Heart Glass

Part 1

Raid nearly upchucked his heart, it was pounding so hard. He watched the Knights stumble through the sand dunes, spluttering curses and sneering at him as he dodged every obstacle with ease. They'd no doubt been trained for years to navigate and chase fugitives through the desert, but there's nothing like being raised in it.
"Stop, Wreck!" The lead Knight commanded, his face flushed with anger and the veins in his neck about to pop. Raid's guilty pleasure was frustrating that man. What was his name? Sam? No, Slade.
"Nah. See ya, Sam!" Raid winked, then sped off, carrying his huge haul for the day on his back. He had to be careful—with that much unprogrammed weight on his Bladers, they could skid and he'd end up on his stomach, his haul most likely ruined. That wasn't even the worst part--Raid would have to experience Slade's awful smirk when he'd catch up with Raid and finally have him arrested.
Raid prayed that his Bladers—the most awkward, inefficient, cheap ones on the face of the Xylem Sector—would be able to handle the rest of the trip. Attached to his shoes, the metal pieces pushed his body about an inch off the ground using energy and air pressure. They were perfect for cutting through the sand and driving him faster and faster to his destination—which was usually just away from the Knights.
"Yes!" Raid spotted the towering shard of black glass that jutted from the dunes, about twenty feet ahead. He could always lose the Knights at the mines. He crouched, particles of hot sand attacking his eyes, then he jumped as far as he could, feeling the his back pop and his calves scream from strain—and managed to hit ten feet in the air. He soared past the glass sheet. The Knights belted frustrated curses about stupid Wrecks as a wave of sand he'd kicked up sprayed into their eyes. He skidded around and dropped straight into a dark hole behind the glass sheet.
As he fell for about thirty seconds, he removed and turned off his bladers, stuffed them into his pockets, then pulled on his white gas mask. He'd had something like it for three years—ever since he'd turned thirteen and the Knights had decided he was old enough to start working in the Dia mines.
He popped out of the hole, and air blew him up immediately, then slowly, slowly let him down to the ground. He looked up to see the familiar net of red lazers cutting him off from deep, winding earthen tunnels supported by Coriglass beams that glittered with Dia dust, and then sighed with relief when he registered three expectant faces.
"Raid! You made it back alive!" Gaib grinned brightly, his smile so big it almost erased the green triangle just behind his left cheekbone. His face was smeared with Dia dust and dirt. The mop of curls on his head bounced as he ran right up to the lasers. Stupid kid--he was going to get killed if he got any closer and the net thought he was trying to leave without his daily quota.
Raid stepped into the red lasers. A robotic voice intoned his name, then made a chirping sound that affirmed that Raid was a registered miner with DNA matching his first sample when he'd started three years ago.
"You got it. Did you get caught?" One of the older, harder faced men of the mine, Troi, squinted at him and the swollen container strapped to his back. His green triangle had faded and stretched since it had been given to him as a baby, but it was still there.
"They're coming," Raid said with a mixture of gravity and exhaustion.
"Get out of the way—we have to hide it before the Knights get here," Tani ran forward and unstrapped the contraband from Raid's back. His back practically sang with relief as it was lifted from him. She took off down one of the tunnels, lugging the huge. sloshing container to safety.
"What if she keeps it all to herself?" Troi grunted. Raid raised an eyebrow at him--Tani was one of the most trustworthy people he knew. The only lie she'd ever told was which gender she was when she worked in the mines--women weren't safe in the tunnels. Troi ignored the funny look and took off down the tunnel after Tani.
"I think Troi doesn't actually think Tani's gonna keep it all to herself," Gaib chirped up as Raid finished pulling on his mining outfit and began to saunter after them, grabbing handfuls of dirt from the walls and smearing it all over himself.
Raid smiled at him a bit, despite his exhaustion and the fact that Gaib probably couldn't see it through his slightly-transparent gas mask. "You're catching on. Troi's protective."
Gaib looked overjoyed at the acknowledgement, then dared to ask with a low voice, "How did you get past them?"
Ah. Here it came. The endless questions. "I just...went really, really fast."
"Your Bladers still work?"
"Yes."
"Can I try them sometime?"
"We'll see," Raid stretched, then winced. Gaib followed behind him, his curly hair bouncing with his gait as he grimaced for Raid.
"How late will you be up tonight?"
Raid sighed. He had to come up with the quota somehow.
"Four in the morning. If I'm lucky."
Gaib grimaced. "I can help--"
"No," Raid shook his head. "Last time you did that, you almost got caught." And killed. The Knights were very clear that the reason for the huge quota wasn't to get large Dia production—that was definitely big enough. It was to keep them working all day and into the night, stamped underfoot into conformity. Whether that was how they portrayed the situation to the citizens in the Shine, Raid had no idea. He wouldn't be surprised if the Shiners were well informed of the mistreatment, but were completely apathetic, too blinded by the luxury fate had given them.
Raid leaned down and gripped a pick that had been placed on the ground by some helpful soul that knew whoever would be mining there next didn't want to walk all the way to the center of the mines to grab tools and drag them back.
"It's almost not worth it," Gaib grabbed a pick, grimacing as its rough, cold metal touched his fresh scars on his hands.
"Don't be crazy," Raid snorted as he raised the pick, his eyes scrutinizing the spot he wanted to hit. His muscles weren't going to be happy with him by the end of the night. "Five gallons of water? Anything's worth that."