Fury and Flame | 3

3 | 6

J A X O N

      "Hand me that screwdriver." I couldn't reach it with only my right hand. After Kane reached across and gave it to me, I used it to tighten the bolts in the joints. They needed to be as tight as possible to work efficiently.

      Most of the actual building had been finished in my workshop. Now, we just needed to fine-tune the creation and test it enough times to ensure its capabilities. And with the few tools I'd brought in my bag, we set up shop at Vladlena Tesla's house and did our best not to soil her floor with oil and grease.

      Kane and I worked side by side for countless hours on this project, sometimes talking, sometimes in comfortable silence. I was thankful that he was as committed to building this as I was.

      When I finally pulled myself away from the shiny metal arm for the first time in hours, I saw that it was dark outside. Checking a clock, I realized aloud, "It's one in the morning."

       "I know." He didn't even look away from the wires he was working on.

       "Why didn't you tell me, man? We could have eaten or taken a break with the others."

       He shrugged. "It's alright."

      "Whatever you say." I went back to perfecting the metal paneling.

      After a moment, he said, "I have a question."

      "Shoot."

      Kane lifted the spear-like weapons I'd made him. "You made this to bribe me into helping you, didn't you?"

      "I don't know what you're talking about."

      He gave me a flat look that said bullshit.

      "Okay, I might have made it for you in case you didn't want to help." I threw up my hand in surrender. "But it worked, didn't it?"

      With a look of incredulity, he questioned, "You thought I wouldn't want you to get your arm back? How low do you think of me?"

      "I like to have everything taken care of, just in case."

      His frown deepened, knowing there was an underlying insinuation. "Just in case of what?"

      "You know...you've just got a lot on your plate. Riley. Your brother."

      He went quiet and I felt responsible for it. If he wasn't thinking about them before, he certainly was now.

      "If it's any consolation, your brother certainly isn't boring." I didn't know how to bring up Riley to him, or if he'd even talk about her.

      Kane scoffed. "That was never going to be an issue."

      I tried to search for something nice to say about his brother. It wasn't easy. "At least he's back. He could still be the brother he used to be," I told him, looking up to see him still engrossed in the wiring.

      As was characteristic of him, he was silent. When he got like this, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. So I said nothing more on the subject.

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       Every screw and bolt was finally tightened. The paneling was laid perfectly flat. And Kane finished with the wiring inside. It was done.

       "Let's test it out, shall we?" I asked, lifting it to inspect it for any imperfections.

      He held his open palm out to me and on it was a small earpiece that would act as a buffer between my brain and the metal arm. As I'd been building the arm itself, Kane had been working on the earpiece and wiring for days. With it, I should be able to move the arm at will.