"Come on, Grandpa, let's do some work," Lex said, joining him in Graexian. She got to her feet and offered a hand.
Brackus looked almost frightened at her pale fingers. Then he smiled. "You look just like Aesara. I named her after an old philosopher, you know, just as she named you after Hypatia of Alexandra, the proud thing."
"Mamma? She used to read me Aesara's book when I was little ..." Lex paused. She had no more tears left for the day her Mamma had been dragged out of the house by strange men, while Lex hid under this very dining table. "I think it was called Human Nature?"
"That's it," Brackus said, his old eyes turning to their family hololoop where Aesara stood with a baby Lex swaddled in her arms. "Just like her namesake, Aesara thought so much could be understood by understanding ourselves, far more than just the colour of our eyes and hair. That all morality had some basis in the spirit. She didn't believe in the gods, but she believed in people with all her heart."
"Mamma was a heathen?" Lex said, then quickly added, "It doesn't matter, I suppose, I'm just surprised." Not everyone worshipped the gods. "I just thought she was smart."
"She was bright as a bulb." Brackus chuckled. "That's why she followed in Maggie's footsteps and became a doctor, where she could help people the most."
Brackus turned back to Lex, his eyes filled with love, as if she were the only other person in the world. As if he saw Aesara standing before him. "I do not honour her by hiding my feelings behind lectures. I'm sorry for what I said, my unnecessary honesty … It seems I am no better than those ancient emperors."
"Come then," Lex said, pulling Brackus slowly to his feet. "We've work to do."
Brackus's face turned an ashen grey, his eyes heavy, his legs bent as if under a great burden. Then the strange mood fell away, and the old man smiled.
"Let's return to our labour with the determination of Sisyphus and his cursed boulder."
Lex smiled; if Brackus had the time to tie in his little fables, then he was just fine. She snagged her Tengokuan jacket before leaving the room and put it on now that Brackus had calmed. She rolled up the sleaves, programmed the holographic back to a Tengokuan-style helmet, and unzipped the front. It was just as big, comfortable and cool-looking as she hoped.
Pockets big enough for all her tools too.
Lex followed Brackus through the kitchen, down the hallway, and into the workshop where a thousand assembly arms, fabricator machines and specialised tools filled every shining steel wall. The auto-factory worked with a hundred eyes, felt with a thousand touch-sensors and thought with a central nervous system buried within a silver sarcophagus covered in the holy symbols of the gods. The hammer of Vulcan, the Empyrean god of forging, largest of all. To Lex and Brackus, the silver shrine was called The Forge.
"Talos, how comes the latest order?" Brackus said as he marched down the stairs.
"Master Vulcan," a bubbly voice replied from every direction, the room's lights brightening. "And Miss Alex, too, that jacket looks wonderful on you! I have maintained a 99.8% running efficiency since your last visit." Unlike Lex's droid, Talos never needed maintenance. Brackus didn't even wire in to check for corrupt data.
Unlike Shadow Dancer, Talos was part of the family. Her third brother, in a way.
"Hey, Talos, yeah, I'm pretty happy with it." Lex smiled, and twirled for the cameras.
"Talos, the order?" Brackus said and tapped a steel-toed boot.
"Your special order is complete, Master Vulcan. Tomorrow's shipment is also coming on time and I have improved the unit's production quality, which has increased the material cost. That means lower margins. 7%."
"Oh Grandpa," Lex said quietly with a shake of the head. "7% won't cover the protector bribes, let alone a new toga for Ruby."
"She can keep using your old toga," Brackus said. "And, while quantity is squib common, quality is always noticed. If we make the best, people will come. Besides, the Juno family have been our friends since the days of the Empyrean Republic. The least we can do is help our neighbours in their time of crisis. As for this special project—"
"Is this going to end the same way as the Froyds?" Lex said, stepping closer. "Have you forgotten the Froyds, Brackus? They said their manufacturing equipment was stolen, so you made them top-of-the-line replacements only to find them for sale at a pawn shop a day later."
"This is different," Brackus huffed. "Besides, I'd rather be scammed a hundred times than let a good person down once. We're doing well for ourselves—we can afford to help."
"Mike just said business is anything but good," Lex said. "And you shouldn't rely on me getting an Upstairs salary. What if it's less than we assumed?"
What if she never got Upstairs at all?
"It'll work out," Brackus said, and sat before a terminal. "Talos, could you bring out the special project?"
"Certainly, Master Vulcan."
A sheet of steel slid from the ground, and Shadow Dancer arose repaired and refined. Shadow Dancer's new helmet had a single clump of sensors, with a crimson, fist-sized optic on the front, and tall, red-tipped antennae sprouting from either side. They almost looked like horns. The droid's arms and legs were entirely new, with a solid, custom-built titanium chassis for a torso.
"The code called him 'Shadow Dancer', so I called this droid Shadow Dancer-V2." Brackus twirled his finger and Talos rotated the droid to expose a white 'V2' printed on the back.
"We rethought the power in the legs and rebalanced the overall frame to handle shifting movements. We also made the design a little smaller, added optics to the side for a crystal clear 360° live-feed and marked what's left of that sword to be scrapped." Brackus gestured to the wall, where Lex's once shining Slab Sword sat as a lump of iron.
"All together," Talos chirped proudly, "I have found and implemented 1038 improvements to the existing design. The droid's top speed has been improved by 48%; strength, 32%; battery efficiency, 458%. CC cost has been reduced by 23%, while the range of operation for wireless use has been expanded to 300 metres."
"Amazing." Lex ran her fingers across the steel. "You did all this for me?"
"Talos actually put it together," Brackus said, a glint in his eyes. "Thanks to him, Shadow Dancer-V2 will be the first piece of wargear I've made in orbits. It's been a nice outlet, too; I've been stockpiling concepts for battle droids so long I was worried my mind would pop." He laughed deep, and the building tension washed away from his leathery face.
Lex's cheeks were bursting with the widest smile of her life. With this, Lex could beat any droid, in any arena, anywhere. This time they would have to pay her the champion's due. Her victory would be impossible to argue.
"You're bending the rules … for me?" Lex's eyes filled with happy tears. She wrapped her arms around the gruff old man and Brackus stiffened, then softened.
"Michael was looking to start a war if I didn't act. So, just this once, I entertained an offer. She called herself Pandora during our call and was willing to pay ten times more than I would have even thought to ask. Shadow Dancer-V2 should see us fed for quite some time, and Rubia could even get her toga custom-made, but that might make Melissa jealous."
Lex pulled away, her stomach plummeting. "You're going to sell my droid?"
Brackus blinked. "Wasn't that your plan? Show off Vulcantech goods, attract buyers and sell a properly manufactured droid? Should be a nice sum, too." Brackus shook his head. "Unless you were planning on fighting—no, what am I saying? You're a smart girl."
Lex forced herself to nod and hid her shaking hands behind her back. Lex would never see Shadow Dancer again; instead, Lex would be some receptionist Upstairs. Perhaps an office clerk if she worked herself to the bone.
But even winning a low position Upstairs would be huge for the Empyre District. So why did she feel like her soul was dying, and that the loss of Shadow Dancer was the last turn of the knob before her corpse was burnt to dust?
She treasured that golden bead of victory inside her more than anything. But … more than her family? Lex turned away. "Of course not, don't be silly," she said, eyes watering. "Let's get that paperwork started."