For the second time, Frank found himself sitting down with Grant and his friends for a meal. They were in Grant’s apartment today, a two-bedroom that he was sharing with Ramy. The group was gathered around a low table in the living room, spread out across a couch and several cushions for floor seating. Frank looked around in interest.

The apartment really didn’t suit either of its inhabitants.

There was nowhere you could look without seeing some kind of plant, whether it was some variety of succulent, hanging vine, or other generic house plant like a monstera or peace lily. On the walls and on various shelves, there were macabre decorations, skull themed ornaments or other darkly inspired designs.

Along one wall there was a snake terrarium, complete with slithering resident. Though, at the moment, said resident was looped over a small branch, sleeping peacefully.

Grant noticed Frank looking at the snake and chuckled. “Ramy and I were both surprised when we got in here and found the little guy. I’m not an expert on snake body language, but I’m pretty sure he was surprised to see us, too.”

Ramy nodded, grinning. “What gave you that idea? The first bite, or the second one?”

“I think the second one, I’ve never been too good at picking up on signs. I mean, if you ask my wife…” He stopped a moment, a wistful expression crossing his face. “Well, she’d tell you I need at least a bite to get the message.”

Violet wandered over to the terrarium, peering in at the snake. This was the second time Frank had seen her, and she looked a little worse off now than she had the other day. Still somewhat subdued, with her flaking polish and chipped nails, she looked thinner than he remembered. Though that might be because of the oversized hoodie she’d scrounged from somewhere; she practically disappeared in the thing.

She put her hand gently against the glass of the snake's enclosure. “Have you been feeding it?”

Ramy nodded. “Oh yeah. We had to go searching that first day, all either of us knew was that snakes ate mice. With… you know,” he said, gesturing broadly at the world outside, “all the little rats and mice and things we saw were a little bit hard to catch, though. I guess they got some Aether in ‘em that boosted their stats, or something. Anyway, eventually we asked around and got some meat scraps from one of the kitchens. We’ve been feeding him with those.”

Kevin craned his neck around to look at the snake. “From the kitchens? Like… Are we talking meat from before stuff got weird or after? If it’s from recently, that snake probably has more Aether than us.”

The rest of the group looked over at the scaly creature with increased interest.

It yawned wide, jaw opening wide in a manner that was only mildly horrifying, before resting its head back down, blissfully unaware of the attention it was receiving.

“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.” Grant looked back at the group. “But that’s about to change. Take a dish, everyone.” He started handing out wrapped dishes from a bag, food that they’d gotten from one of the restaurants on the street.

Mai took hers as Violet sat back down next to her. She shook her head. “It’s still strange to me that we need to eat something that already has Aether to be able to absorb it ourselves. Especially when the ‘System’ is supposed to use this energy natively. Why can’t it handle the Aether for us?”

There was a collective shrug around the group. “Maybe it can,” Frank said, “but there’s something preventing it from doing so? I mean, there have been a lot of error messages.”

She nodded pensively. “Let’s hope there aren’t many more.”

With a quick glance around, they all uncovered their dishes. The pleasant aroma of some type of curry wafted into the small space of the apartment. As one, they took their first bite of Aether infused food.

Log: [Native] Frank Vila ingested Aether, metabolic adaptation beginning…

Error! [Native] has advanced intelligence, improper Aether adaptation process detected.

Attempting to resolve…

Frank glanced around at the others, eyes wide. “‘Improper Aether adaptation process’? What does that mean?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Violet wrung her hands anxiously. “We’re not going to turn into monsters, are we?”

Mai put her hand on the younger woman's back. “No, I’m sure that won’t happen to us. There are others who’ve done this already, and they ended up fine. We’ll be okay.”

Violet looked like she was going to say more, but another notice popped up.

Unable to resolve.

[Native] adaptation continuing.

…

[Native] adaptation complete.

There were no more notices after that. They continued eating, uncertain what the latest error would entail.

Kevin spoke up first. “Well, if it’s gonna end up killing us, at least the food is to die for.”

Frank nodded, a grin breaking out. It was somehow even better than the last meal he’d had from a Skilled chef.

Ramy chuckled. “Either the chefs stepped up their game, or Aether might be the best seasoning ever. Like, ever. I could get addicted to this stuff.” A thoughtful expression crossed his face. “Do you think we can taste it? With our taste buds? I mean… What even is it?”

Reaching for his drink, Grant frowned. “Isn’t it some kind of energy? Or, maybe some kind of radiation?” He grimaced. “I know we just had some intentionally, but everything I’ve heard makes it sound like how we always talked about contaminants or pollutants; it’s seeping into the plants and animals from somewhere and doing… whatever it does.”

“I just told Violet we’ll be fine!” Mai said, throwing a disapproving look at Grant.

“Sorry, sorry! It’s not a really comforting comparison, but it’s all I can think of.”

Kevin pointed at Grant, nodding his head. “It’s kind of right, though. I mean, the whole world is being terraformed, right? That’s what the System told us. Aether is, apparently, a key part of this terraforming process. It’s spreading through everything, from plants to animals to us. Who knows where it’s starting from, whether it's in the water, or the soil, but it was going to make it to us at some point.”

“Wasn’t there something about some… rock, or something in the west side?” Ramy said. “I heard that the worst of the monsters were coming from a specific area. And not just the weird animals, the actual monster monsters.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Kevin nodded, “I heard about that too!”

“Something about a blue rock? I passed some people on my way into the city who mentioned that.” Frank tilted his head, thinking. “I also saw a squirrel the same day that was glowing blue.”

Violet’s head jerked up. “It was still glowing?”

Frank nodded slowly, startled by her sudden reaction. “Yeah, but what do you mean by still?”

“That’s the first thing that happens when a monster is born. They touch the blue stone, and they begin to glow. Then…” She shuddered. “Then they change.”

He thought back to his encounter with the little critter, back on that first day. “It was already a little… odd. It was still changing when I saw it, and it looked like it was in a lot of pain because of it.”

“It wasn’t far along then. If you could still tell what it was, it hadn’t been long since it got exposed.” She stood abruptly, and wandered back over to the wall with the terrarium. She put her hand on it and watched as the little snake raised its head, sticking its tongue out in greeting. “You must have been pretty close to one of the stones.”

Frank sat back in shock. “Huh. I guess that would explain why I ran into a whole pack of ‘deer’ that first day.”

Mai sat forward. “So, what happened to the squirrel?”

He turned to her. “Uh, I killed it. It was in a lot of pain.”

“And then?”

“And then?” He thought back. “...Then I got a notice about ‘unrefined Aether’. That I’d absorbed some, and that it wasn’t suitable for living beings. That it was toxic.”

There was a moment of silence as the others processed the information.

“Huh. I guess it had taken in so much that it became radioactive, basically.” Grant glanced at the empty dishes they’d just eaten out of. “We didn’t get anything about unrefined Aether, so… Maybe the plants make it okay, somehow? Or after it passes through the earth, or… Who knows. Basically, just don’t touch any big glowing blue boulders if you see one. Easy.”

“Not easy.” Violet spoke up from the side. Her voice was flat, and oddly distant. “You can feel it, before you can see it. The power it has. It pulls you in. You’ll want to touch it. It wants you to touch it. It…” She cut herself off, shaking her head. Shakily, she continued. “...If you feel it, run away.”

Everyone exchanged concerned glances.

Mai stood up, sending a meaningful look at the others. “Well, that was a good meal, but it’s getting a little late for me. I think I should head out. Let me know what you all decide on to prepare for the Volunteer exam.”

She walked over to Violet, and spoke quietly with her. Soon, the two of them left.

Hesitantly, the meeting continued without them. Plans were set, anxieties were aired, and the gathering was adjourned.

Frank walked home, thinking back on the evening. He glanced at his hand, turning it back and forth. Try as he might, he couldn’t see a blue glow, not even a slight blue tint.

He sighed in relief, and quickened his pace.