“Ten, okay,” Felix agreed. Flipping open the window as Kit took control of the cart, he lowered the draw to ninety percent and accepted.
Kit slowed for a second, but then continued on as if nothing had changed.
Felix said nothing, and instead held up the list he’d made. Scratching off toilet paper, he looked around himself to figure out what was next.
“They’re so quiet. It’s like constant muttering,” Kit said, reaching up to pull down a pack of paper plates. “Put it to one percent.”
Felix obliged, and then checked his account balance.
Kit was listed as one thousand four hundred and eighty-five points now. Exactly ninety-nine percent of her value.
“I really have to focus to hear anything. To the point that it hurts. Urgh. How about five percent?”
Felix flicked the slider over four percentage points.
“I can hear them if I think about it. That’s… rather nice, really. Do you mind leaving it there?”
Felix wasn’t going to worry over something like seventy points right now. Not when he could always take it back just as quickly. “Sure.”
“Thanks. You’re an okay guy for a slaveowner.”
Felix chuckled at that and shook his head. “You’re a smart, telepathic lady. Read my thoughts. You’ll find I’m not that nice.”
Kit stopped dead in her tracks and slowly looked at him. She tilted her head to one side, then the other. “I can’t. I actually can’t… read your mind. I’ve never had that happen. Put it to one hundred percent real quick.”
Doing as she requested, he popped it up to zero percent draw and looked to her.
She staggered as if struck and then looked at him. Her eyebrows drew down, and he got the feeling she was exerting immense pressure to open his mind.
Felix looked around to see if anyone was watching. It looked more like she was angry at him than anything. It was honestly rather embarrassing.
An old woman passed by them, eyeing Kit, then him. Felix made an apologetic gesture at the woman and gave her a weak smile.
“I can’t,” Kit said finally, shaking her head. “I actually can’t read your mind.”
Felix flipped her back up to ninety-five percent draw and then shrugged. “Okay? Goodie goodie for me. I’m betting it has to do with the slave master thing.”
Stepping in front of Kit, he took the cart and got them rolling again.
“No, you don’t understand. I can’t tell if you’re lying or telling the truth.”
“Okay? Yeah, that’s normal. Welcome to being human.” Felix shook his head and turned the cart across the back aisle towards the dairy section.
“You’re right. So, tell me, then,” Kit said, grabbing a two-gallon jug of whole milk.
“Tell you what? The slaveowner thing?” Felix scratched off milk from his list and then pointed at the cheese section.
Kit nodded her head and grabbed a bag of shredded cheese.
“You’re a source of power. A battery. Income,” Felix explained slowly. He wasn’t sure why he was telling her this. He was giving up some power over them in favor of… trust, maybe?
“Ah. I see. Keep us happy, healthy, and cooperative and it’s easier for everyone.” Kit nodded her head, dropping the cheese into the cart.
Felix grunted his agreement, immediately moving the cheese into the right spot.
“Smart. I get it. I think I’d probably do the same. Well, if we—” Kit stopped, a smile frozen on her face. “Someone is watching us. They recognized me as Augur. The things he’s pushing at me mentally are… can you turn it off? Please?”
Felix nodded his head and pushed her back up to a full draw.
Kit blinked and then laughed suddenly, pressing her hands to her stomach. “Oh, that’s rather nice. No helmet required, just… boop, gone. Haaaaa. Other than the whole slave thing, this is rather nice. What’s next on the list?”
Looking to the list, Felix scratched at his head. “Meat. Ioana wants a lot of meat.”
“Meat!” Kit said loudly. She jumped up on the back of the cart, sending it skittering forward as she pointed towards the indicated section.
Sighing, Felix followed along behind her. He didn’t blame her for her actions. He imagined her life up to this point had probably been full of the thoughts and emotions of others.
She lived for herself now.
Well, through me, for herself. All fifteen hundred points of herself.
Felix stopped dead, staring at nothing.
He had two thousand eight hundred and fifty points.
A grin popped up over his face, and suddenly, the world seemed a much brighter place.
Felix smiled at Miu and Ioana as they opened the garage door. Felix turned the keys and shut the car off. Opening his door, he tossed the keys to Miu.
Giving them a quick wave, he slipped by them and entered the house.
“What?” Miu asked, catching the keys and looking to him.
“If you could please unload the car, I’ll take care of lunch in a bit. I’m sorry, and thank you,” Felix said over his shoulder, heading straight to his uncle’s study.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Ioana called after him. “Felix!”
“Gotta check something. Might just solve a whole buncha problems.”
Felix opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a solid ingot of lead. It weighed five pounds and had been one of his early experiments.
He knew that he didn’t have the points to turn it into gold.
Focusing on the heavy metal, he called up the window for it.
Picking the “material” section, he changed it to silver, then looked at the point value needed.
Two thousand points. Exactly as he remembered it from when he’d tried different materials.
Grinning, he hit the confirm button. The five-pound lead bar was replaced with a five-pound silver bar.
Laughing, he picked up the bar and flipped it over in his hands. It was real. It existed. It worked.
“We’re in business.”
“And what business is that?” Ioana asked from the door, her arms folded across her chest.
Felix looked to her and gave her a big smile. “Whatever we want it to be. First, we need to buy a lot of cheap metal. Whole lot of it.”
Then Felix realized something even better. He could quit whenever he wanted if this went as he hoped it would.
Chapter 5 - Slow Joe -
“Alright,” Felix said finally, looking over to the three women standing in the doorway. “I’m going to head out to a pawn shop and sell this.”
Wagging the silver bar at the women, he gave them a smile.
“Why a pawn shop?” Ioana asked.
“Because they’re less likely to ask questions. After that, I’ll need to pick up some more lead bars. This one I got from an auction sale for a scuba school. I figure I can hit another one for more weights. That or fishing supplies. They use weights, right?”
“What if they’re not pure lead?” Miu asked quietly.
“Then it might cost a few extra points, or fewer. So long as most of it is there, it should be relatively the same. Besides, I can check it now before I buy it. Thanks to Kit.”
Felix wormed his way between the three of them and grabbed his uncle’s keys.
He wasn’t going to be using his car anytime soon since it still had groceries in it.
Sliding the door open, he hopped in and jammed the keys into the ignition. As the garage door started to open, Miu opened the passenger door and got in next to him.
“I will accompany you,” she said. Reaching for his hand, she snagged the silver bar from him and then buckled her seatbelt.
“Alright,” Felix said uneasily. A single glance over his shoulder to confirm it was clear, and he backed them out of the garage quickly.
He really only knew of one pawn shop. It would have probably been a good idea to do some research and figure out the best one to go to.
Felix couldn’t help himself, though. He was excited.