The workshop was quiet.
It was late, so late that the usual buzz and clatter of the Academy had faded into a distant whisper. The only sounds in the room were the low, steady hum of Vanessa's runic calibrator and the soft squeak of the cloth in Jonah's hand as he cleaned a set of empty Essence Vials. They worked in a comfortable silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts as they prepared for the dangerous infiltration of Aethelred Bio-Mechanics.
Jonah polished the same vial for the third time, his hands moving automatically while his mind was a million miles away. The smooth, cool glass felt slick beneath his fingers. He stared at his own reflection in it, distorted and strange.
He thought of the Bureau's plan How cold and efficient it was. They weren't trying to end him with a monster or an assassin. They were trying to turn him into a product line.
Click.
