I wake up early and lie awake for a while. The strange feeling I had last night hasn’t totally disappeared from my memory, but it has faded to a distant dream. Without moving I listen to the equally distant noises of Saint Marianne’s that come through the walls and echo from down the hallway. I hadn’t really thought about it before I arrived, since I’ve never spent any time in a place like this, but of course it would be the case that the residents would be up all hours and it’s a 24/7 operation.
It’s still a couple hours until my first shift starts, but I can tell already I’m not going to get back to sleep so I pull the covers open and put my feet on the cool tiled floor, then have a shower and put on my new Saint Marianne’s uniform. It’s not exactly high fashion, but it’s comfortable and an off-white that will show up any stains right away. In other situations that’s a bad thing, but according to my briefing notes when dealing with old Powered people whose bodily fluids sometimes have significant effects all on their own, you really need to know if you’ve been splashed with something. Half a dozen more uniforms are hanging in my closet and I suspect all 7 won’t last me an entire week if I’m actually doing the work, so I better find the laundry.
Breakfast in the staff room is an unremarkable affair, a standard buffet that’s been left for people to help themselves to. Only one jaded looking nurse is eating something and scrolling something on her phone; I don’t bother to say hi or sit near her or pull her information for now. Instead I settle in and make sure I fill up on eggs, bacon, and toast.
Another tired looking nurse wanders in and sits down across from the other one, with her back to me. I dig into my food and hope to overhear something useful without looking like I’m eavesdropping. Just… focus on the bacon.
“You hear what happened to Glows last night?” she asks with a sigh.
“Gladys? I liked her. Always lighting up the room, literally,” the phone scroller says without looking up from what she’s doing. While the other nurse nods, a grape floats up from the plate in front of her and she absent mindedly interrupts her phone scrolling to grab it and pop it in her mouth. Probably a Minor Telekinesis Power, but you never know how powerful someone might be. Maybe I should pull her information.
Jessie Riddell
Level: 7
Power: Telekinesis (Tier 2 Spark)
Conditions: None
Nope, nothing special. A grape might be all she can manage.
“They get that room cleaned up yet?” she asks.
“Mostly. A few personal things still to remove and everything’s got to be made up again. She passed only just before ten last night so I’m assuming the next shift will finish it off. No rush, we have spare rooms…” she trails off, then looks over at the buffet and decides it’s time for breakfast.
I stop with food halfway to my mouth on my fork. Wait… just before ten? That’s right about when I went to sleep and that crazy shit happened with my heartbeat and my vision. With a nickname like Glows, maybe she burst into squiggly lights when she passed away and that’s what I saw?
As I’m trying to figure out what might have happened, I see Fabian enter the cafeteria with another person, a normal looking white dude with curly brown hair and a round face wearing a Saint Marianne’s uniform. Both of their expressions are intense, or maybe full of intent. I think I recognize the other man because he was behind the desk yesterday, but I can’t be sure. Probably I should have been paying a bit more attention.
Simione Wooliston
Level: 19
Power: Four Eyes (Tier 3 Spark)
Conditions: None
They make a beeline over to me without even glancing at the food and I wonder what crusade they’re on. Auntie V isn’t here for another few days and I’m keen to help out and earn some Credits, but I’m also leaving my research on Powers, my training, and my engineering prototypes behind for this… so I don’t have a massively high tolerance for drama.
I put the thoughts of last night behind me and sit back a bit to take in Fabian and his buddy when they halt across the table from me. Fabian launches straight into it.
“I got someone I know to check on you and you know what I found out? You were actually telling us the truth about your Level and your Power. I’m not even sure what to do with someone who doesn’t have a Power, so here’s your new schedule. At least I know you were telling the truth. And Calrik… I don’t care who your ‘Aunt’ is, if this stuff isn’t done some of the residents are going to have a bad day. So make sure it’s done right.”
With that, he throws a piece of paper down on the table and the two of them turn then leave. I sigh and glance over at the two nurses, but they seem pretty indifferent to whatever’s going on with me. I’m sure they assume what everyone else does… someone still Level 1 is lazy and weird and probably someone not worth their time. Sometimes that changes when they find out about my family. Those ones are the worst.
The paper has landed face down so I flip it over and look at the timetable. Predictable. I almost laugh, but I’m prepared already for being assigned to the most glamorous jobs until Auntie V arrives. Cleaning out bedpans, washing dishes, changing and washing sheets. Clean the toilet, clean and repair the air conditioning filters. The list goes on. Fabian has kindly assigned me blocks of time for each task and a location, leaving no doubt about the pace I need to be working at. I tell myself I don’t really mind for a few days. It will give me plenty of time to think about future research ideas.
With a sigh I stand up and deposit my tray in the correct window then drop my cutlery in the containers of soapy water supplied. There’s still a bit of time before I have to start my shift so I head back to my room and call Mark. He answers pretty quickly and as the hologram materialises with his curly hair and smiling face he wastes no time getting into it.
“How is it, Calrik? Vitalis there yet?”
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“Not yet, Mark - I just got here.”
“How are you feeling about all this, mate? I kind of thought maybe Vitalis would be one of those few Heroes that seem to be immortal, and now she’s heading to you in hospice,” Mark asks. His normally light blue eyes don’t come through the hologram with the same kind of intensity as in real life, but his concern does.
“I’m ok Mark. Thanks for asking. Been a long time since I’ve been close with her, but I’m still glad to be here for her and help out. I’m still not sure why it so definitely needed to be me, but I’ll find out.” I pause as he nods in agreement. “If you want to come hang out with me and the oldies you’re very welcome, but I thought you had an assignment? Congrats by the way.”
“Thanks man. Let me know how you go there - it might be a hard thing to do, to see a Hero you’ve known since you were a kid through the last part of their life. No joining you for me - I’m headed to deepest darkest Europe, can’t tell you where though. A Villain called The Pale Architect is building something that apparently does something troublesome on a really, really big scale. Why would someone want to destroy the planet they’re on?” he asks, shaking his head.
“Maybe a lot of unresolved anger. Maybe they’ve made a deal to get off the planet beforehand? Do they have a spaceship nearby or something?” I ask. Talking about Mark’s work in the Earth Defence Force is always a good distraction and reminds me of dinnertime conversation with my parents. He’s right this might be hard, and… I wish I was able to join him in the EDF instead. Human hating Galactics still aim for the elimination of most of humanity on a regular basis and we need to both defend ourselves and strike back. We’ve been way too successful on a galactic scale since we gained Powers, and they seem to always be able to find humans dumb enough to help their cause.
“Good point, maybe we can scan for that kind of thing and nail an intercept or get some additional intel. You sure you don’t want to join the EDF as an intelligence specialist or something?” he asks. “There are lots of supporting Powers here, mate and you’re pretty much the smartest person I’ve ever met. It’s not just the ones with combat Powers.”
“I know Mark, I know. We’ve been over this. If I had a Power like yours I would join,” I laugh. “For now I’m just an ideas man.”
“Fair enough, fair enough. Think about it though. We both know you can take care of yourself even without a Power.” He looks over his shoulder briefly and grimaces. “Hey listen I’ve got to jet - keep me up to date, yeah?” he asks.
“For sure,” I agree, and we hang up. Mark’s Tier 1 Epic Innovation Power makes him highly sought after for accelerating highly sensitive projects in the Earth Defense Force and building new weapons and technology to protect humanity. Our trajectories since University couldn’t have been different even though we did a lot of great work together for a few years. And yeah… I wonder what could have been if I’d gotten a Power like his - but what is, is.
I mess around in my room for a bit until it’s time for my shift to start. I almost call a few more mates, but they’re all busy and I’m about to clean bedpans so I’m not that keen to hear about more their adventures; it won’t put me in a good headspace.
First job, room 149.
As I pass by the rooms with open doors, I see a lot of residents asleep and a few awake, including the famous Rusty that Fabian warned me about. On his door it says his Power is corroding any metal, so I can see why it comes up.
Each room seems to have its own setup to keep the residents safe where needed. Most of the safety measures seem either technology or environment based; some rooms like Rusty’s have wooden beds and furniture instead of metal. Others have what looks like complex scanners or even suppressors of some kind. The engineer in me itches to go take it all apart and figure out how it’s able to counter or blunt their specific Powers, but I’ve got a schedule to keep.
Room 149 has only one resident and the door is open, but the entrance is covered by a thick transparent plastic sheet with two halves connected by a magnetic strip down the middle. I glance at the information on the wall beside the room.
Dorothy “Drift” Nakamura - 90 - F
Power: Breeze (Tier 1 Minor) - creates light directional breezes
I part the magnetic curtain and step into the room. Dorothy is not doing that great based on the number of machines she’s hooked up to. Lots of low level beeping, intravenous drips, and a nature show on the TV that features some exotic cats. The Mana that drives everyone to manifest Powers at puberty also shows up in animals, but to a much lesser extent. It mostly just makes them bigger and more robust - and nobody has been able to properly figure out why even in a hundred years.
A small blessing for me, which is maybe bad news for Dorothy if she’s not functioning properly, is that her bedpan is clean and the toilet is pristine. Two jobs already completed. As I move around the room, air buffets me softly from all sides. It’s like Dorothy is watching me with her senses rather than her eyes. It’s not strong enough to get in the way with what I’m doing, although the unnatural feeling does feel a bit invasive - like she’s got her hands all over me. Frisky old minx. All it takes is a look over onto the bed for me to not worry about it too much. She must have had a pretty strong Power in her youth to still have a Minor Power at 90, but nowhere near Jacinta. Beginning at about 65 Powers start to drop off in strength and the drop becomes more precipitous over time. Right now, she’s barely hanging on to life.
At the exact moment I think that while I’m looking at her, I feel a flicker of something and everything around me seems to waver. Small points all over Dorothy’s body look to emit a soft golden glow, as if it’s coming from inside her. Part of me wonders if this is part of her Power, but it doesn’t seem connected at all. My survival instincts surge and I duck down and activate my portable shield, then scurry to the door while I brace myself internally for a blast or something to hit me from Dorothy’s direction.
The beeping on her machines gets erratic and alarms sound. Nurses rush in past me and I scramble to get out of their way as they get to work on Dorothy. I know I should leave, but somehow I can’t. I’ve never been this close to death before and I return my gaze to Dorothy, who is now glowing brighter.
Lucy slices through the door, arms in front of her to part the curtain, and rushes over to Dorothy who is now surrounded by a swirling breeze that whips everyone’s hair and clothes around. I can see Lucy’s not using her Power to contain the wind and I don’t understand why other than that Dorothy’s isn’t that strong.
“Watch out for the glow!” I yell, trying to be heard over the breeze, beeping, and alarms.
Lucy looks over at me and her perfect eyebrows plunge together in annoyance and confusion.
“What glow?” she yells back, and glances back at Dorothy. If Lucy can’t see it, why can I? There’s no way to miss someone glowing like they’ve just lit up a bunch of tiny golden suns inside themselves. That makes it clear I’m the only one who can see it.
The nurses are really getting agitated and furiously tapping on all the different machines Dorothy is hooked up to. Lucy dismisses me from her attention and returns it to Dorothy. I can’t look away because my confusion is dwarfed by my fascination. The golden orbs start to gather together into one larger orb about the size of a large marble above Dorothy. And I can feel it. It has a tangible nature I connect with that lets off energy and warmth in waves. It calls to me. As it sucks in all the golden motes of light coming from Dorothy, it gets brighter and brighter and I want to reach out and grab it. Then, it starts to dim.
Suddenly, the chaos dies down as the breeze drops completely into stillness and the machines all around let out a steady, lifeless tone. One nurse dashes back and forth between machines while another starts to give CPR to Dorothy, but I can’t imagine it will make any difference based on how frail she looks. The bulky nurse is probably only going to achieve a splintering of broken ribs and it makes me feel bad for Dorothy.
The golden orb hovering above her lifeless body is vibrating and it’s like my soul is oscillating on the same resonance. Nobody else is reacting and I want to say something, but I can’t. What could I explain? I’m hallucinating? A growing part of me from deep inside starts to believe that this is it - that my Power is finally Awakening. The little vibrating orb keeps getting dimmer and dimmer, but something inside me doesn’t want it to and that feeling surges up to be stronger and stronger as the nurses quit trying to save Dorothy and stand back, solemn. In my mind’s eye all around Dorothy the world is wavering and it’s centered on her, rippling out in golden waves. I want them.
