Chapter One: The Girl Who Came to Apply
The rain in Southport had been falling for three days, and a layer of iridescent oil slick floated on the roads of the industrial zone. Andy was squatting at the workshop entrance repairing an old rectifier when he heard someone ask, "Are you hiring apprentices here?"
He looked up and saw a girl standing in the rain, her white shirt soaked through, an old canvas bag clutched to her chest. She was thin, but her eyes were bright, like a part just pulled from a plating bath, still carrying moisture.
"We are hiring," Andy set down the wrench. "What's your name? What have you done before?"
"Lily." She thought for a moment, then added, "Nothing. But I learn fast."
Andy laughed. Of the ten people who came to him, nine said they learned fast. He led her into the workshop and pointed at a rack: "What's this?"
"A plating rack. The workpieces to be plated hang on it." She looked down at it. "This contact is burnt black. Current will bypass it, and the coating will be thin there."
Andy froze for a moment. That contact was hidden on the back of the rack—even Ajie hadn't noticed it. He reached out and touched it: sure enough, there was a layer of charred black marks.
"You've really never done this before?"
"No." Lily said. "I can just see it."
Andy let her stay for a three-day trial. She didn't want wages—just a meal and a place to sleep. Andy brought down the old camp bed from the attic and put on clean sheets. She stood at the door and said thank you very softly, her voice like a piece of metal dropping onto a concrete floor.
On the first day, she learned degreasing. On the second day, she learned acid pickling. On the third day, she stood by Tank No. 3, watching Andy adjust the current, and suddenly said, "One of the wires on your rectifier is loose. It doesn't sound right."
Andy shut off the machine and opened the casing. The terminal post deepest inside was indeed loose by half a turn.
He looked at her, and for the first time felt something he couldn't quite name. This girl seemed to have grown out of this old machine.