The Coming Storm

The next day started off quiet enough for Zephr. Audra woke up early and helped him troubleshoot something with the pod before they had breakfast together—this time omelets. However, while they were in the process of eating, a sudden alert blared from Zephyr's phone that nearly caused them to drop their utensils.

He scrambled to pick it up from where he left it on the table and checked the screen. His brow furrowed as he read the message, and his expression shifted from concern to worry.

"What's wrong, Zeph?" Audra asked.

"Apparently, there's going to be a storm system coming this week. A bad one. It might cause a lot of flooding and wind damage."

He shook his head as he thought of the implications that would have.

Audra looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "It's just a storm. How come you're so freaked out?"

"'Just a storm', she says." Zephyr gave an amused snort despite himself. "Well, for starters, the roof isn't exactly in pristine condition. Secondly, I still need to get the capsule to my friend's house, and there's no telling when it'll pass over, so it'll be stuck here for the time being even after I finish it. Third, if the storm's big enough to warrant a weather warning, it must be pretty strong."

"You love listing things out like that, don't you?" Audra remarked flatly. "Well, I can understand your concern about the delivery. If the roads get flooded, I doubt you'll be able to do anything in that pod truck of yours. As for the roof, isn't there anything we can do to reinforce it?"

Zephyr shook his head again, although he did note the usage of the word 'we'. Perhaps it was an unconscious choice, but he liked the idea that she was warming up to him.

"I can only do some patchwork stuff."

"What about just fixing it properly?"

"On short notice? Nope. I was delaying it since I got the solar panels up there. There's no way to properly fix up the roof while the panel array's installed. I'd also need to buy the materials for it, and I don't exactly have the funds to splurge on a new roof right now."

"Really? You seem to be doing well enough."

He sighed at the mistaken perception.

"The shop's actually been running at a loss for a while now. It's a miracle that I've managed to keep it afloat this long. I'm hoping that the money from the capsule will help me for another month, but after that, it's only a matter of time before I have to start brainstorming again."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess that's sort of my own problem though. It's hard for me to find more regular customers that aren't local, and the ones I do have don't commission me too often."

"So why don't you move to the States or somewhere else then?" Audra asked. "You could pack up and leave this place. Start this business over somewhere else."

"That's not possible. I only survive due to the cheap stuff sent here. Something like 70% of all the world's usable junk is processed through this island in some way, shape, or form now, so even with my lackluster customers, I still have access to a lot of raw materials that I can use and repurpose."

He gestured on over toward the workshop.

"Plus, a bunch of stuff here is subsidized in some way, so the cost of living is low enough to keep afloat with only the meager business I get. Anywhere else, I'd be competing against the bigger businesses who have far better resources at their disposal with none of the things to even the odds."

Her lips flattened.

"Ah. So you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"Yeah. Pretty much."

She took a bite of her omelet, chewing it slowly as she mulled the issue over. "What if you had a way to sell more? Like, if more people here were willing to buy your stuff?"

"Perhaps, although I already process a lot of small jobs as it is."

Audra looked like she was about to say something else, but before she could speak, the sound of rain pelting down on the roof filled the kitchen. Zephyr glanced outside the window, watching as water cascaded down from the sky.

"Well, that's stuff we can worry about later. For now, we got a storm to prep for. This is probably one of the earlier bands that will hit us."

Audra nodded and finished off her omelet in silence. Once they were both done eating, they cleaned up their plates and headed to the garage to prepare.

The rest of the morning was spent securing the premises as best they could. They made sure all of the doors and windows were firmly shut and that nothing was lying around that could be blown by the storm. They also checked on the batteries for the solar panels, making sure that they were all properly charged and ready to go in case of a power outage.

Zephyr inwardly kicked himself as a gust whistled around them.

He shouldn't have procrastinated on getting the roof fixed. Hopefully the makeshift things they were doing now would hold them over. But if worse came to worst, he had the emergency bunker out back that would be able to shelter both of them.

As Audra helped Zephr tinker with the battery array and secure some scrap sheet metal to the roof, she seemed to just take a moment to look at it all.

"Hey Zeph, I gotta question for you. Did you set everything up here by yourself? Like, all of this?"

"Most of it. I had help from some friends, but I did all the wiring and stuff myself," he replied absentmindedly, not looking up from his work. He was busy trying to figure out if any of the conduits were no longer waterproof.

"Who are these 'friends' of yours? You keep mentioning them, but outside of Minerva—who I'm guessing was the scrapyard manager or something—I don't think you've ever named any of them."

"Oh, that's right. I did mention her to you back then, didn't I? Well, there were a few others that I met when I first came here, and I'm still in touch with them. Most of them are out here in the 'boonies' as you call it, but some of them—like Sheryl and Felix—work in the city."

"Sheryl and Felix?"

"Sheryl is the friend I'm delivering the VR pod to. She runs an arcade that specializes in vintage games. As for Felix? It's thanks to him that I can actually get some of my customers. He runs a cybernetics clinic and often directs people my way if they need something small that isn't covered by their insurance."

She looked surprised and looked down at her own arm for a second.

"Cybernetics, huh? Wait, don't tell me you're a doctor too."

"No, I only have a master's degree in bioengineering. It's technically distinct from bionics and cybernetics, but in reality, the field overlaps quite a lot."

He shrugged it off as he wiped some rain from his vision.

"On a side note, interchangeably referring to every neural-interfacing prosthetic as 'bionic' or 'cybernetic' lacks a lot of nuances, even if it's commonplace. There's quite a few terms that would fit far better in my opinion, such as 'biomechatronics' or—"

Audra cut him off, unimpressed.

"Nice info, but I didn't ask for a lecture, geezer."

"Sorry. Habit from my university days. I go on tangents easily." He chuckled at her annoyed expression.

"My point is that I only really do small things for the people Felix sends me, like find universal adapters and other equipment that interfaces with their stuff. I'm not versed enough to actually deal with the prosthetics themselves."

"So there is something you can't do," she quipped. "Have any other friends aside from those three?"

He turned back to his work. "A handful of community members that I'll introduce you to them eventually if you're that interested, although I didn't take you for a people person…"

Zephyr trailed off as lightning struck, bringing back a memory.

"Actually, that reminds me. I need to pay Minerva a visit. I promised some time ago to help her wire the automatic storm shutters at her place a while ago. Do you want to come along?"

Audra seemed to consider his offer for a moment. "Is it going to take long?"

"Depends. Maybe an hour or two."

"Hmm…" She glanced over towards the rain-soaked road. "I guess I should learn more about the area and the people in it. Besides, she already knows about me, doesn't she?"

A part of him felt happy at her willingness to expand her horizons and social circle, especially considering how reluctant she had been initially to even just talk with him.

"Great, we should be just about done here. Let me grab a few tools and after that we can head out."

He secured the last of the metal sheeting in place and glanced over at Audra. She was already descending the ladder.

He hoped she and Minerva would get along.