Elements of Earth: The Element Trials

Chapter 3b, 1959, Location Unknown, Kira: Catalyst Bonds

"Bonds?" I asked. I shifted in my seat a few more times, trying to figure out what made it so uncomfortable.

"Shame on you." Salt chided. "As a mover and shaker in the element community, you should already have known about this."

"I'm not a mover and shaker." I mumbled. It wasn't the springs, though they did poke ever so slightly through the fabric.

"Maybe not anymore, but some people still remember the remembrance." That was what everyone else called it. They glossed over the fact that the intel trade was to everyone's benefit. Instead, it became a vigil. But for me, it's just a reminder that I had an opportunity to help and didn't. "So, about the battlefield medicine training for my ten." And Salt knew it too. Knew I was going to give the medic training to every element at the remembrance, but didn't, and he knew why I didn't. And now that we're negotiating a direct exchange he thought he could twist the knife. Pull my strings. Salt negotiating tactics 101.

"Not yet." I derailed him. "I don't know if you have something of enough value to trade for that. And besides, we're having such a pleasant chat, let's save the business for later." His salesman smile trickled down his chin. Maybe that'd give me time to figure out exactly what I wanted from him. But the question that was bothering me right then was what was wrong with the chair I sat in. Salt's chair. I shifted side to side once more. The padding was light but adequate. I couldn't determine for certain it wasn't something devious until I slid my hand along the armrest and found what about the chair made me uncomfortable. It was damp. It clung slightly to anything it touched. The chair was almost sticky, and I knew why. Funnily enough, that put me at ease. Salt's office, as he called it, had a humidity problem. It used to be a lab, but the judges abandoned it due to the leaky ceiling. Until it was in his hands, it was territory no element wanted. But that's the thing about Salt; He knew how to turn a moldy room into somewhere you could be assured of immediate privacy, and that was always in demand. Immediate privacy because the possibility he'd trade what you say was taken as a given. After all, that's what he did for a living. To keep living. Salt wasn't exactly combat effective, but he had alliances with everyone. And just like the sticky chair, that set me at ease. It's not a trap if you know the game up front. I brought my canteen to my lips but spoke before taking a drink. "So, what's this bonded thing about?"

"You know Sili..." I hated that nickname. He said it was because he said I was 'this close' to being Silicon in name, commander of my ten. But really he was saying I was silly. No one but him called me Sili, because no one but him could believe I'd be the commander of Silicon some day. I don't even know why I'm still a five, traitless as I am. "Information isn't free."

"You made it sound like something I could get from any gossip. How about you tell me anyway so I will be more generous during our negotiations?"

"You won't be."

I smiled. "No, but let's pretend that I will."

"And you said you didn't want to talk business." Salt chuckled. "Fine. Turns out the primary judge, the facilitator, wasn't supposed to group us by elements for the trials."

"What?" That didn't make any sense. If we fought individually, we'd all be dead by now. No one would've survived long enough to develop good traits."

"No, you're missing what I'm saying. Our tens weren't supposed to be composed of all the same element; they were supposed to be mixed." I took a long drink from my canteen to hide how surprised I was. It made sense. Mixing elements would've created endless possibilities for chemical reactions. "Apparently the facilitator's boss-" I spat water all over Salt. "Jesus Sili, what the hell?"

"The facilitator has a boss?" That was news to me. I'd never seen anyone the facilitator was subservient to.

"How can you not know about this?" A glimmer in Salt's eye told me he must've realized what profit he could make from my ignorance. "Of course, I could help you out with that." He smiled, no longer caring about the water running down his face. He was obviously thinking of the potential business he could wring out of me for this info. Which is why he became obviously dismayed when I rose from the sticky chair.