I live on the fifteenth level of the Orchid Tower. The name is aspirational. The staircase connecting the catwalks that ring each layer of shipping containers like a ribcage wobbles every time anybody steps on it. Most of the glow tape is peeled off the steps, so people either carry their own lights or fall to their deaths. The railings are about as tough as balsa wood, and the columns that run up and down each level like baleen are too far apart to keep the ibises out. Still, it’s pretty well-lit once you’re off the stairs, and maintenance adds a few bolts to the joists every time a catwalk collapses somewhere in the Towers. 

When I got back to my level, the walkway was a tunnel of damp cloth. The Tayars had their extra clotheslines tied to the bases of the columns on the sixteenth level, in rows parallel to the railing and across to the barnacle crust of bolts on the inside joist. One of the younger kids— Juza, I think— was walking slow laps around the catwalk, swinging a blue plastic whistle. She nodded to me sleepily and then vanished behind a curtain of BayaCorp polos.

I stopped in front of my container. Blue light showed through the crack under the door. I had left the light off and the door locked. 

Quietly, I drew my polearm, closed my eyes, and counted to thirty. There was no sound inside the container.

I opened the door just enough to slap the light switch. The room went black. I slid inside and slammed the door behind me. I landed in a crouch outside the trapezoid of light shining across the floor.

Chensina sat cross-legged on the crate in the middle of the floor, squinting into the dark.

I turned the light back on. “Hey, Chensina. How’re you going?”

“Fucking hectic. You?”

“Awful.” 

Chensina has dark skin and a long, straight nose, and she’s the kind of beautiful that you’re surprised to see in real life. Most of the time, she speaks dark, chalky Nassa tal Hut dialect, with a rasp somewhere low in her voice. Her Porfidu mask was upside-down next to her, on top of her jacket and scarf. Her thick black leather pants were streaked with long scratches, and the heavy protective steel bracelets and rings stacked up to her elbows clicked when she moved.

I leaned my polearm against the wall next to hers, then knelt to take off my boots. “Sorry about that.”

“No, I’m sorry I broke in.”

“No worries. How’d you do it?”

Chensina spun a ring of skeleton keys around her finger and caught it with a crisp jingle.

“Fuck.”

“I had to use the newest one.”

“That helps.” I crouched by the shelf and unbuttoned my bag. “I’ll tell San Pettru.”

“He sold you the lock?”

“I’m renting it.” I slid the half-empty bag of flour to the front of the shelf and set the new bag behind it. “He’ll exchange it if I can find a skeleton key that opens it.”

“Mm. I got mine from Gen, but if he has it, so does Lenna.”

“Yeah, I’m headed her way anyway.” I stood. “You want coffee?”

“God, yes.”

I dropped a spoonful of instant coffee into the mug and flicked on the red brick under the kettle. The smell of smoke rippled through the air.

“Sorry about the smell.”

“What smell?”

“Smoke.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Is something burning?”

“No. I dropped some dough on the brick when I was making bread last week. It still smells like it”

“I didn’t notice.”

“It’s driving me bing. I swear to God if I can’t get it out I’m going to soak it in Inner Sea water.”

Chensina’s eyes widened. “You haven’t done that, right?”

“No. I’m not that desperate. Yet.”

“Good, because if you did I’m not drinking shit you make with it.”

“What if I try it first? Just to make sure it’s safe?”

“Then it’s your own fault.”

“And how.” 

She laughed, but if she was here just to talk shit, she would have waited outside or come back later. I leaned against the wall across from her.

She recrossed her legs. “You have something that belongs to Gen,” she said apologetically.

“I do. I have a message for the Army from San Pettru.”

“Really?”

I passed her the note. “His air filter’s broken.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Again?”

“Yeah, flat. He’d also like someone to come over and fix it this time.”

“Mm. It’s only fair.” She scanned the note and folded it into one of her pockets. “But that’s not why I’m here. Nice try, though.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I held up the artifact. “Are you looking for this?”

“Probably.” She dug her gloves out of the pile next to her. “Can I see it?”

I handed her the package. She smoothly untangled the wrapper and flipped open the box. Blue light glinted on the Bird of Sorrows.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Sorry.”

I shrugged. “Well, thanks for checking.”

“Absolutely.”

The kettle whistled. I poured the water into the mug and handed it to her.

“Thanks.”

“No worries.”

She dropped the package in one of the inside pockets of her jacket. “I do need to talk to you. Unfortunately, I’m not the only person looking for this. I’m going to drop it off at Gen’s— can I meet you after that?”

“Swell.”

“Aces. Meet me at the main North Bank teahouse in two hours. Bring Indri, too.”

“Are you sure?”

Chensina laughed. “It’ll be faster to tell you both at the same time.”

“If you insist.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She shrugged her jacket over her shoulders. “We should hang out, though— I need to make an appearance at the egg harbor tomorrow night, but I was planning to dip out early anyway. I can meet you then.”

“And let the Army down?”

“Fuck off, I stayed until four last time.”

“Murder.”

“I know.”

“You want to go to the canyon again?”

“Yeah, fuck it, I don’t want to go out. And I probably shouldn’t during the egg harbor.” She chugged the rest of her coffee and handed me the mug. “One thousand thanks. I wouldn’t make it through the next two hours without it. Teahouse is on me.”

“It’d better be.”

Chensina stood, towering over me, and slung her scarf around her neck. She put on her mask, blocky and gleaming purple, and tightened the strap. “See you then?”

“Yeah. Don’t take any wooden nickels.”

“Never.” 

Chensina shut the door behind her without sheathing her polearm.

I paged Indri.