Thomas spent the rest of the day finishing 422K, falling into rhythm with his music. While his body cataloged every last piece of copper, his mind went back to game night with his friends. He could almost taste the sweet tang of the mozzarella on pizza. This time, nothing wormed its way into his head, and it felt less like a mind-numbing tedium and more like meditation. Time melted away.

When he finally emerged into the entry hall, the crowd was gone, and only silence filled the cavernous room. The stained glass of the windows channeled moonlight into beams of sapphire and gold down past the upper galleries and onto the basalt bricks below. He could see the cracks and scratches of untold centuries. Without the clamor and stench of sweat, it was almost ethereal. Maybe some peace and quiet could be found here, after all.

“You were only supposed to give it one liter of water, not two! How many handouts have you been giving?” Richard’s voice reverberated across the hall from one of the supply rooms.

“The poor creature was pregnant, Dick. One liter is what we’re supposed to give to one person. There were two.” Thomas knew that voice, too. Thomas snuck across the hall and inched into the doorway. The room was lined with shelves of purified water bottles and sealed containers of food. Edd stood with his arms crossed as Richard stood in front of the door. Edd seemed to have been ambushed once again.

“That requisition was listed for a party of one, Brodie. As far as I’m concerned, that’s its fault, not ours. Now, if you’d like to donate one liter of water or its equivalent value in ration cards, then I think we can move past this.” Richard jabbed his finger like it was a wand, casting a spell to make Edd grind his teeth.

“I prefer to go by Edd, Dick.”

Richard’s nostrils flared as if steam was about to billow out.

“I’ve…told you…not to call me that.”

“And I’ve told you. I don’ like to be micromanaged.”

The two locked eyes in deafening silence.

“I’ll pay for it.” It took Thomas a moment to realize he was hearing his own voice.

Edd’s head swiveled towards him in surprise. Richard twitched, but his eyes remained on Edd.

“No, Gage. I’m gonna need Brodie here to pay for it.”

Thomas rifled through his pocket and pulled out the ration card that the Korokti had given him that morning.

“Richard, I can pay for it, really. We’ve all had a long day and- “

Richard finally turned toward him and graced him with momentary eye contact.

“Gage, the adults are talking. Go home. Now.”

The pit in his gut could be dug no deeper.     “The adults?”

After everything that had happened—the Exodus, the last three years of scrounging and adapting to a whole new planet—how could anyone go through that and still be considered a kid? Was there some sort of minimum level of suffering that he had not yet reached?

“Gage, I don’t have time for you right now. Go. Home.”

“No.”

Like a hawk, Richard jerked his head to look at Thomas and only Thomas. He was finally worthy of his full attention.

“No, I can’t. Not this time.” Thomas shook his head. “This isn’t about age or experience. I have the ration card to pay for it, so why don’t you just take it so we can go home?”

“Because, Gage, you both need to learn to suck it up and do things my way, the right way. I want Brodie to pay for his mistake. And now, you will pay for yours.” Richard stood as still as a predator locked onto prey.

But Thomas was past the point of flight. Instead, he walked closer. All he saw was Richard’s bearded face. “The right way? What’s that? Starting some needless bullshit with the Korokti?”

“It’s not needless, you little shit. It’s about looking out for your own.” He balled his hands into fists. “I can almost guarantee you that they’re looking out for themselves too, and if they aren’t, then that’s to our advantage. Only so many resources can go around, and I’ll be damned if some alien gets fed before one of us does. If you two are willing to put those creatures above your own species…”

“Wait…” Thomas’s fire snuffed out. Was a liter of water worth losing his job over? Was it worth starving over? But Richard had made it about something more than that, and the only way to get back now would be to get on his hands and knees and beg for forgiveness.

“Oh, changed your mind, have you? See how quickly you went with the decision that saved your ass? It’s time for you to grow up and live in the real world.” Richard jabbed a finger into Thomas’s shoulder. He tried to speak, but it felt like cotton had shoved down his throat.

Edd wedged himself between them and stared up at Richard. “Back off, Dick. We signed on to work, not to listen to ya lecture about yer philosophy.”

“Do you think you know better, Brodie? All you seem to believe in is what’s at the bottom of a bottle," Richard spat. Edd stiffened.

Richard grinned. “You didn’t think I’d notice? I have access to all of the requisition logs, you stupid drunk. I know what all of you have been purchasing.”

Thomas could only see Edd’s back, but he could see him shaking. He needed to shift Richard’s focus back to him before Edd did something he’d regret.

“You don’t have any right-“

The distant hiss of a hydraulic door echoed from the main hall, cutting him off. Richard leaped at another opportunity to interrupt him.

“Or what, Gage? Are you going to go on strike? I’ll save you the trouble. Get out. Both of you. You’re not worth my time or the ration cards it takes to keep you employed.” His grin morphed back into the usual grimace as he pushed past Edd and toward the main hall. Thomas felt acid build up in his throat but choked it back down. He had already made himself look like enough of a dumbass without puking all over himself.

Why did I say anything? Edd didn’t need my help. All I did was make it worse for both of us.

 Edd shook his head, shaking off his stupor, and turned around to face Richard. “Oi! Dick!”.

Richard ground his teeth loud enough to hear it from across the room and did an about-face back towards Edd. His hands were clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles had turned bone white. Thomas had no idea what Edd was thinking with this, but his intention clearly wasn’t to beg for his job back.

 Edd straightened himself and shook his head as if trying to wake himself from a stupor. “Oi! Dick!”

Richard stopped dead in his tracks. Thomas could hear the grinding of his teeth from across the room.

I guess we’re not so unworthy of his time, after all, Thomas thought.

“Yeah, yer right. I do drink. It’s how I…deal with what happened.” Edd’s voice was strained, but there wasn’t a trace of fear in it. “I do it on my own time and with my own money. And I’m the only one gettin’ hurt by it. That’s why I’m not going to shame myself for it. But even with all of that, I still handle things far better than you.”

Richard did an about-face and stalked back towards Edd until they were chest to chest. Edd rooted himself in place, like a tree in a storm, and stared right back at Richard. Thomas had no clue where Edd was going with this, but it certainly wasn’t to beg for his job back.

“Yer sad excuse of a copin’ mechanism is to just treat yer workers like shite and stir the pot with the aliens. You can shove it with yer talk of survival because that’s just what yer hidin’ behind. You don’ get a free pass to act the way you do just because you lost your-”.

Edd rocked backward spitting blood from Richard’s sucker punch. Without a thought, Thomas darted in front of his friend and rammed his shoulder into Richard, shoving him back just an inch or two. He tried to hold him back, to buy Edd some time to recover, but the wind was knocked from him as he felt a fist rocket into his gut.

“CEASE!”

The word was felt more than heard. In the span of a second, Richard’s face had gone from brick red to snow white. Thomas doubled over, looked up to the doorway, and saw why.

Just as Edd had said, she was hunched over as if she were an old crone and not a being of metal. Her eyes cast a blue, candle-like glow as they panned to each of the three humans.

Her silver-blue faceplate swept over and down the middle of her head like a hood, as if it were indeed hiding a face underneath rather than just circuits and wires. All along it, words of some ancient tongue were inscribed.

The plates covering her carapace had similar markings, each streaked with lines of blue and gold, looking more like the robes of a priest rather than metal. On her chest, he could see what looked to be three golden arrows pointing downward. But above all, it was her gaze that froze Thomas.

He knew the familiar feeling of another’s eyes locking into his own, but it was as if she were staring at something beyond them.

“I know not what has brought you to violence, Master Donohue, but I will not tolerate one of your stations initiating it.," she emanated. Her voice sounded youthful, yet it had the weight of one who had seen innumerable lifetimes.

“I…he…” Richard replied shakily.

“I believe it would be best for you to take leave of this place and find peace in solitude, Master Donohue. Evidently, you are not finding it here.”

“Are you suspending me?” he asked incredulously. She turned her gaze to Thomas and Edd.

“You all have performed admirably for ones who have so recently endured the loss of their home world. I did not wish to burden you with this supply order on such short notice, but I’m afraid circumstances abroad have demanded it.”

Abroad? Did she mean somewhere else on Akkaven? Or somewhere beyond?

She continued, “I believe it would be best for each of you to go home and get some well-deserved rest.”

“Ma’am, we haven’t reached our quota for-” Richard broke off as her blue eyes flicked back to him. She waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“No, Master Donohue. You need rest most of all, I think, given what has just transpired. Take as much time as you need to find some peace.”

“So you are suspending me.”

If robots could breathe, Thomas would’ve sworn he heard her sigh.

“I am advising that you take some time to gather yourself. I suggest, for all of our sakes, that you take it.” She stepped aside to clear the doorway. Richard, finally taking her meaning, strode from the room and out into the night.

“You two should rest as well. Master Edd, is it? I commend you for not tolerating that one’s behavior.” She nodded her head in the direction of where Richard had gone. “Although, perhaps next time, you might consider a gentler approach.”

“Aye, madam. Thank ya.” Edd wiped the blood from his lip and walked towards the door. Thomas took a step to follow.

“Master Gage? A word, please?”

His throat clenched. Edd stopped and looked back.

“I’ll wait fer ya outside, lad.” Thomas was alone with the Penitent.

“Y-yes, ma’am?”

“My name is Ithlin. I would prefer to avoid the honorifics if you please.”

“Yes, ma-…Ithlin. Sorry.”

Her carapace clanged with a chuckle.

“All is well, Master Gage. I have no desire to punish you, although I would counsel you not to approach Master Donohue until he has had time to collect himself. Do you believe you have suffered any internal injury?”

She inclined her head.

“I don’t feel like throwing up anymore, so I guess that’s some improvement.” he paused for a breath, and then he said quietly, “This was my fault.”

“In what way?”

“Well…if I hadn’t talked back to Richard, then things wouldn’t have escalated the way they did. I shouldn't have lost my temper.” He looked at the floor. “And if I hadn’t chickened out, Edd wouldn’t have felt compelled to stand up for me.”

“Master Gage, I don’t fully understand what transpired here before my arrival, but I can tell you that I don’t believe either of you are to blame for what transpired here. All of you, even Richard, have endured much over these past three years. It is only natural that one might lose their composure under such circumstances.”

“I…guess you’re right.” He still couldn’t shake the shame. “But still, I’m lucky enough to have this job. I guess I just don’t feel like I have the right to lose it over something like this, while others have it so much worse. Not to mention that I’m still…” He wanted to say alive, but a sudden tension gripped his throat.

“You are correct, Master-” she stopped. “Is there another name that you would rather go by?”

“My name is Thomas.” She nodded her head in affirmation.

“Thomas, you are correct. There are those who would desire your circumstances, just as there are those whom you envy as well. Every one of us bears a world upon our shoulders, just light enough to bear but often too heavy to lift it any higher. Some may bear a world the size of a star, while for others, it is just a moon. But make no mistake, it is still a world to bear, all the same.”

He looked up from the floor and at her. Like the flick of a switch, he no longer felt frozen by her gaze. In fact, he felt just a bit lighter.

“Thank you.”

 ***

For a time, Edd and Thomas walked in silence back to the housing complex. The orange, artificial light of the street lamps illuminated the street ahead. Finally, Thomas spoke. “You really shouldn’t have brought Richard’s wife into it.”

Edd snorted. “Eh, maybe not. But it was all I could think of at the moment to get our jobs back.”

Thomas was dumbfounded. “You thought you could get our jobs back by bringing up our boss’s dead wife?”

“Did you ever watch football? Or soccer, as you Yanks called it?”

“No, I preferred video games.”

Edd grinned through his blood-stained teeth. “Fair enough, lad. Well, if you had, then you’d know that the referee only ever sees the retaliation.”