“OK.. so what did I do? Can I avoid it in the future?”
“Both worthy questions. Firstly and probably unbeknown to you right now miss Holden is we are on a ship. A big one. Over 1000ft long that can hold potentially up 2000 people.”
Sam took in a breath and exhaled. “OK...”
“Right. And in order to push this giant ship through the seas we have giants engines. And you miss Holden pulled so much power from them that pretty much every fuse on the ship blew at the same time. luckily the engine fail safes kicked in, just in time or they could have gone “poof.”
Sam blanched at the thought of absorbing so much power. “shouldn't I have burnt to a crisp? Surely no one can handle that much power?”
“Ah yes. Absolutely. Firstly the bracelet that you wear has amongst many things a rune that can suck the power out of the wearer. It's meant as a policing tool as well as a safety device. It transfers the power to the ships batteries or to a nearby power grid and whilst you are here it helps power the ship.”
“So I was pulling from the ship and the bracelet was giving it back?”
“yes exactly that! Only problem was, you kept pulling more and more power through this loop. the engines, the bracelet, you! Everything over heated. the bracelet became so hot it has fused to your wrist. It's not possible to remove it without cutting off your hand. But that didn't stop you, you kept pulling until the safeties switched on and the engines cut out. That in itself should have killed you alone, fortunately even though you were literally burning up, one of your potentials to heal kept you alive and your body found just enough power from an alternate source to keep from dying.”
“Also, during the time you were pulling power from the ships engines you were using that power to strengthen your body, your bone density has hardened to the tensile strength of steel and your muscle mass has tripled! You have quite the physique now miss Holden. Most impressive. I have to urge caution though. Try not to hit people too hard, they will now break much easier than in the past.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“So bones like steel, triple the muscle mass.. how much do I weigh?” OK not really on point, but important nevertheless!
Luke looked up at the wall. “Er.. just shy of 180 kilos”
“Oh fuck my life.”
“It's not fat miss Holden. Not a gram. I assure you, most of the additional weight is bone density”
Sam blew out a breath. “You said an alternate power source? What did I do drain the armoured vehicles batteries or something? You can re-charge them right?”
“Ah.” Luke looked down at the floor. “That's ..no the er.. alternate source... the defence force personnel nearby, using the gym facilities?”
Sam felt the world around her wobble as her head swam. she whispered barely loud enough to hear, “Did .. did I kill them? All of them?”
“Ah.. no miss Holden. Not quite, but you ah.. drained their life force. They all are still alive, but I'm afraid they will never be fit for duty ever again.” Luke look like the dog next door that kept being abused by his owner. There was no glimmer of hope left in his eyes at all.
“Show me.”
Luke looked up with horror in his eyes. “What? No! totally unacceptable.”
Sam shot out of bed. The wall filled with beeps and red flashing lights when she sprung towards the techno Magi as the wires were pulled from her body. She was shocked at how quickly she moved, how easy it was to lift him off the ground. Her rage was a furnace and she barely contained it. She growled.
“Show me.”
Her voice was deeper and more menacing than she had ever heard before. It reminded her of troll. she dropped Luke to the floor and he collapsed in a heap. Sam grimaced at him and he scrambled up utterly terrified. As he reached the door, he turned, looking shaken and pitiful as he replied.
“Don't tell me I didn't warn you.”
As Luke lead Sam up the corridor she breathed deep, trying for all she was worth to push the rage down. to focus, control, direct. The techno Magi stopped by a window and gestured. “You cannot go in. Their immune systems are shot to pieces. You could literally kill them just by breathing on them.”
Sam looked with utter horror. In front of her were a dozen of storm haven's best and brightest. But they were withered shells of their former selves. They looked to be a hundred years old if not more. All were in ventilators and they had drips and monitors surrounding them. She had done this. Their whole lives, gone in seconds. Because she had sucked it out of them.
She looked to Luke. She barely recognised her voice. “We can fix this right? Reed fixed my hand. Can't we do something similar and fix them?”
Luke look pained and glanced at the floor, his voice heavy with misery. “No Sam. We can fix broken bones, heal bruises, but this?” He gestured to the empty shrivelled shells of humanity before them. “It's been centuries since we had the ability to do any thing like your suggesting, it's just not possible.”