“Can you make a capacitor that’ll fit in there?”
Now that he’d said the name, she recognized the weapon. Electrical current could disrupt a Spark’s ability to generate a charge, one current disrupting another. The Council’s agents used Tasers to control Sparks who went rogue.
She didn’t know how often it happened. From the time a child demonstrated any Spark at all, they were immersed in the Council’s propaganda: It was an honor to be a Spark. The gift of control over the Dust meant you were privileged to help support the recovery of the human race. What could be a more worthwhile pursuit for a human life?
Lena could think of a few things, but she was smart enough to live quietly. Those who didn’t…Well, those who refused had led the Council to research ways to ensure their cooperation.
And now I have an opportunity to play with one and figure it out.
She met Reyes’s eyes again, risking the intensity of his dark brown gaze. Instead, she found amusement. He raised his brows, a grin curving his lips, as if daring her to try.
Well, shit.
A dare was a lure she couldn’t resist. She responded with an answering smile, easing the tension.
Decision made, she turned away. “The question isn’t whether or not I can fit a capacitor, but whether or not it will work anyway. This compartment is in bad shape.”
She carried the weapon over to her work area and sat at her stool. She could ignore them now. The work end of being a black market Spark was easy. Trusting people long enough to take their C-notes or barter in exchange for a charge was the hard part. If it didn’t give her a vengeful thrill every time she broke the Council’s laws by charging an illicit item for a client, she’d never do it. She’d live as a happy hermit deep in her desert instead. Infrequent trips to the city would be reserved for sex and the few items she couldn’t make or scavenge for herself.
Lena tucked her hair back behind her ears and leaned over the weapon. Wrapping a soft bit of cotton around the tip of a thin bone pick, she used her gentlest touch to rub away the worst of the bright orange and brown corrosion to assess the damage. She’d have the Dust check the leads when she was done.
“Where’d you find this thing anyway? Not in Relo-Azcon, that’s for sure.”
“Relo-Azcon?” Reyes’s challenging tone made her turn her head. He threw a knowing smile at Lucas. “She’s one of those.”
She turned fully to him. “One of what?”
Reyes smiled lazily. “One of those who uses ‘relo’ to remind herself what a big, bad place she managed to escape.” He wandered closer, his casual tone belied by dark eyes that held her own. Intense Reyes was back with a vengeance. “C’mon. It’s Azcon. It’s not a relocation center anymore. It’s a city. It has been for more than a hundred years. It’s a safe place, a good life, for everyone who lives there. You should come back.”
Of course, he thought so. He was one of the wealthy who lived in charged comfort.
What do you know about what life is really like for the people who make your life comfortable, you big jerk?
Most Sparks didn’t live in charged extravagance. They used as little electricity as possible, because they knew someone like them had paid the price for it in pain. Each week, every Spark in every city took their scheduled turn on the grounding platforms or risked overloading their brains and stroking out. The huge open-air stages were built above the cities, for the safety of the unpowered, so the Sparks could discharge the feedback energy that accumulated within their bodies.
It was hard for Lena to believe now, but when she had been very small, she’d thought the groundings on the platform were beautiful. The crash of the lightning discharge was scary, sure, but the constant flashes of light made the days sparkle and chased the dark from the night.
And then she’d gone for her first grounding. She had been four, and had started working with a Spark tutor often enough that she’d built up her own feedback. She clutched her mother’s hand, staring at her brother’s profile as he climbed up to the platform ahead of her. He was sweating as they climbed the open, winding stairs, despite the chilled winter air on their cheeks. Those in line before them went first, removing clothes, standing shivering on the platform for a moment before being encased in blinding electric light. Their bodies were rigid, corded with agony, and the crash wasn’t merely loud up that close. It deafened Lena, froze her in place while the vibrations shook through the platform to her bare feet and up her small body.