Power Colors Short Tales

Like his father before him, Xasl struggled to make a living doing odd labor jobs moving from city to city as the seasons changed. His wife left him years past when a man with a more stable income offered to take her in. Xasl could not really blame her for leaving him, it was hard when there were no credits for food, and even the shelters sometimes turned him away leaving him to sleep in alleys where one had to keep an eye open all the time.Today marked three weeks since he had last found work enough to eat a real meal. He could not even remember which city he was in now. When he saw a muscular woman opening the door to an office he did not recognize, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to ask her if she had anything he could do to earn enough credits for a meal. When he arrived, she greeted him warmly and gave him a hot caf and a sweetbread. Then she spoke to him about a long term job with the military which apparently had a shortage of people with his particular skills.Weak and confused as he was, Xasl barely remembered to ask where the job was before he pressed his palm to the enlistment document and became Private Xasl. Tomorrow he would be shipped off to training, and the recruiter called a service that took him to a low end bed and breakfast where he could get cleaned up and rested up for the trip. Xasl could barely believe his luck, she had also given him a credit voucher for three meals. No matter what the future held, he would eat and rest well today.

Raised in the inner city where her father was an engineer in a transport factory, and her mother was a genetic scientist working on new strains of crops that would eventually be grown in environments that were less desirable for human habitation. Mika had always struggled with the social scene. She was, however, exceptionally talented with pencils and paints and recently had developed a knack for forming clay as well. It was in her art that she found peace and acceptance.When her parents told her that the boy to whom she had been promised had been killed in an industrial accident near his home, she was shamed to realize she was relieved. The thought of being married to someone who might be in the cool crowd had always been a concern for her. She knew that she would never find a love marriage, and likely her mother would find some older man with a successful business to marry her off to. But for now, she was free and untethered.

SSlasl - Orphaned by unknown parents on the planet of G'Ham. Sslasl was raised in an orphanage run by G'Hass and her husband. When G'Hass's husband died, Sslasl took on the orphanage financial responsibilities and worked wherever he could to keep food on the table while he prepared for the mixer test to get a job in the chemical mixing factory.The path of Sslasl's life led him to become a master mixer to support the orphanage. But then a fluke chance review of a proposed propulsion mix brought him to the attention of Master Masl.Mika - Raised in the inner city where her father was an engineer in a transport factory, and her mother was a genetic scientist working on new strains of crops that would eventually be grown in environments that were less desirable for human habitation. Mika had always struggled with the social scene. She was, however, exceptionally talented with pencils and paints and recently had developed a knack for forming clay as well. It was in her art that she found peace and acceptance.Zaable - Raised in a mining community on a remote asteroid, where his parents worked the great mining machines extracting minerals from an asteroid belt rich in the components commonly used in spacecraft engines. Zaable's parents did not value education and had not enrolled him in the mining school until he insisted, and as a result he had fallen well behind the other children his age. It took several solar cycles for him to catch up and by that time the other children had taken to calling him dumb Zaable, a moniker he had not been able to rid himself of even after he surpassed most of them in knowledge of the things taught in the classroom. Now he was nearing the age where the company would demand that he either learn to run a mining device or leave the asteroid belt for good.

Crum had learned at an early age to polish and shape stones he gathered from the tailings of the nearby mines. Not only was he able to sell them on the street for credits that would buy food and occasionally a night in one of the flop houses, but the work made him feel like he was a part of something meaningful. Once or twice he had found shards of the crystals that were mined here and he would feel great comfort in their touch. But always those had more value than any of the stones he formed and he would invariably have to sell them to eat. Each time it was harder and harder to let them go though and he knew that one lunar it would not be possible for him to let them go.

Crum - Crum had learned at an early age to polish and shape stones he gathered from the tailings of the nearby mines. Not only was he able to sell them on the street for credits that would buy food and occasionally a night in one of the flop houses, but the work made him feel like he was a part of something meaningful. Once or twice he had found shards of the crystals that were mined here and he would feel great comfort in their touch. But always those had more value than any of the stones he formed and he would invariably have to sell them to eat.Xasl - Like his father before him, Xasl struggled to make a living doing odd labor jobs moving from city to city as the seasons changed. Today marked three weeks since he had last found work enough to eat a real meal. He could not even remember which city he was in now. When he saw a muscular woman opening the door to an office he did not recognize, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to ask her if she had anything he could do to earn enough credits for a meal.Aarn - Aarn was the eldest son of a well-known landlord in the largest agricultural section of Amelus. Aarn like his father could tell if a field was well tended or not from looking at the aerial images relayed from their satellites but his father insisted on them making an appearance at every field regularly. Today they were going to evict a family who had not been able to keep up with the lease payments, and Aarn's father insisted that Aarn would do the eviction.Cil - A recovering drug addict who had lost her family, friends and career to a designer drug that nearly killed her, Cil struggled every day just to find enough food to keep her alive while desperately trying to convince potential employers that her days of self-destruction were over. She was fighting the despair that came from yet another employer rejection when she tripped over something on the ground and slammed her head into a transport. When she came back to consciousness, Cil was looking up into the face of a short compact woman with bright red hair and freckles. The woman was wearing the pin of a Kre Master, though Cil could not remember how she knew that was what that pin represented.

Raised in a mining community on a remote asteroid, where his parents worked the great mining machines extracting minerals from an asteroid belt rich in the components commonly used in spacecraft engines. Zaable's parents did not value education and had not enrolled him in the mining school until he insisted, and as a result he had fallen well behind the other children his age. It took several years for him to catch up and by that time the other children had taken to calling him dumb Zaable. It was a moniker he had not been able to rid himself of even after he surpassed most of them in knowledge of the things taught in the classroom. He eventually stopped attending class in person and took all the available classes from the comp unit in his family's quarters. Now he was nearing the age where the company would demand that he either learn to run a mining device or leave the asteroid belt for good.

Orphaned by unknown parents on the planet of G'Ham. Sslasl was raised in an orphanage run by G'Hass and her husband. When G'Hass's husband died, Sslasl took on the orphanage financial responsibilities and worked wherever he could to keep food on the table while he prepared for and passed the mixer test to get a job in the chemical mixing factory. He later became an apprentice to Master Masl and eventually became a master in his own right. During his life though, he always ensured that the orphanage where he was raised continued to be supported financially.

A recovering drug addict who had lost her family, friends and career to a designer drug that nearly killed her, Cil struggled every day just to find enough food to keep her alive while desperately trying to convince potential employers that her days of self-destruction were over. She was fighting the despair that came from yet another employer rejection when she tripped over something on the ground and slammed her head into a transport. When she came back to consciousness, Cil was looking up into the face of a short compact woman with bright red hair and freckles. The woman was wearing the pin of a Kre Master, though Cil could not remember how she knew that was what that pin represented."My name is P'Hilz. What is your name?""Huh? Uh, Cil. My name is Cil. Ma'am"Cil was very pleased with herself for remembering that a master was to be addressed so."Well Cil, you cracked your head pretty good just now, with your permission, I would like to use my talents to heal you.""Heal me? My permission? I'm okay ma'am and not worth your trouble even if I were not.""Nonsense. You are neither okay, nor is there anyone who is not worth helping. May I have your permission to help?"Cil felt dizzy and could tell she was about to lose consciousness again, and she welcomed the thought, but heard herself consent to receive assistance as she slipped back into blessed darkness.

Aarn was the eldest son of a well-known landlord in the largest agricultural section of Amelus. He spent most of his days making the rounds with his father to ensure that the farmers leasing sections of their land were attending to the crops that would pay their leases. Aarn like his father could tell if a field was well tended or not from looking at the aerial images relayed from their satellites but his father insisted on them making an appearance at every field regularly. He said that ensured that those leasing from them knew they cared and kept them conscious of the need to deliver a good crop. Today they were going to evict a family who had not been able to keep up with the lease payments, and Aarn's father insisted that Aarn would do the eviction. Apparently he needed to prove that he could do the job when his father retired someday. Only he knew these people, they had been hard workers for many years and had only recently fallen on hard times after their oldest son had gone off to the military. That left only a daughter a couple years younger than Aarn to help them tend the fields and bring in the crops. Aarn had argued with his father that they should simply reduce the lease as the family had requested and give them time to recover, but his father was unforgiving when it came to paying the lease on time.

The path of Sslasl's life led him to become a master mixer to support the orphanage. Then a fluke chance review of a proposed propulsion mix brought him to the attention of Master Masl. Now he was apprenticed to her in the mastery as he led a team to build a fuel mixer to allow war ships to travel extremely long distances without refueling stations. But fate was not yet finished with him.

Born to a miner and a crystal cutter who worked for one of the largest crystal mining companies in the realm, Dem dreamed of one day becoming a crystal cutter himself. The Xum crystals that were mined and cut here were among the most valued items in the realm having the ability to help masters gather the power colors and bend them to their will. Of course there were always some crystals that came out of the mines which could not focus the power colors. These were called dead crystals and were the bain of the miners. But Dem found them beautiful and found their touch calming. Strange as they thought it was, his parents would bring him some of the dead crystals for his collection from time to time. Eventually, Dem had a large collection of these crystals and with his dad to train him had learned to cut crystals by practicing on them. Nearing his graduation, Dem got an interview for a crystal cutter position at the plant and was holding his clear crystal running his fingers across it to feel the calming effect of its smooth polished surface. If only I knew how to make you whole once more. If I could take all that is stored in you into me, what would I learn? Dem felt his mind clear and a focus he had never felt before, even when cutting crystals settled over him