After about half an hour, I had finally reached her apartment complex. “Excuse me, where’s room Sixteen-J?” I asked the receptionist. 

“Es tut mir leid, ich spreche keine Gemeinsame Sprache” That’s their word for the “Common Tongue?”?

“Oh. Wo ist zimmernummer sechzig yott?” Is that correct? 

“Gehe zwei ebenen hoch, dann Biegen sie links a und es ist das erste zimmer auf der rechten seite” He answered. 

“Danke” I nodded, following his instructions only to find myself at room 60… I scurried back downstairs to confirm the location. Did I get my lefts and rights mixed up? “Linker weg oder rechter weg? Ein wag welcher ist?”

“Sie willen zu sechzig yott gehen, ja?” SIXTY? Did I not say 16?

“Ah, mein fehler. Ich meinte sechzehen” I realized. 

“Keine Ahnung. Das ist im sechzehen stock. Nimm den fahrstuhl” Well on the bright side, at least my understanding is somewhat better than my speaking. 

“Verstanden. Vielen dank” I exclaimed, heading to the elevator. That took way too long. Room 16-J was on my immediate left as I got out. I rang the doorbell, patiently waiting for her to let me in. It felt surreal being able to see Christine during a time like this. August was the last time I saw her and I honestly felt she’d be better off and safer without me in her life. Yet here I am dragging her back into the mess I’ve found myself in… I truly am a lousy person… After a few more minutes of waiting, I rang the doorbell again but there was still no answer. Could she have gone out somewhere? This time I knocked on the door a few time just to make sure.

“Just a sec!” My head perked up at the sound of her voice. The blood rushed up to my face as I found myself fidgeting about, anticipating what was about to happen. What do I say? Do I hug her? What if I break down and start to cry? What if things were awkward between us? Why would they be? We literally spoke on the phone for over an hour. But that’s different! Dammit, I’m stuck. Feels like I’m glued to the floor. Couldn’t even move a muscle as I got lost in those sapphire blue eyes of hers. ‘Roxy and her have the same eye color’ I noted. I remained silent, hoping I wouldn’t say the wrong thing and ruin the moment. 

“Is uh, your doorbell broken?” I asked. 

“Hm? Yeah I thought I told you that already on zhe phone. I said the doorbell vasn’t vorking” Oh…. “Hold on, how long vere you vaiting out here for?” She questioned. 

“Uhh a couple minutes. Not that long. But I rang the bell a few times and there was no answer”

“Mein gott, You’re so dumb” She laughed. “Come on in!” What the hell was I so anxious or nervous about? Why am I acting like I haven’t seen her in years? It’s only been a few months. 

“I missed you” I smiled, closing the door behind me. 

“I missed you too” She took a step forward before stopping herself. “Vait, did you vash your hands?” 

“Hm?”

“Did you vash your hands? If not, go do zhat right now” The aspiring doctor ordered. 

“I, I know you’re a med student but you were ever THIS much of a clean freak” Then again there’s literally nothing wrong with washing my hands again. 

“It’s cause of zhis local pandemic” She sighed as I went to her bathroom. 

“Wouldn’t that make it, an epidemic?” I called out. 

“Same thing” No, it’s not. “Either way, there’s been an outbreak of some disease lately. The symptoms are quite, disturbing. People are quarantining and taking safety precautions. We might have to take our classes online. Which is actually convenient since I have my own little lab set up here that I’ve been using to treat patients. Bought all the equipment online” So a repeat of what happened with the plague last year…

“Ooh nice!! How much gold have you earned?”

“Eden, you of all people should know how much I strive for free healthcare. I don’t charge anyvone. Especially vhen it’s barely any effort for me to heal zhem” Oh right…

“Wait so, what’s the point of you buying all this machinery then if you can just use your powers?”

“Because, I myself do not understand zhe full ability of my powers yet. I don’t vant to just rely on zhem entirely. I’d rather apply my medical knowledge and use proper tools, in case my powers fail me”

“Can’t you figure stuff like that out at the library?” Did she just say “I myself”? “I thought that’s where people go to gain a better understanding of their powers and gain familiarity with them. Not that I’d know” I bowed my head in shame. Then again, at this point I’ve just submitted to the fact that my powers will never bloom or develop. 

“I mean, true. I alvays thought it vas just a simple healing ability, but it seems to be more than zhat”

“Basically any living thing you touch returns to its previous state or form right? You’ve done that on me countless times. What more is there to it?” Roxy and Christine’s powers are literally tailored for their needs and are perfect for their career choices. 

“Except myself, yes. Any external or internal injuries I can fix up and restore the body to its previous condition, only in a twenty-four hour timespan. If it’s longer than zhat, I can’t do anything about it. I can’t bring the dead back to life, nor can I vork on inanimate objects. But you’re right, I should go to zhe library and figure out what more there is to it. It’s not as simple as me healing something or someone. There’s, something more” She paused and looked at me. “Have you experienced any injuries in the last twenty four hours?”

“Nope”

“And, has your power still not activated yet?”

“I gave up on that long ago. I’m just meant to be powerless. I’ve, accepted that fate”

“I vish my powers could help you activate it in some vay” She sighed, putting her hand on mine. “You have zhe brownies right? Let’s get to analyzing zhem!” God I love this girl. It’s nice, being able to see her again.

“Mhm” I nodded, handing her the sample as she got to work. 

 “So what exactly happened to your friend after having these?” Christine closely examined the brownies via her microscope. 

“Well he only had a bite. I gave that piece and the majority of them to the police. Saved two for you cause I knew you’d do a better job” I winked; or tried to… 21 years on this planet and I can’t even do that….

“Eden, no distractions please. Answer my question”

“Ok so, basically, I was downstairs in my room when this happened. Roxy called out to me and told me he had eaten something and suddenly gone into a trance-like state. I went up to find him lying on the floor, foaming from the mouth with the box of brownies next to him. His mouth was wide open, and there were dark purple lines spreading from his eyes and running down his cheeks. As well as some sort of rash covering his eyes”-

“Wait what?” 

“Hm?”

“Dark purple, you’re sure? Spreading from the eyes? Were they interior or exterior?” Love how she gets so serious when working. Then again, she has to. Not everyone’s like me…

“Yepp. They covered the sides of his face and were very thin. Looked like veins. And on the inside. The only external thing was the foam. I didn’t get much of a good look, and he was hauled on a stretcher shortly after. Roxy and another friend of ours should be with him right now. I’ll ask them about the situation”

“You don’t need to. Zhe purple lines are enough. It’s the same symptoms as the plague ve’ve been experiencing. I’ve been able to treat MOST of zhe other symptoms but not these lines. They’re, unnatural. My power can’t seem to work on zhem for some reason. I’ve never, dealt with anything like this before. Oh” Unnatural… “This brownie isn’t normal” Yeah no shit. “Come here” I obliged, taking a look through the microscope. “You see those moving dark spots?”

“Mhm”

“It’s as I feared. Pitch Black Five” Huh? “A new drug that’s been going around. I didn’t know that, wait, this makes so much more sense” I like to believe I’m smart but I genuinely feel dumb in her presence. “I couldn’t realize it earlier cause I never got a chance to observe the other samples. Thank you Eden, this has been of a huge help” I see?

“So is there some sort of correlation here? The plague epidemic thing isn’t even a virus or disease? It’s cause of people consuming this drug and getting symptoms like the ones Jeremy got?”

“Jeremy is your friend ja? Just so. Knew you’d pick up on it. I misunderstood this entire situation. Thank you for helping me realize it. But, I don’t get vhy my power just feels so useless right now” She groaned. 

“Opps”

“Huh?”

“Opposition”

“I don’t have any opposition”

“But I do. The Banes have been on my ass for well over three years and we’ve been playing this little game of revenge. Things have gotten so much more intense between us since August cause of, you know, all that’s happened. I’m willing to bet they’re the ones behind this. They’ve done a background check on all my associates, so they’re all too familiar with your power and its limitations. They probably engineered this drug in a way to combat the effects of your powers and preventing you from curing their victims. Whatever Pitch Black Five is, there’s a lot to it we don’t know”

“You’re right, but I’ll need a bigger sample then to”-

“Leave that to me” I pulled out my phone to text Roxy. Oh, apparently Jeremy’s condition is stable but he’s still stuck in some sort of stasis. ‘That’s good, keep me updated. By the way, I need you to be my eyes and ears again. Going out on a little assignment’

“What do you mean?” Christine enquired.

“Wait just give me a sec” I stated as Roxy started typing.

‘Aren’t you with Christine? Why are you going on a mission? What’s happening?’

Why are the girls in my life so damn inquisitive? ‘Just, it’s something for her. I’ll explain later. Our monitor and PC aren’t fixed yet but we should have other computers around the place you can use. Let me know when your system’s up and running’ Christine and her have always been my two most reliable helpers throughout this all. “You need a sample? I’ll get you one” I texted Roxy again to find hotspots of Pitch Black Five deals, specifically in Oakholden. 

“The drug’s sold all over zhe continent but it’s most prominent here. So you should be able to find quite a few deals going on, especially at the dry docks. Vant me to go vith you?”

“No, absolutely not”

“But”-

“I can’t afford risking you in the field. I’ll be back, I promise”

‘Do you have any idea how my power works? This isn’t like how hackers work in the movies! Give me a bit more info. Als0, does this have to do with what happened to Jeremy?’ Roxy questioned.

‘Yes, like I said, I’ll explain later’ Roxy’s power is cyberkinesis. She has a built in device on her right arm that allows her to control tech over a long distance. Not entirely sure on how large the range is, but she should be able to hack and control stuff from the Capital to Oakholden. Most of the time she hacks my earbuds via Bluetooth, and gets access to whatever technology I’m near. As long as she can see it, either directly or through me, she can take control of it. 

“Just, please be careful ok?”

“I always am” I’m not… “Also if I get hurt, I know you’ll patch me back up”

“I can’t if you die”

“Now why would you think that?” I assured, checking Roxy’s messages. ‘Let me know what’s going on at the dry docks’

‘I SWEAR TO GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS WORKS DO YOU? DO you forget that I have to see it through YOUR eyes or directly by myself?’

‘Your power is literally Cyberkinesis. It’s broken’

‘DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?’

“I love you, please stay safe”

“I promise” I hugged her tightly, holding her close to me before letting go. All of me wanted to just hold onto her forever. ‘Remind me’ I bade farewell to Christine, going back downstairs and driving off towards the location. Wait how come Sutner and Carver don’t know about any of this? Shouldn’t they be aware and working their asses off on something of this scale? Like, I get they’re busy with their own things but they should be the first ones to notice something like this. 

“Are you at the dry-docks?” Roxy enquired as I picked up my phone. 

“On the way. Are you hacking into the cameras I’m going past?”

“Mhm. The closer you get the more I can see. I’ll try narrowing things down and tracking their IP address, as well as getting a live location on them. This would be a lot easier if we had Youri’s codes”

“Weren’t you the one who dissed them?” I reminded. 

“I, well, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“If you insist. Either way, keep me updated”

“Eden wait!”

“Hm?”

“Please be careful” 

“I’ll try my best” I promised, ending the call. I parked the car outside and started my investigation…