Catalyst

Chapter 33

warnings: language, violence

Chapter 33:
402 A.V; Month 11; Day 12

Andon had tested the nano every hour on the hour. The results did not please him to say the least. My nano had only lasted about two hours. I'd made the joke that he'd have to kiss me every two hours to keep himself immune to unforeseeable injuries, which he hadn't been too amused with. Maybe there had been too much on his mind. He'd been quiet the rest of the evening, going to bed early. If my mind worked like his did, I know I'd be exhausted all the time. So I let him go to bed without complaint.

As we walked to the lab, he wasn't very chipper. I could tell that he'd had trouble sleeping last night, but I kept my mouth shut for fear of pissing him off. He was scowling the whole way and I kept myself from stopping him and trying to press my fingers between his brows.

Upon entering the lab I was glad to see that it looked like Storm had bathed. He glanced up as we entered and gave the same Andon irritating grin he had yesterday. I would've stepped in and warned Storm, but I was concentrating on the energy in the room, the prickling on my skin. It was cold, yet it felt like there were searing hot needles poking my skin. My sword was lying on the table that Storm was standing beside. He obviously felt nothing. I was drawn forward and went to reach for it, but Andon reached over my body and took my wrist.

"What did you do to it?" he asked Storm.

"Recalibrated it a bit. Added a couple drops of her blood in the internal system. It takes a bit to separate her nano from the blood. I think that process dilutes the nano in some manner, so when I insert the pure nano into a microchip, it's powerful, but not the purest form. Her blood really did it, nearly sent me back into the wall."

"And you think that Alloy won't be flung back into the wall?"

"No," he answered in a confident tone. Just as I was sure Andon was going to let me go, there was a knock at the door. Storm left the table and opened up the door.

"Fuck me," I grumbled, upon seeing Priam, Sabre, and Jamie at the door, looking like a trio of grim cronies hunting for someone to beat. I realized that all three of them were glaring at Andon, not Storm or myself.

"I think it'd be kind of inappropriate in front of so many people," Andon said quietly and stepped away.

"Dare you," I hissed back, "It might make them leave." He gave me a cut it out sign, moving his hand in a slicing motion over his throat. Priam cleared his throat, getting our attention.

"We're here together, I think it's time we start working as a team."

"It's not going to make you privy to any secrets," Andon stated in a sarcastic tone.

"Teams don't keep secrets," Priam said and looked at Storm, "What've you been working on?"

"Her sword," he answered.

"You know what I mean you little bastard," Priam snarled.

"Calm down," Jamie said from behind them. He'd been watching it all in resigned interest, "You're here now because of your terrible interpersonal skills." He stepped around them and walked forward, stopping in front of me and looked at Andon.

"Why do I feel like I am the core issue here?" Andon asked in a suspicious tone.

"Because you are," Jamie stated, "Spending all your time with her, filling her head with lies. Priam told me all he said."

"And you're okay with it?" I asked Jamie, "You're fine that he was accusing you of stuff that you supposedly aren't doing."

"I get a bit eccentric when I've been drinking, Alloy," Priam answered, "Though there were bits and pieces that were true, namely your mother being a whore, the bit about your brother was just a little fabrication on my part."