The Defiant Spark

by Annie Percik

  Abelard seemed confused. ‘Mundane users can connect their artefacts and mana units to the wall supply and charge them directly. So why would you ever need to do it yourself?’

  Alessandra sighed. ‘It’s not about practical use. You’re already well aware that we don’t often manipulate mana directly because it’s so draining. It’s about understanding the power that we possess and perfecting our control of it so we can work with it safely. You need to respect the mana and it needs to respect you.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Abelard said. ‘Lead me through it.’

  Under Alessandra’s supervision, Abelard took Jonathan’s place at the table, lining up another empty mana unit. He placed one hand on the unit and the other on the wall supply conduit. Alessandra fed him instructions and watched as a thin stream of mana snaked out of the wall supply and flowed slowly up his arm.

  ‘Good. Now keep the flow steady and send it down into the mana unit.’

  She could tell Abelard was trying but as the mana flowed down his other arm towards the mana unit the stream thickened and started to move more quickly.

  ‘Keep it steady! You’re losing it.’

  The admonition didn’t help at all; rather the opposite. Abelard’s breathing sped up, the mana flow matching its intensity. He opened his eyes and they glowed blue. His feet lifted off the ground and his arms stuck stiffly out to each side. As mana started firing from Abelard’s hands, Alessandra threw a shield around him and the glowing sphere absorbed the energy harmlessly. The mana drained from Abelard’s body until he dropped back to the floor. Alessandra released the shield and sent the excess mana shooting into the empty mana unit. Abelard staggered and nearly fell.

  ‘You’re still letting it get away from you,’ Alessandra said. ‘You have to learn to keep it under control.’

  ‘I was trying,’ Abelard panted.

  ‘Clearly not hard enough. Try again.’

  ‘What about what you just said about too much mana manipulation draining all your energy? And why didn’t you do that shield thing the other day when I burned your eyebrows off?’

  Alessandra glared at him. ‘The situation the other day took me by surprise and I didn’t have time to react. And you’ve had two good meals today so quit complaining and get on with it!’

  The next few attempts resulted in varying degrees of success, with Abelard managing to maintain the flow of mana for longer periods but never in a completely consistent stream and always ending with loss of control. Alessandra kept barking instructions at him but it didn’t do any good and she got more and more frustrated as the afternoon wore on. Jonathan watched from the sidelines, occasionally stepping in to prevent a dangerous mana surge. Eventually, there was a near miss when Abelard released a burst of mana in the wrong direction and Jonathan was forced to dive out of the way. The mana struck the bare concrete of the factory wall, leaving a sooty scorch mark. Abelard slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

  ‘Why don’t we take a break and come back to it in a few minutes?’ Jonathan suggested.

  ‘Fine,’ Alessandra said.

  She turned on her heel and stalked off behind the machinery. She had had more than enough of this. She walked briskly around the assembly line, trying to rein in her temper. Her heels struck the hard floor with sharp impacts that echoed round the large space. It must be deafening with all the factory artefacts running. Alessandra missed the plush carpet of her office and the calm predictability of running her department. After a few minutes she made her way back to where Jonathan and Abelard were looking smug.

  ‘I think Abelard’s ready to give it another go,’ Jonathan said. ‘Why don’t we let him try without any input from us? See how much he’s learned.’

  ‘As long as you’re prepared to write up the accident report when he blows up the whole factory.’

  ‘Just give him a chance,’ Jonathan said.

  Alessandra waved at them to carry on, shoulders tensing. A few moments later she was staring at a fully charged mana unit that Abelard had filled without incident. He grinned at her, snapping her right out of her surprise and back to her normal attitude.

  ‘Why couldn’t you just have done that the first time around? Now do it again so I know it wasn’t just a fluke.’

  Abelard obliged without comment, the exercise now looking like second nature to him. Was it possible that Jonathan had succeeded where Alessandra had failed, and managed to get through to him? Surely not.

  ‘Hallelujah,’ she said heavily. ‘He’s finally got it!’

  ‘So will you sign off on my training now?’

  ‘Yes. I declare you no longer a danger to yourself and others.’

  ‘Great.’

  Alessandra set Abelard to tidying up the various artefacts and mana units they’d been using and dragged Jonathan to one side.

  ‘What on earth did you say to him?’

  Jonathan’s eyes widened. ‘Can’t you just believe I’m better at training than you?’

  Alessandra crossed her arms. ‘No.’

  Jonathan rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, okay. You were a bit full-on, that’s all. You yelling at him was making him nervous and you know you need to be relaxed to control mana properly. He just needed a break from you glaring at him all the time. You can be pretty intimidating.’

  ‘Hmm … Well, thanks,’ she said, then bristled as Jonathan stared at her open-mouthed. ‘Don’t let it go to your head.’

  They got everything squared away, then all headed to the gate together.

  Jonathan yawned. ‘Nice to finish early on a Friday for once.’

  Alessandra saw a way to get her revenge. ‘Not so fast. If we’re letting Abelard loose on the world again he’ll need to be briefed by the Legal Department. You’ll have to take him back to HQ and get him to sign an NDA before he goes home.’

  ‘What?’ Jonathan gaped at her. He looked like he wanted to argue but Alessandra stared him down until his shoulders slumped.

  ‘Enjoy!’ she said as she walked away.

  * * *

  Jonathan escorted Abelard back to Gadg-E-Tech head office in his speed-e-fact. As they sped back into the city, it occurred to Abelard that he could have just walked home from the factory. It seemed like years since he’d been in his flat.

  ‘You’re a Gadg-E-Tech artisan now, so you’re bound by Gadg-E-Tech rules of secrecy,’ Jonathan said. ‘I expect Legal will have something prepared for you to sign.’

  ‘But what do I tell people?’ Abelard asked. ‘I was only signed off work until Monday. Won’t Mana-Calls be expecting me back?’

  ‘That’ll be taken care of. They’ll get some kind of communication to let them know you won’t be coming back.’

  Abelard wished he could be there when Stanton was told he’d be losing an engineer with no notice.

  ‘And Mateo and Jen? They already know about my abilities and that I’m here with you. Can’t I tell them?’ Assuming they would even be willing to speak to him after the incident the night before.

  ‘I guess so. Actually I’d better check with Legal about that too. Once we’re finished with them you’ll be free to go. How about we meet for breakfast in the canteen at eight am on Monday and I’ll give you your schedule?’

  ‘Sounds good.’

  An hour later, after a painful meeting with the Gadg-E-Tech Legal Department, Abelard finally escaped. He had read and signed a twenty-page non-disclosure agreement prohibiting him from telling anyone else anything at all about his new life under any circumstances. He had copies of similar documents in his bag, for Mateo and Jen to sign.

  When he reached the lobby, Abelard found a cluster of brain-e-facts just outside the bank of lev-e-facts. They had been whispering amongst themselves but stopped abruptly at the sight of him. One stepped forwards, half of its own volition and half pushed by several of the others.

  ‘Mister Abelard, sir. We do not mean to disturb you. But we have spoken to Terry and Fred and we would like names too.’

  This must be why all the
brain-e-facts were acting so weird around him. The earnestness of their demeanour stopped him from laughing at the absurdity of it all. He was flattered that they wanted his input but didn’t want to end up with every Gadg-E-Tech brain-e-fact in the building accosting him in the corridor.

  ‘Why don’t you choose names for yourselves?’

  They exchanged glances with one another, clearly not having considered this.

  After a moment the designated spokesperson replied. ‘Humans do not choose their own names. We would like to be given ours the same way humans are.’

  ‘Okay. Why don’t you ask Terry to give you names?’

  The spokesperson brain-e-fact stared at him.

  ‘Terry was the first. He would give good names. Does he have your permission to give out names in your stead?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Abelard said, bemused by their reverence.

  The brain-e-facts bustled off. Abelard watched them go, then turned to leave himself.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Jen wasn’t forgiving enough to answer when Abelard called on Friday evening. She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet but stood by the call-e-fact and listened as he left a message.

  ‘Hi, Jen. It’s, uh, Abelard. I’m so sorry about what happened last night. It’s amazing that you came all that way because you thought I was in trouble and it really wasn’t what it looked like. That woman you saw, Alessandra, is training me so I don’t randomly set things on fire when I handle mana. There’s absolutely nothing going on between us. I really would like to get to know you better and I need to speak to you about something anyway so please call me back. Okay, bye.’

  The apology sounded heartfelt but could she trust Abelard’s protestations about Alessandra? And what kind of name was that anyway? The mention of mana and setting things on fire brought home to Jen once again just how very different their lives were, particularly now Abelard had artisan powers. Was a potential relationship worth pursuing even if she did believe him about Alessandra?

  She initially decided she wouldn’t call him back right away. He deserved to wait for a response. But after a while she wondered if she was being petty when she really did want to find out what had happened. There was nothing to be lost in giving him a chance to explain. Jen reached for the call-e.

  * * *

  Abelard felt like an idiot after he left the message for Jen. He’d tried to call her as soon as he stepped outside the Gadg-E-Tech building and hadn’t prepared what he was going to say. Once he cut the connection, he instantly thought of a hundred better ways he could have expressed himself. He would just have to wait and see if his honest bumbling would do the trick and at least get her to call him back. After that he’d have to do his level best not to mess up again.

  He picked a random direction and started walking. Then he tried Mateo, who answered immediately, as if he’d been watching his smart-e-fact in anticipation of Abelard’s call.

  ‘Hey, Mateo.’

  ‘Hey? Hey?? Is that all you can say? You disappear off the face of the earth, I assume you’ve been kidnapped by the artisans, so I mount a daring rescue mission only to find you canoodling with some smoking hot babe – nice work, by the way, though Jen’s not best pleased about it – and all you can say is hey?’

  ‘I was not canoodling! Alessandra was trying to teach me how to handle mana without blowing stuff up, that’s all! And you turning up didn’t help at all!’

  ‘Oh well, sorry to have messed up your chances with the babe while trying to save you from certain death!’

  ‘That’s not what I meant! And I am not trying to get together with Alessandra!’

  ‘That’s not what it looked like to me, and it’s not what it looked like to Jen either. Now that you’ve got fancy artisan powers and a hot mentor, you’d do well not to forget who your real friends are.’

  ‘And my real friends are people who wilfully misunderstand what they see and refuse to give me a chance to explain?’ Abelard had totally lost the ability to be rational by this point. ‘And what’s with you hanging out with Jen?’

  ‘She contacted Mana-Calls looking for you.’ Mateo’s voice increased in volume and annoyance as he went on. ‘We were both worried that we hadn’t heard from you so we teamed up to rescue you! And who’s wilfully misunderstanding things now? If this is the gratitude I get, next time I’ll just let you rot!’

  The smart-e-fact started to crackle with mana next to Abelard’s ear as his emotions got the better of him. He closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and the crackling subsided, leaving his smart-e-fact undamaged. He opened his mouth to respond but the call had cut off.

  Abelard sighed. He’d imagined Mateo’s excited congratulations about his new job, not a ridiculous argument. Jen wouldn’t take his calls and Mateo was mad at him. And he still had to get them both to sign NDAs from Gadg-E-Tech. What would happen if he couldn’t?

  He had wandered several streets away from the Gadg-E-Tech building and wasn’t sure where he was. The idea of going back to his empty flat wasn’t appealing and he couldn’t just turn up at Jen’s door, even if he knew where she lived. So he checked his location on his smart-e map and headed to Mateo’s. Even if Mateo wouldn’t let him in, at least he’d be able to pick up his speed-e-fact.

  Abelard knocked on the door of Mateo’s flat and waited nervously. He was expecting some initial hostility, but Mateo physically recoiled when he saw who it was, and backed hastily away, holding up one hand as if to fend off an attack.

  ‘You stay away from me!’ Mateo’s eyes were wide with fear.

  Abelard took a step forwards over the threshold.

  ‘What on earth’s the matter with you?’

  ‘What’s the matter? You nearly burned my ear off, that’s what’s the matter!’ Mateo indicated his right ear where the skin was reddened.

  ‘What are you talking about? I haven’t been anywhere near you.’

  ‘Apparently you didn’t need to be.’ Mateo was still moving to keep as much distance between them as possible. ‘You fried my smart-e and nearly took me with it.’

  ‘What?’ Abelard remembered how his own smart-e-fact had crackled when he’d got annoyed during the argument with Mateo. ‘I blew up an artefact through the mana network?’

  ‘Yes! One minute I was yelling at you and the next there was mana bursting out of my smart-e and down my ear. The smart-e’s toast.’

  ‘Wow. Maybe I really am a danger to society …’

  ‘Yes, mate. I would say so.’

  Mateo was still rigid with tension but had stopped backing away, apparently reassured that Abelard hadn’t come to finish him off.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Abelard said. ‘It was a total accident.’

  ‘That’s as may be. But remember what happened up on the roof the other day? I’d say you’re a bit of a liability at the moment.’

  ‘That’s what Alessandra said after I singed off her eyebrows.’ Mateo goggled at him so he went on. ‘But the roof incident wasn’t entirely my fault. You were the one who wanted me to test my powers and you were the one giving the instructions.’

  Mateo had the grace to look sheepish. ‘That’s not an unreasonable point. But you still need to get your powers under control before you do some serious damage.’

  ‘No argument there. And I’ve already started. Alessandra showed me the basics this morning.’

  ‘Was that before or after I nearly lost my ear?’

  ‘Um, before,’ Abelard said.

  Mateo just looked at him.

  ‘Okay, okay, you’re right!’ Abelard threw up his hands and Mateo dropped flat behind the sofa.

  Abelard said, ‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous!’

  Mateo peeked out at him from behind the furniture. ‘Given my earlier experience I don’t think exercising a little caution could be described as ridiculous. I think I’ll be keeping to a safe distance for the time being, if you don’t mind. Though if you can fry artefacts from several miles away, a safe distance may be the other side of the c
ountry.’

  ‘Honestly,’ Abelard said, ‘I’m perfectly safe as long as I don’t have a charged artefact in my hand and get annoyed about something.’

  ‘That makes me feel so much better.’

  ‘Seriously, Mateo, I really need to talk to you. Do you think we can manage that without getting into another argument?’

  ‘If you promise not to blow me up if I disagree with you, maybe.’

  Abelard went to stand against the wall with his hands firmly behind his back.

  ‘There. How’s that?’

  Mateo stood up and moved gingerly to sit on the sofa facing Abelard. ‘Okay. Take it away.’

  Abelard told Mateo everything.

  ‘I tried calling Jen but she didn’t answer,’ he concluded, ‘so then I tried you and you know what happened after that.’

  Mateo rubbed his ear. ‘It’s probably a good thing Jen didn’t take your call. I don’t think blowing her up over the mana network would have helped the situation any.’

  ‘Just how mad was she? Do you think she’ll forgive me if I ever get the chance to explain things to her?’