The doctor brings out a stone similar to one of the Identifying stones. Flipping it over and taking a pen out of his breast pocket, he starts to engrave on the back of the stone.

Drawing some complex geometric patterns freehand, testing his progress a couple of times by flipping it back upright and activating the screen. After about five minutes, he gives it to me to hold. Watching the lights race around the outside edge like always, this time it stops and pings green at the top. One…Two…Three… green dots, fading, then the dots turning black.

The doctor casually gets up, putting the stone tablet back into his coat’s oversized pocket. The pen into his breast pocket, as he walks over to his dad. “Guard up!” he says in a quiet even tone, moving to stand a half step behind and to his father's side.

Reflexively, the paladin has snatched up his shield and is in a guard position so fast that I don’t think he even knew what was going on. I just look at the paladin, watching him look back and forth between his son and me, a confused look in his eyes. We both settle on looking back at the doctor who’s currently keeping himself behind his father's shield while talking with me.

“Let me start by apologizing now. This is just a precautionary measure for my own safety.” I see his eyes flicker back to the black blade a time or two while talking to me. “You are free to leave at any time and no one will follow you if you don’t want them to.”

I noticed the paladin firm up his grip as the shield waivers for a moment. He’s watching me a little closer now, each of us looking at each other, trying to figure out what’s going on.

“You’re the one being a little creepy at the moment,” I tell the doctor. “Did you want the sword? You keep looking at it.” Nodding back over my shoulder, while not turning my back to him.

“Hmm.. no.” That’s the first I ever heard him stammer.

I get up and move a couple of steps away from the blade. Looking back at it, then back at these two as the doctor has shifted, clearly squaring up with me and keeping behind the shield.

“So, out with it! What’s wrong with me? What are you scared of?”

“There’s nothing wrong. We’re just talking.” In that monotone, you have three months to live, bedside manner voice.

Turning to the Paladin I ask, “Are you believing any of this? Because I can see the confusion on your face.” The paladin turning a questioning eye back to look at his son while keeping his guard up to me.

“The data shows a disconnect of sorts. You know I work with the children and many of them have the same issue. Yet there’s the remote possibility of being from an Outer Plane.” There is a pause, both of them watching me for a few moments before continuing. “Which…doesn’t seem to be the case here.” The doctor visibly relaxes, his dad is slightly more agitated now, looking back and forth between us.

“I’m sorry I don’t understand what that means.” Looking between the two for answers.

Pulling out the stone tablet, tapping on it with his pen while he comes around from behind the shield, no longer seeming as concerned. His father still holding the guard position, watching and still hesitant. “Beings from Outer Planes tend to become agitated, sometimes violent when exposed. At least that is what is taught. Let us see if this gives anything.” Handing me the stone tablet again.

Same as before, lights race around the outside edge and pings green at the top. One…Two…Three… green dots, fading, then the dots turning black.

“Hmmm…” Turning back to his father. “Do you have a mana stone or crystal I can use?”

Pulling something out of a pouch, he hands it to his son. “It’s mostly spent.”

“Good enough.” The doctor hands it to me, making sure that I hold it in the opposite hand from the stone tablet. He uses his pen to tap and change something on the stone tablet while I’m holding it, then steps back to watch.

The mana stone looks like a quartz crystal polished up like a glass marble, about the size of a quarter or an overly large dice.

“Touch them together,” He asks. And when I do, the lights around the tablet light up, as if I just connected a battery. The lights go out when they’re not touching.

Doing something again to the tablet, “Again,” he says. This time touching them together make the tablet bright like a flashlight.

“Here,” The doctor, holding out his hands for me to give him the mana stone and tablet. Taking them, the lights on the tablet shine bright, but they are not touching each other.

“Do you see?” He asks me, handing me back the mana stone and tablet, which goes dark as soon as I take hold and he lets go.

“This is the disconnect I was talking about. The mana isn’t traveling through your body. But you shouldn’t be able to cast either.” The doctor steps back, arms crossed, one hand on his chin thinking.

“Maybe it’s intermittent,” The doctor having an epiphany. “That’s why the Identifiers never work.”

Pulling the tent flap open, he points and motions to one of the guards to come into the tent. Coming into full view, I can see that he has an injury on one of his hands.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Motioning to the guard and unwrapping his hand. “Are you able to cast while holding them?” He asks.

Looking at the guard’s hand, “Heal” I say and watch as his hand straightens and the flesh heals.

The doctor mumbling to himself, “Possibly Faith-based? But still, it should have showed something.”

“Thank you.” He says to the guard, escorting him out of the tent. I do note a grin on the guard’s face as he’s flexing his hand.

Motioning to another, the doctor brings in someone else. Unbinding his arm at the bicep, it looks to have been pierced with an arrow or something.

Taking the tablet and mana stone from me, the stone tablet glows brightly in his hand. Giving it to his father, who was still holding his guard, he drives his shield into the ground to stand by itself. I can see the Paladin rolling his eyes at his son. While not “actually” rolling his eyes, he has the look of a dad doing something he doesn’t want to be doing. The stone tablet is still bright.

Holding the tablet and stone in each hand, with his hands slightly above the wound, a white aura appears between the Paladins hands and the wound as it closes. The face of the tablet now glowing white as if the stone was hot.

“Thank you.” The doctor says, both his father and to the patient, while leading the patient out of the tent.

Taking the tablet and mana stone back from his father. Turning it off and putting them both away in his pocket. His father with an open hand for the mana stone back. “Can I have that back now?”

Giving the stone back to his father and talking to me. “How are you casting?” He asks. “What are you doing?”

I think for a moment. I’m not sure I know, or how to even put it into words. “I try to think of something that… We have a book… We’re supposed to be able to lay hands on the sick and they recover.”

The doctor thinks for a moment, then asks. “I heard you yesterday yelling Heal. Just now, you didn’t lay hands on the guard.” I just look at him. I don’t know what to say.

“If you were casting, the Identifier would have picked up the mana spent.” The doctor is half talking to me, half reasoning with himself. “It picked up dad, so it’s not that either.”

He looks up at me. “You’re not casting. What are you doing? Saying Heal is not doing anything?

We just look at each other for a few moments. He looks back at his dad.

“You heard him out there.” The Paladin replies. “Quite effective. A few more like him and no one would die. A squad like him and we would never fail. A legion…” The doctor cuts him off.

“But he’s not doing anything! He’s not casting. He’s not…” He pauses. “That’s why Ramos is scared, isn’t it?” His father is just looking at him. “He’s not doing anything, is he? That’s why he can just keep running around yelling Heal, isn’t it?”

“It is effective.” His father replies in a more militaristic authoritative tone.

“And what happens when this god decides he’s not going to “Heal” this time? What happens then?” The doctor getting angry.

The Paladin responding, “Then you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”