Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Celebrate your uniqueness, talent, and affinity. There's no one else in the cosmos like you." – Coach Williams

Trish

"Shouldn't you be teaching me wise old people things by now?" Trish asked Sutt as they both lay flat on their backs, tinkering with gadgets found earlier that day. Trish held a metal bracer while Sutt examined a metal band, looking for a way to strap it around her head.

"In these RPG games you often talk about, is it more fun to learn by listening about them before you play? Or do you play to learn?" Sutt asked.

"Well, some people actually like watching others play the games."

"I'm talking about most people—" Sutt attempted to clarify, but Trish's voice cut in again.

"Heck, some people even like reading about others playing games."

"Wait, you're telling me people like to read about me fidgeting with this headpiece?" Sutt stopped, alarmed by the backward customs of the planet known as Earth.

"Yeah, I never quite understood those people, but I only hear good things—it could be fun. But yeah, you're right. Still, any ideas what this thing does?" Trish finished, holding up her wristband.

"Didn’t you say you had some affinity with tech?" Sutt questioned before answering, "Looks like a third-gen device. Those typically worked with an energy connection and some sort of trig—"

A soft beep and light flashed from the device. "Found it." Trish watched as the gadget self-tightened around her wrist. "Tech isn't tech unless it's turned on or empowered. Before that, it's just metal."

"That one might still just be metal. That’s about as far as I got with it last time. Quite the mystery to me." Sutt commented on Trish's device before grunting as the metal band, which was worn like a tiara around her head, expanded, a translucent film soon covering her head.

"That's neat! Think it's just cosmetic? Or do you have some weapons we can test on it?" Trish asked, smirking.

"Oh no, no, no. This is as far as my interest goes. I'll happily bop you with some metal lying around, though."

"I'd gladly take that off your hands if you want," Trish said as Sutt deactivated the face shield and removed the tiara.

"It's yours," Sutt said, tossing the shield to Trish.

"Thanks. You know, I think I understand why this device isn’t quite working. It feels like it's connected to a network of nodes scattered around the area. It’s a weak signal, almost as if it's waiting for a command to link up with them. Should I even be messing with this?"

"Oh, child. What fun would that be if we didn’t? Can that Nex thing help out in any way?"

"What do you say, Nex? Any integration points here?" Trish asked inwardly.

"Happy to oblige!" Nex spoke enthusiastically as Trish felt their presence touch her energy already within the metal bracer. A bolt of light soon escaped and flashed across the dark walls.

"You were right in your hypothesis! This device connects to multiple relay nodes and tech beacons scattered around the village. These sources appear to be high-quality radar nodes, providing a sophisticated network. I should be able to project these data points within your view, and I noticed that your bracer also has a light projection feature."

"It allows us to see around the camp. Can you show us, Nex?"

"Pulling up E1 designation on the rendering!" More light erupted from the device, creating a 3D projection. Within the imagery, Trish and Sutt stared at what looked like the eastern stone wall, closed without anyone around, and rustling bushes blowing from the mild wind.

"Pull another view, Nex!" Trish stammered with excitement as a red light flashed on her new device. "Wait, what is that?"

"Looks like a proximity alarm of some sort. Pulling up connection N7 now," Nex stated with a bit of urgency as a new scene unfolded with the light. The view showed the river north of the village and what looked like people crossing, the vision zooming out as more people joined the view.

As if on cue, James's voice transmitted through Nex: "Team, we have company. It looks like the northern tribes are coming for their offerings."

"Wicked!" Trish said out loud, now staring at the device as Sutt grunted and moved back to the piles of tech.

***

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Earlier

James

“Not much further, Rose. I'm not quite ready to pass the river line. We aren’t sure how this Taint will impact you,” James whispered. He stood at the village's northern outskirts, on the tree line's eastern edge. This forest stretched from the Southeastern mining mountains to the river.

James had been honing his communication with Rose. While complex information was best spoken aloud, their mental connection allowed for the seamless transmission of direct guidance, simple commands, and emotions like praise.

Rose chirped in the skies, seemingly reproaching James for his reluctance to take risks. He could sense her growing restlessness through their bond. Their connection had grown stronger, an evolution James attributed to the investigation by their resident mind reader, Will. Despite enduring a few jokes at their expense, they discovered that James and Rose’s mental energies had begun to integrate, encircling both of their minds.

This connection wasn’t about control but shared understanding, instincts, and, through exercises, shared pain and emotions. This bond became even more evident after James and Emy’s fallout a few mornings ago, which Rose mirrored in her reactions. The bird began imitating James, becoming aloof, disconnected, and challenging the status quo in an effort to fix things.

This development led Rose to yearn to push beyond James’s side and scan past the river known to the villagers as the “Divide.” The Divide was a natural landmark and a boundary where the Taint tended to disperse and dissolve. The Taint was never truly eliminated; it was merely diluted and diminished in potency to control or shift minds. Only those susceptible to the Taint truly felt its connection beyond the water.

Elric had warned that fire-wielders were the most affected by the Taint. As James delved deeper into his relationship, he uncovered more about Elric's daughter's disappearance to the base of the northern mountain. This revelation sparked James and Rose's curiosity about the northern lands. Emy's strange behavior had to be connected, and they knew they had to fix it. They couldn’t afford to lose their friend; staying united was their only option.

A rogue thought crossed James's mind. He and Rose were united in feelings and emotions, fundamental to the brain’s control over the body, but the brain had other roles. Pain was a shared sense; communication and conversation hinted at a connection to hearing. Why couldn’t he push these mental waves to encompass other senses like smell, taste, and… sight?

“Rose, get ready. I’m going to try something,” James said, preparing his eager companion, who chirped excitedly. He attempted to replicate a skill that Will had shared with the team. Though not as adept as Will, Nadia, or probably even Emy, James closed his eyes and concentrated on isolating the energy stream flowing through his brain.

He visualized the intricate network of neural connections, focusing on the pathways from his eyes to the visual cortex at the back of his brain. Concentrating on where the nerves partially crossed to ensure both hemispheres received signals from each eye, James imagined gathering and channeling all this energy, concentrating and barricading it in the visual cortex, where images were processed and interpreted.

James then opened his eyes. Yet, his vision remained unchanged, facing the same tree lines over the meadow. How could it not have worked? He was confident that he had aligned the energies correctly, tapping into the essence of how vision was connected within his brain.

Then Rose let out an alarmed squeal, causing James to remove the blockade and let the energy flow normally. “You okay, Rose?” James asked, only to get an enthusiastic response, almost as if Rose had stated she had seen him.

“Wait, you saw me?”

“I was YOU!” Rose’s emotions burst into James's mind.

“Uh,” James stumbled, then came to the realization. “Of course! How did I not realize?” He then gathered himself. “Rose, our connection can be controlled. Try to push your energies to the points connecting to your eyes, near the back of your brain.”

James struggled to explain more. Energy manipulation was as much about feelings and reactions as intelligence and insights. He felt Rose shifting their connections, soon feeling like he was free-falling from the sky. Then it happened. James’s eyes went white as his surroundings changed. He still saw the forest but now had a secondary vision stream. Shifting his connections again, his vision was taken over. He was flying. Notifications from Nex consumed his vision.

Skill: Eagle Eye

Enables the merging of sight between two beings, channeling a seamless, shared vision across the fabric of their connection. This extraordinary skill can only be activated by the mutual will of both participants, unlocking a realm of unified perception.

< Level Up! James is now a Level 11 Catalyst >

< Level Up! Rose is now a Level 5 Spectral >

James’s body seemed to shift as he tried to separate sight from his instincts. “It’s like I am flying without moving,” he communicated. “Rose, this is amazing!”

“Further?” Rose attempted to push their boundaries with James's new skill.

“Go!” James declared. Rose soared through the tree lines, flying low over the river, her eyes shifting to fish floating within the streams.

As Rose looked downward again, scanning the river below, James’s admiration was abruptly interrupted. He noticed movement—people—heading south along the river. Alarmed, James focused intently, trying to understand the situation. His heart raced as the realization struck him: they had company.

“Rose! Get out of sight. Lower! We need to see what’s going on,” James communicated.

Rose dove east, staying out of sight of the northern tribe. She circled, keeping a downward sight on the movement, approaching slowly and ready to move in an instant.

James contacted the team, “Team, we have company. Looks like the northern tribes are coming for their offering.”

He continued, “We see about 15 people, led by a girl. Fire type…”

Speculation had surrounded breakfast chatter, with Kael adding details about the Chieftain’s daughter, a fire type who had joined the northern tribe—Kael’s sister. She was still known among the villagers, leading the team to believe they saw her occasionally.

“Fire type?” Will remarked, not expecting a response. “Looks like our assumption was correct—leadership runs in the family. The daughter returns... We're being called to Guardian’s Hold. I’m with Steel and his men; I should be able to watch the exchange,” Will concluded.

“Tuck and I are closer to the western tree line. We will head back now. Any expectations, James?” Nadia asked.

“No, stay sparse. Only join if evoked. The chief was adamant about that. Stay close, but don’t show yourselves. We can expect another exchange. Trish and Tuck, you both safe?”

“Roger!” Both responded in unison, but Trish added, “Frank looks to still be in the mines, and I am with Sutt. I will stay and await further details.”

“Good. Emy, where are you?” James asked, looking to confirm the full team.

…

“Emy?”