Chapter Three: S**t Coffee

Tom has several conversations- at once.

Jack flexed his hand a little as he grabbed out different tools. “Did you really have to break it?” He asked, sounding more pouty than hurt.

“Would you have dropped the crowbar otherwise?” I retorted. 

Jack laughed, “No, probably not.”

He wheeled an old bike chassis out from the back of the shop, propping it against the table. “Looks perfect,” I commented. Jack just nodded, going back into the bowels of his garage. 

I like it too. I heard a voice inside my head; it was deep and unfamiliar. 

“You say something, Jack?” I called, knowing full well he didn't.

Jack poked his head out of the doorway. “What was that?.... No, I didn't. You can grab a rag and that spray over there and start cleaning up the chassis a bit if you want.” 

I nodded, doing what Jack suggested as he dipped back into the room behind him. 

Well, that was a pointless question. 

“Shut up.” I replied, out loud.

“What?” Jack shouted from the back room.

“Nothing!” I shouted back.

This time I didn’t try to speak out loud.

What’s… going on? I asked the voice in my head.

Sorry, I suppose I haven’t been introduced. The voice replied.

Just tell me what the hell’s going on, please.

Well, it’s a long story. You see, back when- He began.

Make it short. I cut him off, wanting him to get to the point.

Very well. I am Ahran’ Ikai.

Great. Why are you in my head?

I’m the reason you’re alive.

I stopped polishing for a moment, trying to register that.

What? I mean, thanks, but… Why? And how?

Jayce is an oracle. He knows many things, though he can’t be sure of any of it. He seems to believe you have some grander role in the world. So, I elected to save you.

Again, thanks, but how?

By binding our souls.

I paused again, standing as I finished polishing the chassis.

By… What?

The only way I could save you was to put a part of my immortal soul into your mortal one. 

F****n’... What?

It’s weird to hear someone else’s voice sighing in your head. I continued to work on the bike in relative silence from there on, having a conversation with Ahran’Ikai. He went on to explain that he was what most would call a God- an Ahran. He seemed hesitant to give me anything more than that, like what he was even the god of.
I get the feeling you don’t trust me. I told Ikai, slamming a piece of the chassis back into place, an audible click signalling a secure connection. Why save me if you don’t trust me?

Because I had no other choice, He replied solemnly. I tried to ask him, what exactly that meant, but he refused to answer. He was quiet the rest of the night.

I slept on the floor of the garage, using an old tarp that covered some other equipment as a blanket. In the morning, I was woken up by the sun rising through the thin curtains. I sat up, scraping the crust out of my eyes with the back of my index finger.
“Morning, sunshine,” Jack taunted me, leaning against his workbench with coffee in one hand. “Be sure to wipe the dust off your a*s before sitting on anything, you hear?” He laughed at me, handing me down a cup of coffee. I took a small sip of it and gagged in my mouth, retching from the taste.
“I’d rather die again than drink more of your s**t coffee,” I jeered at him, setting the cup on the table as I pushed myself up onto my feet. As instructed, I patted my back and shook my hips, clearing off the dust that had settled over me during the night. Jack was looking down at some schematics on the table when I joined him, whistling at the sight. “Someone was busy last night, eh?”
“No thanks to you,” Jack replied, pointedly grabbing my cup of coffee and moving next to his. “Voice-activated directional motors, center-mounted undercarriage ejector, GPS tracking, self-balancing gyroscopic knuckles... This is barely even going to be a bike anymore, you know that?” 

I nodded, “I know. I need it to last under fire, and I need it to be able to handle whatever the Equinox throws at me,” I sighed, resting my elbows on the table. “You have no idea what it’s like to try to get past them sometimes. It’s gotten pretty hairy,” I admitted.

“I know enough,” Jack said, surprisingly reticent for the large man. 

I got the feeling that he wasn’t just trying to act tough. I remembered what he said about the recruiters coming through the town.

“Yeah, I guess you do,” I conceded. I looked down at the schematics, analyzing all the different moving parts. I pointed to a section in the middle. “What’s this?” I asked, both to break the building tension and to actually get an answer.
“Two-way axle adapter,” Jack answered confidently, “It lets you drive forward or backwards at full speed on a toggle. I thought it would help your maneuvering.”

I smiled wide, patting Jack on the back. “Always on top of the game, man. Thank you,” I reassured him. I looked down for a couple of seconds, thinking, before looking back at him. “You can’t come with us. It’s too dangerous. But we could take you somewhere, you, Jane, and the kids. We could escort you to somewhere that’s still a real part of civilization. I dunno, somewhere that’s-”

“No.”

Jack cut me off decisively. I opened my mouth to reply, but he spoke before I did.

“Let’s get to work.”