(Tara’s P.O.V)
The day had been one of the oddest I could recall. I kept feelin' like there was somethin' I was supposed to be doin'. Took me near three hours, but I had the joint spotless. Still, I felt like a slacker.
Waitin' in line for chimney duty usually ate up the same three hours, but that felt necessary. Today, all I did was spruce up a mostly clean house and then practice my penmanship. I even grabbed some grub! Usually, I didn’t have time for that, as I had to hit the mines early or I’d miss my shot at Retriever duty.
"Well, Mr. Zeraki did say I could eat whenever I got hungry," I reasoned, thinkin' back on the sweet cakes that now were just a sweet memory.
I always had a sweet tooth but never had the brass for treats since my ma passed. I was too young to grasp death back then, but I knew my old man’s heart ached daily because of it. He hit the bottle often, a habit I still couldn’t quite peg. At least he always made it home early to whip up supper for us.
He had a rule: always be back before nightfall, though he never spilled why. I really wished my old man would clue me in on why it was so important to be back before nightfall. Last night’s beatin' had left my hiney sore, and it still stung a little bit.
*sigh*
I heard the door creak and looked up to see Mr. Zeraki takin' off his shoes.
“Hey, Tara. What’s up?”
I took a moment to let the odd greetin' sink in.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Zeraki.” Prim, I repeat in my head.
“Just ‘Zeraki,’ Tara. And why did you get punished this time?”
My heart raced. I didn’t want my troubles muckin' up things with Mr. Zeraki. He looked like he wouldn’t blink if the world was on fire, but I suspected he noticed more than he let on.
The way he zeroed in on my issues with such precision made it hard to relax around him. I tried to keep my head down, hopin' I was wrong and that Mr. Zeraki hadn’t clocked anything.
---
( Zeraki’s P.O.V )
The blended sentiments Γ Faint Pain ˩ and Γ Fear ˩ radiated from the child trying to hide from him. Zeraki didn’t think it had anything to do with her cleaning his place.
[Number 7: Could it have something to do with her father?]
[Number 3: Why don’t you go talk to him?]
When he heard that there was a possibility that he might be the cause for the child’s pain, his heart clenched.
‘What is wrong with me? I thought I fixed the guilt affliction.’
[Number 7: Well, father, everyone has had their entire lives to decide what to feel guilty for and what isn’t any of their business. For you, though, this is all new. Instead of trying to get rid of it permanently, tame it.]
[Number 3: For once, dad, I think Number 7 is right. Just because guilt feels bad doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It helps you know when you’ve crossed a line you never intended to.]
‘Alright… right now I think I should talk to him and reduce the burden on the child,’ Zeraki said. He knew he’d soon have to start learning how to restrain the guilt whenever it popped up, but at least for tonight, it felt like he was doing right by the child and not simply getting rid of something he found inconvenient.
Number 3 gave him a warm smile in his mind, [Whatever you decide, dad. As Number 1 said, make progress, not perfection.]
[Number 7: Ha! You actually remembered that right.]
Number 3 glared at him but kept her mouth shut. The silent treatment.
“Tara, I’m sorry I did not ask you this before. What would keep you from getting in trouble with your father?” Zeraki asked the child who stopped fiddling with her pencil and looked like her world was crumbling around her.
“Don’t worry, Tara, I will not stop our lessons no matter what happens,” Zeraki immediately added as he radiated Γ Honesty ˩ sentiments.
She calmed down after a few minutes and then explained her situation to Zeraki. From her story, Zeraki inferred that her father seemed to have grown afraid after her mother’s death, but nothing concrete. Zeraki listened to the rules as they were being laid out before him:
1. Introduce your friends to me.
2. No use of alleys, regardless of the time.
3. Be home before nightfall.
4. Do not lie to me.
5. Act like you see nothing when something strange happens, calmly walk away, and tell me.
Zeraki guessed that she hadn’t told her father about him, for it fell under information withholding and not lying. He was fairly confident that he hadn’t done anything strange in front of the child and that rule was probably targeted towards Extractors. The man must have been mentally scarred by one.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Zeraki decided to introduce himself to the child’s father and move their lessons to lunchtime. She looked relieved, and Zeraki was glad for it. They ended the lesson midway at 6:30 p.m. to make enough time for Tara to get home.
---
Zeraki knocked on Tara’s door, and a man with bronze skin, a lean frame, and a mild alcoholic smell to him with uneven stubble hair opened shortly after. He looked down at Tara, and she slightly cowered, not having thought this far ahead.
“I was wonderin’ when you’d introduce yourself,” the man said after seeing his daughter’s nervousness.
“You knew about me?”
“You’ve been walkin' my daughter home for some reason. I hate it, but I can’t lay my hands on a corpo unless I want to bring more misfortune upon my daughter. She looks sprite and jolly, so you haven’t laid your hands on her.”
The man hadn’t said it, but from the sentiments subtly leaking from him, Zeraki was certain that the man would stop at nothing if he ever laid his hands on Tara. The only reason he hadn’t done anything yet was because the child was alright and he was treading carefully.
[Number 7: In retrospect, it is suspect for a probably-25-year-old man to walk a child that isn’t his own home and stare at her as she walked in.]
[Number 3: Yeah…, that’s on us.]
“I apologize, sir. I meant no offense. I am new to Blackmore and Astrohelm’s ways are still foreign to me. Your daughter offered to help me find safe routes around this part of the city, a good place to buy bread and a decent apartment, for a price. Of which I paid for in full, but she went a step further and bargained a fair price for me when I rented the apartment. I repay my debts, and all she asked from me was to teach her how to read. She even left her service fee on my floorboard as payment for her lessons. Your daughter has a good head on her shoulders, she’s fair in her transactions, and she’s a hard worker.”
The man looked at Zeraki for a good minute before straightening his back. He steadily took a deep breath with his eyes closed, then released it and looked Zeraki in the eye.
“My name is Akim Savoy. Would you like to come in?”
“I am Zeraki, and I would love to.” Zeraki sighed.
It felt good to get that misunderstanding out of the way. Zeraki looked down at Tara, who then shuffled into the house, failing at containing her joy. Zeraki chuckled and followed her in.
After settling down, Tara sat next to her father, who then got up and bowed deeply, his eyes moist. Now, that was unexpected and very uncomfortable.
“Thank you for what you are doing for my daughter.”
“Mr. Akim, I don’t mind. Some would argue that I’ve learned more from her than she has from me.”
Number 3 sagely nodded in his mind.
Mr. Akim composed himself, trying to keep a smug smile from showing, and took his seat. Γ Pride ˩ sentiments terribly concealed and directed at his daughter.
“I came to introduce myself, Mr. Akim. Tara said it was necessary because it is part of your household rules. She and I have a standing agreement in place, but we also need your consent for it to be effective.”
“‘Household rules’—that’s a rather polished way to put it. You must find them rather unusual.”
Zeraki nodded; he was curious about what strange things the man had seen to warrant the inclusion of the last rule. He projected his [Γ Curiosity ˩]. The man gathered his thoughts before he turned his head to look at his daughter for a moment.
“I suppose you are old enough to hear this, considering how resourceful you are.”
Tara suddenly looked very interested in the conversation. Mr. Akim affectionately rustled his daughter’s hair before turning to Zeraki.
“Her mother didn’t die. I worked in the factories, and she did laundry for the suits in central. When Tara was born, I got to see something so beautiful that it caused my desire to leave this side of the city and give them a better life to grow.
“So I took up longer hours, and her mother decided that she wanted to support me.” He sighed deeply, and Zeraki could tell he wanted a drink even without using his sixth sense.
“She took longer hours too, and for a while, it was working. We were raking up our savings at a pace I was comfortable with. Then one night, as we were coming home, all I felt was a breeze, and she was gone.
This was two years ago.” He turned to his daughter,
“This is why I have those house rules that I’m sure are strange and, at times, frustrating, but they are necessary. Even I stick to ‘em. I can’t afford to lose you, and you can’t afford to lose me. Each other is all we got, dolly… but I’m happy that you are looking to have more than just me.
“I was worried about your lack of pals and all, but it seems you just had polished standards!” he laughed at his own quip, Tara blushing up a storm.
“It would be wise if you also tried not to be out n’ about at sundown too, Mr. Zeraki.”
Tara and Zeraki nodded in unison, and he looked pleased with himself. After talking with him about Tara’s new schedule—which entailed her learning during lunch hour at the bakery close to the library—Zeraki left and headed home.
Personally, Zeraki felt that the whole abduction thing seemed like a can of worms, but it was good to gain confirmation that there were Extractors with terrifying offensive abilities out there.
---
It was dark out and more shadow was cast than the street lamps could illuminate. The shortest path home, unfortunately, was blocked by what seemed to be a turf scuffle between teenage gang wannabes.
The street he was on was usually visible from the route he used for his morning workouts, so he figured that he could simply take a detour, then walk the usual circuit, and it would eventually lead him back home without getting involved in that mess.
It took a bit over ten minutes, but he eventually found himself on the top part of dimly lit concrete stairs. It looked more ominous wreathed in shadows like that than he remembered it being. Just as he was about to go down though, he felt someone slam into him, sending him over the edge.
Adrenaline kicked in, and he received the unified response from every one of his associated cells. For once, he wasn’t commanding or making requests for parts of him to obey; he was listening.
Every inch of his body let him know of their primed condition, ready and willing to listen to him to help them tide through the crisis.
His eyes took in as much light as they could, feeding him as much information as was biologically possible to gather.
His ears picked up sound and fed it to him for his use. As his feet were close to leaving the edge, he felt pressure on the parts that were still on the ground.
He tucked his knees in, an action that temporarily let him firmly place the flat of his feet on the side of the concrete block before he flexed his thighs, propelling him over the street and onto a lamp post.
He awkwardly held onto it and slid down to the bottom.
On the stairs, the one that had pushed him off was still racing down. A few seconds later, more people followed her down with the same urgency.
[Number 7: I’m starting to really hate gang-bangers.]
[Number 3: Should we go take a look?]
[Number 7: It’s none of our business, Number 3. The rival gang probably pulled out a gun.]
‘I think I might be able to clear the mass in my psyche in a month or less,’ Zeraki suddenly said as he looked at the staircase.
‘What I’ve done just now has twice as much chipping rate as learning a single language.’
[Number 3: …I don’t think we should be jumping off buildings, dad.] She sounded pensive about the idea.
‘And we won’t be. I just need to exercise how to listen.’
[Number 7: …you could try martial arts or learn how to use a weapon. Sparring should be good practice.]
Zeraki nodded as he headed to his apartment.