The computers in the recovery room hummed in the background as Evan did his homework on his laptop. He was fortunate that most of his teachers complied with his request to post the lectures on the website. In-person lectures were never his thing anyways, because he spent most of his time daydreaming. Math and physics came naturally to him, so he didn’t really need to study those. It was the History and Writing courses that he despised. His brain liked numbers, not words.

He heard a knock on the doorframe and looked up. A dark-skinned teenager poked his head in and smiled. “Oh good, you’re still awake.”

“Hey Adam,” Evan said, not looking up from the screen. “Out early today?”

“Yeah,” Adam said as he sat on an adjacent bed. “They’re having additional teacher’s meetings at school, so each day is a minimum day this week.”

“Really? What for?”

Adam shrugged. “All the teachers said they can’t talk about it, but I think it’s obvious. Since your dad’s popular and all, you made headlines and got people’s attention. Maybe it’s my imagination, but everyone has seemed a bit nervous ever since… you know.”

“I got shanked out of nowhere,” Evan said, smirking.

Adam snickered. “You didn’t need to put it like that!”

“Didn’t need to, but I did.”

“Speaking of, how’s the recovery going?”

“Check this out.” Evan looked over his laptop at his feet. Under the sheets, his toes were barely wiggling.

“That’s good news,” Adam said. “What about all the other stuff?”

Evan glanced at his belly then shrugged. “Dad paid for the highest quality nanite infusion. I can’t really digest my food all the way yet, but it’s getting there. My spine will take a few more weeks at least. The nanites are still constructing and configuring the neurocircuitry. I start mobility training next week.”

“Wow, glad nothing was permanently damaged.”

Evan looked sadly at Adam. “Well, there is one thing that’s permanently damaged…”

Adam sat up, alert. “What?”

“The racer.”

“Oh no. The racer?”

Evan nodded.

Adam leaned back and grabbed his hair. “No! I wanted to get a ride in that someday! Man, that car was the coolest.”

Evan frowned and tilted his head. “Eh, it was alright.”

“Oh, shut up.” Adam furrowed his brow. “You shouldn’t take things like that for granted.”

“I know, I was joking,” Evan said, smiling.

“Didn’t sound like it.”

“Well, I was.”

“Okay.”

They were silent for a few minutes as Adam scrolled through his apps on his wrist pad. He looked at Evan. “Oh hey, did you get the hoverboard working?”

Evan scowled at his laptop. “No, but I would’ve been able to enter the race with it by now if Dad helped me in the way that he should.”

Adam tilted his head. “The race? What race?”

“The Junior Rider’s Cup.”

“That’s the high-speed one, right?”

“Yep.”

“Don’t you need your own power armor for that?”

Evan looked up. “Dad said he’d help me more with the armor.”

“And you have to get both the board and the armor approved.”

“I know that, what are you saying?”

“You could just buy your own. Building your own costs more anyway, since you barely know how to.”

“I’ve had lots of people tell me that,” Evan said. “But there’s a certain satisfaction when what you create actually becomes functional and competitive.”

“You would have made the money that bought the boards.”

“Eh, no. That doesn’t count. Plus, if I create my own, then I’ll know how to optimize it.”

“Okay, but what about a warranty? You can’t expect it to not take hits every once in a while.”

“Working on Mark I right now, and I already know what I will do differently for Mark II. I’m an engineer, Adam. We like to fix and improve things.”

Adam leaned forward. “Yes, and I’m a pragmatist. You should at least have a team.”

Evan looked at him. “I mean, you’re welcome to help out if you want. Just don’t expect me to pay you.”

“Heh, I couldn’t help much even if you did pay me. I’m just a humble Aether Mage in training.”

“Oh? When did that become a thing?”

“Didn’t you see the demonstration at school? A master came in with a few of his advanced students and they dueled in front of everyone with Aether blades.” Adam’s eyes lit up with the memory. “It was epic.”

“I think I remember hearing the reminder during the announcements. Was that an after-school thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I definitely missed it. I’ve been working at the refinery on each of the weekdays. Where are you getting training?”

“Some martial arts center at the edge of town. I forgot what it’s called.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Evan closed his laptop. “Is the master’s name Domrik?”

Adam looked shocked. “Yes, how do you know Master Lazen?”

Evan looked away in embarrassment. “He kinda showed up here after the attack and asked me a few questions.”

Adam leaned forward with excitement. “Dude, you should totally join his class. He’s really good.”

“I want to,” Evan said, scowling. “But Dad said that he doesn’t want me to get lessons from him. He doesn’t trust him for some reason.”

Adam leaned back and pondered Evan’s answer. “Makes sense. They are pretty much opposites in terms of personality.”

Evan narrowed his eyes and raised a finger. “Though, that doesn’t stop you from showing me what you’ve learned so far.”

“Wha—me?” Adam pointed to his chest. “I just started his class, dude. I suck at everything so far.”

“But you can do something, correct?”

Now it was Adam’s turn to be embarrassed. “Technically?”

Evan gestured to the open area in the room. “Let’s see it!”

“Ugh, fine.” Adam took his backpack off and searched around in it. “It should be in here somewhere… ah.” He took out a small Aether crystal glowing a deep, saturated red. It had nearly a full charge. He went to the open space and fidgeted around for a bit. “I don’t think I should be doing this. I might set off some alarm.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Evan said. “If you do, it’s on me.”

Adam looked at the crystal in his hand with skepticism. “Okay, then. Here goes nothing.”

He closed his hand around the crystal and closed his eyes as well. After a few moments, he held his arm up as if to block and grunted with force. Evan waited with anticipation, but nothing happened. Adam tried again, grunting harder this time, and still nothing happened. He laughed nervously, then looked at Evan and frowned. “I can’t focus.”

“Why not?”

“You’re watching me.”

“What, do you want me to close my eyes or look away and miss the entire demonstration?”

Adam looked at the ceiling in frustration. “No, then I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.”

“Maybe try pretending nobody’s watching.”

Adam opened his mouth to respond, but then considered the advice. “Lemme try again.”

He closed his eyes, and this time took a few deep breaths, holding the hand with the crystal close to his chest. The breaths grew deeper and more intense, until finally he exhaled sharply through his mouth. His face twitched with pain as the back of his hand began to glow a faint red. Then a faint red screen the size of a dinner plate appeared an arm’s length in front of him. It was most visible at the center and didn’t have any clear edges. His face grew more intense as he cracked open an eye. He relaxed and tossed the crystal onto the bed. The screen rippled out of existence. He winced as he shook his hand vigorously. “Couldn’t hold it for long. It hurts.”

“That was cool to see,” Evan said. “The Aether interacts most strongly with electromagnetic fields and systems. It probably aggravates the nerves in your hand when you use it.”

“Makes sense,” Adam said as he opened and closed his hand repeatedly. “I wonder if Master Lazen feels the pain when he uses the Aether.”

“Just ask next time you see him. What was it exactly you did just now?”

Adam retrieved the crystal from the bed and put it in his pocket. “Master taught us how to create shields first, so I’ve practiced that the most.”

“You do realize that you can buy tech that does the same thing but better. And, you know, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Yeah, but you don’t actually grow stronger that way. Plus, you don’t have as much control over it.”

“Point taken,” Evan conceded. “What else can you create with it?”

“Technically anything that you can visualize and that doesn’t take more energy than its current level. I can’t create a blade yet because I have trouble holding the visualization whenever the pain starts. Master says that people naturally develop a tolerance for it, though.”

Evan grinned. “What about a bolt? Can you throw a bolt?”

“Uh, bro…” Adam gestured with both arms to the recovery room. “This isn’t the place to try that out.”

“On second thought,” Evan admitted, “maybe you can show me later in a safer environment.”

“Or maybe, you can see Lazen do it himself.”

“I want to, but again…” Evan gestured to his legs. “I need to be able to move first.”

“Guess you’re going to have to wait, then,” Adam said as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out his own laptop. “I might as well be productive in the meantime.”

For the next while, they did homework together. Adam’s sister, Lorey, walked in around dinnertime carrying fast food takeout. She had braided hair and wore silver earrings and raingear.

“Hey,” she said, acknowledging Evan. She held up the takeout to Adam. “Dad said to get you something on my way home. I tried to save it from the storm but it might still be wet.”

“Aw thanks,” Adam said as he took the plastic bag and looked inside. “Oh man, I ain’t letting that burger get cold.”

“Figured you’d like that. See you in a little while, kay?”

“For sure, sis.”

Lorey turned to Evan. “Sorry, but I can only afford to buy food for the family. University weighs on the bank account a bit.”

Evan gave a dismissive wave. “It’s fine, the hospital feeds me well enough.”

She looked at him with concern. “How’s the recovery going, by the way?”

“Just as planned. No more pain. I start walking next week. Hey, that reminds me, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think my legs will recover fully? I know that I will walk again, but I want to do racing, and that requires very strong legs.”

She pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t know, racing will be pretty risky. If you have good power armor you can minimize the risk of a neurological glitch. So long as you have artificial pathways, it’s likely that you will have less-than-optimal functionality one way or another. Nature really is the best engineer.”

“Oh,” Evan murmured, his gaze dropping. “So you’re saying I’ll still be considered handicapped?”

“It’s a little extreme to go that far, but it probably won’t be like nothing ever happened.”

“Great.”

Lorey smirked. “Sorry kid, you’re gonna have to be careful of what you ask me next time. You can always count on a candid answer from a neurologist.”

“Well, thanks anyway, I guess.”

She shrugged. “If it’s any consolation, I’d love to see you prove me wrong. A full recovery from that much damage would be a scientific breakthrough in my eyes.”

Evan thought for a bit. “Do you think there’s a way to use the Aether to help heal?”

She raised an eyebrow. “All I’ve seen it do is power things and destroy things. Healing with Aether is a myth created by wishful thinking as far as I’m concerned.”

“Right,” Evan said, grimacing. “Candid answers.”

She pointed a finger gun at him. “Exactly. Later kids, the smell of that burger is making me dangerously hungry.” She left the room in a hurry.

Adam slouched his shoulders as he chewed the first bite of his burger. “I hate it when she calls me ‘kid’.”

“She wasn’t lying when she said she’s candid.”

“And she was in a good mood today. Just wait until you see her angry.”

“She must be real fun at parties.”

Adam almost spit out his food in laughter. “She’s not, because she doesn’t even go to parties!”

Evan laughed for a bit until he had a realization. “Well, neither do I.”

“It’s fine, dude. I don’t either,” Adam said before taking the next bite of the burger.

Evan watched him for a few moments. “Alright, that’s making me hungry too. I’m gonna have dinner early.” He ordered meatloaf from the hospital’s food department.

Just as they both finished their meals, Marvain burst into the room still in her business clothes, soaked. “Hi boys, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

Evan laughed. “Mom, did you lose your jacket?”

“That storm came out of nowhere,” she moaned as she collapsed into a chair next to Evan’s bed and held her forehead in her hands. Her wet hair covered the rest of her face.

Evan’s face lost all its mirth. “Are you okay, mom?”

“I’m fine, Evan. I just…” She sighed. “I need time to recover as well.”

“Mom.” Evan got dead serious. “What happened today?”

Adam pointed to the exit, preparing to get up. “Do you need me to leave? I can leave if you want.”

“No,” Marvain insisted, looking up momentarily. “You’re fine, you can stay.”

“What happened?” Evan asked again.

Marvain pursed her lips and sat up, massaging her knees. She combed her hair with her hands to get it out of her face. Her eyes were slightly red. “I don’t know if it was just a coincidence or something larger, but I encountered the Phantom Scythe today.”

“Whoa, really?” Adam exclaimed, leaning in. He shrunk back a bit once he realized how he sounded. “I mean, it’s a good thing you’re still alive.”

“That’s what your father said when I called him. He’s already on it. I don’t know what he could possibly do to find this guy, but I wish him luck.”

Evan turned his hand palm-up on the bed in a gesture to her. “You don’t need to tell us anything else, Mom. I’m glad you’re still with us.”

She took his hand gladly. “And I’m glad too, which is why I came here instead of going home. I love you.”

He smiled back. “Love you too.”