A seven.

  She had time to utter a short laugh at the irony before bright rainbow light flooded her mind’s eye—veins of ore running through what had been barren tunnel walls not moments before. It wasn’t exactly extensive, but it was there, and if she could get to it, she could easily out-earn her quota for the night.

  “Luck take me,” she swore, looking at the sparkling veins. The closest ones were the brightest, and yet the dice seemed to illuminate ore as far as the eye could see. Far enough that she’d never be able to collect it all in a week, let alone an evening. It was baffling that this was the work of rolling a seven. What would a twelve reveal?

  It took her a moment of staring before she remembered the real reason she was excited about the dice. Not for the veins, which would save her from further scrutiny, but for their locations. Seven plopped down in the dirt and pulled out a notebook and pen. These she’d liberated from Emmet’s home the night before. Within, she’d tucked LMC’s version of the tunnel map.

  If she turned her head just right, it was relatively easy to superimpose the three-dimensional veins against their two-dimensional map. She jotted a few notes on the map, showing where some of the best pockets were, then stared at it, chewing on the edge of the pen.

  Most of the veins lined up with LMC’s record of the tunnels, but there were several pockets—all of them untouched and valuable—that lay far off the beaten path.

  She sat there for several moments, marking the paths, trying to find where they might have branched off from the main path. Perhaps they weren’t on the level at all. Regardless, they would give her and Emmet a starting point for their investigation. And access to a disgusting amount of powerful shards.

  After half an hour of sitting there, hunched over her notebook, Seven shut it and straightened, wincing at the tightness in her now-numb legs. Pocket yawned from her shoulder.

  “Good. I thought we were staying here all night.”

  “We are.”

  “…oh.”

  Seven traipsed over to the closest ore pocket, trying not to hum. She pulled on her gloves and peered at the crack where the ore sat. It was easy to see why this section hadn’t been turned over yet; while the ore was situated in a jagged crack that she thought might be easy to access, the crack spanned the width of the tunnel and over her head, looking ominous. The combat dice glowing red in the crack only added to the effect. A treacherous boulder sat right over her head, and besides that, the ore wouldn’t have been visible to the naked eye at all. No one would bother ripping away precarious chunks of rock just for the very high chance of more dimmed ore—especially in such a low stakes tunnel.

  But Seven had more than luck on her side—she had a path forward.

  “Jackpot,” she breathed, and swung. When the first swing didn’t bring the wall caving in around her, she kept working in the crack, steadily making her way towards the center. This time, the pickaxe in her hand felt different. Stronger. More balanced. Perhaps she’d had this extra strength before, but with the knowledge of it, it was easier to put her back into the work, and rocks came away in large chunks this time.

  Finally, when her arms were burning and her pickaxe at least feeling a little heavier, a resounding crack brought away a chunk of rock as big as her head, revealing a pocket of glowing red ore that made her heart practically leap with joy. She picked through it carefully, marveling at the quality of the shards—had she been able to do that before? Perhaps it was the dice giving her a better appreciation for the finer aspects of mining.

  “Well, it’s not all bad, for a first dice,” she told Pocket, grinning.

  First vein in hand, Seven made her way down the tunnel. The ore pockets were set far apart, some so deep in the rock that she’d never be able to get at them without better equipment, or so many hours in the mine that she’d drop dead from exhaustion first. Still, she found plenty to go around. Working quickly and methodically, following the guidance of her enhanced vision, she filled her bag up. Strike here, collect there, move to the next vein.

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  Within an hour, her bag was heavier than it had been after her entire first disastrous shift. And yet, as its weight grew, so too did Seven’s paranoia. Hadn’t she been robbed for less? She had a way to fight back now, perhaps, but being robbed would be too loud—and far too messy.

  But there was little she could do. No risk, no reward, she told herself. And there was something satisfying about collecting the ore. A sort of itch scratched. A gamble, each time she hit the wall.

  “Someone’s coming,” Pocket whispered, pulsing red in her shirt. Seven scrambled to stuff her heavier bag in the hidden pocket of her backpack—a last minute addition she’d made before her shift for just such an occasion. She left a few of the worst shards in a visible bag at her waist and made a show of hacking at empty stone as the lamplight grew closer.

  Footsteps came, went, and a supervisor’s lamp bobbed in the distance. Whoever it was moved past without stopping, and Seven let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  Two hours later, her vision faded, and her bag was respectably filled with ore. Her arms ached from the work, but it was the good kind of ache—that of a job well done. Even if she’d had a little help along the way.

  Ore carefully tucked away, Seven made her way back through the tunnels. She had plenty of time, of course—she’d practically made quota in record time. And besides that, her energy levels were still decent. It was hard to gauge them objectively—especially when she was going off of feeling—but she already felt better than yesterday. Perhaps absorbing all of those shards had been worth something after all.

  There was an obvious limit to her energy levels, but whatever that limit was, she was fairly certain she was restoring it faster than she was using it. Maybe the mines were so loaded with dice residue that she couldn’t help but absorb it.

  As she made her way to the lift, she let herself daydream about another shower and a more extravagant meal. Luck above, she might even have time to write home.

  If anyone would bother writing back.

  The thought settled in her gut heavily, but she brushed it aside as she spotted a familiar blonde head of hair, tucked away in a tunnel. Luca. The bag at his waist was practically floating in the breeze, as light as it was. She looked behind her, then set off down his tunnel with purpose. She caught him mid-strike, then whispered in his ear:

  “Four tunnels down from the lift, take a left, then a right. Squeeze through the crack in the wall there and find me. Ten minutes.”

  Seven followed her own instructions, overly pleased at how well the little dice in her palm was working out. She seemed to remember the passageways of the tunnels better—like seeing the ore pockets had given the winding, twisting tunnels shape and texture somehow. It wasn’t exactly a written bonus on the dice, but it worked that way just the same.

  She was squatting in the little alcove when footsteps and swearing echoed quietly in the darkened tunnels. Luca ducked inside, covered in dirt and grime, then flopped down next to her, leaning against the wall. His eyes found her, then the bursting bag of dice shards sitting in front of a warmly glowing Pocket, sitting on the pile like a brooding mother hen. His eyes widened.

  “You’re insane,” he said. “What did you do? No, actually, don’t tell me—I don’t want to know.”

  Seven pulled several shards from the bag with gloved hands, smiling faintly. Luck above, it felt good to feel real wealth again. She held them out to Luca.

  “I need food coupons and shower tickets,” she said simply. “I can’t eat every meal out—it’ll bankrupt me.”

  “Not at that rate,” Luca argued. Still, his eyes fell on the shards, and she pushed them at him again.

  “You need ore to make quota.”

  “I also don’t need a target on my back.”

  Seven considered this, then shook her head. “Two miners finding rare ore isn’t as much of a story as one.”

  “Miners finding ore that bright in an abandoned Sector is suspicious enough,” Luca replied. “We don’t need to add to it.” Still, his eyes lingered on the glowing pile of shards in her hands. “You’re serious?”

  “As sin.”

  Luca gave her a look, then snatched the shards and got to his feet, wincing. “I’ll drop the tickets off at the dormitory tonight.”

  Seven saluted at him, now humming in earnest as she followed him out of the crack. Luck above, she was practically invincible at this point. Care could wait for another time. She’d been careful, hadn’t she? Played LMC’s game. But now she would play her own. If LMC wanted to play the crooked house, she’d simply play with a loaded deck.

  She followed Luca into the hallway outside.

  Then froze as she found the miner from the other night standing there, grinning.

  “Bert,” Luca said, his voice breaking. “Nice of you to join us.”

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