I wake up with bundles of good energy and pretty much bounce out of bed. As I brush my teeth and then throw on the plain Saint Marianne’s uniform, I think about the last couple of days and how different things are. My Powers might be weak, but it’s so exciting to think of a future where I might have superhuman agility, strength, or healing. Maybe even be able to use Mana to replicate people’s Powers?

  I’m also looking forward to seeing Auntie V, even though I worry about how long she might last. People don’t come to a place like this if they’re expected to live for a long time. Despite that, maybe she can help me figure everything out and I’ll get to reconnect with her. It’s sad to think that one of the world’s Heroines might be on the verge of passing on and I’m not immune to the emotions floating around a place like this.

  I’m not feeling that hungry so I skip the cafeteria and go straight to room 1 and grab the parts I’ve set aside to permanently replace the temporary solution I put in place for Geraldine. Turns out getting someone out to fix machines at the hospice is more of a mission than it should be and there are giant call out fees involved.

  I head to Geraldine’s room with the parts and peek my head in. It’s the same as usual. She’s not doing that well and according to nurse Teresa, Geraldine’s Power is flame based, but she ended up somehow being the leader of an animal sanctuary for decades. It’s very unusual for someone to end up doing something totally unrelated to their Power.

  Nobody’s around and it’s just the soft noise of machines and the distant noises of the rest home as I pull the door almost closed behind me, leaving a crack. I walk up to her, unsure if she’s sleeping or in a perpetual state of inactivity. She doesn’t move or seem to recognize that I’m in the room, so I squat down until my head is at her level and try to focus intently, looking for Soul Sparks. Something within me responds slightly in a way I can’t really put my finger on and I double down on it, pushing to feel it more intensely and put my concentration behind it. Nothing emerges other than a general sense Geraldine has Soul Sparks. Maybe this is something I have to train, or my Perception is too low to find them even though it’s now above human maximum?

  Geraldine twitches slightly as I really push and I immediately stop, feeling bad, and stand up. I’m not even fully sure if her twitching and my investigation are related, but this kind old lady doesn’t deserve me circling around her like a vulture. Instead, I circle around the bed and quickly fix up the machine properly then give it a few tests. I even manage to use Mana in my repairs to replace the heat from some specialized equipment. It’s still weak and doesn’t last long, but it gives me a lot of thoughts about how I might use it in future to help me make fast repairs.

  When I’m done, I leave Geraldine in peace.

  Fabian is behind the reception desk surprisingly early and he glances up at me while I pass by. I hold up the remnants of my temporary solution.

  “Geraldine’s all sorted, everything’s properly fixed now,” I tell him.

  Fabian nods. “Can you check on Shrink Munroe’s equipment in room 210? There’s a note here that her vents may not be working properly.”

  “Sure,” I answer, wondering if maybe I’m going to encounter a very tiny person. “No problem.”

  “Your Aunt is scheduled to get here around noon tomorrow, Calrik. We’re preparing room 300 for her. Can you make sure everything has been hooked up properly and check it? It’s our most secure room. In fact, there’s some unusual history to Saint Marianne’s and it’s one of the most secure rooms in the country. Even though your Aunt doesn’t have a destructive or lethal Power, we’re required by law to give her a Tier minus one rated room, and this one’s built for Tier 3 Legendary. Bart can show you the security features. You should know about them anyway as her primary carer here, and I’ve asked Lucy to run over the protocols with you both when Vitalis arrives.”

  “Will do, thanks Fabian. Definitely appreciated. Room 210, then room 300.”

  The bored, slightly disinterested look and nod that he gives me indicates there’s no special treatment regarding me and it’s just his job, but also that he doesn’t think I’m a total waste of space. I find I’m not that interested in his opinion.

  When I get to the door of room 210, the phone scrolling nurse Jessie is there giving ‘Shrink’ her breakfast and I’m a bit relieved to find that this woman is normal sized. It looks like Shrink isn’t on any solid food at the moment, just a collection of liquids and straws. A couple of straws roll off the tray Jessie is holding and she catches them in midair with her Telekinesis and floats them back up to the tray.

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  “Don’t worry, dear,” says Shrink. Her voice sounds kind and weary - and it seems like maybe she’s said those words about a million times before. I glance over at the door to see that Shrink’s Power is the ability to calm people’s emotions through touch. Jessie is looking pretty calm and it’s hard to tell if it’s because Shrink’s gotten to her or if it’s just Jessie’s ‘always on’ persona of mild disinterest. When her eyes dart left and register I’m standing just outside the room they definitely don’t linger or show even the smallest flicker of anything.

  “I won’t worry,” Jessie assures Shrink and then glides past me without saying anything or even looking my way. She’s close enough we almost touch and it’s as if I wasn’t even there. Perhaps her mind is on social media or other important matters. It’s been ages since I’ve checked mine. Maybe I’ll check tonight after Auntie V has settled in.

  “Who are you?” Shrink asks, squinting in confusion.

  “Hi, I’m Calrik. I popped by yesterday and fixed the outlet by the door here? You remember?” I point to the outlet and give her what I hope is a winning smile.

  “Anything bothering you today, Calrik?” she asks wistfully.

  “Not that I can think of, Shrink. I’m just here to check your vents.”

  “Is that what you kids call it nowadays?” she cackles softly, but stops and goes a bit spacey and then grimaces as I walk over to the air vents near the top of the wall opposite from her bed. They definitely aren’t blowing any air out and that’s a problem. Not just because Shrink might need some fresh air, but also because this is one of the security measures in place. Fabian’s had to warn me while I’m working to repair all this, but every room is set up with a different dosage of some kind of knockout gas depending on the person and the situation. If a Power gets out of control and there’s nobody around to deal with it, this is one of their failsafes to ensure an elderly person doesn’t go on a rampage. I don’t know all the details, but I know enough to be sure these vents better be working in general. Hopefully this is the only one there’s a problem with even though Shrink’s Power doesn’t seem dangerous.

  I’m tall, but not quite tall enough to really see what I’m doing at almost ceiling height, so I grab a footstool from near the chair that’s in the room and hop up onto it, then unscrew the two knobs at the top of the vent and let it drop down in front of me on the hinge so I can see inside properly. Based on instructions from a helpful manual I was given to glance through, I can already see that to my left the canister with the dose of gas has all the green lights it’s supposed to have, and there’s nothing blocking the vent internally as far as I can see. Shrink’s filters, bypassed by a thin tube stretching from the canister, are all looking clean and serviced.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on Shrink,” I say as I flip the vent back up and turn the knobs to close it. “I might have to be back in a bit.”

  Mystery completely unsolved, I hop down from the footstool and decide I might have to let someone know the air isn’t functioning, or maybe even try to figure out what the problem is myself. When I get back to reception, I’m surprised that it’s deserted. That almost never happens in the middle of the day. I don’t even get the chance to puzzle through what it might mean when urgent beeps start sounding all up and down the halls. Still, nobody seems to be around. I race to what sounds like the most urgent beeping; no surprise, it’s Geraldine’s room.

  Almost as soon as I walk in the door I can see the machine that helps her to breathe that I fixed up isn’t doing the job. Geraldine is gasping for air and I race back around the bed to see what’s going on. My repair looks fine, but for some reason it’s not working. The power seems to be out through the wall socket. I flip the switch a few times, but nothing. A feeling of urgency rises up inside me. I leap to my feet and start to run back to the reception desk, where I can now hear commotion, when suddenly Geraldine goes still and the golden glow of Soul Sparks starts to form above her.

  The golden orbs collect into a small marble that pulls to me so strongly I can’t help it, I take a step forward. With a gut wrenching feeling of excitement and guilt I reach out with the Power that’s been Awakened inside me and I reclaim the Soul Sparks. A warm infusion flows through me and I ignore the notifications that flash past and sit in the corner of my vision, begging to be opened.

  People are yelling and I take one look at Geraldine, at peace and almost certainly not murdered by me, before I leave the room to see what’s going on. The atmosphere is calmer and Fabian comes back into reception through a nearby door I’ve never seen opened before.

  “We’re back online!” he calls out and then he glances at the notification screens. “Crap! Geraldine!”

  Whatever I’ve thought of Fabian in the past, there’s no question he cares for the residents and he practically flies into Geraldine’s room where I hear him cry out and then he emerges with a frustrated look on his face. There’s a lot of activity all over the rest home, but at the moment I’m the only one nearby so he locks in on me.

  “Corvin! She’s dead! We didn’t get things back online fast enough! Do you know what happened?”

  Adrenaline dumps into my veins when I wonder if he’s got security cameras that have seen my every move or a Power that can somehow give him the wrong impression about what happened.

  “I heard beeping in there Fabian. There was beeping everywhere but I couldn’t find you - so I went in and saw her, but there was nothing I could do!” I say with genuine sadness. I rub my face vigorously and continue to ignore the blinking notification that’s in the corner of my vision.

  “Let’s see what we can find out,” he says.