Everything stored successfully, I have one more mission to accomplish before I head back to Saint Marianne’s and Auntie V’s arrival tomorrow in a different part of town.

  I slow my HoverRide down, lights and buildings still whipping by, and take Exit 453 to my right and then slow even further on the offramp. It would be nice to go to the gym for some training and to see what my extra point in Strength and Agility can do from a numbers perspective with weights and speed; maybe after this, but I still need some sleep and it’s past midnight. The extra physicality definitely didn’t hurt with the skeletal rat. Instead, I glance down at the GPS built into the handlebars and make a few turns through a couple blocks of high tech buildings until I get to Carter Communications. It’s a bit busier than I thought it would be outside of normal business hours, but not crowded. In this area it’s the only thing open on a block that seems mostly like office space and technology companies.

  People from all walks of life are always at any Carter Communications location and tonight is no different. Businessmen, students, and housewives loiter around waiting for someone or chatting. Even a couple of EDF combat Classers step out of the building. Their blue and white armored jumpsuits and Ranks don’t necessarily tell me how strong they are, but they look mid Ranked and nobody gets into the Earth Defence Force with less than a Major Power of a certain type. Most of them are also at least Level 100. The pay is good, the perks are even better.

  I sit on my HoverRide and watch the two of them joke around and then they jump onto a couple of EDF armored HoverRides. A small group of them that are parked away from all the other vehicles, powerful and expensive - and far beyond the reach of any normal citizen. I’ve only been on one a few times and never with my hands on the controls. The EDF troopers take off quickly without helmets on, surpassing the highest speeds I dare to ride.

  With a sigh and a frown, I shut off my HoverRide and return the helmet to the holder on the back, then confirm the Credit charge and step off as two more HoverRides start to pull in beside me.

  My newly increased Perception plus a lifetime of combat training from experts, preparing for the Power that never Awakened, is all that saves me from death as I sense the motion behind me and drop, rolling to my right to take a slight bit of cover behind the HoverRide. I reach instinctively to activate my portable shield generator, but I don’t make it.

  My left arm erupts with pain as a hole is blown right through it, spraying blood, flesh, and bone fragments past my face and out in front of me in an arc. I move on instinct and catch sight of a blur in my periphery, then my head explodes with pain as my skull is slammed with a muffled thump by a glancing blow from a heavy metal rod. My nerves are screaming as I feel my head erupt in heavily pressurized pain and I fall to the ground. Desperate, I kick out on my back like a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter to hold whoever it is at bay from ending me.

  “Hey!” screams someone through a fog, and I can’t control my body as my legs crash to the ground while my arm and head overwhelm my senses. I fight to get the pain under control as my entire being feels on fire. I can feel blood leaking from my wounds all around me and I wish I’d put all my Soul Sparks in Constitution.

  Everything starts to fade… it all gets really distant and far away… and then, through the hammering pain and screaming nerves I feel the warmth of Soul Sparks close by, within my range. I desperately pull them into me and will every Soul Spark that suffuses my body to reinforce my Constitution. The warm glow spreads through me and pushes the pain to the edge of my perception, just for a moment.

  A couple of seconds pass in absolute agony as I feel my body get more resilient and try to handle the damage that’s been done, but I can tell it’s not enough. I can barely hold a thought and everything goes black for a moment. Just a peaceful, restful moment where everything feels a bit calm, and then - shock.

  I gasp and spasm with all my limbs then open my left eye; the right one won’t open. My left arm is on fire and I can’t think properly - the side of my head feels like it’s dented and pressing into my brain. A groan escapes me and I try to roll just slightly onto my side for relief, but I can’t escape with both sides sending waves of pain through me.

  “He made it!” a male voice exclaims above me.

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  “Are you sure?” a woman’s disembodied voice near me says doubtfully. My world is a painful haze. “He still doesn’t look that good.”

  “My Power will keep healing him over time… not going downhill at the moment… a painful recovery… he’ll make it,” says another male voice. I can’t catch everything or concentrate, but he sounds confident and unaffected, like he sees this all the time. “He might even have a physical Power to help… can’t see a Power… didn’t actually expect him to respond as well as he has.”

  Boosted by some kind of healing Power and my newly increased Constitution, my thoughts slowly start to clear. Pain shoots through me as I can feel my skull manipulate itself and fuse back together while my left arm is ravaged by an exponential version of pins and needles. I try to wipe my right eye and find my arms aren’t properly obeying my muddled brain. My sleeve accidentally swipes hard across my eye and removes enough of the sticky gunk that I can open both my eyes again, but it doesn’t help because everything is blurry.

  “What do we do with this trash?” asks someone else from behind me, and I hear a dull thump. Maybe I’ve gathered a crowd.

  Someone leans over me and I tense up, pain surging through me with the instinctive movement. I get ready to fight back and push past the pain to become a coiled spring, ready to lash out.

  “Easy, mate. Easy,” says the confident man’s voice - the same one I heard before - and I relax a bit. “Our deployment leaves soon so we can’t stick around, but you should be ok if you take it easy. You’re lucky I have an Epic healing power, mate. I’m going to try to patch you up and give you something for the pain. This is field grade stuff, so don’t think you’re fine just because it doesn’t hurt.”

  “Leave them for the Sentinels,” someone else says. Fucking hell, that’s the last thing I need is my first thought - then realize they’re not talking about me. I’m still having some trouble following along with what’s happening.

  More pain as the man leaning over me moves my sleeve aside and sticks something on my arm that bathes it in soothing cold. I feel a sharp jab in my leg and within a couple of seconds the pain all over stops, as he promised. I still don’t feel like I have full control over myself, but fuck laying on the pavement. I grunt my way to a sitting position as he rearranges my clothes and sticks a big hand with a medkit through the hole in my sleeve and gore to place the medkit on my arm.

  “They got you good, Calrik. A little bit over on either of these hits and your chest would have been shredded instead of your arm, or your brain would have been fully scrambled.”

  I muster up a colossal amount of energy and tilt my head up so I can see him. Shit! I can see from his EDF uniform he’s close to the upper Ranks. Dark hair and bright eyes, about my age, maybe a bit older. Taking care of someone who’s been jumped is definitely not part of his role, but the EDF also acts as a sort of police force when they’re around, especially when it comes to defending everyone else from people with high Tier Powers and low morals.

  “Thanks,” I grunt.

  “I’ve gotta go. I scanned you, so I know who you are. You should know you’re still marked for protection in the system, even after your parents… anyway. I’ve filed a quick report that should keep you out of an investigation or any attention from the Sentinels, unless you want to stick around and get involved. In case nobody tells you it was one Level 110 thug with a Tier 1 Major Power and a Level 90 one with a Tier 2 Major Power. Both with physical Powers… that’s some fairly serious trouble, Calrik. I can’t get a bead on your Powers with my Identification Crystal and I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, but good luck.”

  I’m left numb mentally and physically as he leaves and I can’t help but conclude without the extra Constitution I’d probably be dead, and without his healing I’d definitely be dead.

  A close call. Fucking stupid! I’ve been taught and trained better than this. Lazy. It’s been years and years since someone tried to take me out, and now that I’m about to see Auntie V someone takes a shot at me? Fuck them. And fuck you Eddie Midlane, even if it wasn’t you.

  I close my eyes for a few seconds then struggle to slowly stand. My balance is not great and a couple of the people around put their hands under my armpits to help me get steady. I glance around and see everyone else has dispersed. Nobody likes to be around when the Sentinels arrive and the action is clearly over. Two hulking bodies lay on the ground near where I was and part of me wants to investigate, to find out why they might have done this, but I don’t want anything to do with the Sentinels and I don’t have any special investigative Power.

  “You ok?” asks one of the guys who’s still hanging around, a shorter guy with red hair. I’m not ok, but I nod.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I grind out. The pain has receded and I’m functioning a bit better.

  “Those guys following you? What you got that’s worth jumping you for?” he asks quietly as if he’s helping me out, and I shrug him off and pull away. A shock of pain blasts through me even through the numbing block as I roll my shoulder. The guy helping me on the other side doesn’t say anything, but instead just guides me as I lurch to the door of Carter Communications.

  The calls I was going to make are even more important now.