The cathedral's shadow lay across Aldermere like a dark omen. Evan felt his sensor crystal grow more insistent as he approached the ancient structure. He could feel its pulsing growing stronger, matching the quickening beat of his heart. The nanites within his system hummed with barely contained energy, as if responding to the odd concentrations of Aether emanating from the building's very foundations.
He paused in the cathedral's courtyard, faking interest at the architecture of the place while his acute senses roved over their surroundings. The massive door was inscribed with intricate symbols; they looked so uncannily like the patterns of Habellion's Aether, it couldn't possibly be coincidence.
A shriek of pain cut through his observations. In the courtyard, a group of armed men cornered a young boy by the wall. Their arms were spread out, and the aroma of blood even from this far distance, Evan could smell.
"Oh please, it is medicine for my sister, please," the boy pled as he clutched to his chest, holding a small package.
The group leader, a brute with a scarred face, laughed. "Medicine's expensive, boy. Maybe we should teach you what happens to little thieves."
Evan's initial reaction was to remain concealed and avoid any further drawing of attention. However, the nanites in his body responded to his suppressed rage, pouring combat enhancers through his system. His muscles flexed as previously locked combat protocols became active within his neural interface.
*Don't interfere,* the rational part of his mind cautioned. *The mission is more important than—*
The thug's blade flashed in the fading light, drawing a line of red across the boy's arm.
Evan moved.
He had one moment where he was just a figure in the shadows, and then the next where he is standing between that boy and his attackers. The nanites had really improved the speed and the reaction time way beyond any human levels, so those thugs appear to move in slow motion.
"Step aside, stranger," the leader growled. "This isn't your concern."
Evan's improved vision scanned over their positions, arms, and vital signs in a few milliseconds. The combat programs Arthur had installed were fully engaged, overlaying his vision with tactical information and recommended target points.
"Actually," Evan said softly, "it is."
The first thug lunged with his sword. Evan side-stepped with inhuman grace, letting the blade pass harmlessly by. In the same motion, he grabbed the man's wrist, applying precise pressure to nerve clusters. The sword clattered to the cobblestones.
They launched the attack together, but to Evan's augmented perception, it was like they were pushing through water. He sidestepped and dodged between their attacks, a perfect mix of combat programming and medical knowledge. The moves were each carefully calculated; each touch precisely targeted a pressure point and a nerve cluster with the finesse of a surgeon.
One by one, they fell, their bodies paralyzed temporarily by his special nerve strikes. The whole fight had lasted less than ten seconds.
The leader, still standing, stared at his fallen comrades in shock. "What. what are you?"
Evan allowed a little energy from Aether to move through his hands, and they began to glow with that same holy light he'd used on the woman to heal her. "Someone you shouldn't have made angry."
The man took off running.
Evan turned to the boy who regarded him with equal parts of fear and awe. The cut on his arm was shallow, easily treated. "Let me see that wound."
As he bent over on his haunches to see the boy's arm, a new noise cut the air: the footsteps, several pairs of them, racing toward him. The clink of metal armor was picked up by his fine ears and the step of disciplined soldiers.
"The city guard," the boy breathed quickly. "They'll arrest you!"
Evan grinned. "No, they won't." He reached into his tunic and pulled out something that looked like an ordinary copper pendant-one of several pieces of advanced technology he'd smuggled from Habellion. With a subtle thought command through his neural interface, he activated its cloaking field.
The guards ran into the courtyard, just as Evan and the boy seemed to fade from view. The soldiers found nothing but the unconscious thugs, with no explanation of what had happened.
When the guards had gone, Evan shut off the cloak. The boy gaped at him. "How did you—"
"Magic," Evan said with a smile, though the cost in his energy reserves had been significant. Drawing on multiple advanced abilities in quick succession was taxing, even for him with enhancements. He would have to be more judicious about using his resources.
He treated the wound in the boy's leg using a mix of conventional medicine and a subtle application of his healing abilities. In so doing, he made casual questions about the cathedral and the city as he was working to build his knowledge of this world while being under cover.
The boy—Jonas was his name—proved to be a gold mine of information. His sister worked as a scribe in the cathedral's vast library, copying ancient texts that, according to Jonas, contained "secrets from the time of miracles."
Evan's sensor crystal pulsed stronger at those words. "These texts," he said carefully, "do they mention lights in the sky? Or strange energies?"
Jonas nodded eagerly. "The old stories talk about the Divine Aura—blue lights that the first priests used to perform miracles. But Sister Helena says those are just legends."
*Divine Aura.* Evan's mind raced. Could the medieval scribes have been documenting Aether manifestations? Had the simulation's barriers been failing for longer than anyone suspected?
"Your sister," he said, finishing the bandage, "could she show me these texts?"
Jonas smiled. "She would love it! She is always looking for anyone interested in the old stories. But. " his face fell, "she's sick. That's why I was trying to get medicine."
Evan dug into his pouch and pulled out a small vial. The liquid inside was shining dimly—a basic medical nanite solution he had for emergencies, disguised as a potion. "Drip three drops of this in water, morning and night. Tell her it is from the healer who saved her brother."
As Jonas sprinted out of there, carrying the vial in his care-worn fingers, Evan turned to go toward the cathedral. So big, its spires pierced the falling night's darkening. Somewhere in there would be accounts of what was occurring to that world. And if the sister's inexplicable illness ran true to the theory which had been emerging in those minds, this Aether disturbances might just be causing it.
He felt its even rhythm by touching the sensor crystal. His first day of his new world revealed a lot more than he imagined he could ever see at all. Both healing and combative abilities were now possibly proved, possible friends discovered, and another clue is now discovered to follow the path; but also gave him unwanted attention, burned up much of the essential resources and might have prevented the progress of the very simulation.
By this time, it was night in Aldermere and Evan remembered he had to meet Marcus at the barracks that evening. His body was enhanced so that he did not need rest for days, but he knew soon that would exhaust his supply of energy. His nanites were working within him to optimize his cellular regeneration, but they could do only so much.
He started walking toward the barracks, his mind spinning with possibilities. If those ancient texts in the cathedral really did record previous Aether disruptions, then deciphering them would be of prime importance to his mission. But first, he needed to ground himself better in this world.
A mystic healer with such mysterious powers would certainly attract attention, but maybe that was not avoidable now. The question was how to turn that attention into his advantage while digging into the greater mystery.
Again, the sensor crystal pulsed, stronger than ever before. It seemed to agree with what he thought. Something was wrong in this simulation. The answers lay somewhere in this medieval city of faith and secrets.