Fucking Carla. You always did things the hard way. You spend hours on that rock trying to get the good stuff. That's what it bloody felt like. We fought a bloody mutated Copper Shark together and won. Now, the universe is refusing to give up the goods for you? No fucking way.

You chose the Kahawai because it is fast and a fighter. Well, it sounds like you have been constantly fighting tooth and nail these last three days. I got my lottery win from the universe by snoozing in a bed. Now, it is time to shake something out of this universe for you. Time for me to join you in this bloody fight now I have finally fucking woken up.

This time, I didn’t hold back. I didn’t do gentle. I shoved Essence down that connection in wave after wave. If this universe wouldn’t give her the good stuff, we would just bloody well take it. And for fucking bloody sure, the universe is not taking her. Fuck your 50/50 odds. We have this fucking connection. We are going to bloody use it to smash those odds.

Do you need more Essence, Carla? Here's another fucking tidal wave for you to use. You fucking use it to kick the universe in the nuts.

For the first time, I felt something back through the connection that wasn’t muted pain. I think this might have been Carla’s Essence. It was blue but had a different feel than mine. There was less volume than mine but somehow more density, wound and tightly coiled like a spring. This was Carla’s essence. This felt like her. She was awake finally.

Then, I heard something more than electronic alarms and urgent talking from the room next door. Carla let out a massive soul-wrenching scream, and a pulsing of her Essence accompanied it through the link. Yeah, she was up and fighting now. You go, girl, fucking kick them again, harder this time.

Along with the pulsing essence came the full sensation of the pain she was experiencing. I fucking screamed, and my monitor alarms started going off. It felt like my skin was burning, and my insides were beaten to a pulp. It was pain that was off the fucking charts. If she could fucking do it, so could I. She had been suffering and fighting for days. Have another fucking wave of Essence, Carla, and kick them harder.

And another. I am pretty sure I am running on empty but fucking have another one anyway.

Then her link went quiet and dark again, and I was fucking losing consciousness. The first suited medical help was arriving, and I vaguely recognised the doctor's face as darkness claimed me.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

What the fuck was that? Oh yeah, hospital, Carla, essence.

As I came to my senses, I realised I was wearing an oxygen mask this time. Well, at least they were trying.

It was night again.

I reached for the link to Carla, and it was not dark any more. It was like a blue trickle of essence constantly flowing back and forth between us. I checked my Essence core, and it was maybe half full. I am sure I shoved everything I had and more down the link to Carla, so this was it regenerating or whatever the fuck it does.

I sent a small exploratory pulse down the link to Carla. I got a pulse back. I don’t know how she fucking did it, but her pulse seemed to be saying, “Leave me the fuck alone. I am trying to sleep.”

I smiled. That sounded like a good idea, but my stomach was rumbling. I looked around and saw a tray of cold dinner sitting there, so I sat the bed up, pulled it over and scoffed it down with a couple of glasses of water.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

One of the monitors must have alerted the staff, and a suited figure came in. The night nurse was a man I had not met before.

“Hi Bob, I am Alan, the night shift nurse. You are obviously feeling better.” He pulled out a blood pressure cuff and put it on me, saying, “And how are you breathing now?”

“I am breathing fine. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I wasn't here, so you will need to get the full story from Dr Mohan, but your friend Carla was having one of her sessions, and it was bad. Then, you also seemed to have a session, and you both passed out. She is fine. She woke up a couple of hours ago and had something to eat. She is sleeping now.”

“And what happened to me?”

“Nothing that we can tell. No Mutation, you seemed to be healthy, but you wouldn’t wake.”

I bet I ran my Essence core empty and then some, which was why I passed out, but I was not going to tell him that.

“Hey, the doc said there was going to be a TV brought in so I could catch up on stuff.”

“Yeah, sure, there is one in the ward. I will wheel it in.”

“Some more food and some tea would be good too.”

That is how I found myself sitting up in bed, catching up with the disaster that was Auckland in the aftermath of the discovery of what was now called the Waiheke Anomaly.

“Janet Jones, the minister in charge of Anomalous Affairs, reissued the warning that the Navy will fire on any unauthorised vessel breaching the Quarantine Zone. Several warning shots were fired, and one private yacht was boarded and impounded.”

Ms. Jones reminded us that Waiheke town is outside the Quarantine Zone and is safe. Nonetheless, ferry spaces have been fully booked with people leaving, and there will be additional sailings soon. Flights to and from Waiheke are operating with strict airspace measures in place.”

Everybody wanted to get off the Island.

“Auckland Council has closed all the beaches in the Hauraki Gulf. Bio-Security officers warn against approaching any creature that washes up on the beaches and to call the 0800 number below if you see anything suspicious. Teams are combing the beaches for Mutated sea creatures daily.”

And so it goes on. A lot of Auckland is orientated around the Hauraki Gulf and life in and on the sea. A lot of Auckland is in for a hard time.

Auckland is experiencing its first kick in the nuts.

Conservationists are decrying the loss of the natural habitat in the gulf. The Navy had commandeered all the local trawling fleet to try to catch mutated fish before they spread. People weren’t just fleeing Waiheke. They were fleeing Auckland.

In world news, an anomaly appeared in a major slum on the outskirts of Chennai, and the death toll is in the thousands. The whole area was flattened when the Indian Army blew it up. China has stopped all reporting on anomalies.

The latest poll in the US is that most people don’t believe Anomaly Points exist. Of the ones that do, the majority think it is a Chinese-created weapon out to target them.

Canada has discovered mutated seals and is desperately searching for the unknown anomaly.

In religious news, this is, of course, the wrath of God on the wicked, just like every natural disaster and pandemic in history.

Unfortunately, the TV was just spitting out the appropriate sound bites, and I couldn’t go to proper scientific sources without a laptop. I was just getting frustrated with the TV so I turned it off.

Then I turned it on again. It was 3 am on 31st Dec. I turned it off again. This is a fantastic start to the new year.

I think for a bit about our options. I am definitely not staying a lab rat. I won’t know our options until I can talk to Carla and see her Mutations. Are they useful? Can they be hidden? I don’t need any special things or environment, but she might. What if she has to stay in the water or needs some medicine to survive? I need to stop thinking like that and wait to find out. What I did decide is I am not going to reveal my poison. That is going to be my hidden card. It will be my ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card. Probably literally.

Happy New Year, world. I hope you are ready for a kick in the nuts.