Chapter 22: By the Piece

Chapter 22: By the Piece

By the third morning after Talia’s visit, Silas could protect the empty box from a light knock on any side without rebuilding the ward between attempts.

He had learned this over several short sessions and one unusually irritating evening when the bottom kept failing. There was no reason it should have annoyed him more than the lid had, except that he had to keep moving the box to test it.

Now he lifted it clear of the floor and nudged the underside with the wooden ball. The ball turned aside. He brought it around the back, tried again, and lowered everything before the strain behind his eyes became a headache.

[Boundary Ward — Assimilation: 83%.]

Silas read the number with the box still on his knees.

Seventeen more. He could almost imagine placing a proper boundary outside this room, somewhere he actually needed one between himself and another person’s weapon.

Then he tried a firmer push against the upper corner and sent the ball into the lid.

"All right. I heard you."

He put it away. His appointment was after lunch, and he still needed to clear the desk.

Evan had introduced the new client through the academy network the previous day. Nera Vale, third year, maker of small measuring instruments. Her messages contained a proposed fee, pictures of the parts, and a request to keep food off the work surface. Silas had liked that she mentioned payment before asking him for anything.

She was less encouraging in person.

Nera stood at his door with two cases and a folded work apron over one arm. She glanced at his face, checked the room number, then looked past him at the desk.

"Mercer says you’ve got the control for this."

"He’s paid me for it twice."

"Yes. That’s why I’m here." She shifted one case against her hip. "Where can I put these?"

Silas stepped aside. As she entered, the guest reading identified her Soul Talent as C-Rank Fit Sense. His temporary slot remained occupied by Boundary Ward. He dismissed the reading and moved the spare chair out for her.

Nera set down the cases and opened the smaller one. "This is the paid sample. Five silver for the assembly work. If it passes, we discuss the batch. If it doesn’t, I still pay for the trial, but we stop there."

"What am I assembling?"

"A contact gauge. It tells the user whether a fitted section has shifted under load." She placed a completed example on the mat. "Small enough to go where a person can’t get a measuring tool in."

Silas inspected it without touching. "How do you check the alignment in something that small?"

"My Talent. Fit Sense." Nera picked up the gauge. "I need contact with the assembly. Here, watch."

She loosened a small test fitting attached to the finished gauge. Its indicator shifted. Nera demonstrated the same fault in an unfinished set, then corrected it by touch, showing him how little movement was enough to spoil the reading.

Silas leaned closer. "That much?"

"That’s why ordinary holding frames aren’t worth setting up for small batches. By the time I’ve adjusted them, I could have finished two with a decent assistant."

They registered the trial before starting. Nera checked the confirmation on her slate, tied her apron, and laid out the components in shallow trays.

She wanted to see him hold the loose pieces first. Silas raised three, turned the middle one as requested, and kept them suspended while she passed a probe between them.

Nera watched his face during the last part. He pretended not to notice.

"Good," she said. "Lower them. We’ll start with the base."

She spoke faster than Evan. The names came in a stream until Silas asked her to point out the difference between the guide and the stop.

Nera paused with a tool in her hand. "You’ve never worked on these before?"

"You sent pictures. They weren’t labeled."

"I thought Mercer—" She stopped and reached for a pencil. "Fine. This one’s the guide."

She marked the sketch while he watched. After that, her instructions were easy enough to follow, though she had an unnerving habit of testing a hold with the probe immediately after he adjusted it.

"Tell me before you push," Silas said when a piece tilted.

"That was barely any pressure."

"I was still moving it."

Nera examined the piece, then set the probe down. "Say when it’s ready."

He did. She waited. The next adjustment took without trouble.

Once the base was secure, the work became less familiar. Nera needed one component held lightly enough to settle while its neighbor stayed rigid. Silas could do that. Keeping track of which hold needed to yield when she moved around the assembly took more care.

He stopped her once, lowered the unfinished unit into its support, and checked the sketch again.

Nera folded her arms. Silas felt the urge to hurry rise at once.

It’s five silver. She can wait ten seconds.

He took the ten seconds. When he lifted the unit again, he had the sequence straight.

They finished without damaging a part.

Nera inspected the gauge, tested it against her reference fitting, and tested it again after turning the unit over. Silas remained seated, resisting the temptation to ask whether she intended to inspect it until it broke.

At last she put it in the finished tray.

"That passes."

The five silver arrived while she opened the second case.

"Six units to start," Nera said. "Same assistance, five silver each. I’ll supply the parts and do the securing. We work here if the desk stays clear. Payment after each accepted unit."

Silas looked at the case. "How long?"

"Two afternoons for the batch, allowing for breaks. Faster once we’re used to each other."

"And if one fails your inspection?"

"We find out why before starting another. I won’t charge you for a part unless you’ve actually damaged it. Any changes to the design are my responsibility."

That was clear enough. They entered the terms into the commission record, including the inspection standard Nera had used for the sample. Silas read them before accepting.

She packed the spare parts to bring back for their first session. At the door, she paused.

"Mercer said you were difficult."

"Did he?"

"He also said you stopped when something wasn’t right. Keep doing that." Nera lifted her case. "Tomorrow, after lunch."

Silas closed the door behind her and returned to the desk. Nineteen silver available, another thirty if the batch went well. He could leave most of it alone and still order something good for dinner.

He opened the calendar to reserve their working hours. A newly posted academy reception occupied an evening ten days ahead.

Silas’s hand stopped over the screen.

He recognized the event. The name had appeared in the game beside a date he had been trying not to count toward. Seeing it on his own calendar made him check the interval twice.

Ten days.

He opened a supplier’s listing in another window. Two hundred and forty silver, with delivery extra. He checked the cheaper listings beneath it, read far enough to find why they cost less, and returned to the first.

The dinner menu was still open. Silas closed it and ordered from his ordinary meal allowance.

Then he messaged Nera.

If the first batch passes, how much more work can you offer this week?