Kyle’s chest swelled with pride as Rayne arrived for her daily inspection. For the last three days, she’d visited the foundry occupying the last three railcars on the train. Today, he had so many things lined up. He bounced with energy, deciding where to begin.

They’d made substantial progress since arriving at Iona-30 in Toronto. One car stored gold and iron in abundance awaiting transformation. Another car contained the smelter and furnace. The last car housed the forge with a hydraulic-powered steam hammer for automation. Mass production was slated to begin in one day. Custom jobs required manual love and care. Kyle saw to those himself.

Rayne insisted on seeing everything again, and he was happy to show it to her. He said, “Okay, so you’re familiar with the gold and iron that’s cool. But we’ve finished the furnace, and I, for one, cannot wait to demonstrate it.” He rushed like a kid with a new toy to the extra-long flatcar. “It’s a car bottom. Pile everything on this concrete palette here. It’s loaded inside the furnace, heated, and then comes back out ready to go. We program it here.” Walking away from the fifteen-foot monster, he hefted a laptop to her.

Rayne rewarded Kyle with a radiant smile that left him melted even more than the heat from the railcar.

He said, “Ahem. Go on and press enter,” and pointed at the key as if she’d forgotten how to type.

Excited, Rayne smashed the key and watched as the process went to work. Kyle had seen it a few times now. He was more interested in gauging her reaction by how much her grin widened or her eyes sparkled. The furnace was definitely a hit.

“Okay that will take some time, but I’ve already loaded some over here.” Kyle rushed to the last car. “We have a drop forge with multiple presses operated by steam and hydraulics. We can mass produce. Well, I say mass. Like six at a time. Same laptop. Go ahead and press enter.”

Rayne did and gave a little hop of excitement as the machine started rolling over glowing metal.

Kyle returned her smile as he patted himself on the back. Job well done. He said, “That’s gonna take a minute, too. Now here,” he stepped over to a proper anvil, “I do the custom work. If any of the Progeny want a weapon, I’ll make it by hand. Which brings me to your request from last night. I’ve made everything. Just putting the finishing touches on them for you. They’ll be ready in time tomorrow. I promise.”

Rayne squealed and jumped onto him in a one-armed hug. “Thank you,” she said into his hair.

Enjoy these moments. They’ve grown so few and far between over the years. It would only get worse as time went on.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Kyle patted a hand on the small of her back. Fuck it. He twirled her around.

Live while he could.

All too soon, Rayne stepped away, breathless and smiling. “We needed this so much right now. You’re fucking amazing for putting it on the train and making it work.”

“Ah, as much as I’d like to take the credit,” Kyle said as stepped to the side and pulled Smith in, “this weapon aficionado did about forty percent of the work.”

Smith grinned down at Rayne, and she beamed back.

Okay, it was time for round two of this stupid game. She guessed, “Assassin.”

“Close, but not quite.” Smith fired a finger gun at her.

“Dammit.”

Kyle unfolded his arms and walked back into Rayne’s spotlight. “Why don’t you just tell her?”

Smith kept on smiling as he checked out the load in the drop forge. “Because saying it would be a confession. For her to guess is not.”

Rayne clicked her tongue before asking Kyle, “How many do you think you can produce in a day?”

He said, “Eighteen at most.”

A cloud darkened that bright smile as she asked, “Can we run it day and night?”

Kyle put his hands on his hips as he stared at the machinery. He blew the air from his cheeks on a sigh. “I don’t know Rayne. Smith, do we have enough people?”

“The Iona-30 peeps will help. We’ll get it done, General.”

Rayne watched the metal exiting the furnace. The fiery glow reflected in her eyes. “We don’t have much time left.”

Kyle gazed at her for a minute as she went somewhere else inside her mind. Softly, he called to her, “Rayne. Rayne, what makes you say that?”

She looked down, hiding her eyes. “Thanks for showing me all this. You’ve both done a great job.” The girl that peered back up was not the same one who’d looked down. When she went to turn away, Kyle followed.

Waiting until they passed through the door, and into the hallway, he took Rayne’s arm. Sweaty, dirty, and quite worked out, Kyle hoped he cut a nice figure with only jeans on.

Rayne leaned against the wall and let him take her hand.

Kyle said, “Talk to me. We’re in this together. You don’t have to be a hero and bottle it up all the time.”

Rayne looked back outside into the July heat. Then she squeezed his hand. His heart gave a heavy thump. Looking into the distance, she said, “Have you ever been scared of yourself? Of what you’re capable of?”

Kyle had never experienced shame. He wasn’t sure what it felt like, but he figured it was akin to fear of oneself. “I can’t say that I have, but I’m willing to listen if you’re willing to talk.”

With a sad smile, Rayne shook her head. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

When she made to leave, Kyle planted a hand on the wall beside her, blocking her.

When Rayne raised an eyebrow at him, Kyle said, “Yeah, yeah. You could rip my arm off.” At that, she smirked. He had her. “Listen, I’ve known you for several years now, and I can say you are the most self-sacrificing and loyal person I’ve ever met. If you’re worried that you might be a danger to people for whatever reason, you don’t need to be. You’d hurt yourself before you’d hurt one of us. We follow you for a reason, Rayne.” He dropped his arm and backed away.

Kyle put some distance between them because he knew Rayne would take his arm off for what he added at the last minute. “Well, I mean, I follow you to check out your ass, but—”

Run!

Kyle bolted down the hallway and dared not look back.