“You’re taller, Cal,” she says with a gentle, warm smile as she looks up at me after the door is closed and we separate. I laugh at her.

  “I am not!” I almost tell her that she’s just getting old and losing her memory, but in a place like this and not knowing much about her situation it feels like too far to take a joke.

  “I’m so sorry that it’s been as long as it has since I’ve seen you.”

  She puts her right hand on my arm where I was injured and then holds it against my head where my skill was caved in.

  “Why were you so hurt? What happened?”

  I grimace, knowing I deserve a lecture and not really wanting one. I glance over at the old guy who accompanies Auntie V but still hasn’t said anything; he’s just moving around the room like a predator checking all the equipment and radiating danger. I pull his information.

  Kaltor Deane (Builder)

  Level: 42

  Power: Adaptation, Kinetic Manipulation

  Conditions: None

  I note Kaltor’s low Level, which doesn’t match up at all with his age or with the aura of threat that surrounds every move he makes. His Class maybe makes a bit more sense considering his build, but the lack of a Tier associated with his Powers - of which he has two that sound like they might be promising - is very unusual. What’s he doing with Auntie V? Is he… a protector? A boyfriend? He doesn’t look that interested in our conversation as he wanders around the room checking things idly. Occasionally he pulls out a piece of equipment and scans part of the room or takes a close look at something.

  “You can trust Kaltor as much as you trust me, Cal. He’s here to help,” says Auntie V. “Come on, sit down.”

  Another glance at Kaltor and I decide to sit back down in the comfortable chairs with Auntie V. She looks tired. As I look at her more closely, she looks really tired. Not sleepy. Worn out.

  “I got careless,” I admit to her. “I got jumped at a Carter Communications building and I didn’t even have my portable shield generator active. I’d just come from a Dungeon run and instead of having everything equipped I was basically just wearing street clothes. It’s been so long… really since my parents disappeared, that anyone’s taken a run at me. I guess I thought I’d faded into obscurity.”

  “Oh, Cal - I’m so sorry. Getting careless happens to everyone - there’s no way you can have your guard up all day every day, year after year. Nobody knows that better than me.”

  It sounds a bit like she’s talking to herself as much as she’s talking to me, and her statement catches a quick sideways glance from Kaltor. She’s so sincere in her expression and connected to me right here in this moment that I don’t know what to say for a few seconds and I feel emotions rising to the surface that I’ve stuffed down for a while.

  “There’s so much to tell you, Auntie V. So much I want to ask.” I glance around room 300; it’s built like a vault and I know from my investigations yesterday there’s a tremendous amount of equipment pointed at where we are. “Do you think anyone can hear us here?”

  “I’d never say never, Cal - but I think you can feel confident based on Maggie’s scan and her Power. Why the secrecy? Are you in danger?” Her concern is clear.

  “I have some stuff to tell you and I’d like to tell… only you.” Auntie V glances at Kaltor.

  “I trust him with my life, Calrik. Completely.” I think about it for a second. She doesn’t know what I’m about to reveal, but if he’s that trustworthy in her opinion maybe it’s fine. There’s still a part of me that’s concerned about revealing my Power until I’m stronger and more able to take care of myself.

  “What if… I tell you, and if you decide to tell him after that, I’m ok with it?” I ask.

  “It’s ok, Vitalis,” Kaltor interjects in his deep, unshakably confident voice - a stark contrast with his Status, and I’m positive he’s somehow hiding his true Level. “This room is clean and set up as we discussed. Send for me when it’s time?”

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  “I will Kaltor. Thank you for everything.”

  I expect him to come over and give her a hug based on the deeply grateful and sincere way she says it, but instead he gives a wave of his powerful hand and then exits without any further ceremony. I give Auntie V a questioning look for a few seconds after he shuts the door and she gives me a soft grin.

  “I have some things to tell you too, Cal. Kaltor will be helping us out soon, so I’m glad he had the chance to meet you first.”

  “Helping us?” I ask. “You mean… when you pass? Why are you here Auntie V? You look tired but you don’t seem close to the end like everyone else here.”

  “I’m not sick, Cal. Not in the way the other people here are. But I will die soon. My Power is starting to wane.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a reason to die, Auntie V. Everyone’s Powers decline as they get to your age.”

  “They do, or at least almost everyone’s.” she agrees, then glances at the door. “Make me a cup of tea? Then tell me what’s going on with you, Cal. There’s something very different about you, I can sense it.”

  I stand up to get her some tea, but I don’t even get a step before she gasps.

  “Level 2?” she exclaims and stands up from her chair, all tiredness cast aside and her intensity dialed up to a nine. “What’s happened Cal? You need to tell me now!”

  “No tea?” I ask, eyebrows raised. It looks like she’s going to say no, but then her expression softens.

  “Sorry… sorry Cal. It must have been a huge thing for you to gain a Level. Make a tea?

  And then we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  I nod and she sits back down, rubbing her eyebrows as if to relieve a headache that’s just appeared. I grab the kettle, fill it up, then flick it on and start rummaging through the cupboards for some tea. There’s a new box so I open it up and put it on the counter.

  “You’re the only one it’s safe for me to be around… at the end. Or at least, you were,” she says softly. It’s kind of like she’s saying it to me, and kind of like she’s saying it to herself and wondering what’s next.

  “What do you mean?” I ask her. I’m tempted to flick the kettle back off so I can definitely hear the answer. Instead, I take a couple steps and crouch down beside her chair. She looks up at me and takes a deep breath. This isn’t like the Auntie V I remember from my childhood or the one I saw in the reception area of Saint Marianne’s. The kettle stops boiling and she motions to it with her chin. I pour her tea and steep the bag, bursting to know what’s going on, and hand it to her. She gestures to the other chair and I sit, but on the edge of it with my hands on my knees and wait for whatever she’s about to say.

  “I’m harboring a guest,” she says, and takes a sip of her tea like it’s the most natural thing in the world to say. The word guest is used carefully. “A prisoner. An enemy. A terrible creature that was threatening to kill billions on Earth, and we managed to stop it.”

  She pauses, possibly remembering. She doesn’t look regretful but she does look… tired.

  “I took it into me because it was the only way to stop it. We tried so many ways to turn it aside or kill it. My Powers and my aura keep it caged, but it’s trying to take control of me. I’ve been working tirelessly for years to destroy it, and all while it’s trying to kill me too. We’re killing each other and it’s a race I’m about to win, but I need to do it soon. Before my Power degrades any further. If I get too weak it might break free, and that would be a disaster.”

  She pulls her sleeve up above her elbow. It’s impossible to ignore the black veins that spider down to halfway down her forearm from underneath her sleeve. They look ugly and corrupt; it might be my imagination that they seem to writhe or pulse. As she holds out her arm for me to look at she takes the other hand and pulls the wig off her head, revealing a thin patchwork of wispy hair. It shouldn’t be something so cosmetic and meaningless that hits me so hard, but more than anything seeing Auntie V without her vibrant hair makes it real that she’s fighting for her life and losing.

  “But… can’t you just heal yourself?” I ask, and realize immediately how dumb what I’ve just said is. Even though I don’t want it to be true, the evidence is staring me right in the face.

  “Cal… what I’ve done to come so close to defeating this thing… there’s no coming back from it. At least, I don’t think so. I need to end it. There’s so much pain, and it’s nearly over… I’m almost there. This creature - it feeds off of Powers and corrupts them, turns them to its will and absorbs them. But my Power is pure healing and we don’t quite understand everything about why, but it seems as though the creature can’t absorb my Power or subvert it. That’s why I’ve been allowed to live, and to come back here. I convinced them that we could do this safely.”

  “Convinced who?” I can’t help but ask. “And what do you mean, do this safely?”

  “Everyone - the ESF, the EDF, even organisations you’ve never heard of. They all know who your parents are and that you don’t have a Power, Calrik.”

  “They all… know about me? Is that why the guy from the EDF said I’m still on the list?”

  Auntie V looks at me in confusion. “What do you mean?” she asks.

  “The guy from the EDF who saved me when I got jumped - he said I’m still marked for protection in the system.”

  “They must have put you on a protection list when they agreed I could come here,” she says, looking far into the distance.

  “Auntie V, I’m kind of losing track of all this,” I say, my mind spinning. She grasps her mug of tea in both hands and leans forward then looks me in the eye, calm and serious.

  “Calrik. It won’t be long before I manage to defeat this monstrosity inside of me. And when I do, you’re our best chance of making it permanent. I need you to dispose of my body.”