I appeared in the kitchen, standing this time, as the spatial energy faded away. The corner of my mouth tugged upwards as I remembered the first time I’d teleported in here and, not knowing how the spell worked, found myself lying down. I tried to remember how many days ago that had been. Three? Four? So much had happened that I found it hard to believe it had really been such a short amount of time.

A quick look around showed no sign of Brad or Steve. It seemed my reappearance had gone unnoticed. That answered one question I’d had about what happened when I teleported. Apparently, there were no loud noises involved.

Getting a cup, I filled it from the tap. At the sound of the flowing water, Steve came running in from the living room, the relief clear on his face as he spotted me. He came over, calling out loudly on the way. “He’s in the kitchen!” Taking a sip, I turned and leaned back against the sink. I watched in amusement as Steve reached out tentatively. He poked my shoulder with his finger a couple of times, and then put his whole hand on it and squeezed.

“If you’re going to keep feeling me up, I might need to disappear again,” I joked. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Looking over, I saw Brad coming in from the backyard, a half-eaten apple in his hand. A soft impact on my shoulder, followed by Steve swearing up a storm, made me turn back to him. He was shaking out his right hand and glaring at me. “Did you hit me?” I asked, surprised.

“Damn right I did!” He grimaced as he opened and closed his hand repeatedly. “I really need to remember to stop doing that, though. Hurts me a hell of a lot more than it does you.”

“Why are you hitting me at all!?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Because you vanished with just some smart-ass explanation. One second you were there, the next there was something strange around you and then you were gone!” He was really worked up now, almost shouting at me.

Seeing how he was reacting made me feel a little guilty. I’d just wanted to mess with him a little. I hadn’t expected him to freak out this much. My curiosity was stronger than the guilt, though. “What did it look like exactly?”

I thought he might start yelling at me again, but instead he threw his hands up. In an exasperated tone, he answered, “I don’t know how to explain it. It was like a shimmer.” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “No, more like a distortion. Like you were surrounded by broken glass. It seemed to press in on you, and then suddenly you were gone, and everything looked normal again.”

Interesting. Since my vision went dark as I teleported, I was surprised to hear that the energy involved left me visible from the outside. Filing it away for later consideration, I apologized to Steve, hoping Persuasion would help impart the sincerity of my words. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d worry this much. I was just having a bit of a laugh. But I’ll admit, I should have given you a proper explanation before going.”

Steve sighed, some of his tension disappearing at my apology. “Just don’t do it again. How are we supposed to protect you if we can’t get to you?”

“Well, if you couldn’t get to me, nobody could, right?” I reasoned. “So, I was actually perfectly safe.” Seeing my rational argument not having the desired effect of relaxing him, I quickly said, “Look at Brad! He gets it. He’s completely chill, just having a bit of breakfast.”

“You’ve got to look after yourself,” Brad said casually in agreement, leaning against the counter as he took another bite of his apple.

Steve cast a withering look his way. “Oh, please. Don’t try to be Mr. Cool.” Looking back at me, he said, “Brad was out there jumping up and down trying to work out where the dungeon was. He even put his ear to the ground a few times trying to hear you.”

Glancing at Brad, he shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. “Maybe I was a little worried.”

I couldn’t help laughing, then quickly held my hands up in surrender as I saw Steve getting worked up again. “I get it! I’m sorry. There are things I can only do in the dungeon, though, so I’m not going to promise it won’t happen again. But I’ll give you more of a heads-up next time before I teleport down there.”

With a strained nod, Steve let the matter drop. “Why’s there a dungeon down there, anyway?” Brad asked curiously.

I shrugged. “It was the first one I made when I was trying out my abilities. It’s a good thing I kept it closed off. Knowing what we do now, putting an entrance in would have knocked the power out around here.”

Brad nodded slowly, a considering look on his face. Steve interrupted us. “We actually don’t have time to chat. While you were gone, Ms. Anders contacted us.” Not wanting to upset him again, I held back from asking why he hadn’t led with that instead of wasting time getting angry at me. “She said she tried to call you first, but it wouldn’t connect. I told her you were busy with something, and your phone was probably in your magic hole thing. I didn’t mention the disappearing or the dungeon.”

I gave him a grateful smile. “Cheers, mate. Don’t get me wrong. At this point, I’m all in with the government on stopping the Void. It is nice, though, to still have a few secrets.”

“Here’s hoping you never need them,” he said simply, letting me know he understood where I was coming from. “Anyway, she wants us at the clinic by 10am.”

I looked at the clock. Since it was a fifteen-minute drive there, that gave us only 10 minutes before we needed to leave. “Alright. Well, I’m good to go. How about you guys?”

Brad looked at me critically, gesturing at my exposed chest where I couldn’t get the buttons done up. “You’re wearing that? You do remember you’ll be meeting with the committee members at some point, right?”

I shrugged. “It was this or a T-shirt. Figured the buttons would look better, even if it’s too tight to do the top two. Until I get a chance to hit the shops, my choices are pretty limited.”

“Ok then,” he said, still frowning a little. “By the way, we decided we’re just going to take your car. You live near the forest, so it shouldn’t raise any red flags for you to be seen around the clinic. If anyone’s trying to work out the identity of the person in the video, they shouldn’t give you a second look. They’ll just assume you’re there for a check-up.”

“Sounds good. Can you drive, though? I want to work on one of my spells on the way there.”

“I’ll do it,” Steve volunteered. “That way Brad can do any magic stuff he wants to, too.”

“Thanks, Steve. And speaking of magic, how was last night?” I asked Brad. “I heard you went to bed pretty late?”

He started walking towards the staircase, so I followed. “I wasn’t that tired, so I decided to check what my body’s capable of now. Did a bit of a workout.”

“And?” I prompted him as we reached the second floor and went into the bedroom they were using.

“Unbelievable,” he said in appreciation. “I did 20 more pushups than my personal best before feeling a little burn. The same for sit-ups. If I went all out, I think I could have smashed out a bunch more. Did some burpees out back and realized my knees feel amazing. Used to have some aches and pains, but that’s all gone. Can’t wait to get near some weights and see how much I can lift now.”

He was much more analytical about the whole thing than I’d been. I’d spent so much time just admiring how good the process made me look, but Brad had worked on finding his new limits. “What about the magic?”

He shrugged as he went through his bag, making sure he had everything packed away. “I went through the interface thing again, but there’s not much I can really do here. Need somewhere safe to test out the Fireball spell. Which, I’ve got to say, is lucky for Steve.”

I cocked my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Brad grinned. “He barged in, shaking me and shouting about how you’d disappeared. Scared the shit out of me. If I’d had some practice with shooting a fireball, I probably would have lit him up before realizing what was going on.”

My laughter was interrupted by Cax.

“You now have enough mana to cast an aura spell,” he informed me.

“Beautiful. Thanks, Cax.”

I cast Aura of Recovery, wanting to improve my Life magic as quickly as possible to help out with the healing I’d soon be doing at the clinic. Brad looked at me as he felt the effects, nodding in appreciation. “I wish I had one of those. Be handy the next time someone decides to cut my sleep short.”

“You’re still tired?”

“Not as much as I would normally be, considering how little sleep I got,” he admitted. “Another benefit of the magical improvements?”

I nodded in response. “Thought so,” he said. “Still, hard to shake such a rude awakening. Being yelled at first thing in the morning is pretty unpleasant.”

Steve’s voice interrupted us as he called out loudly from the bottom of the stairs. “What are you two doing up there?! Hurry up! We’ve got to go!” Brad and I looked at each other, smiling at Steve’s impeccable timing.

We went down to find him waiting by the door, his bag at his feet. “Before we go, I’ve got something to give you two,” I told them. I held both hands out, palms up, and called the two magical handguns I’d made out of my inventory and passed one to each of them as they appeared. I explained how they worked as they looked them over. “Probably save them for when we come across more of the Void-puppets,” I finished up by saying. “The magical damage will do the most good against them.”

“The limited ammo is a bit of a concern, but otherwise these should give us a much-needed edge,” Brad said, Steve nodding in agreement. “We need to get these to as many of the soldiers as we can. How many did you make?”

“Only had time for these two. I’ll make more when we get back to the park, though. Need to be in a dungeon for it.”

Steve frowned and held his gun back out to me. “As much as I love the thought of having a kick-ass magical gun, you should have this. You’ll probably need it more than me.”

I waved it away. “My spells are stronger at this point, so it’s better for me to use them. I can wait until I have a chance to make more.”

He flashed me a big smile. “If you’re sure!” Before I had a chance to reconsider, he’d put the gun in his bag and zipped it back up. “Come on!”

He opened the door and walked quickly towards the car. Laughing, I grabbed the keys from the table and locked up the house. Brad stopped me at the door. “Can I have a moment?” he asked seriously.

Picking up on his tone, my laughter died off. “Sure,” I told him, tossing the car keys to Steve. He snatched them out of the air and stored his bag in the boot.

“This teleport thing. You didn’t just learn that, did you?” Brad asked me, more statement than question.

“No, I’ve had that spell since the beginning,” I confirmed, not sure why he wanted to know.

“So, when we were under attack in the dungeon and getting overrun by the birds and the animals, you could have gotten out of there at any time?”

Ahh. So that’s it. “Yes. I could have teleported to safety. But I can’t take anyone with me, and there was no way I was leaving you in there alone.”

He smiled softly. “I appreciate that. I really do. Says a lot about you.” He put his hand on my shoulder, his smile disappearing as he looked me in the eyes intently. “But you made the wrong call.” I opened my mouth to object, but he continued before I had a chance to. “Yes, it worked out, but it easily could have gone the other way. Not to give you a big head or anything, but you are the most important person on the planet at the moment. If you die, so does our chance of saving the world, which means my family will die. Now, I definitely don’t have a death wish. But if it’s my life or theirs?” The corners of his mouth turned up a little. “That’s the easiest choice I can imagine. So, the next time your life is in danger, I want you to get the hell out of there.”

I stared into his eyes and he looked back, unblinking. The lack of reaction from my Persuasion skill let me know he likely meant every word, but I didn’t need to rely on magic to judge the truth of his words. The sincerity was written clearly on his face and in his eyes. Seeing that made me give some serious thought to what he’d said. Was I capable of doing that? Could I save myself and leave someone behind to die? Before I could face up to those uncomfortable questions, Steve called out from the driver’s seat, arm hanging out the window.

“In the car, boys! It’s time to hit the road.”

I chuckled weakly. “He can’t stay quiet, can he?” His interruption this time was a welcome one, though, distracting me from my unpleasant thoughts.

Brad squeezed my shoulder before letting go. “Like a yapping dog,” he said with a laugh, heading over to the car and storing his bag in the boot along with Steve’s.

“You take the front seat,” I told him, opening the back door. “I might need a bit of space to work with.”

Once we were in, Steve pulled out onto the street and headed towards the main road. It was pretty much a straight shot from there to the clinic. There wouldn’t be much traffic at this time of day, so I didn’t have a lot of time to work with.

The priority was testing my Invisibility spell to see how useful it would be as a disguise if I needed to openly use my powers again. Focusing on having it cover my entire body, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it would take a whopping 100mp to cast. That was almost half the entire amount of mana my center could hold! I wouldn’t be able to do much else if I cast that at the start of a fight.

Alright, so that option’s out, I thought disappointedly. I already knew it took 20mp to make my whole head invisible, which was a much more reasonable cost. And it would be enough to accomplish the goal of concealing my identity. The thing was, the sight of what would basically look like a headless person running around would freak everyone out. Although, if I was in the situation where I needed to use magic where people could see, it would be because I had to. And that meant there would likely be something more disturbing than a headless man to occupy their attention.

It might still be a viable option. I just need to know how much faster the effect will end if I move around. Looking out the window at the cars flashing by in the other direction and the endless line of houses that almost seemed to flow into each other as we drove past, I realized the speed we were traveling at might not provide very accurate results. But it should still give me a fairly good idea.

My gaze stayed fixed on the world passing by as I took a moment to appreciate just how normal everything seemed. We were heading away from the forest, and everyone was just going about their day, living their lives as they normally did. It was an odd sight, especially considering that everyone must be aware of the news that the army had set up what was basically a quarantine zone not far from here. A shiver went through me as the normal scenes clashed with the knowledge I had about the world-ending threat that lay behind us. If people knew what was really going on, would things be this calm?

Focusing back on the matter at hand, I realized it was probably best not to practice the Invisibility spell on my head. Someone might notice, and the car could easily be traced to me. Instead, I cast the spell on my left hand, spending the 7mp required and watching it disappear from sight. Since it was my energy within the spell, I could sense it covering my hand. That’ll be useful, I thought. If I used the spell on an item and set it somewhere, I would still be able to locate it easily even without being able to see it.

I opened and closed my hand rapidly and waved it around to see if the magic would be disrupted, but it remained completely hidden. I checked the time so I could know how long it lasted, then focused and activated my vision of the Light energy around me. I watched as multiple streams of light flowed around the energy field surrounding my hand, the moving car subjecting the field to an endless barrage of additional streaming light.

I was dismayed when just three minutes later, my hand became visible again. Frowning, I returned my sight to normal. That was a drastic reduction from the 30 minutes it would have lasted had it been stationary.

“Light energy is not uniform,” Cax informed me. “Having to adjust to the different density and power as it moves through the light puts strain on the energy field. And that 30 minutes only applies to ideal circumstances, so do not put too much faith in that. Under the midday sun, the invisibility field will not last that long.”

So much for my great idea. “We might need to pick up some Halloween masks or something,” I told the two officers sitting in the front, disappointed. “This invisibility magic doesn’t last long when I’m moving about. I don’t think it’s going to be any good as a disguise.”

“You really think running around looking like Krueger is a good idea?” Steve asked, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “In case you forgot, there are real monsters out there now. One panicking soldier or police officer, and you’ll end up with a bullet in you.”

“Obviously not a scary mask,” I told him, resenting the fact he thought I was that stupid. “There’s got to be some basic ones available.”

“It’s a good idea,” Brad said. “A ski mask would be better, though. No chance of it getting knocked off. I’ll mention it to Ms. Anders.”

“Thanks.” That did sound like a better option than a mask. In fact, using any kind of simple face covering was probably better than trying to use magic to hide my identity. I wouldn’t need to expend any of my mana, and with my Inventory, I’d be able to put it on and take it off in a heartbeat.

I realized that because I had magical powers now, my mindset had changed, and my first thought was using them to solve all my problems. I needed to keep in mind that there were plenty of ordinary methods that could get the job done just as well, and in this case, even better. Granted, using a regular mask with a magical storage space was in no way ordinary, but compared to some of the other things I could do, it was about as basic as it got.

I took a second to cast Aura of Recovery as Cax let me know it had ended, and then tried another test to find out if there was a difference between using the Invisibility spell on living and non-living things. I cast it on the seatbelt buckle and watched it closely. Three minutes later and it was once again visible, letting me know that it didn’t matter what the spell was used on. We were almost at the hospital where the clinic was setup, so I ended the testing there. I wanted to have as much mana on hand as possible for healing.

We soon pulled into the parking lot, and as Steve parked the car, Brad pulled out his phone and called Anita to let her know we’d arrived. “Someone’s going to come and get us,” he told us, hanging up. Getting out of the car, I had a look around. There were signs directing people looking for the clinic away from the main entrance of the hospital and towards one of the smaller side doors, likely to limit the opportunities for infected people to come into contact with others. It wasn’t long before we saw a young man come out from there, looking around. Recognizing him from the park as one of Anita’s employees, I waved him over.

Spotting us, he hurried over. I held my hand out and shook his hand. “Gary, right?” He looked surprised that I’d remembered his name. I was a little taken aback myself, since I could clearly remember only hearing his name in passing when someone else was talking to him. Thank you, magic, I thought, smiling slightly. There was no way I would have recalled his name without the mental improvements I’d gained from leveling up.

“Yes, sir,” he said politely. “Please follow me. I’ll take you in through another entrance. Ms. Anders and Dr. Fadel are waiting for you.” Brad and Steve got their bags out of the back and then locked up the car. As we followed Gary, I pretended to pocket the keys Steve passed me but actually sent them into my Inventory.

Once we got inside the hospital, Gary led us along several hallways. The area we were walking through was busier than I expected. There were several police officers stationed at various points, just keeping an eye on things. They looked at us as we passed but didn’t say anything, simply maintaining their watch.

There were also several doctors and nurses hurrying about their tasks. The medical staff were all wearing protective equipment, with only their eyes and foreheads visible above their masks and behind their face shields. Some of them were escorting regular-looking people, taking them into various rooms. There were no obvious signs of Void-infection on any of them and I wondered just how many might actually be sick. I thought about using Analyze on them to find out, but decided not to waste the mana just yet. I’d wait and see what Dr. Fadel said. None of the potentially infected people paid us any attention, seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

As we passed a closed door that had an officer standing directly outside, my steps slowed as the sound of muffled shouting and the violent squeaking of metal drifted out into the hallway. Seeing me stop, the others pulled up too. I cast a questioning look Gary’s way, gesturing at the room we had just passed. The unsettling sounds were still audible even a couple of meters away. Grimacing, he said, “Some cases are fairly advanced. Dr. Fadel will fill you in.”

Absolutely no part of me wanted to go into that room, but the whole reason I was here was to help people. And it definitely sounded like whoever was in there needed help. Not analyzing people until I spoke to Dr. Fadel was one thing, but this was clearly someone who needed help. Giving the officer guarding the room a look, I wondered if he would try to stop me from entering.

“He certainly would,” Cax cautioned me, picking up on my intentions. “Remember, the goal is to keep your identity secret. If you try to enter, it will draw unwanted attention.”

As I considered that, Brad put his hand on my shoulder, likely guessing what I was thinking. In a small voice, too quiet to be heard by the officer who was now watching us intently thanks to our obvious interest in the room he was guarding, he said, “Whoever it is, they’re not going anywhere. Let’s get the lay of the land before jumping in.”

As much as I didn’t like just walking away, I knew both Cax and Brad were right. Reluctantly, I nodded and followed Gary as he set off again, with Brad and Steve sticking close by me. They now seemed more on edge than when we’d first entered, and their hands kept drifting to their sides, as though seeking the comfort of the guns that were out of reach in the bags they were carrying.

Soon enough, we were shown into a large treatment room. Dr. Fadel and Anita were sitting together off to the side, looking at something on the computer there. Their conversation quickly cut off as we entered, and they stood up and came over.

I was in the middle of shaking Anita’s hand when Dr. Fadel, forgoing any sort of greeting, went straight up to Brad and put her hands on his face, turning it from side to side. She had to tilt her head back slightly due to the height difference, peering up at him intently. He stood there, a shocked look on his face as she manhandled him. I glanced at Steve, seeing my amused grin mirrored on his face. Getting over his shock, Brad gently grabbed Dr. Fadel’s wrists and pushed her hands down. “Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer a simple ‘hello’,” he said lightly.

She looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I watched the video of your…” She trailed off, a frown appearing on her face as she looked at me. “I don’t know what to call it. Is there a name for the magical process you both went through?”

I didn’t need to ask Cax for help on this one, remembering our previous conversations clearly. “On Cax’s planet, they call people like us ‘Awakened’, and the item I used on Brad is called an Awakening Disc, so it seems to be a universal term.”

Her smile almost split her face as she said, “Universal. And you mean actually universal, not just everyone on Earth. Fantastic!” Clapping her hands together, she jumped back to her original train of thought as she looked at Brad again. “As I was saying, your Awakening was quite something. There are clearly external improvements from the last time I saw you. When we’re done here, I would love to do some more detailed testing to find out what you look like on a cellular level now.”

“Uhh…” Brad was clearly feeling uncomfortable at the attention, and I couldn’t help smiling again. It was nice not to be the focus for once, especially when it came to the talk of being tested. As content as I was to sit back and watch him squirm, Anita was more practical.

“If you want to have time for that, then we need to get started immediately,” she told the doctor with a pointed look. “There are a lot of people Mr. Whitler needs to look at.”

“Right!” Dr. Fadel said, clapping her hands together as she stepped away from Brad. “So, Dean. Let me tell you how it’s going to work.” She moved over to the bed in the middle of the room. There were several machines setup around it, along with some large lights, all of which were pointing in towards the bed. “The infected person will be brought in here and connected to this monitor. We’ll administer a simple saline solution via an IV, and shine the…” She suddenly stopped, looking over at me.

“She is very perceptive,” Cax told me, clearly impressed. “Your aura spell just ended.” I cast it again, and, obviously sensing the minor boost returning, Dr. Fadel tilted her head questioningly.

“Just working on improving my Life affinity,” I explained. “Two more times with this spell, and I should see some improvements to my healing magic.”

She opened her mouth quickly. I braced myself for a barrage of questions, but with obvious effort, she pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly. Having successfully reigned in her curiosity, she went back to explaining the room’s setup. “Like I was saying, we’ll shine the lights directly on the patient. They’re a mix of UV and ordinary LED. We’ll be explaining the therapy as a combination treatment of medicine and light to fight the infection from within and without. The ‘medicine’,” she said, making air quotes, “will explain away the energizing feeling of Dean’s healing magic, while the lights will hide the glow of the magic.”

Steve gave voice to the skepticism I was feeling. “Do you really think people will buy that?”

Dr. Fadel shrugged. “Why not? Nobody knows what’s in the medicine they regularly use. People trust doctors and take what they’re told to take, and then they get better. Do you know how the headache medicine you take works?” At Steve’s muttered ‘no’, she nodded her head firmly. “And as for the lights, they’re admittedly a bit of a stretch, but light therapy is an established field. Not for this kind of thing,” she admitted, “but it shouldn’t stand out too much.”

I actually had to agree about people trusting doctors and medicine. After all, that’s how I passed off the changes to my appearance after joining with Cax. As for the lights…“Why not just put everyone under?” I asked. “They won’t be able to see the magic then.”

She shook her head. “It would take too much time. We need to get through a fair number of people.”

Cax added his opinion. “It would also be pointless. Remember, your healing spell can cure poison now, too. It would remove whatever chemicals they used to induce sleep.”

He was right. It hadn’t been an issue when I healed Josh’s dad, but the spell had evolved since then. I had to admit, it seemed like they’d thought of everything. There was just one more thing I was worried about. “How are we going to explain why I’m in the room?” I made a sweeping gesture with my hand, taking in my entire body. “I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion.”

Anita gestured off to the side. “There’s some medical gear over there for you to use. Your features will be hidden, and you’ll look like just another nurse. Go ahead and put them on so we can make sure it looks ok.”

With nothing further to object to, I went over and put on the blue gown, simply slipping it over my regular clothes. The loose material was the first non-tight thing I’d put on in a while. As I tied it on, I heard Brad talking to Anita about getting a ski mask for me. I quickly chimed in, letting her know about my idea for having a personal assistant and the reasons why.

“You can just ask me when you need something, and I’ll arrange it for you,” she said, clearly not on board with the idea. “You got the books you wanted, correct?”

“Yes, I did,” I reluctantly admitted, knowing that it wouldn’t help my case. It did remind me of something, though. “Speaking of which, can you find me some books that explain how USBs and things like that work, along with computer languages? There’s a chance I’ll be able to absorb knowledge directly out of those devices if I can get a decent understanding of how they work. It’ll be much easier than having to go through a bunch of books.”

“I’ll take care of it.” She spread her arms wide, smiling in victory. “See, you don’t need a personal assistant. You’ve got me.”

“You sure you want to handle pest control at my house?” I asked doubtfully.

“Not at all. Which is why I’ll have someone else do it. I’m very good at delegating. You don’t think I went and bought all those books myself and carried them into your house, do you?”

“Well, no…”

“Protection is necessary, but the fewer people following you around, the less conspicuous you’ll be,” she said, a note of finality in her voice. “And as for the mask and needing clothes that fit, I can take of that right now. Officer Young?”

Steve startled, the amused expression from watching me not get my way disappearing from his face as Anita’s attention turned to him. “Umm, yes?”

“Security here is more than sufficient, so there isn’t anything for you and Officer Saunders to do. I’d like Officer Saunders to remain for the meeting with the Committee later, but you have some free time. I would appreciate it if you went over to the shopping mall and found a mask and some larger clothes for Mr. Whitler.”

“Me?!” he asked, clearly surprised at the request. “I’m not sure…”

“Is there a problem?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t threatening in the slightest. In fact, she sounded genuinely curious, as though she couldn’t understand his reluctance.

Steve looked at me, taking in my big smile. While maybe not as good as a real personal assistant, making Steve run errands for me did have a certain appeal. My smile faltered when the dismay disappeared from his face, replaced by a sly grin. “No, no problem. I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. Just bring me the receipts and I’ll make sure you’re reimbursed.”

He came over to where I was getting dressed and asked for the car keys, still wearing that suspicious smile. I handed them over slowly, trying to work out the reason for the sudden change in his attitude. He started to walk away, and, on a hunch, I called out to his retreating back, “No Hawaiian shirts or fluro pink!” He didn’t bother turning around, just holding the keys up and jingling them before leaving the room.

Pushing my concerns aside, I finished getting dressed. The mask, haircap, and face shield, combined with the long blue gown, did a good job of hiding my identity. I looked like a typical hospital worker. Anita looked me over and gave her stamp of approval. She left the room and soon returned with two women who were dressed similarly to myself.

“Both of these ladies are aware of what you can do, so feel free to use your abilities openly around them,” she told me. She gestured at the taller of the two. “Grace here is an actual nurse, and she will be in charge of administering the IV and hooking up the monitors.” Indicating the shorter woman, she said, “Susan will assist the patients and make sure they are comfortable.” I greeted them both, and they moved to the treatment area, making sure everything was ready to go. “Your job will be to turn on the lights so it looks like you’re not just standing around doing nothing, and then you can pretend to check on the IV when you need to make contact for the healing.”

I nodded my understanding, impressed. Everything had been planned out perfectly. “We’ll let you get to it,” Anita said. She escorted Brad out of the room, closing the door and leaving me alone in the room with the three women. Dr. Fadel went to the table against the wall and picked up the phone, speaking into it briefly before coming back over.

“They’re going to bring in the first patient now,” she explained. “This is the most severe case to come in. A woman in her forties was infected by an animal bite almost 48 hours ago and has been here since last night. Her husband said that he noticed some black marks on her arms within 24 hours after being bitten and he wanted her to go to the doctor. He said she had been especially irritable and refused to get looked at. Then, she apparently snapped yesterday and attacked her husband over some dirty dishes. He managed to lock her in the pantry before calling the authorities.”

“That’s terrible,” I said. “Is he ok?”

“Surprisingly, yes. And we actually learned a lot about how the Void-infection spreads thanks to their situation. The husband received treatment for the scratches and other injuries he sustained and is still here under observation. So far, his blood tests have all been negative. Based on this, we know that the infection isn’t airborne, and that it doesn’t spread through contact.

I was confused. “Are you sure? When I was scratched by an infected animal, the Void energy got into my system. And my body was already well-beyond average at that point.”

“That’s because it happened within the area affected by the Rift,” she said excitedly.

“You two would get on great,” I told Cax. “She also gets a little too much enjoyment out of serious situations.”

“Knowledge is knowledge, regardless of where it comes from. There is nothing wrong with the enjoyment of learning something new,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Dr. Fadel continued. “From your own accounts, the trees, the ground, everything under the Rift is infected. That means there would have been infected material under the claws, which was then transmitted into your system via the scratches. But for this woman, inside her regular old house, there was nothing like this. Now, had she managed to bite her husband, that likely would have passed on the infection to him.”

She smiled at me encouragingly. “Based on this information, I’m very optimistic for our chances at containing the spread of this alien sickness.”

Just then, a muffled voice raised in anger and a familiar sound of straining metal let me know the first patient had arrived, and I was pretty sure it was the occupant of the room we’d passed earlier. It looked like I was going to get the chance to help them a lot earlier than I’d expected.