My sleep is restless and different than normal. I spend a lot of time tossing and turning, thinking. Replaying things over and over in my head. My new Powers. What to do now. Whether to tell Auntie V. It’s been almost 20 years since I last saw her and I don’t know what kind of condition she’s going to be in when she arrives; this is after all a hospice.

  I think about ringing some of my friends about my new Power, maybe even some of my past trainers or friends of my parents who mentored me when I was young. Something stops me from doing it. I need a bit of time to think about any unintended consequences of simply announcing I’ve Awakened a Power after so long, and a Mythic one at that. Do I need to hide it, at least until I get strong enough to handle any trouble that comes my way? What should I start investing Soul Sparks in?

  I can only think of a few options better than a hospice like this for me to quietly build up my Powers, and all of them involve a lot more danger other than maybe a higher security hospice or a hospital - probably an emergency room or some low-profile job a critical care ward. It’s not something I’ve thought a lot about in the past… where can I go to be around people who are dying?

  With all the combat and survival training I’ve done, if I can get my physical Attributes up then an Expedition or the ESF, or maybe even the EDF, would let me do what I’ve always wanted to do and find Soul Sparks to absorb at the same time. I have trouble falling asleep again whenever I wake; instead I plan my future, so different than it might have been only a couple of days ago. I consider everything and decide on nothing.

  Eventually I decide to get up and emerge from my little room. It’s still early in the day. I eat in the staff cafeteria and although nobody treats me like a Hero because of last night, I get a few nods and more recognition than yesterday. By the time I report to the front desk for any revisions to my day’s assignments, I feel optimistic that I might be able to find a place here for a while and see how many Soul Sparks I can reclaim while looking after Auntie V.

  I can tell Fabian knows I’m standing and I’m waiting for him at the reception desk, but he still takes a long minute doing whatever he’s doing on a tablet before he acknowledges me in any way. Minor power trip? Deciding what to say? Just busy?

  “Heard there was some adventure last night, Corvin?” he asks without looking up.

  “You could call it that,” I answer neutrally. I don’t really want to overplay or underplay my involvement in last night’s events and I have no idea what Fabian might have heard. I want his opinion to matter less to me than it does. It’s clear he’s influential around here and whatever he decides will have a big influence on how irritating my day to day life is, if I’m able to stay.

  “I know that we established yesterday your Power is so weak it doesn’t even register, but… do you have some kind of knack with machines?” he asks, and this time he looks up, his dark eyes fixing me with both interest and a test.

  “Engineering in University for a lot of years,” I say. “Double major, actually - I also studied Powers quite a bit.” I’ve found that telling people these things can help with getting along. The guy without a Power who studies Powers to try to find his hidden one is a narrative people connect to. So much of our identities and what we decide to do in life, or how successful we are, seems to be wrapped up in our Powers.

  “I can understand that, with how weak your Power is. You’ve got to find ways to be useful,” he says and then waves his hand and focuses with more clarity. “What kind of engineering?”

  “Most of them,” I answer, and Fabian gives me a look that lets me know I’m on notice. “Seriously… I was in University for a while. Mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical, robotics, nanotechnology, aerospace, biomedical, industrial, mechatronics… I know a bit about everything. I kind of moved around without finishing anything.”

  “Ok, well - let’s see what you can handle around here,” Fabian says, and gives me a new list of tasks with a calendar breakdown. There’s still a couple of bedpan cleanings and some other similar tasks in there to keep me humble, but the majority of them are now jobs to fix things around the rest home that are broken or overdue for a service.

  “You want me to see what kind of shape all this is in?” I ask. “And fix it up to whatever extent I can?”

  “That’s the idea, Corvin,” agrees Fabian.

  “Any tools or materials? Or a budget?”

  “Oh definitely no budget,” exclaims Fabian with a laugh. “But there are some tools and spare parts in room 1 and 2. Anything that isn’t in a resident room we’re not using right now you can also feel free to harvest parts from, as long as you leave us at least ten spares. Make sure you don’t mess that up - we don’t want to get in a situation where residents who need stuff don’t have it. Write down whatever you do use so we can update our inventory.”

  “Got it,” I acknowledge. This might even be a bit fun. “Hey Fabian, I appreciate having a room to stay here. There are also some things I need to take care of in town. Any rules about that I should be aware of?” I ask.

  “Nope,” says Fabian. “What you do in your own time is up to you. Now get going, eh? Some of that stuff has been on the list for a long time.”

  Usually people aren’t ready to trust me with this kind of work, they just get someone with a Power ideal for making repairs, pull out a nanite repair kit, or replace things with something new if it’s simple enough. Factories built with Powers and technology can pump out stuff cheaply and the whole supply chain is amazing unless it’s disrupted by high Tier battles between humans or a Galactic attack.

  Before I get started, I check out what’s in room 1 and 2. I find a good selection of tools, mostly older but very servicable. Room 1 has several racks of shelves that hold the kind of mechanical parts you’d expect to find in a large rest home, but not a lot of them have more than ten spares, at least at first glance. Each place on the shelf has a label that has the name of the machine and the current cycle count. Some of them have individual part cycle counts that mostly match the machine ones and a schedule for servicing. I can’t help but look at everything and consider what kind of weapons and defensive technologies I could cobble together - the habit is too ingrained.

  I wonder if some of these kinds of machines are also sitting in unused rooms; my clandestine look at the map yesterday showed that there were some vacant rooms, but I don’t have a feeling for how often residents come and go, so I’ll scope things out before coming up with a plan that involves those. It’s a good opportunity to have a look at who’s here without anyone wondering what the hell I’m doing, too. Room 2 has bigger stuff like adjustable beds and large reclining chairs. As expected, rooms 1 and 2 are not where they keep the drugs and medical supplies or non-perishable foods. Too easy to swipe.

  I spend an enjoyable day fixing and servicing things around the rest home with what’s available and meeting residents who seem appreciative of both kinds of attention. I’m not as fast as someone who has a high aptitude or Power with expensive specialist nanites, but I like to figure out the puzzle of what’s going on and get everything running optimally. It’s obvious Fabian has only assigned me to the rooms of people whose Powers are just Sparks or Tier 1 Minor. Not much danger to anyone as long as some precautions are in place for the Power. Nothing that could get me or them into trouble.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  As I’m doing my work and chatting, I also get a chance to glance at a few of the charts in the resident rooms and get a feeling for what’s here. All of them are at least 70 years old, with most in their 80s and even two in their 90s. Nobody here has the kind of Constitution-based Power that would give them a longer lifespan. All of them are nearing the end of their life and the hospice seems to do a good, caring job of making their last days easier.

  There are unique characters like Hank “Rusty” Rowe who I’ve been warned about before. He’s 91 and lives in a room with no metal whatsoever. His Power now has limited range and he has trouble controlling it, which means any metal in his vicinity has accelerated oxidation. I remove any metal before working in his room, even reluctantly parting with my portable shield generator. Old habits die hard. While I’m fixing up a couple of the plastic hinges on his cupboards he tells me all about being a mechanic during the very first Galactic invasion, where we were hopelessly outclassed technologically, but our strongest Powered humans managed to win it for us.

  Then there’s Beatrice “Needles” O’Donnell, a former nurse who’s just turned 80 and can detect blood-sugar levels by touch. She’s not that mobile, but she is passionate about telling me that I look tired while I’m cleaning out and scrubbing her air circulation vents, and probably I have low blood sugar so should get it checked. I finally relent and come over to her large recliner where she can take my hand and do her thing. She looks disappointed to find that my blood sugar levels are actually fine so I give her a grin and tell her that if I’m ever in doubt I’ll come see her, which seems to cheer her up somewhat.

  I get the most information from Eleanor “Ellie” Vaughn, a 96 year old Englishwoman whose enhanced hearing Power used to be a Tier 1 Major Power but has now degraded all the way down to a Tier 3 Spark. That’s old! She used to be an investigative journalist and those habits obviously die hard. The entire time I’m in her room fixing the braking mechanism on her adjustable bed she tells me in her warbling voice about what’s going on with the other residents and the staff while looking around with her rheumy eyes. She’s even heard about what I did last night and asks me what feels like a hundred questions before I can finish and rustle up a legitimate excuse to leave. Her mind seems as sharp as ever; it’s her body that’s letting her down.

  I spot Lucy a few times during the day, taking the more powerful and dangerous residents out for a walk or helping out. She doesn’t look my way or anything and I wonder what Saint Marianne’s does when she’s not around. I’ve seen other nurses who must have some kind of Power that can help out like Lucy does, but I haven’t seen them in action.

  There are still a few jobs left on my sheet at dinner time so I show it to Fabian, expecting to have to work late in the night. He surprises me by taking it and going back to his tablet task updating, or whatever he’s doing.

  “Heard you did a good job with the residents today. I’ll give you an updated list tomorrow… get some food,” he says, only glancing up once from his screens.

  “Ellie?” I ask with a grin and Fabian gives a short nod without looking up. I might have stayed around a bit more and pushed my luck to try to build some rapport with Fabian, but from my angle I’m standing, I see Lucy walk into the staff cafeteria so I decide now’s a good time to wrap things up. I try not to look like I’m rushing as I make a beeline to the cafeteria door and enter. When I enter it’s maybe half full with a dozen people sitting around. The buffet is out and unattended; it’s the same food the kitchen is giving to the residents so they’re busy with making it and bringing it out.

  I join Lucy in the very short buffet line behind a couple of visitors and to my surprise she’s the first one who speaks while she spoons some lamb stew and bread onto her plate, giving me a polite glance.

  “Fabian briefed me today on Vitalis arriving. She’s going to be here sooner than we thought, maybe tomorrow. Is Veronica Corvin really your Aunt?” she asks me.

  Not exactly interested in me at this point, but I’ll take it. I choose some pasta and heap it in a bowl and consider for a second, then make sure my answer is long enough that we are likely to continue our conversation after we’re finished with the line.

  “Technically, great Aunt. She’s my Mom’s Mom’s sister. Spent a bit of time with us while I was young, mostly holidays and stuff. Her time has always been in demand and I know it’s tough for her - any time she’s taking a moment herself is a time when she could be healing someone or doing Hero stuff. It took her a long time not to take the weight of the world on her shoulders with the guilt of it. At least, that’s how my Mom told it, and she struggled with the exact same feelings until she disappeared.”

  Sure enough, we’re more than halfway to the tables at this point and I take advantage to sit down across from her.

  “I’m sorry about your Mom, Calrik. I heard about it. Everyone heard about it. Does Vitalis really have a Tier 1 Legendary Power?” Lucy asks, and her eyes are now definitely fixated on me waiting for an answer rather than on eating. Very few people are immune to Power worship.

  “Yeah,” I confirm. “Although, she’s a lot older now. I’m not sure how that might affect her Power since it’s a healing based one, but there’s a chance it’s weaker. We never really talked about her Power that much.”

  “Why’s she coming here?” asks Lucy gently, no longer looking straight at me. “I heard she’s sick? And it’s something she can’t cure?”

  “You’ve heard more than I have,” I tell her, and it’s true. I’m a bit worried about Auntie V, but there’s nothing I can really find out about what’s going on until she gets here.

  “What about you?” I dare to ask Lucy. “What are you doing here? Your Power seems pretty strong… to the point maybe nobody here would even test your limits?”

  I can tell she knows I’m not just talking about the Tier of her Power. It’s the flexibility and kind of Power I suspect she has that are so special. So many Powers are one dimensional. It’s obvious Lucy weighs up what to say and then decides on something. I’m not exactly a threat so I’m hoping to actually get a proper answer.

  “I’m in training to be moved to a more dangerous hospice,” she says and picks at her food. “One more month here and I’ll get to go to one of the serious facilities in Florida and work with residents who mostly have Major Powers or above, including some Epic and non-lethal Legendaries, like your Aunt. Maybe one day… I can get to the point I could do more.”

  I give a low whistle. Lucy’s ability to use her Power must be even stronger than I thought, or maybe it’s just a hard counter to some of the Powers of residents in hospice care.

  “Never considered the military or an Expeditionary force?” I ask, curious. So much of my world has been about that rather than places like this that it seems totally natural to me.

  Lucy shrugs and shakes her head, seemingly a bit embarrassed.

  “I’ve been asked. My Power is in high demand for those kinds of things,” she says, then pauses and looks around. “This is the kind of work I like doing, though. I like the residents and feel like I’m making a difference to them and providing an environment where they can be safe and not worry about hurting others as they live out their final days. It pays pretty well. I don’t want to fight Galactics or explore new planets… it might be considered an adventure by some people, but I like some routine and a place to base myself. I like being on Earth. I’d like to start a family.”

  The last bit she says softly, almost like it escaped without her meaning it to. I feel like there’s a story behind it.

  “What about Dungeon runs?” I ask. “Would you be up for one of those?”

  Lucy eyes me up with an expression that’s mostly confused.

  “You’re… Level 1 Calrik, and no Power?” she replies. It’s not mean, just stating the facts. “I’m not sure you’d be the best teammate for a Dungeon.”

  “I’ve had a lot of training,” I assure her. A tiny bit of my reply is bravado. Mostly it’s grounded in thousands of hours of training though. “I’m F+ Rank for my DRP, if that helps.”

  I drop it just to make sure she knows I’m able to pull my own weight. She looks surprised and takes a beat, then tilts her head.

  “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it. See you, Calrik.” At least she says something before she leaves scrapes her plate off into the bins provided and tosses her cutlery and dishes in the large white trays provided. Too fast considering my Level and Power? Ah well - I’m not known for sitting around and waiting.

  “Yeah,” I say as she walks out the door without looking back. “See ya.”

  Everyone’s got their own stuff going on.