I dropped my CU on the ground and sprinted at him before anyone else in line had even reacted. I’d find the idiot who brought him “up to speed” later. For now I needed to make sure there was enough left of him to let me know who to chew out. I did a sloppy interpretation of a goal kick that sent both the CU tray and the artifact orb-thing flying just as the display on the side ticked down to [0]

  Not far enough.

  I turned back and grabbed new guy by the back of his hair, slamming him head first into the ground harder than was necessary thanks to all the excitement. He made a noise somewhere between a squawk and a surprised dog bark. It would have been amusing if it wasn’t for the immediate danger behind us.

  I managed to tuck myself into a curl just as the artifact reached maximum temp. It detonated with a noise so loud that my ears rang even with the hearing protection. I felt impacts against my back, like a series of taps from a determined toddler. I immediately stood up, grabbing the back of my clothes and throwing the outer jacket onto the ground. I pulled the inner shirt out of my belt line and decided better of taking it off, instead moving the bottom briskly back and forth like I was trying fly away using only the propulsion from the hem.

  There was a loud roar as Viktor yanked his arm out of the rift. It did not look like a pleasant experience. He charged at us, nearly tearing off his protective gear, rage on his face as he glanced between me and new guy on the ground.

  “What the hell was that?” He bellowed, and I felt the air go even more prickly than the rift had already made it, as though I was being bitten by ants all over. I picked up my jacket off the ground, trying to look calmer than I felt. Tendrils of smoke rose from a few places.

  “Someone forgot to tell him to mind the battery on the containment unit,” I said, only semi-successful in keeping the tremor out of my voice. The adrenaline was waning.

  Viktor took a long slow exhale, and I swear the temperature went up a few degrees as he stared at the other man just now getting up. New guy had blood dribbling down between his eyes from a light gash on his forehead. I felt bad about that considering he now had injuries on both sides. At least I’d evened him out.

  “Find the one who trained you and bring him here.”

  My boss spoke just loud enough to be heard over the rift’s incessant crackle. It was terrifying, so much worse than when he shouted the first time.

  New guy didn’t need to be told twice, and he scrambled away, completely ignorant of the smoldering bits embedded in the back of his clothes. I followed him with my eyes, watching him yelp a little when one of them finally burnt through and hit the skin. I looked back at Viktor’s profile as he watched new guy grab onto the shoulder of someone over by the inventory tables. Viktor’s dinner plate-sized hands clamped into fists and the temp seemed to go up even more.

  Hoo boy, this wasn’t going to be good.

  New guy dragged the other one back, a shorter man I didn’t really recognize. He seemed annoyed about the whole thing, griping at new guy to let him get back to work. He clammed up pretty damn fast when he saw Viktor standing there fuming, almost literally.

  “You just cost me an artifact,” Viktor said, as if daring him to disagree. Apparently this idiot either liked taking risks or had no brain, because he immediately tried to push everything on new guy.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “That wasn’t me, boss, he wasn’t listening!” He pleaded, “I told him everything and he just…” His words cut off halfway through the second excuse as a massive fist arrived in a split second. I heard a sickening crunch as that freight train of hit connected with an apparently hollow head and Viktor sent the smaller guy flying.

  He hit the ground and lay mostly still, moaning a little, his mangled face looking like it had been hit by a hot frying pan. It was not only messed up, but scalded somehow. I looked back and Viktor’s knuckles were .

  I thought, reaffirming my vow to never get on Viktor’s bad side if I could avoid it. I had no idea what was up with his weird power. All I knew is that I didn’t want anything to do with it.

  Viktor spat at the man sprawled on the ground. “You’re done here, Jakob. I only kept you around because your father and I go way back, but not even he can stand you anymore.”

  That punch didn’t seem survivable. I looked up and Viktor was looking at me. I could feel my fight or flight kicking in, but I stood still. I tried not to stare at his hand and was mostly successful.

  “You did well, Charlotte,” I heard him say, doubting my ears. “At least someone is paying attention around here.” He turned back towards the rift with a massive sigh, and it was like all the piss and vinegar dropped out of him at once. He even looked smaller. “Let’s just get this thing done.” I heard.

  I threw the jacket back on, and grabbed my CU, hurrying towards the rift with after him. Don’t need to tell me twice, either.

  I triple-checked the charge level on the CU as I waited, with Viktor plunging his arm into the rift so hard I swear the thing shook from the force. I was in no mood to joke about it, though. Just wanted to see my way safely to the end of the day.

  Before long I had an artifact and was headed back over to the inventory section, past the boxing dummy that lay sprawled out on the ground. No one had touched him. I gave the briefest of glances to see that his chest was still rising and falling then continued on my way. Some small part of me was incapable of just glossing over death, even we all saw it far more often than anyone should.

  I reached the table and set the CU down, the receiver calling out a very healthy “Eight!” Now that’s how you do it. We actually used the numbers to determine processing order, with the lower ones going first to avoid any unintentional landscaping alterations.

  I grabbed a new CU at the end then nearly plowed over new guy as I went to go back to the rift. I had been checking the readout instead of watching where I was going and he’d stepped into my path.

  “Thanks for the save,” he said, holding his new CU in front of him in a vaguely defensive manner. Like he was afraid I was going to…

  Ah.

  “Sorry about your face. It really wasn’t intentional.” I told him, wagging my finger around the area of his forehead, not really addressing his appreciation, and not addressing how awkward that sounded. I was sure it’d be keeping me up staring at the ceiling later, either way.

  “I get it,” he replied, “you did what you had to do.”

  “Well, hopefully there is no next time,” I spoke, before realizing something. “What is your name anyway? I’d really like to stop calling you ‘new guy’ in my head,” I said, being overly honest about the creaky gears that ran my brain.

  He laughed, which made me feel a little better. At least my social awkwardness was also amusing. “I’m Alex.”

  “Cool cool. I’m Charlotte, Charlotte Willoughby. My friends call me ‘Charley’ and you’re welcome to do so as well. Call it a payment for the possible brain damage. I’m making my name easier to remember.”

  I really wish I could figure out when to shut up. Holy hell.

  Again, Alex laughed. “I can appreciate that,” he said, “I know I could definitely use the help most days, concussion nonwithstanding.” He pointed at his head, grinning.

  “Glad you still know where it is” I said in jest. “We should probably get back though.”

  “Right, of course.”

  We grabbed our CUs and returned to the line by the rift. We would usually pull from the rift for as long as Viktor’s stamina held out. Looking at him now, he seemed even more annoyed than usual, probably from losing a large artifact. He seemed to be channeling that annoyance into yanking things out of the poor, defenseless rift. It was going to be a long day.