THE MEMBRANE ON THE PALM

The sealed compress fit between two fingers. Mariana tore the film with her teeth and left the white square on the lid of the hydraulic cabinet. Beside it, she laid out three clips, a sealing strip and the decontamination flask, whose display showed four doses. The fifth had stayed at the drainage repair. Tiago kept his left hand open. A dark streak crossed his palm, a burn from the optical key heated by the duct. He had come back with Ilva to the pumping point because the tool had registered deformation, and the operation required return without bodily residue. Blood lowered the buyback value. Mariana, the pump operator, held his wrist and brought the lens of the panel close. The reading counted mineral particles in the wound. Three washes, the machine reported. Interval of forty seconds. The technical tap released water only for certified maintenance. Mariana authenticated with her iris. A thin jet came out, too cold to belong to a house. Ilva rested Tiago's hand over the gutter while Mariana counted to eight. The water carried blood and rusty dust to an opening surrounded by sensors. On the display, the volume consumed rose with each second and was debited from the pump's conservation quota. Tiago clenched his fingers. Open, said Mariana. He obeyed. She applied the first dose, waited forty seconds and examined the skin. Then the second. At the third, the flask showed insufficient reserve for the next shift. Ilva followed the clock projected on the side of the cabinet. Her access review would begin in nine minutes, in the operations cabin, with a full body scan. The strip under her leg had tightened since the repair. The container remained there, taking no part in the care and too close to the lens that would examine her body. Mariana spread the compress over Tiago's palm. She fastened one corner, then another, leaving the centre free to breathe. She used two clips. She kept the third. Close it slowly. He bent his fingers. The compress darkened at one spot. Again, said Ilva. Mariana looked at the flask. The panel was already offering an authorised solution, industrial sealant applied directly to the burn, immediate return to work, deduction in instalments over six shifts. Tiago read down to the final amount. With his injured hand, he touched the refusal option. The tracking camera tilted towards him. Mariana took from the inner pocket of her uniform a transparent capsule. Inside was a folded medical membrane, bought to protect her throat in the rehearsals she did alone. The recordings of the choir remained in the cloud for seven more hours. The credit set aside to renew the subscription had been spent on that membrane. She opened the capsule. You're going to lose the voices, said Tiago. Mariana did not answer. She fitted the membrane over the skin, smoothing from the edges to the centre until she pushed out two air bubbles. She fastened the last clip and kept his hand raised for a whole minute. The pump changed pitch behind them. She listened, but did not turn. The panel recognised the material as outside the contract and reclassified the treatment as personal delay. Fourteen minutes were taken from her next shift. The singing licence, which allowed vocal emission above household volume for two hours a week, went into suspension along with the expired subscription. Three minutes were left before Ilva's review. Mariana let go of Tiago's wrist. He opened and closed his hand once. The membrane held firm. Go, she said. Ilva took two steps towards the cabin. The reading arch lit up on the other side of the glass, sweeping the floor in wait for her feet. If she went in, the scan would reach the strip. If she stayed away, the utility company could suspend her field access before the end of the day. Tiago held the door with his protected hand. The pressure brought another stain up under the membrane. Ilva came back, repositioned his hand above his chest and counted twenty pulses at his neck. Then she checked the colour of his fingers, one by one. The clock reached zero. The cabin closed without her. Review missed, the panel reported. New time conditional on residential inspection. The notification went to the house before the three of them left the pumping point. On the kitchen table, under the basin, the cold mirror would stay covered. Under the strip, the sample would arrive with her. Mariana gathered up the packaging, separated the contaminated film and cleaned the cabinet lid in three passes. Tiago tried to help. She moved his hand away and finished alone. On the audio channel tied to her account, the voices of the choir began to disappear, starting with the oldest recording. A woman held the last note for six seconds, lost first the low register, then the body, then the air. In the gutter, the water of the care ran through a metal screen and left a red line between the screws.