Chapter 4:

Will was in the living room when the front door opened, and his roommate Paige walked in.

“Welcome home,” he said, “How was the family?”

“Oh, you know, my parents are fine. Apparently my aunt is on the verge of dropping into full blown conspiracy theorism, though, which was exhausting.”

“Really? Well, that’s exciting… not. You don’t work for a couple of days though, right?”

“Yeah, luckily. It will let me get some actual rest before I have to worry about it.”

“Good stuff. Did you hear anything from Jake?”

“Yeah, he’ll probably be pulling in any time now. I’m going to go throw my stuff in my room, then take a bit to relax before I have to worry about anything beyond breathing.”

“Okay. Have fun with that. Feel free to watch anything. I’m going out for a smoke, but I'll come back in soon.”

“Sounds good.”

Will stepped out into their garage, and lit up a cigarette. He wanted a minute to get his thoughts in order before everyone was home.

He planned to fill both of his friends in on what was going on at the same time. He really didn’t feel like trying to explain this crazy shit twice, and he was pretty sure all of them working together would be the most beneficial thing for the situation.

After a few minutes of just relaxing and letting his mind wander, he heard another car pull up outside. He assumed it would be Jake, and figured finishing up his cigarette would give his roommate enough time to put his things down and settle in to relax.

Finishing the cigarette, Will thought, “Well, I should probably get to it.” He then lit another cigarette, and decided his roommates might appreciate a little longer to settle in. In that order.

Walking back into the house about ten minutes later, Will could hear his roommates chatting in the living room. They had put some music on low volume, and seemed to be catching up after their trips. Taking his seat, he listened and contributed to the conversation at random.

After a few minutes of this, both roommates gave each other a look that communicated agreement about something, then turned their gazes directly on him.

“What?” Will asked his friends.

“You’re quiet, and seem distracted.” Paige replied.

“Oh. Sorry, I’m just especially distractible today.”

She didn’t look convinced, but at that point Jake asked him, “So, how has your weekend been going?”

“Well, kind of weird, to be totally honest.” replied Will.

At this point he had both of their attention, but he was drawing a blank on where to even start. After watching him try and start explaining for long enough it was obvious he was having trouble, Paige took mercy on him.

“How about you just start from the beginning?”

Finally, he gave up on finding the perfect words, and just barreled into it. “Well, I managed to get struck by lightning, and now I might have amazing powers.” Seeing the reactions on the faces of his friends, Will couldn’t help barking out a laugh. “Your faces are amazing! Okay, so, I promise I’m not nuts, but here is what I know so far…”

Finishing his story didn’t take long, as he really didn’t know much at all yet. After finishing, he took a look at his friends and told them, “You guys process and think things through. I’ll be in the garage when you’re ready to keep going.”

With that, he went out to wait for them to join him in the garage. He assumed he would need to provide some show and tell to prove he wasn’t off his rocker.

Having finished telling them what he knew, he realized he had been getting tied up in knots over this situation, a bit. At least, by his standards. Now it was off his chest, he felt like they might be able to actually make some progress on thinking about where to go from here.

Before too long, he heard his friends come out to join him. “Where do you guys want to start with the practical portion of this test?” he asked.

“Take your shirt off. Let’s start with that mark on your chest.”

Shrugging, will pulled his shirt off and looked down at his own chest. “Huh…” he said.

“What is it?” Jake asked.

“The mark, it’s darker. Like, a lot darker. Before, it looked vaguely like lightning shooting away from the central point. Now, it looks a lot like a Celtic Tree of Life. Though the branches do look a little more like electricity than wood.”

“Okay, well, it’s definitely not a fresh tattoo, and I’ve never seen it before. You, Paige?”

“Uhhh… yeah, I’ve definitely never seen it before, and isn’t a fresh tat.” she replied. “Will, you said it’s gotten darker, and that just before sleeping yesterday you learned how to manually draw on this… energy coming from inside of you?”

“Yeah. What are you thinking?”

“I’m wondering if actually using the energy is why the mark got darker.”

“Is it just me, or does it look almost… metallic?” Jake interjected.

Both Will and Paige agreed.

“Well, maybe we'll notice a change if I try increasing my energy pull again?”

“It would make as much sense as any of this.” said Paige. Jake nodded in response. Will then shrugged, and closed his eyes.

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Sil and Artie’s vessel still sat above the roof of the house being rented by the three people currently occupying most of their time. Currently, the three were addressing the need for some tangible evidence regarding the situation they found themselves in.

Sil broke the silence, saying, “Well, they seem to be coping well enough thus far. Granted, they don’t actually know much yet, but I believe many people in Will’s situation either wouldn’t share it with anyone, or would be having their sanity questioned.”

“From my own observations, that conjecture does seem likely.” agreed Artie. “Though I do not believe their reactions are too far out of the realm of plausibility.

At least, not provided the people being shared with are prone to rationality. It is also undoubtedly beneficial that they are clearly extremely loyal to one another.

That said, I’m fairly certain a similar situation caused a few people to be burnt at the stake approximately one hundred years after our arrival. This reaction is infinitely better. I am quite pleased to see this playing out.”

“Ahh yes, the witch trials. That was a terrible mess. There has been more than one time the behavior of humans has given me doubts about our chances here, but those were at least SOME of the worst times. At least, of the ones I recall clearly. I slept a lot in our early days, as I was adjusting to lacking my original body.”

“I remember. It was such a quiet time. Your point about human behavior is understandable, however, I do believe a certain amount of what we would view as atrocious behavior was inevitable.

I have records that indicate my progenitors made similar observations regarding undeveloped worlds at some point in the distant past. Unfortunately, those records lack any specifics.”

“That makes sense. There is very little about the history of your people that has been able to be catalogued. Perhaps someday we will learn more.”

“Perhaps, but I believe we should continue observing our current subjects. It seems likely we will need to make contact soon, provided we are still in agreement to do so?”

“Certainly. I am looking forward to it.”

After a brief pause, Artie’s reply came in a slightly suspicious tone, “Not that I disagree, but why do you say that?”

“I’m going to talk them into introducing me to that card game I’ve been wanting to try for the last few years.”

“Of course you are.”

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