By Bonita Jewel
Zai looked at crowds below his dingy second-story window, factory workers heading home after timebells sounded the day’s closing. Though his window faced west, the tall buildings across the road rarely let a ray of sun into the small living space.
He sighed and turned from the window. Work had been slow over the past two months. Non-existent, in fact. Who knew that over the course of one day, the courts would roll out bounty bots? Effective, singularly focused, and available at a fraction of the going price.
Zai ran a hand through unbrushed hair and rifled through papers on his desk. Bills, mostly. Another month like this and he’d have to join the throngs, working in some factory all day. Of course, he could grovel to his brother, take on that position offered by Prince Oren, but life in the courts wasn’t for him.
“Are you Mr. Zaivar Witz?” The voice was small. The girl standing in the open doorway was smaller. The ratted clothes gave away her family’s profession as collectors. Most Er’Retians called them junkers.
“Reusables were picked up yesterday,” Zaivar said. “Come next week.”
“I’m not a junker.” The girl stepped into the small front room that barely fit a desk, two chairs, and several shelves filled with random objects. Zai’s trophies. He hadn’t added to the collection recently. “I heard you know how to find things.”
Zai eyed the girl. Thin face. Indigo hair. Gray eyes. There was something intriguing about her, but no way a junker could afford a bounty hunter’s rates. “Sorry, no availability,” he lied.
“The sign outside says you’re for hire.” She crossed her arms.
“Look, kid, my rates aren’t cheap, and my schedule’s full. Try a hunter bot.” He couldn’t believe he was suggesting his competition, but he didn’t have time for this. Okay, he had time. All he had was time. Time and no money. But this girl couldn’t know that.
“You’re lying.”
The girl held his gaze and stood like she was waiting for something. But what? He connected to her mind.
The sudden onslaught of images felt like a punch to the gut… in his head. Zai reeled and reached out to the wall to steady himself. So many thoughts and stories and pictures swirled around, it was far too much for a single life. A single child.
What in Er’Rets? As he thought the question, it echoed back to him, clanging through his mind louder than timebells. He tumbled out of her mind. Rubbing his hands over his eyes, as if that would wipe away the flood of images, he hazarded a glance at the girl. At the dark smudges under her eyes, and the weariness in her gaze.
“What’s your name?” Zai asked.
“You should have gotten that, at least,” she said, annoyance in her tone.
Although he’d already closed the connection, Zai tried sifting through the information that had hit him all at once. He found what he needed.
“Kalah.”
She nodded.
“How long have you been able to bloodvoice?”
She bit her bottom lip, dropping her gaze. “Seven months. It started on my twelfth birthday.”
“Have you told anyone?”
Kalah shook her head. “I know what they do to people like us.”
Zai suppressed a shudder, pushing back a dark memory. She didn’t need to see that.
“You hope your brother, with his position, might make changes,” Kalah told him, her gaze still trained on the worn flooring. “For now, it’s too much for you to be in the court. The intrigue, the posturing, the lies. You see what most don’t.”
“How do you do that?” Everything she said was true, yet his conscious thoughts had never held such clarity.
“I can’t close it off,” she said, a slight tremble in her voice. She looked at him. “You could teach me.”
“I wish I could help you…” Zai sat down heavily in his desk chair. He could barely help himself these days. Stupid bounty bots.
“You can.” Kalah crossed the small room and sat on the other chair. “You’re just afraid. That’s why you sit here waiting for work while the bounty bots render you obsolete. It’s why you don’t bloodvoice while you’re walking down the street. You’re afraid you’ll hear someone who needs help.”
How does she do that? Again, Kalah went beyond his surface thoughts and caught something deeper. He couldn’t deny her words. This girl was remarkable. If the courts found her, they’d throw her in a retraining center. If the wrong people discovered her, they’d do worse.
“There are more bloodvoicers than you think,” Kalah said. “Most, like you, keep closed off. Others use it to do bad things.”
Tears formed in her eyes. When he had started bloodvoicing in his teens, he’d seen a woman, little more than a girl, taken away for retraining. Knowing the thoughts of those who’d taken her, he’d accessed their fear—their hatred—toward bloodvoicers. Afterward, he’d shut himself away for weeks until he knew how to control the strange ability. Other than using it to find targets, he kept closed to others’ thoughts.
“You don’t have to be afraid.” Her soft words broke into his thoughts.
“I’m not—” Zai swallowed. He couldn’t lie to this girl.
“I need your help,” Kalah repeated. “We can’t let the bad guys win.”
He sighed. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been listening to everything. I’ve found people who have things to hide. Men with power who keep taking more. Stealing.”
“And?”
“Bounty bots can’t bloodvoice. They don’t know where to look.”
Understanding blossomed. “But we do. We can take back what they’ve stolen.”
“For a start.” Kalah nodded, and Zai saw the trace of a smile. “Will you teach me to control it?”
Zai held out a hand. He had a client.
“No,” she said, grasping his hand. “You have a partner.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bonita, I enjoyed your story and the creativity of the Hunter Bots.
Thank you! It was fun to write. :)
Good thing this story was written in plain American. “Bounty bot” coming out the mouth of a brit is “boun-ee bowh” which sounds more like “bouncy ball” than anything, which makes for a weird story.
Also makes for an interesting mental image. Bouncy-ball-bounty-bots appear in my mind more humorous than anything. :)
Ha, very, very nice – I love this Zai, I love Kalah and their relationship, the story, setting, build up is fantastic and especially the ending is just wonderful.
Great story–made me really care about Zai and Kalah!
I really enjoyed the idea of the meek getting justice, and the way to do it.
Wow. The writing, tone, setting are all so beautiful. I wish I knew what happened next. Thanks for sharing!