"Are there any questions you have for me?" Margaret asked. "I have time."
"A few," Cait replied. "One, how long will Fate be out for?"
"Hard to say. I'm not a medical professional, nor do I have a Health Manifestation. Based on the report his physician sent me, it could be anywhere from a few hours to a few days. His subconscious has already started using his Manifest Power, which I'm sure you've noticed.
"He's snagging what he can from his surroundings and healing at a remarkable rate. But the doctor has never dealt with a patient that was both subjected to the Advanced's living lightning and survived it. The pain tolerance you two have is monstrous."
"So, is his life at risk?"
"It's possible but highly unlikely. The doctor estimates he'll be in stable condition by the end of the day. How long before Fate wakes up is up to himself."
Cait internalized that information, glad that Fate wasn't in mortal danger. "Did you happen to find a giant snake and an old man in the cube?"
Margaret gained a slight frown, regret flickering in her gaze as she turned from Fate to look Cait in the eye.
"The snake was found alive, but the Advanced had already started 'studying' it. In the condition it was in, there was no way for us to unplug the machines without killing it. And the only elderly man we've seen was nailed by his wrists to a wall with Quox metal nails. Forensics say he died of a bullet to the skull."
"Oh. And, d-do you know what a 'Concept' is?" she asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to dwell on the deaths of men she had fought with.
"A Concept?" Margaret's frown deepened. "They're like martial arts for Divine Energy, I suppose. You should be able to buy information on them from the PPK. Why?"
"An Advanced had mentioned them in passing. He said my healing technique is one." Romero was another death on her shoulders and another broken promise. She kept talking, trying to lock her guilt away. "And that the time I took to make it was off."
"Off? How long did it take?"
"A few months, but is he right? Is it a Concept?"
"If it is, then you made it faster than should be possible. Can you use it on Fate?"
"No, not while he's intangible like this. And I didn't exactly have the time after the data room, what with me running for my life and whatnot, as well as the fact I had spent all of my Divine Energy on trying to stay alive."
"Well, I'll try to explain them, then. But I won't make any promises on coherence. First, I think I should start with martial arts. You always have access to every limb, but martial art techniques are formulas teaching you to use them in different ways.
"How to punch harder, sweep a leg properly, that kind of thing. Concepts are like these, but for Manifestations. They are blueprints for an Embodiment of Fire to fly, for one of Cognition to read minds, or for any combination you can think of.
"They are only limited by the understanding of one's Manifestation. I've seen a Water Embodiment control the wind with the vapor in the air, an Embodiment of Gluttony turn food into flesh to patch a wound, and many other things, all done by Concepts. I apologize if that didn't make much sense; I'm a fighter, not a teacher."
Cait was intrigued, forgetting her guilt for a few seconds as she thought about this new information.
'I had access to all of the lower-end books and data files when I worked for the PPK. Since I didn't see anything, that must mean this is high-value info. Dammit, Tom was right; we shouldn't have dismissed those expensive books. Come to think of it, there were quite a few with the word "Concept" in the title. Now I feel stupid.'
Her inner pity party was interrupted as Fate's eyes snapped open. He jumped out of bed, hospital gown fluttering as pivoted on his heel, fists raised and wild-eyed. After taking in his surroundings, he lowered his hands, glancing across the bed to the two women, then down at himself.
He winced as he noticed the torn skin on his left arm where the IV needle was inserted, the latter of which was currently dangling uselessly from the pole.
"Why do these things only ever hurt when you notice them?" he growled, placing his right hand over the wound to stop the bleeding. "Do any of you have a band-aid or something?"
"Serves you right for jumping out of bed like that," Margaret chided. "How do you expect to get better if you hurt yourself more?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. Band-aid? Please?"
Margaret grabbed a larger one out of the med kit on the wall and handed it to him, whereupon Fate opened it with his teeth and left hand and plastered it on the wound. "Thanks. What's wrong with you?" he asked Cait when he saw her troubled look.
"Garrett, Cornelius, Romero… they're all dead," Cait explained somberly.
Fate grimaced, glancing at the time. "And Ythmun?"
"We haven't found him yet," Margaret said. "But we'll be free to search for him by the end of the day. First, we have to kill every last one of the Advanced in this world."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"You can stay here and recover. You're in no condition to fight. Your tissue still shows severe damage from the lighting," Margaret ordered, glancing at the screen above his bed. "Honestly, you shouldn't even be able to stand. You should be in unbearable pain right now."
"I've felt worse," Fate replied, dropping back onto the bed and slipping under the covers. "But if you insist, I'll stay here."
"Thank you. Now, I need to go. I'm supposed to lead a charge on a panic bunker the Advanced had installed."
"No problem. Hey, does this place have cable?"