Shaun, LJ and Teresa gathered around Jason as he scrunched his brow, his eyes flickering side to side as he regarded a panel only he could see. He looked perturbed, and he let his gaze drift over to LJ, only for his eyes to dart back up a second later when he realized the panel vanished due to broken eye contact. Jason turned to face Edwin then, who still stood several paces away, further down the road from where they had just fought the squirrels.

Jason glanced at Edwin before he bent down to recover his shield and spear. Before anyone could speak a second booming bark echoed out from back where they had fought the squirrels. The sound passed through and rattled everyone. Edwin felt his stomach shift as his head bobbed for a moment. It sounded closer than the first time.

“We need to keep moving,” Edwin called out. No one complained as they resumed jogging. Edwin ran at the front and the others followed behind. He took them onto the lawn of Zoeys Mom’s house. Glossy eyes watched them unmoving as Edwin came to a stop in the middle of all the garden gnomes. He turned and faced off with Jason. Edwin let his spear and shield hang low and Jason mirrored his posture. LJ stepped up next to his friend.

“So,” Edwin led. “Out with it. What skill did you get?”

Jason had a moment of inner turmoil. He stretched himself to full height and worked his jaw side to side. His eyes flickered to his feet before he sagged and let his breath out. He met Edwin’s gaze and sighed. “It’s called technometry, alright,” Jason said morosely. “It’s got no fucking use in a fight. So don’t get bent outta shape. I’m not gonna try to fuck you over. I don’t even get what it’s supposed to do.”

Caught off guard by the sudden deflation, Edwin was uncertain if he should press the issue or not. Jason had been antagonistic toward him when presented with the chance but had readily followed along when Edwin exerted his leadership. If the guy was lying here it would lead to trouble. Edwin felt though that Jason would have confronted him in a straightforward manner if his skill had been combat applicable. To buy some time he asked Jason for the description.

“Yeah,” Jason said. “ I remember it. For the most part anyway. It said something like, Technometry: The ability to assess technological systems.”

Edwin took out his notebook and penciled in Jason’s answer. He kept an eye on Jason while doing so.

The tension that was present only a moment ago had left. Jason stood almost languidly, his relief clear. He spoke up when Edwin finished writing. “Look Edwin, let me be real with you here. Maybe we don’t see eye to eye on some of this stuff. Hell, I barely even know you. But shit’s crazy out here. I mean, those fucking squirrels were some mutant berzerker freaks. After the clusterfuck yesterday with the police getting overrun, I get where you were coming from when you freaked. So, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not gonna try to fuck you over or just ditch out on you. Not after everything. So, I’m asking for an inch here man.”

It sounded nice to Edwin, Jason was trying to patch any holes in the tenuous connection they had. With him and Zoey being the only ones with guns and his skill Edwin had a strong grip on the monopoly of force within their group. Jason’s actions were reasonable with that in mind. Maybe he did feel bad about how he had treated Edwin and genuinely wanted to reconcile. But it was much more likely he was just scared and his hope for a chance to make himself powerful had just abandoned him. Now, lacking personal strength he wanted to latch on to Edwin to protect himself. Self preservation was a powerful instinct, capable of shifting attitudes in a moment.

“Sure,” Edwin said before the mood could shift to being awkward. “So. Uh, we can try working out your skill later. Right now let’s head back towards the dorms. I still want to check out those other churches. We should probably warn people about the squirrels too.”

The group took a moment to catch their breath. He fished a water bottle and granola bar from his backpack for a quick snack. Edwin took the chance to reload his pistol and checked that Zoey did as well. He chambered a round but left the safety on as he stuck it back in his pocket. He did a quick inventory and realized that between him and Zoey they had already expended a third of their ammo stockpile. Edwin noticed Shaun had managed to grab his duffle bag when they retreated.

They set out back along the route they had taken initially. This path took them several blocks away from where the squirrel encounter had happened. Edwin’s thoughts drifted from watching his surroundings to his new skill. An ability called second wind that described itself as the ability to partially restore personal energy. It sounded useful. Like a card he could keep up his sleeve in case he was backed into a corner. As usual a lot of details were missing however. Edwin had no way to tell if the ability had some sort of activation cost, or what sort of drawbacks it might come with. He expected a skill like this would be limited in some manner. A long cooldown between use or an expensive cost, if he was unlucky it would be both. He would try to test it later before bed.

They had been out and about for an hour and half by the time they returned to the dorms. The place was bustling with activity as they approached. People coming and going, carrying plastic bags full of cans, bottles, boxes and other assorted supplies. Ava was still stocking the hallways under the dorms with as much food and other useful items as she could get people to gather. People recoiled when they saw the tattered state of the group. Someone went running to fetch Dan.

“Go drop that bag off Shaun, unless you want to carry it around all day,” Edwin said as they came to a stop in the shadow cast by White Hall. “Everyone else go grab a snack or something and be ready to move out again in fifteen.” Shaun slinked off first. Jason and LJ moved towards Washaki while Edwin brought Zoey along with him to grab a towel. Teresa stayed down in the lobby.

Wiping the dried blood off took some effort and without some water it was imperfect. Stains and smears were the end result but his head no longer felt like it was caked so he considered it a success. Zoey seemed to appreciate the chance to clean up some too. The bloody towel he discarded in the bathtub.

Edwin found Dan questioning Teresa in the lobby. Other people milled around looking to hear the news. He recognized both Thomas and Nick among the spectators.

“Hey Edwin man,” Dan called out in greeting. “How’s it hanging? Teresa says you guys are all good?”

“Hey Dan,” Edwin returned the greeting. “It seems everyone levelled up and was healed. So, we’re good.”

Dan smiled and made to say something but a snide voice cut him off, “did you really get your ass kicked by a couple of squirrels?” Edwin looked at Thomas as he spoke and regardly him coldly.

“Excuse me?” Edwin asked with a clipped tone.

“You heard me bitch,” Thomas snarled and advanced towards Edwin.

“Whatever,” Edwin deflected. “You can go see them for yourself. Easy xp for someone like you.”

Thomas looked ready to start a brawl before Ava stepped into the room and called out his name. The boy swung around so hard Edwin thought he would get whiplash. His mood shifted to jovial as he greeted Ava. Ava barely gave him a moment as she bee-lined toward Edwin.

“Are you quite alright Edwin?” Ava asked, concern dripping from her tone. “I heard that your team returned looking disheveled and bloody. Though you look well enough now that I see you. Where are the others? Are they alright?”

Edwin could not figure out what her angle was so he decided to just answer straight.“We’re all alright. We ran into these squirrels that could transform into roid rage giant sized versions of themselves. They got scared off by something and we managed to get away. Levelling up seems to have taken care of any wounds. I’d tell others to stay away from there. We got lucky they ran off.”

“I see,” Ava said and arched an eyebrow. Edwin’s cautionary remark about the squirrels surprising her after what she had caught said between him and Thomas. She had not taken him as the vindictive sort. “I will ensure that word is spread. Would you mind telling me what you plan to do next?”

“We’re gonna go visit the churches down Grand away from downtown. Check in with people there.”

Ava brought a finger to her chin and hummed thoughtfully. “Would you mind having Dan and some others tag along? In case his services are needed or you need extra hands?”

“That’s fine,” Edwin agreed. Ava mentioned in passing which churches had been occupied while they waited for the others to return. Several people he did not recognize ended up following behind his group as they set out.

Dan walked alongside Edwin, chatting about rumors people were bringing back from their explorations. Edwin filled Dan in on the size-changing squirrels. Dan laughed but sobered up as Edwin explained how half a hundred of them had thrown themselves bodily at them from the tree branches, switching size mid-fall.

Their walk went unhindered and soon they found themselves approaching the first church, Ava had given Dan a map. The church locations were marked in pen on it. It was only a couple blocks from the dorms, right along the southern half of Grand Ave.

A long single story brick facade stretched most of the length of the block. The building was on the thin side and had a tall orangish-brown sloped roof. Thankfully enough this place was not burnt out or crushed into rubble. Someone was sitting around out front. A snub nose revolver in a holster on their hip. They wore a warm looking yellow sweater and a pair of khaki slacks. Dark sunglasses covered their eyes. An open beer can sat on a small table next to their seat.

One of the guys Edwin did not know called out a friendly greeting with a wave. The man sitting on the stoop of the church got up from his seat and approached with a friendly greeting in return. They shook hands and Dan’s guy turned and pointed at Dan. Dan nodded his head. Seems he was explaining why they were here.

Dan was called over and invited into the church, the rest of them were told they could stay out front. The guard came back out a minute later and Edwin approached him for a chat. The man, Richard, did not want to talk to Edwin much. He sat himself back down and sipped on his beer while Edwin plied him with half a dozen questions.

“How many people are you sheltering?”

“How much food, and water do you have?”

“Have you been attacked by anything?”

And so on. The man was infuriatingly sparse with providing details. He outright refused to give Edwin a straight answer more than once. So Edwin gave up on the fruitless conversation and went over to Zoey. He killed the next 15 minutes they spent waiting for Dan by reading back over the things he had added to his notebook recently.

Today alone he had three new things written down. Each one was pretty important in its own way. The squirrel's description mentioned the animal was empowered. He would like to collect more descriptions of animals. It was possible every animal was now empowered. But less obvious things might be revealed as dangerous if they were described as empowered in the future.

Next was his status sheet. He was level 10 and had 50 stat points to spend. Both attempts to spend his points had now failed. He could neither mentally will them to be used nor could he make use of the screen after a level up. It was frustrating.

The last item scribbled in at the bottom of a page was Jason’s skill. It was curious. The description was rather vague as expected. From the words used it almost sounded like a version of Zoey’s psychometry but specifically for, as it put it, technological systems. He had a couple ideas to try for Jason to try.

Edwin slipped the notebook back away and got the attention of those nearby. “Anyone got their phone on them?” He asked.

“Why? Nothing works anymore,” a girl said to him. She had an athletic cast to her and held a solid looking steel pipe loosely in one hand. A brown baseball cap turned backwards kept her long brown hair swept back. She was one of the tag-a-longs.

“I just want to test something out.”

“I’ve got mine,” someone else said. He got some funny looks. “I grabbed it by habit,” he said with a shrug.

“Cool, mind if I borrow it real quick. I won’t break it or anything,” Edwin asked him.

The guy had no problem lending it. It was a beaten up Iphone with no case. Edwin did not care to check which exact model it was, but it looked like it might be a couple years old. He took it towards Jason. He held it out, proffered to him.

“Try your skill on this,” Edwin instructed him as he took the phone.

Jason turned the phone over, examining it. Scratches and scuff marks covered the back. But the screen was still in good condition. He sandwiched the phone between his palms and took on a prayer like posture. Closing his eyes, Jason took in a large breath and held it for a moment. Then he exhaled.

“Technometry,” he chanted as he released his breath. Nothing visible happened. Jason stood there for a second longer before a deep red flush started creeping up his neck. The blush was clearly visible as he wore a loose fitting t-shirt.

Jason took the phone into one fist, clenched around the frame. He held it before his face and wiggled his fingers over the screen. Again nothing happened, and it was clear the skill had not activated as Jason’s neck flushed deeper reaching his jawline.

He turned to regard Edwin, shame and fury warring across his features. For a moment Edwin thought he would throw the phone at him. “How does this shit work?” He snapped out instead.

Edwin thought back to his disastrous attempts to coax his skill out. He took a moment to think how to phrase what he wanted to say.

“Well, I couldn’t figure out how to make it work at first. I thought maybe it was all in my head or something. I started stomping around in anger and it just happened. If you get it once, it’s pretty easy to do it again, Edwin tried to explain. “Maybe it takes emotion to get it going? Or maybe being angry just let me concentrate harder?”

Jason did not look amused with Edwin’s advice. He was already pissed off and nothing had happened. He was feeling backed into a corner. It wasn’t going to let him fight with it but he had hoped to make himself useful with it. This dud of a skill was just embarrassing. He cursed and swore as he grit his teeth. He just wanted his magical fucking skill to work!

A soft yellow glow surged down Jason’s arm and suffused the phone in his hand. He hardly noticed the effect as information bloomed into being before his eyes. Three blue panels appeared side by side. One had a detailed schematic of the phone, he would normally not be able to make heads or tails of the diagram but he found everything looked strangely familiar as he looked at that panel first.

Moving from the leftmost panel to the center one he found a short description written on it.

A device once useful for communication.

A worthless sentence if Jason had ever seen one. So he moved on to the rightmost panel. It was blank. His power was crap, this was lame and worthless. It was complete bullshit.

“Whoa! Dude you okay?” Someone was talking to him. Jason could see him through the blank right screen. The things were distracting and useless, he wanted them gone, and they vanished as the thought finished passing. The phone in his hand ceased glowing. Something felt different as he refocused his gaze on the crowd around him. He could feel something new. Something strange and unlike anything he had experienced before. But it was not alien or unnatural. He focused on it and tried to stretch the feeling, like one would stretch a muscle or focus their hearing. The three screens bloomed back into place before him.

The yellow flash shot down Jason’s arm again and covered the phone. It vanished much quicker this time. From Edwin’s perspective it seemed that Jason’s power had a very visual component to it. The phone’s different glow times likely corresponded to the length he had kept it active. It was not a subtle effect. Zoey was rather fortunate that only her eyes glowed for a moment. Edwin was even more fortunate as the only thing his skill produced were the movements he willed onto the materials. Ava’s power seemed likewise very subtle. Jason really drew the short straw there.

As the glow died a second time, Jason spun on his heel and stormed off. Before Edwin could move to catch him, the man from the door stood on the edge of the steps with his gun in hand. He barked, “what was that?”

Edwin found his reaction curious. Apparently this guy hadn’t seen any skills in action yet. It was 50/50 on whether someone in the church had gained any experience at all yet. Dan’s miracle of just feeding people food and them getting better could indeed just be considered that, a strange miracle. No one was going to really question Dan when he fixed their daughter’s broken arm right before their eyes. Gratitude and relief were much more palpable during those moments, easily drowning any suspicion.

Jason’s power was flashy and they were a bunch of young adults. The man had been suspicious of them without any supernatural encouragement. Edwin tried to calm the man. “Don’t worry about it.”

The man looked ready to push on the issue, but Dan came out. He had been chatting just inside and followed the shouting. Several middle aged people followed him. Most of them had blotchy eyes and red cheeks. An old woman came out and started to chastise the guard. Edwin looked to Dan as he approached.

“Did everything go alright in there?”

Dan nodded in affirmation. “Yeah,” he added. “Couple of nasty wounds but my skill worked on them all.”

The guard eyed them distrustfully even after being scolded so Edwin hurried them away. Jason trailed behind while LJ hovered a couple paces away. LJ did not bother Jason. Instead, he rebuffed several people who tried to approach to ask about his skill.

Edwin pressed Dan for details about what he had seen in the church.

“How many people?”

“About 20. Most of them are old folks and young kids though.”

“How much food did they have? How much water”

“I couldn’t rightly see. But they had enough to spare for me to work my magic.”

“Did you ask how they were injured?”

“From that first night. When stuff was falling from the sky and stray shots were lancing all over the place. They don’t seem to have run into any trouble since then.”

“How many of them had guns, or any other sort of weapons?”

“Far as I could see just the guy at the front. But I only went into a couple rooms. Who knows what they could have stashed away in there.”

Running out of questions Edwin stopped digging. Dan didn’t mind and pivoted to chatting about small changes or damage he had noticed on passing buildings.

“Ah dang man. Subway got wrecked,” Dan said as they passed one on the street. The windows were shattered and the door had been forced open. Peeking inside Edwin saw that the till was busted open, the cash was missing.

It was interesting, as they walked along, how Shaun and the tag-a-longs would dart into nearby buildings and then come hustling back out of them later. Everyone had their own backpacks and they were slowly filling them over time. But the group never stopped to wait. No one had enough time to really pick over any of the houses. This part of town was already thoroughly looted anyway. Edwin suspected most of the contents were now secreted away in the tunnels below the dorms. Ava’s pack rats had been hard at work.

Edwin followed Dan to several more churches along Grand Ave. There were only a handful clustered in this part of the city. They visited each of them and found more of the same at each one. One church stood out as it was heavily armed with more rifles, shotguns and pistols than people. The others only had one or two guns between them and were low on supplies. Edwin was invited into these places to look for himself.

A couple hours after they had set out they finished. There were no unexpected attacks, though they did run into plenty of people looting houses from the dorms. They made tracks back to the dorms. It was time for a late afternoon lunch.