I was waking up and thinking that I must have shut the other half of the door. Then I was noticing that I felt very bad, and a weirdness about my face, which made me lift a hand. I found that one of my eyes was covered up. There was something else which was even weirder, but I couldn't immediately figure out what it was, so I turned my head and saw that Kota was on a chair beside me. He was asleep, slumped against the wall. I heard someone shift on my other side, and that was harder to look at because of my covered eye. Without understanding why, I didn't want to move my hand, so I kept it over the bandage, but eventually, I managed to shift around enough to see Sean. I think he must have moved so I could see him. He needed to sleep a lot too, but mostly he looked incredibly relieved and happy-upset.
"Hey, Pookie," he said in a gravelly voice. At least, I am pretty sure that's what he said. It was awfully silent in my head and I noticed there was no Interface. Everything else he said I had no inner translation for. A few words I recognized but I had really been relying on the Interface to understand Taren more than I realized.
I searched my memory to say "What happen?"
His answer included something about "turn Interface off" and "too much" something. It sort of felt like the first day of Taren preschool again. Now I was in pain and really frustrated with myself. I vowed to do better at truly learning Taren. But an intense headache was blossoming from my right temple and I was having trouble focusing. Sean noticed my wincing and pointed to my head, making a frown face. I nodded and he retrieved something to inject into my IV. Warmth and a wave of drowsiness swept through me. Before my eyelid dipped back down I saw him smile wearily and then felt his hand caress my cheek under the other covered eye.
I am not sure how long it was until I woke again. Nathan and Victor were there. All I am confident I understood from their greetings were Princess and Peanut. Then Victor, standing nearest, took my hand and said "Ready, Interface turn on" followed by a zinging sensation. It was like when your foot falls asleep and the nerves fire back to life, only this was like my whole brain was rebooting. I promptly vomited all over him. Victor was stunned and looking a bit squeamish, while Nathan, clearly trying to cover his amusement, jumped into action to clean me and the bedding up. At least I understood them clearly now.
"Great aim, Peanut," Nathan chuckled under his breath as a brought back the clean linens and sterile towels.
Victor shot him a horrified look, finally shaking off his shock. He grabbed one of the towels and started wiping down the front of his shirt.
"I am so sorry," I tried to apologize.
"No, Sang, it's...uh, fine....Sean mentioned that turning the Interface back on might have some unexpected effects. I just didn't imagine...uh...this," Victor said as he continued to mop himself up. "How do you feel?"
"Not my best," I admitted, "though better than last time I wake up. How long I been asleep?"
They exchanged looks, silently communicating.
"It's been four kai!" I exclaimed, after using the Interface to check the date.
Victor sighed then turned back and nodded. "You need to take it easy. Ista Phillips said you may be weak and dizzy, so have Nathan help if you want to stand." Then he excused himself to go change clothes. I couldn't blame him. His moss and berry scent was being covered by that vomit smell.
I was feeling very gross now so Nathan did help me to the bathroom. Even if I hadn't been so unsteady, only using one eye was offsetting. I cleaned up while a medic changed the bed linens. I shuffled back supported by Nathan's arm around my waist and tubing for the IV trailing behind.
"You're getting fluids through the IV, but the medic said you need to start hydrating on your own. Would you like some klavi juice?" Nathan asked as he eased me back down on the bed.
"Yes," I replied, once again feeling the bandage over my eye. "What is wrong with my eye?"
Nathan's face turned hard and looked away at the wall. "Volzatch," he spat out.
"What? Those human-like Ionoth?" I gasped.
"You were attacked by one of them when you entered the Pillar. Your data was retrieved before they turned off the Interface. It showed you turning off the aether with that lever then a Volzatch hit you in the face, gouging your eye. It was really bad. After you were transported here the MedBay team started nanocyte reconstruction immediately. You should be able to uncover it today," Nathan explained.
He finally turned back to meet my gaze. His face etched in awe. "Sang, what you did before that though....you...you saved us...all of us."
I looked away, unable to take the intensity. I picked at a loose seam in the blanket. I asked, "How is Fancy?"
"Fancy slept almost as long as you did. When she woke up, she said she wasn't actively using her ability. She said you were doing it. They think either you basically forced her telekinesis talent beyond anything that has been done before, or you borrowed her ability. It took a lot of energy to do that and she collapsed shortly after returning to the Platform Space," he said.
"But she is okay?" I asked.
"Oh, yes. She is restricted to her quarters, but is back to her normal antics," Nathan said with a grin. Nathan also let me know that all the other Setari were recovered with no long term effects from the aether exposure.
I was grateful that my stunt had not harmed Fancy in any way. In the moment I had been so determined to save my guys that I didn't stop to think about what the consequences of using her telekinesis ability might be.
Kota came in with a food tray a few joden later.
"It's good to see you awake, Ten," he greeted me as he maneuvered the tray into a table. He looked much better and rested. "I thought you might be ready for some stew. You aren't on a liquid diet, but Victor sent a message that you are experiencing some nausea."
I grimaced.
Nathan barked out a laugh, saying, "Yeah, some nausea. That's an understatement."
"Oh, if you don't think you can eat this, I can get something else," Kota said looking worried.
"No," I reached out stopping him from taking the tray back. "It smells good. I think I feel better now."
Kota sat down on the edge of the bed next to me and took my hand in his. "I am sorry. Victor made it seem like it wasn't that bad."
Nathan's gaze narrowed but he moved to my other side and took that hand. Now, I had no way of eating and giggled.
"What?" Kota asked.
I lifted both my hands clasped in theirs and said, "I can't hold both your hands and a spoon."
Kota blushed and Nathan looked sheepish. They both released my hands. I momentarily felt bereft, but the stew did smell good and my stomach growled loudly, causing the boys to chuckle.
I ate and the boys chatted with me, keeping the conversation light. I think Nathan recognised how uncomfortable I was talking about what had happened...well, at least my part in it.
They were still by my sides when I fell asleep again. I don't think I had slept long when the scent of spring soap drifted in and the smooth, cultured voice of Tsee Blackbourne was dismissing Nathan.
I decided to keep my eyes closed, just listening.
"Get some rest and come back later, Tset Griffen," he ordered. I could feel the bed move as Nathan stood and left. Tsee Blackbourne asked Kota, "Has she been pretending to sleep long?"
I opened my eyes then. Kota was looking down in surprise. Tsee Blackbourne's expression was blank.
"I thought you were asleep," Kota said, bemused.
"I was," I said.
Tsee Blackbourne looked at me curiously then. He seemed to be assessing me. "You sensed me, but not with any Sight talent," he stated very confidently.
I looked down and nodded.
"How?" Kota asked.
"I could smell him," I replied softly.
"And you recognized the scent as him." Kota's voice sounded part impressed, part disbelieving.
"I know all of you by your scents," I added. I caught Kota sniffing himself out of the corner of my uncovered eye.
"Interesting. Is the olfactory sense that strong in most Earthens?" Tsee Blackbourne asked.
"I think it's just me," I replied, "though I can't be sure."
"Well, we can explore that later. I came because Ista Green is on his way to remove your eye bandage. I was advised to warn you about the...peculiarities...that sometimes occur with nanocyte ocular reconstruction," he said, making my heart drop.
"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling anxiety claw at my chest.
His steel gaze captured mine.
"Eye color is determined by different genetic factors. Sometimes the nanocytes don't replicate those factors exactly and the reconstructed iris will be different than the original," he explained.
"Oh, did that happen to Marc?" I asked.
Kota answered, "No, Marc was born with heterochromia." Kota hesitated before saying, "Tsee Blackbourne is trying to warn you that the nanocytes have been known to deviate drastically from original eye color. Just try not to be shocked if there is a change."
I sort of wished he hadn't told me, but I wasn't going to worry about it. How bad could it be?
******
Later
Bad. It could be very bad.
Well, not necessarily bad, but definitely drastically different.
When Sean had come in to take off the covering, he shooed the others out. I lifted the mirror he brought to indeed be shocked.
My eye was...well, almost a rainbow of colors that when seen from a distance have the impression of a lavender purple. But up close, flecks of light and dark blues mixed with hints of red, orange, green and gray.
I was speechless. And then the unbidden tears started.
"Hey, Beautiful," Sean pulled me into his arms and cooed, "you're still my Pookie."
I wept silently into his chest as he rubbed circles on my back. I pulled away and wiped the rest of the tears.
"That's my girl," he said. "Come on, let's get this eye exam done. We need to make sure that new eye is working properly."
I was grateful for a distraction. After a quick kiss on my forehead, he was strictly Ista Green, having me complete a full battery of visual exercises to assess my vision. The reconstructed eye worked perfectly. Actually, Sean informed me that I would need to let him know if my other eye needed any correcting. He assured me that minor adjustments to correct vision would not alter my green eye's color. I was relieved and admitted that perhaps it was a bit farsighted. A few minutes after a nanocyte injection and both my eyes were perfect.
Of course, I assume Sean sent everyone a message about the change and my initial reaction because they were all very careful about not staring or mentioning it when my visitors started returning. Only Gabriel slightly responded as he should with an "oy," but that was quickly silenced with an elbow in the ribs by Luke.
Part of me was relieved. The other part just wanted them to acknowledge the freakishness, and then tell me it didn't matter. Sean had done that, but I wanted...no...needed each of them to do the same. For now, I just needed to put it out of mind. Nothing was going to change this new reality for me. And, really, my eye being a different color was of far less importance than what I had done while saving the Setari.
I expected the expanded testing of my unique ability, but my reaction to aether is what changed everything.