Page 16 of Remnants: Disruption
“The wrist lit up,” I hear Blair’s voice over my own moaning. “What the fuck?”
Blair’s unusual swearing is enough of a surprise that I uncover my face enough to look up at the doctor. I can feel my Remnant healing working on repairing teeth that I am fairly sure were knocked loose.
“What?” Percy asks, her eyes finally leaving mine to look at the doctor as well.
Blair turns Blackwood’s wrist, so it faces us. Sure enough, the dark, circular symbol has lit up red. And as we watch it, it slowly dims back to the dark line-work.
“That was after I touched it?” I ask, running my tongue along the backside of my teeth, testing their stability.
Percy watches the movement for a moment before reaching down to pull me to my feet. Her bionic arm does most of the work, being much stronger than the human one.
“You okay?” Amber eyes trace my body in a way I wish was in any other scenario but this one.
“Only saw a weird machine. It was hooked up with Affliction and wires,” I sigh, prodding at my teeth with my finger. The entire healing process took only a few moments, but it still stung like a motherfucker.
“Why aren’t you able to read them?” she asks, her eyes studying mine.
“I don’t know,” I say, huffing out a laugh. “Clearly outgrowing my usefulness.”
“Speaking of Affliction,” Blair says, saving me from the platitude Percy was about to offer. “Mara’s death was about as bad as it could get for a Remnant.”
“How so?” I ask, shifting my attention to Blair.
“Affliction is the juice that makes Remnants, right?” Blair asks, clearly teeing us up for a history lesson. Dutifully, I oblige them.
“Sure, Infliction events where a human is hit with, introduced to, or ingests Affliction.”
“You’re a great student, Arya,” Blair says, their smile genuine as they move to Mara’s corpse. “I wish more of mine were as well-read.”
“A little old to be one of your students nowadays,” I say, nodding at Mara. “So, why’s she so different?”
“She’s not,” Blair says, with a quick shake of their head. “She’s a powerful Remnant, sure, but she had Affliction in her veins like any other.”
“But?” I prompt.
“But she has no trace of the fluid now. No blood. No Affliction. She was drained. Her entire source of Affliction would have been enough to power a small city.”
Before I can even consider the idiocy of the action, I reach forward and wrap my hand around Mara’s wrist.
The vision is unchanged. The same feminine voice. The same disappointed tone.
The darkness fades away, this time not nearly as painful as this morning. And Percy’s bionic hand is wrapped firmly around my bicep. The soothing rubs from her thumb are the only grounding element while my world returns back to full color and light.
“Anything?” she asks, her voice gentle.
“Nothing new,” I say, careful to keep my voice lighter. Careful to even remotely insinuate that I wanted to hear that woman’svoice again. That something about her words had been so impactful they’d seeped into my dreams already.
“Ladies,” Blair’s serious tone cuts through my thoughts. “Whatever took her power—her Affliction—is either incredibly powerful or is about to go off like a city-leveling bomb.”
Chapter 10
Secrets
Two P.M., October 22nd, 1030 A.D.
I often wonder if I was supposed to die ten years ago. Instead, I wake up every morning knowing it was a damned mistake. My body should be rotting in the Badlands. Not here. Not experiencing all of this.
Recovered note from the apartment of Arya Skovsgaard, 1030 A.D.
