways, increasing maximum load—use caution when exploring this limit to avoid aura overloadAura Pool increased from 22 to 26Speed increased from 18 to 19.25Perception increased from 12.25 to 13Speed Boost integration complete.Aura Potentia Available: 1End Report.//He sniffed, stretching his neck. His mind was still fuzzy from a night spent tossing and turning. He didn’t want to think about what had kept him awake—Lemon, coward!—so he focused on the report and spoke to Evie, “You don’t know what the new archetype will be?”//Not enough details to tell you how exactly it will affect you, or how much it will cost to transfer, but I can tell you I’m leaning toward calling it “Reaver.”//“Huh. And Brawler didn’t fit?”//Brawler’s lines looked connected earlier because they led you to Berserker, which was required for this new archetype. That became apparent as the pathways clarified.//“Pull up a status sheet.”//Status:Level: 7Archetype: WatcherAura Pool: 26/26Aura Potentia: 1Attributes:Strength: 15.5Speed: 19.25Vitality: 15.25Perception: 13Corpus Vivum Improvements:—Abilities and Boosts:Berserk – Boost strength, speed, and regeneration by a significant amount. Cost: 3 aura per secondAura Blade – Condense aura into a bladed force projection. Cost: 2 aura per secondSpeed Boost – Increase Speed attribute for a short time based on the amount of aura appliedEnd Report.//Hector grunted his approval. He was no Hector Finalis, but he was a hell of a lot closer than when he’d woken up in Grando Scrim’s storeroom. His speed was already closing in on what was possible for a natural human—sans aura or cybernetics—and with the Speed Boost, he’d be able to end fights before unboosted enemies even knew they’d started, especially if he combined it with Aura Blade.He rolled to the side of the bed and sat there for a minute, staring at the stained carpeting at his feet. His feet. Had he gotten used to Paul’s skin, then? Was this him now? He rubbed the thin stubble on his jaw, then stood and walked to the bathroom. “Okay, Evie. You know what I’m thinking. Go ahead and look up the address for the municipal—”//Route set!//Hector snorted, shaking his head as he turned on the shower.###Later, when he entered the diner, Hector was glad to see Sass already sitting with Lemon and Kit. His “errand” had taken longer than he’d expected, and he hadn’t had a chance to go by the motel to remind her. Lemon smiled at him as he approached, and Sass said, “Where’d you go this morning?”Hector just grimaced a pained smile and sat down. “I’m starved.”“Yeah?” Lemon laughed. “Since when are you not starved!”“That was the first lesson he offered me,” Sass said, her skull tattoo shifting to make her grin look almost evil. “‘Now, Sass,’” she said, trying to make her voice deep, “‘you must always take nourishment whenever you have the opportunity.’”Hector shook his head. “I don’t talk like that.”“You kind of do, sometimes,” Lemon said, smiling at Sass.He grabbed the order tablet and tabbed through the menu, selecting an obscene amount of food—sausage, pancakes, fried potatoes, an omelet, and some pastries. His bit-locker balance was significantly lighter than it had been, but he was still plenty flush to live well for a while. At the thought, he looked at Lemon and asked, “Have you ever been to Kessler’s Reach?”“Hmm?” Lemon looked at Sass, who shrugged.Hector said, “I’ve got to go there for the next month or so—prepare for a rift run.”Sass clenched her chrome-knuckled plasteel hands tight enough for the joints to click. “Seriously?”“Yeah, seriously.”“Well, I’m not gonna sit around in Helio twiddling my thumbs.”Hector arched an eyebrow. “I’m not in charge of you.”Sass nodded. “Well, I’m gonna follow—”Hector held up a hand, interrupting her. “I expected that. You can help me train.”Sass heaved out a sigh, nodding slowly as she sank back in the booth, at least partially mollified.Lemon smiled at Sass. “Well, I’ve never been there, but I heard it’s a research town—it’s supposed to be nice. People visit to see the nature preserves because that’s—”“That’s what Kessler Labs do,” Hector finished for her; he’d done some research with Evie the night before. “They make Martian hybrids of Earth-based flora.”“I was going to say they make terraforming plants, but, sure—flora.” Lemon winked at Kit and gently scratched the nape of his neck. “Do you know what that means, Kit?”“What?”“Flora?”“Um, flowers?”“Kind of! It means plant life.”“Well, and there’s a rift there,” Sass said, interrupting the impromptu lesson.“Yeah.” Hector drained his glass of water, then touched the order button on the tablet next to the coffee icon. “Anyway, it sounds like a nice town. Might be a good change of pace for you, Lemon. For Kit.”She looked at him sharply, shaking her head. “I told you, Hector, I can’t. I have to work for—”He shook his head. “Stopped by the municipal building this morning. Used the kiosk there to find your debt—paid it off. You’re free.”He thought maybe she’d act upset, like he’d taken her agency from her or something. He thought she might even yell or try to refuse the windfall. It really was a lot of money for someone in her situation—more than fifteen thousand bits. Still, as far as Hector was concerned, it was just a drop in an ocean of bits he meant to earn on his way down the road to vengeance. Hadn’t he already earned a hell of a lot more than that?He felt the presence of his backpack, tucked between his legs and his seat. If the cipher held the key to an Expansion-era starship? Fifteen thousand bits was nothing. Then there was the gravity mantle he’d hidden back at the mine—worth millions, if he could get his hands on it and get the DNA lock cleared. All that aside, he’d earn inside the rift, and he’d earn in the Tharsis Games if he decided to participate.That had been another topic that kept him awake; he liked the idea of the opportunity the Games represented, but something didn’t feel right working for a man like Grover Sparling. He reeked of Empire, and after what had happened to the Contis—to him—Hector had had his fill of Royals. It was a hypocritical thought, maybe, considering his past life, but maybe that was the point. Maybe he was seeing things from the outside-in for the first time, and it wasn’t leaving such a good taste in his mouth.“…really don’t know how I can repay you, but I swear, I’m going to try! I was dreading reporting to the grow house today—thought I was going to die!” Lemon was leaning forward, staring earnestly into his face, and Hector had to smile, realizing he’d been spacing out. He really needed to eat. “I, um—are you sure we should come with you, though? I mean, I can probably earn better in Helio—”Hector shook his head. “No. I’m going to tell Grando you’re working for me now. It’s the only way I get you out from under his thumb. He needs me, and if I say I need you, he’ll let your debt slide.” He nodded toward Kit. “Besides, you don’t want him hanging around with that crowd.”She looked at the kid, lost in a daydream as he stared out the window. “No, I guess I don’t.”Their food arrived, and as the synth, an old model badly in need of repairs, piled plate after plate in front of Hector, he looked around the table and tried to make sense of his feelings—his actions. He’d given in to his acerbic inner voice; he’d admitted to himself that he wanted to help Lemon and that her life wouldn’t be better grinding away at her mother’s corporate debt. That was true regardless of Hector’s plans for himself.He had to admit that he’d changed, though. He wasn’t the same creature, the same revenant, that had awakened in Grando’s storeroom. Feelings other than hatred and anger vied for his attention. Lemon was a friend, and he wanted to see her happy—maybe not as much as he wanted to bring down the people who’d massacred the Conti family, but enough that he wasn’t willing to leave her to rot in a corpo hellscape.Then there was Sass. What did she represent? A desire to leave something behind, maybe? If he could teach her some of the things he knew, did that mean his life, when it ended, wouldn’t have been meaningless? He chuckled, shaking his head as he picked up his coffee and took a gulp, ignoring the pain as it scalded his mouth. He’d done a lot of thinking through the night, and he hadn’t come up with many answers, but one thing had become clear to him: he wasn’t better off alone.