Danielle realized they were back at camp when someone tugged her to a stop anyway, apparently to await a discussion about which way to go around building seven. Danielle pulled together the spreading fog of her thoughts enough to say, “Jordan, if your room ends up being unsafe to be sick in, go to Tom. Everyone’s exposed already, so don’t worry about that. Heather and Lucas can check in on you there if they need to.”

  “Hey, I’ll be available in building seven,” Nathan said.

  Danielle shook her head. He didn’t understand, but she wasn’t sure how to convert her swirling thoughts into words. “It’s not because of that,” she said. “More of a roommates and Wolves at the doors thing.”

  Nathan gave Jordan a perplexed look. “You got a Wolf guy in your room?” he asked.

  “No, but I don’t have anyone from my party either. She’s probably worried they won’t take care of me if I got as sick as her,” Jordan said. “Which I’m kind of worried about, too. I, um.” He glanced around, then said quietly, “I might have higher than normal mana generation, so if that makes it worse, I might need some extra help.”

  Danielle felt her eyes widening. “Do you -?!” she paused to moderate her voice, then asked quietly, “do you have Mana Improvement?”

  Jordan glanced around again, checking who could overhear, she thought. “You’ve heard of it?” he said. “Can you make it one of those party secrets? Feels like my party needs to know, now, but I don’t want it getting around in general.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nathan said. “The SHAD party and the Lemonade party both know about that Trait already. I really hope just having it isn’t enough to give a person a severe case, though.”

  “I’m going to be sooooo sick,” Danielle said. “I wonder what the Ranger clinic is like? I hope it doesn’t involve needles. (Always hated needles.)”

  “Let’s focus on not getting that bad, OK?” Nathan said.

  Danielle nodded at him. “Extra rest and fluids and eat berries if you have ‘em for vitamin C, right?” she said. “I had a dose of Weaken Disease, too, so here’s hoping.”

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Nathan said gravely. “Now let’s go around this end of the building already, and get the building six girls to their building, then those of us in seven can all come back together.”

  “Watch out for invisible Wolves,” Danielle said as she got moving again.

  “The Wolves are bad enough without implying they can go invisible,” Gonzo said, his eyes darting around nervously.

  “Who’s implying? Someone attacked me using a stealth Skill. Why does everyone keep making out I’m not serious when I try to warn them about invisible Wolves? They’ve probably got someone who is probably Vince and can go invisible. Maybe more than one, how would we know? I’ve got Flash Shield up, maybe be on the side of me away from the building, huh?” Danielle felt like she was being a little whiny, but if Vince decided to shoot at her, she wanted her Skill to take the hit, not her friends.

  It turned out to be a moot point; no one attacked them, possibly because teams of Ranger and Sending Authority men were already walking around the front of building seven, making piles of small wooden crates near the stairs. When they reached the end of the paved road, they saw a Ranger truck pulled up to the usual spot on the road at the midpoint of the Rooms complex, with men unloading crates and taking them west while women unloaded crates and took them east. Piles of crates were forming in front of each building. People from the prayer meeting (or more properly, the after-meeting hangout) were streaming around both ends of building seven and around the unloading process, heading for their rooms.

  Ranger Miriam spotted the SHAD party girls and waved on her way back from the crate pile at building five to the truck. Danielle thought she spotted Agent Mike diligently carrying crates two at a time towards building three, while Rangers and older agents passed him carrying stacks of three or four. Ranger Richard was one of the Rangers passing Mike with a stack he could barely see over, while Ranger Juliette was one of a quartet of women simply guarding the pile in front of building one. Looking back at the closer piles, Danielle saw they all had their set of four guards.

  “It looks like they’re letting people through the lines easily enough,” Akari said. “Let’s go through close to building 5, and then we shouldn’t have to cross the stream headed for six, if there even is one.”

  “There better be one!” Heather said indignantly. “We need supplies too!”

  “If the stuff’s really heavy, they can drive the truck through the alley when they’re done here, and unload our pile separately,” Cassy said. “I don’t think we honestly have to worry about them forgetting a whole building of us.”

  The two parties crossed the line of people with crates close to the pile in front of building five, as Akari had suggested. Two of the guards at the pile gave them suspicious looks, especially Danielle for some reason, until Ranger Dolina looked around from the building side and told them to “relax, that’s the miracle girl. She carries around Flash Shield.” The suspicious two did relax, a bit, and Danielle’s party went by. The line temporarily bent around behind them, and then they were through and heading around the corner into the alley between buildings five and one.

  A single Ranger woman was posted near the stairs to building six. She waved to the group as they approached. “Hello! I know it looks quiet over here, but if any of you are from other buildings (ahem, gentlemen), you should head for your own rooms as fast as possible. They’re already starting the room-by-room distribution in one and three, and once they’re done unloading, half of them will move over here with the truck and the other half will go speed up the distribution phase in the road-facing buildings. Don’t be out of your room when they get there!”

  “Go ahead guys,” Danielle said. “We’re basically here, and there are plenty of us to make sure we all get where we belong safely.”

  “I think we can spare the time to see you all the way to your door,” Gideon said.

  Heather rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you in building one? Go on, get back over there. We didn’t see anyone on the stairs, but if they’re about to start with the bottom floor, you don’t have much time.”

  Gideon still hesitated, looking torn.

  “Isn’t this one of those things you’re always lecturing me about, with taking care of my literal needs before doing higher level stuff?” Ezra asked him. “Come on, Danielle and everyone will be fine. We need to get to our room and so does Tom.”

  “Forgive my bluntness, but I’m not going to let guys in the stairway anyhow,” the Ranger said. “My job right now is to get people to their own rooms, and not let anyone approach rooms that don’t belong to them. We’ll ease up once everyone’s had their Dome trip, OK? You can check in on your girlfriends after that.”

  Danielle winced at the noise as nearly all of the guys immediately and loudly protested that it wasn’t like that. “It’s really not like that,” she said, in the relative quiet afterward, “but I’m going to my room anyway. Excuse me please.” She held the hand rail like she needed the support going down the steps, though it was more to be sure she didn’t place a foot wrong and fall.

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  “It might be just a little like that,” she heard Reggie say. “I’ll catch you this evening, all right Reggie?”

  “Only if you’re sure it’s safe from the Wolves!” Reggie (the girl) countered. “I’ve got three roommates to take care of me, and no crazy mana stuff to give me issues, I’ll be fine.”

  “What is all this paranoia about wolves?” the Ranger asked, behind Danielle now.

  “There’s a sys-org called the Wolf Pack. They kill people for mana,” Sadie answered. She offered no further details, opting to catch up with Danielle instead. Behind her, though, Dana added, “They have a couple girl members, who according to rumor live in this building. Most of them are guys though, and their mutant pack-leader is in building seven.”

  “Don’t forget their invisible assassin that keeps attacking me!” Danielle called over her shoulder.

  “Invisible?” the Ranger asked incredulously. “Already??”

  Danielle was gratified that she didn’t seem to take it as a joke; no one answered her this time, though. The Lemonade party girls were at their room, and the SHAD party girls were at the corner, and turned out of sight. Danielle still heard her mutter, “This Sending is so messed up,” but she was clearly talking to herself, so Danielle ignored it and fixed her eyes on the next corner.

  When they got into the room, Danielle immediately curled up on her bed for a nap, not even bothering to take her boots off. The next thing she remembered was waking up to a firm knock at the door, but to her bemusement, she found that she was cradling a tall Decision Day canteen in one arm, which she certainly hadn’t been when she fell asleep. She sat up and uncapped it, taking a long drink while Akari checked for hostility at the door and opened it.

  “Hello! I’m here to deliver your sick-day supplies,” a voice said. “Is everyone who lives in this room inside right now?”

  “Oh, hi Ranger Miriam,” Akari said. “Yeah, we’re all here.”

  “Glad to hear it! Listen, they sent me specially in case you guys didn’t want to let in just anyone, so may I come in? I already know about your scavenging prowess, after all,” Ranger Miriam said, “and I’ll vouch for my partner of the day here.”

  “Um, if you need to, but just to deliver boxes – “ Akari began.

  “It’s the instructions and tokens I don’t want to be handling out here,” Ranger Miriam said. “Also, forgive me, but we’re in a hurry to get everyone done and to the Dome before dark if we can.”

  “Fine, fine, come in,” Akari said, and a moment later Ranger Miriam and Agent Bea came out of the entryway. Ranger Miriam was pushing a hand cart with four of the wooden boxes on it.

  Agent Bea took up station against the counter, just left of the opening into the bedroom part of the room. “Go ahead and give your spiel first,” she said.

  Ranger Miriam nodded and stepped forward a pace further, and launched into what was obviously a practiced lecture. “In each of these identical crates, you will find six days’ worth of food and medicine appropriate to the disease mana pox. I will allow you to confirm the full inventory before I leave. We’ll also be giving you a booklet detailing the known causes, symptoms, and care plans for three major diseases of high-mana areas; however, since half the camp is already sick, I’m going to go over the care plan for mana pox briefly.

  “Mana pox causes a fever and itchy rash featuring little red lumps all over your body, and also kicks your mana generation into overdrive, giving you an apparent generation of up to three times your normal value, or in rare cases even more. It can also cause unusual tiredness, headache, muscle aches, and rarely stomach upset. You are handling things all right as long as the fever stays under 102o (Fahrenheit) and your mana production is no more than three times normal – that is, your normal mana production plus twice that number in mana-pox production. If you’ve got the normal level 1 production, the number not to exceed in a day is 18 new mana. Is that completely clear to everyone?”

  Ranger Miriam looked around at everyone in turn. Danielle’s roommates each nodded, but Danielle herself just laughed. “Medic Falconer, I appreciate that your number is rather higher than 18, but do you understand the method of figuring out when you need help?” the Ranger asked her.

  “If my one-day production, not the amount in my pool, exceeds my normal base mana generation number by more than three times, then I’m out of control and need help. Or if my fever is above 102. Do I have to let the Fever-Ace wear off to check that?” Danielle asked.

  “No, as long as it is Fever-Ace or another brand of acetaminophen. Do not, however, use aspirin – I repeat, no aspirin with this disease. Ibuprofen is not recommended either. You’ll get enough Fever-Ace in your crate to last you six days; by then you should be over it. Four days of bad exhaustion and itch is pretty much normal. If you still need Fever-Ace to keep your temperature stable beyond six days, call us, that would be another unusual case that our high-level Healers need to check out,” Ranger Miriam said.

  “It’s also important to drain your mana pool regularly,” she continued turning back to the room at large, “either by using Skills or by making mana tokens. Don’t just shunt it to Payment Plan during a mana pox outbreak. Your body will be desperately trying to deal with an excess of mana. It’s normal to receive a Career Skill or two during your recovery from mana pox; remember to activate the one you most want a new Skill from, since the active Career will go first. If you have a bad case, or if you are level 2 or have any mana Traits, you can expect to get more than one; in that case, it often rotates through your Careers like a bad mana burst does (except slower). Level 2 patients sometimes see Traits level up instead. Enhanceable crystals you keep on your person a lot may also take on enhancements, even for level 1 patients. All of that is completely normal.”

  “The rash is, as I said, itchy; you can deal with that by taking antihistamine tablets or using antihistamine creams, but never both. Itch creams that don’t have antihistamines in them can be used as well. We’ll also be distributing some tokens of an antihistamine Skill, which is safe to use alongside medications; if you have particular difficulty resisting the urge to itch, you can ask your nearest Healer or Medic about that, or consider taking the Skill yourself.

  “Which brings us to the promised Skill tokens. First of all, we want to offer any classed Healers a Skill called Detect Internal Temperature. The Skill basically does what a thermometer does, just without requiring the equipment.” Heather awkwardly raised a hand, unsure if she was supposed to speak up now or later, Danielle thought. “We’re asking the camp’s Healers and Medics to be the only ones to radio in with high-temperature concerns, so if that’s you, please take this Skill unless you actually have a thermometer. We’ll be overwhelmed if our small number of Ranger Healers have to respond to everyone who just feels so hot and doesn’t have a way to actually take their temperature. Basically, we’re encouraging the camp’s Healers to step up and be medical professionals for us this next week or so. We’ll allow others to request this token, but if you do, we’re expecting you to act as a medic this week.”

  “I have a thermometer from the Necessities Store, but I might want the Skill anyway,” Heather said. “You don’t have to sterilize a Skill.”

  “Correct, and well thought of! All right, next on the list is Local Antihistamine. This one stops the itching in a small area. You can also use it on your nose during allergy season! We’d prefer to give this one to anyone with a medical Skill but not the Healer Class, or to the Healers who already have Detect Internal Temperature (or a thermometer they can rely on). We are, however, fully willing to hear requests from people who know they have issues with not scratching, like I said.”

  Nobody said anything to that, so Ranger Miriam gave them all a quick glance and continued on, “The third option is one that anyone at all can make good use of. It’s a very good idea for at least one person in every room to take this, so you can clean your bedding after it’s all over; you tend to sweat a lot, and it gets gross. The Skill is Sterilize Object, and it does what it says; it sterilizes one object you touch when you activate the Skill.”

  “That’s for Danielle,” Sadie said. “She’s been saying she wanted that one since she got the suture kit.”

  “I’m sorry, did you say suture kit? As in, tools for giving stitches?” Ranger Miriam asked.

  Agent Bea chuckled. “I can confirm that. She’s allegedly unlocked Guided Suture, the Skill, as well.”

  “Well that’s terrifying,” Ranger Miriam said. “How did – are you all OK?”

  “The Ranger Healers helped Heather and Danielle finish the job, and now Danielle has Local Anesthetic, so we never have to do it the hard way again,” Sadie said calmly.

  Ranger Miriam stared at her, aghast.

  “It was worth it. Danielle has a mana Trait, she’s already advanced the Skill,” Sadie said.

  “Yes, we know Sadie is unnaturally calm about that, and yes, we’re all extremely glad we’ll never have to deal with that again,” Heather said. “Even those of us who didn’t get stitches.”

  “I’ve had some nightmares, but I’m hoping now that I kept my promise and advanced the Skill it’ll stop,” Danielle added.

  “I see,” Ranger Miriam said. “Well, one last option before you make final decisions, all the same; while Sterilize Object is the most generally useful Skill we’re offering today, for those who are already sick, or who believe they may be at special risk (for example, anyone with a Trait called Mana Improvement), we are offering a Skill called Boost Recovery, that boosts your recovery from diseases or infections. Now – “

  “You left that one until last?!” Heather exploded.

  Ranger Miriam and Agent Bea sighed in unison.

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