I sit down in the tub and close my eyes. The water is a bit hotter than is fully comfortable, but I relax and let the heat dissolve all the grime and dirt still in my hair and on my skin. I slowly start to adjust and I slump my shoulders slightly. My heart races, and I take a deep breath to try to calm myself.

I don’t want to be away from Chloe. I fear that being upstairs in this tub while she’s downstairs is just asking for trouble. I… I don’t want to lose her too. I– I don’t want to be alone. It’s not just anger toward whoever killed my mother that seeps through me. It’s not even the indignity of knowing that whoever did it got away and probably will never be made to pay for their crimes.

It’s that damned, all-encompassing fear that Chloe will be next. And perhaps more importantly, it’s the powerlessness I have. Worst of all, I can understand why people are turning to violence. It’s the same people who’ve felt that powerlessness before, who still feel powerless to change the world around them. The people who feel unheard and unseen. And if killing a few people is what they have to do to feel powerful and in control, some people are going to do just that. I’m sure it’s already happening.

I take another breath and sink a bit deeper into the tub. In my head, I know Mrs. Jacobs is right. All those PSA’s about taking care of yourself and ‘reaching out for help’ if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Not that anyone really gave a damn if it put their own jobs at risk, but they at least cared enough to go through the platitudes. Gotta relax and focus on what I can do. And right now, that’s making sure I’m in the right headspace to do what I can.

I practice my [Basic Ether Manipulation] a bit in the tub. With it now at Rank II, I can more easily compress my [Ether] and start to rotate it a bit more easily. Maybe once I reach rank X or XV, I’ll be able to control my entire [Ether] pool at once? I should look into whether or not I can just ram people with a spinning ball of pure [Ether] held in the palm of my hand. Nevermind; that’d be a stupid trick.

I sink a little deeper into the tub. Now only my face is above the water. My hair floats on the surface. I wish I were a bit shorter, or the tub a bit larger, so I can properly stretch out and just rest. I focus on tensing each muscle group bit by bit, letting my anger fill me with each clench. And then I release it all. I roll my shoulders and my neck, not caring that my hair is slinking about and getting caught up in itself. Problems for later.

I try to think of my past life. Who was I? What did I want then? Did I have a family? Are they still alive? Do they worry about me? Do they mourn and grieve for the fact that I’m no longer with them? What was it like for them, when the System came to their world? Did they band together and use their new power for good? Or did they fight amongst each other?

It’s probably some of both. Chloe and her mother and I are coming together in the apocalypse. As a family, even. Their— our?— neighborhood is peaceful. The people at the store were working together. Order was maintained. Not everything was as bad as it was back where my parents and I lived. I hope my family was as loving as Chloe’s is.

The thought improves my mood considerably. The water is growing cold, and I don’t have my Hellspawn Pitchfork to heat it up some more. Probably need to get back to doing things. That’s the only way I can make sure what happened to my mother doesn’t happen to others. Because if someone killed her, and I believe it was a someone and not a something, then that means it could happen to us. That doesn’t mean I have to go out and ‘grind levels’ on the streets, but I have to be prepared to defend us. To the death, if it comes to it.

Undoubtedly, the old Seraphina was a protector as well. I don’t have any memories to confirm it, but I just know somewhere deep down inside me. She came here because of the System. I think I’m supposed to protect people. But from what? From themselves? From the System? From something else entirely?

I focus on my lost memories and again come up empty. But I think I’ve spent enough time in the bath. There will be more time to grieve and properly mourn later, but for now, I want to try to be productive. I dry off, brush my hair, get dressed, and head back downstairs.

I head downstairs to see Chloe and her mother playing some board games on the kitchen table. I can’t blame them, either. I wouldn’t mind playing a game, but I think playing around with my various gadgets is going to calm me down more than playing a game. At the very least, it’ll make me think I’m doing something productive. Kinda weird, thinking about being productive with school being probably cancelled for the time being and college being… I don’t even know what’ll happen there.

In any case, I grab the circuit board, my pitchfork, the Ether canister from before, and the magnifying glass that I asked Mrs. Jacobs about just as I headed up to the bath. I’d love to get a microscope to examine further, but that seems a bit much to ask for.

I start with the TV’s circuit board, mostly because I want to know how Ether interacts with the technology of our old world. I suspect things needn’t be so complicated or as nanoscopic as modern transistors are, but at least this will give me a baseline. Of what, I’m not exactly sure, but that’s part of the fun of it all. I gather the smallest amount of [Ether] I can— about one percent of a point— into the tip of my right index finger and begin tracing patterns on the board.

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I get no response for a good while as I try inserting it into the different components. Neither the integrated circuits nor the capacitors react, not that I would exactly expect much of a physical reaction short of one of them heating up or blowing up. Even when I dial up to half a point of Ether, nothing happens. I try going up to a full point, and still nothing. Still cool to the touch.

And yet, I was able to power a flashlight with nothing but my own [Ether]. This gives me two possibilities. First, the flashlight worked because it was a completed device. That would imply that my Ether is activating the circuit, but the circuit, without the rest of the television, doesn’t do anything visible. And there aren’t any diodes or other visual indicators that would activate when it was being used.

Just the heat that should be… maybe wouldn’t be generated? No electricity, no electrical resistance turning that energy into heat. The second law of thermodynamics applies to all forms of energy, but [Ether] regenerates per the whims of the System. That accumulation is inherently antientropic, meaning it needn’t obey the laws of conventional physics. It could be working even without my noticing!

I take my flashlight again and turn it on, then off, then on again. I pour [Ether] into it while it is turned off, and it doesn’t do anything. I turn it on, and the light turns on. I release the flow of [Ether] and it turns off.

“Did something about the flashlight catch your attention?” Mrs. Jacobs asks.

“No batteries. I’m powering it with my [Ether] reserves.” I get an idea. “Chloe, can you try? Just use your [Ether Manipulation] Skill and envision the light working.” I hand it to her with the switch turned off.

It… It doesn’t turn on. She furrows her brows, notices the switch, then turns it on without a problem.

That is incredibly pertinent information. It proves that there is a connection between the physical construction of the flashlight and its use. More importantly, that strongly suggests that there’s more to what I’ll dub ‘Ethertech’ than simply willing a device to do whatever I want it to. This gives me another idea.

I turn the light off and envision my [Ether] simultaneously powering the device while also closing the circuit that was opened when I turn it off. It proves difficult, and the light is far dimmer than before, but I can do it.

“Did you figure something out?” Chloe asks.

“I did. I want to try something else next.” I pull out my cell phone and pour a tiny stream of [Ether] through the power socket. Nothing happens at first, but as I pour a bit more in, the phone vibrates briefly. The diode on the outside then lights up just as it does when plugged in. My joy at this discovery is compounded when I receive a System notification.

[Your [Basic Ether Manipulation (Rank II)] has upgraded to [Basic Ether Manipulation (Rank III)]

“Well, I guess you no longer have to worry about charging your phone if the power goes out,” I say. “Turns out that I can charge it up just fine.”

“Show me,” Chloe says, pulling her phone out on the table.

I repeat the process to her great astonishment.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Chloe says. “Thank you, bestie!” she adds. She tries as well and has less success.

“I think it’s because I specifically have a [Mechanist] class. My [Ether Manipulation] Skill probably interacts a lot nicer with technology, so while yours will work on something simple like a flashlight, it probably won’t do as much good with a complicated electronic device. Speaking of, Chloe, can you help me unplug the TV?”

“What are you going to do?” Mrs. Jacobs asks. “I don’t want you destroying anything around the house!”

“I don’t know the inner workings of the television enough to try to get it to work like I can with the flashlight. But I want to see if I can power it through the plug.”

She sighs. “Upstairs. And take the fire extinguisher with you. Apocalypse or not, you better not destroy my house or you will be out! Do I make myself clear, Seraphina?”

I nod and sputter out my most forceful ‘Yes, Ma’am’ before Chloe and I head upstairs to continue our tests. We get to the back of the entertainment center, moving it without much effort, and Chloe gets the TV unplugged and hands me the cable. I grab it by prongs and wait for her to stand by with the fire extinguisher at the ready.

Once she gives me the okay, I start channeling my [Ether] through the top two prongs, leaving the third one as a ground. I envision my [Ether] like little electrons, flowing through the metal wire and empowering the television. It proves a considerably more arduous task than the two previous. I push a full two units into the circuit before I finally hear a faint buzz just on the upper edge of my hearing range. I give Chloe the signal, and we have success!

For all of one minute and four seconds, before it flickers and then goes out. Sure enough, my font of [Ether] is completely dried out. Worse, it’ll take nearly half an hour to recharge, during which time I’m pretty useless. But I get useful data from the experiment, both about my own capabilities, as well as how Ether works as a replacement for electricity. All in all, a good day’s work.

“That tired?” Chloe asks as she plugs the TV back in while I sit down for a moment.

“I had to push two full units of [Ether] into the wire every second, and now I’m completely drained. It’s like using brand new muscles.”

Chloe nods. “Yeah, I remember the first time I healed you up. It made me a bit lightheaded too. Where do you go from here?”

“A small break, I guess. Then back to work, learning the intricacies of my class.”

I get one final notification as the two of us head back downstairs.

[Your [Basic Ether Manipulation (Rank III)] has upgraded to [Basic Ether Manipulation (Rank IV)].]