John was spreadeagled in the med-pod.  The devices had started out as the cybernetic implantation suites where John had received his first prosthetic limb to replace his missing right arm.  It still looked like a crucifix-shaped coffin but the whirling blades and metallic spider arms had been phased out.  Now they were housed on telescopic tentacles built into the frame of the device and only deployed when needed.


    Knowing those blades were still in there meant that the new, more sanitised appearance didn’t reassure Vic or Evie.  Fortunately those scalpels and cutting wheels wouldn’t be needed under the current circumstances.


    “How long will he be like this?” asked Evie.


    “He’s stable.  The pod would be maintaining his body functions, if he still needed them.  He doesn’t by the way.  He doesn’t need to breathe or eat or shit,”  said the resident bio-Bob.


    “How is that possible?” asked Vic, her eyes were locked on her husband''s body and had been since John had been interred in the technological sarcophagus.


    “Don’t know.” Bob shrugged.  “Whatever he was doing while in his- uh- trance has changed him on a fundamental level.  He’s not even really there.”  An arm was waved at John’s prone form.


    “How the fuck is he not even there?” demanded Sam.  “Why did he scream like Neo getting sucked out of the matrix just before his fucking eyes exploded?”


    “Don’t know.  Christ, I’m going to say that a lot if you guys keep pecking at me!  His body is partially outside the universe?  His mind is completely out there, if I had to make a guess about that.”


    “How do you know?” asked Felicity.


    “Know?” echoed Felix.


    “I. Don’t. Know.  I’m making best case approximations.  His implant is now making my servers explode like popcorn in a bloody microwave when I give them access to the feed.  I’ve firewalled it off so all of the me’s don’t go pop!”


    “Has he transcended?” asked Felix, addressing the question to his sister.


    “He was… heretical.  I don’t think transcendence is possible,” she replied.


    “Possible,” muttered Felix.


    “What the hell are you two on about? And no fucking riddles and finishing each others sentences. Just answer the fucking question as best you can!” Vic snarled, rounding on the newest members of the team. The twins shared a long look and nodded to each other.


    “Based on what we have seen of the system in our visions the gods will permit a select number of individuals to ascend to something approaching their level of power,” said Felicity.


    “Those individuals become something like demi-gods.  Our language isn’t entirely suitable but that is the best phrase we can use.  These individuals are a step above entities like the Overseer.  They retain their form and are deployed against their counterparts from the Void,” Felix added.


    “You guys just fake the patois?” demanded Reg.  “What the actual feck!”


    “Leaving that aside, and we have our reasons, we don’t think John is capable of Transcendence.  He has met the gods but his heart is not committed to the System.  He is, at best, capable of being a class five.  He won’t be elevated beyond that.”  Felicity’s voice was filled with regret.  “I’m sorry but he isn’t pure enough.”


    “Pure enough?” snapped Evie.  “Remember when we were snatching people out of your way because we thought you were fucking psychos?”


    “Before we founded Ascension?  We had speculated it was John but had no proof.  The eyes in the sky were you?  The visions warned us about them,” asked Felix, turning to Bob.


    “Yeah.  We thought you were sociopaths,” said Bob slightly sheepishly.


    “And you don’t regret it… You think limiting the size of Ascension early on was the right move.  I- we and the entire Clergy have been a force for good!  Who do people go to when they need the best healers?” snapped Felix.


    “Yeah, we know that now!” Bob countered at the same time Evie opened her mouth and put her foot in it.


    “Are you?  Religious zealots who love the system?  Is that really helpful to our species?  It’s like a slave who loves his master!” she snarled.


    “Do you find your power to be a shackle?” asked Felicity in an icy voice.


    “No but I find billions of people being wiped out in a couple of fucking weeks and everyone who didn’t die being forced to fight against monsters and each other for decades a bit of a fucking problem!”


    “Struggle is what separates an arisen species from the animals,” Felix said.  “Without trials, how do we even know we’re alive?”


    “Guys,  Let’s all take a beat!” said Flash.  “I don’t have a dog in this fight!” He added with raised hands as both Evie and the twins turned to glare at him.  “I was stuck in bloody elf-land while this shit was going on!  This isn’t helping.  So John isn’t transcending or ascending or whatever-” he flinched as Felix glared at him, “-what we need to figure out is what’s wrong with him and how we can fix it!  Setting aside the fact he is our friend we need him.  From a selfish point of view if nothing else!”  Felix and Felicity shared a look and both stepped back from the group.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    “We will withdraw.  We didn’t mean to cause upset.  We hope John recovers quickly as he is a powerful fighter for our species against the Void,” said Felix.  Felicity nodded and then the pair turned and went into the prayer chamber, buried deeper in the stash.


    “True believers,” sneered Evie as the door shut behind the twins.


    “This isn’t helping,” snapped Vic.  “Bob, let’s try and focus on what we can do to wake John up?”


    “I don’t know!  His eyes are gone but I can’t give him implants.  Pete gave me some, uh, ‘spares’ for all of you but I can’t even scratch him, let alone open up his optic nerves for splicing!”


    “You’ve tried to cut him?” asked Vic darkly.


    “I tried to install a cannula and a colostomy bag,” Bob said defensively.  Vic glared for another second then dropped her gaze.


    “Ok.  Sorry.  So we just wait?” asked Vic quietly.  Evie moved over and stood close to Vic but didn’t reach out to touch her.


    “We’re good at that!” said Sam with faux brightness.  “We’ve spent so much time twiddling our thumbs on this ship we should be pros.  Right?” she glanced around and Raoul subtly shook his head as he caught her eye.


    “We’ll have to wait,” said Evie.  “Dad will be fine,” she said softly, unsure if she was trying to reassure herself or her step-mum.


    “I know he will,” Vic lied as worry ate her up inside.


    “Maybe we should focus on some training?  Evie, do you want to go a few rounds?” asked Flash to try and move the conversation to another topic.


    “No thanks kid,” she replied off handedly.


    “Um, I’m older than you?” he said in confusion.


    “Oh yeah.  Sorry.  I’m going to go get something to drink?  Anyone thirsty?  Ok.”  Evie wandered off towards the kitchen area of the stash.


    “I’m thirsty,” Reg muttered as he followed Evie.


    Evie had passed through yet another soundproof door into the general recreation area.  This was where they’d played poker with the Shrell but something had changed since they came back, none of the little squid bastards had been allowed in to socialise with them.


    She pulled open a fridge and took out a carton of fruit juice.  Genuine orange juice wasn’t something they had a large supply of.  The various agrarian organisations back home had set up farms and orchards for a lot of pre-system species, oranges included, but they were far less productive than hybrid or alien species that had arrived on Earth during the waves.


    “I’ll have a whisky, lass,” said Reg as he stepped through the door behind her.  She had just reached out for a bottle of what would once have been called vodka.  She topped off her glass and picked up a tumbler for Reg’s drink.


    She walked over and put it on the table in front of him and the old man settled down into the nearest chair and took a generous gulp as she sat opposite him and took a smaller sip of her own drink.


    “You ever heard of William Wallace?” he asked gruffly.


    “That Mel Gibson film?  I’ve seen it.  Pre-system entertainment is weird.  Even my manga''s seemed kind of lame compared to what we can do for real now,” she replied.


    “Feck that fecking film.  The real story… never fecking mind.  The point I’m making is freedom fighters never end well.”


    “And you’re telling me this because?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.


    “Your Da, he’s a bit bent in the head, ye ken?”


    “Always has been.  By the time I was ten he’d taught me how to swear in six languages.  He couldn’t- he can’t speak those languages but he knew how to call someone a motherfucker or tell them to fuck off.  He always said-” her voice dropped and became gruff, “- ‘knowing how to ask how much, say thank you and call someone a cunt was all you really needed to know in any language’.”


    “He was-” she glared at him over the lip of her glass, “-is a bit of a fecking weirdo. And that’s mah damn point girl.  How much weird shit has he come through?  Dragging along the rest of us half the time!”


    “We’ve done our share of carrying the world on our shoulders Reg.  It wasn’t all him.  It wasn’t any of us,” she sighed.  “We were just round pegs in the right place when round pegs needed filling.” Reg squinted.


    “That is a disgusting metaphor, lass.  But aye, you’re not far off.  He was the glue.  Without him we’d have been stuck on our little island.”


    “Most of us can fly, dumbass,” she smirked back.


    “Aye, how long would it take you to fly to Tokyo though?  Stop fighting me here, I’m trying to help!” He took a long sip of his whiskey and set the glass down in front of him.  He spun the glass between both hands, setting the amber liquid spinning in a tiny whirlpool.  “John will get better, that I’m sure of.  But he’ll be different.”


    “Why do you say that?  No offence Reg but you’re basically a grumpy old bastard who makes stuff heavy when we need it.  If Bob hasn’t got a fucking clue-  I’m sorry.  What gives you this insight, oh wise elder?” she finished.


    “Sarcastic wee hoor aren’t ye?” She shrugged in reply, taking no offence, so he continued.  “My ability gives me a ‘gravity sense’, ye remember?”


    “I remember.  It lets you detect matter within a certain radius or something.”


    “Well your dad isn’t on it anymore.  Or rather he is and he is bloody everywhere.  Bob keeps going on about contradictions and I don’t think the rusty bastard is missing any cogs, I reckon he’s onto something.  Whatever your dad’s seen has changed him and he’ll come back but he’ll be strange.  Well, he’ll be more strange than before.”


    “I’m not sure you’re helping much Reg.  So Dad will be changed?  He’ll still be bloody blind and we can’t fix his eyes because he’s immune to scalpels now,” she finished bitterly.


    “Is that what’s bothering ye?  Maybe them starfish organs Pete gave us will grow his eyes back.  Maybe he doesn’t need them anymore.  All he needs is time girl,” Reg finished softly.


    Mission notification:


    In four time units your team will be deployed to serve as the second wave challenge on a newly initiated planet.  You will either kill all the beings within the barriers or you will die.  You will not be released from the barrier until only one side remains.  You’ve been on the receiving end of this process before so you know the drill.  Make them prove they’re worthy of the Alliance!


    Wave two:


    Purifying Wave:


    Human antagonists: 10


    Partlow Survivors: 145232


    “Oh that’s fucking great!” snapped Evie as she threw back her drink and ran for the door, dropping the glass on its side as she hurried away.  Reg drained his own drink, then sighed and trailed her back into the main area of the stash.  The susurration of the machinery and magitech refineries in the background had long since become background noise to them all.  In this case it stood out because all the other sounds, usually bickering or discussions, had stopped.


    Evie rushed over to the medical area to find Vic a burning pyre, flames leaping off her and threatening to melt the nearby machinery.


    “Mum!  Cut it out or you’ll fuck up the pod!” Evie yelled.  Even in her lightning form going near Vic when she was like this was dangerous.  The others had all backed away as well.  Gradually the incandescent glow faded and Vic stepped off the glowing patch of metal she’d made, looking about her with hard eyes.


    “Suit up.  They’ll have to drop us off with John out of action.  I’ll stay here.  If I’m touching him when it ticks over it will have to bring him along.”  Her voice was flinty and cold.  No one knew if that was true but no one wanted to argue with her at this particular moment.  The rest of the team, even the twins,  nodded and scurried off to get their heavy armour on.  The bio-Bob gave Vic a worried look as he went to check on the machinery cocooning his old friend.