She wasn’t sure what he’d done, but somehow the stranger was able to get her attendant moving again.

The man had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the mechanical box and after a few moments of struggle and an unsettling spray of sparks, the attendant’s slack face looked to him and said, “You are not 055-7426B.”

“I’m not even 055-7426A,” The man answered before turning back to Evara. “Who did you come in with?”

Evara shrugged. “I woke up alone.”

“But surely you know —“ He pointed to his temple.

Evara’s gaze glanced between the two men watching her. The attendant was awake, the green light on the machine was blinking, even if his reddened eyes were not. The other man’s attention was active, a beacon directed into her face.

“My sister,” She said without skipping a beat. It had to have been Senya. She couldn’t remember the exact circumstances of her capture, but she had an inkling that Senya had been with her at some point.

The attendant did not blink or change its focus as it responded. “Hasan, Lott J., assistant to the House of Lane, thank you for your assistance but neither you nor your employers have any current business with 055-7426B. She has not yet passed the intake process and has not yet been accepted into the Dyadic program.”

“And her sister?” Mr. Hasan pressed.

The attendant’s slack jaw clicked shut, the faraway-focused eyes falling to the side for a moment. Evara almost thought it had kicked off again but Mr. Hasan waited for its answer with a rapt fascination written across the round features of his face. “055-7426A is registered as a Dyad, as every Mystic, but undergoing civilian training.”

Mr. Hasan’s eyes settled on Evara’s face this time. “Your sister — was she a generator or a reader or a mixed type?”

Evara shook her head. “I don’t understand the terms.”

“How long have you been here? What training have you completed?”

The attendant kicked back into the conversation, “Hasan, Lott J., assistant to the house of Lane, thank you for your assistance but neither you nor your employers have any current business with 055-7426B.” 

She felt the hard hand of her attendant against her spine, pressing her along their way.

She looked back at Mr. Hasan desperately. She tried reaching into the aether around him, to read anything she could about his position as an assistant for a house — whatever that meant. She tried to decide if he meant well. But all that there was to perceive was gray.

Ultimately it was his panicked expression, the awkward step he took after them as they continued down the hall that sold her on his allyship.

Though the aether around both of them was cloudy and unreadable, she decided since she could still sense its presence it was theoretically possible for her to shout through it, the way she and Senya used to when they were out exploring the wilds.

She immediately answered the question that had seemingly unsettled her assistant. “My sister was our village’s healer. Her name is Senya Greenblade. She was like me, she can read and speak through the aether.”

There was no answer and of course there wasn’t. Not only was she currently entirely incapable of reading the aether, she was speaking at a man of average consciousness. She knew that Mr. Hasan could maybe hear if she was loud enough but could only subconsciously release information into the aether himself. And she supposed subconscious drift would be trained out of anyone dealing even irregularly with her kind. Anything aside from that would yield anarchy, a single aether reader could easily leverage men’s private thoughts against each other. A strict, hierarchical society as she understood theirs to be could easily be toppled by the right man’s emotional lapse.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the man taking careful steps after her, his eyes still focused on her. He gave her a little nod as if encouraging her, or maybe even letting her know that he heard her.

Just in case, she decided to further mentally unload into the aether. “I think I need help. I was injured during capture. I can see the aether but it’s currently unreadable. I understand there is a timely element to this intake process. I’m fearful they are going to give up on me and this creature, this attendant, who calls itself altered said if I don’t pass through one way, I’ll pass another.”

She coughed and stepped to the side for a moment, signaling to the attendant that she needed to take a break. Mr. Hasan had continued following them down the hall and was only a few feet away. The man’s gray-brown eyes were intent on her as she saw him nod and point to the attendant and then to the side of his head, making a movement like a blow.

Evara’s heart dropped as she interpreted the meaning of the motion. He was surely confirming her fear. The attendant had dropped the statement so casually, but it had stuck with her. She’d grappled with the exact meaning of it, what kind of civilization did such a thing to its people? Naturalized citizens or otherwise. Such a thing was unheard of in the wilds. Their enemies were simply the butchers and the roving gangs of military men from the cities — the so-called Dyads — patrolling the countryside to allegedly keep the butchers in check. Yet anytime they'd caught the scent of a settlement, they were quick to start a war, to take prisoners. And now she was theirs.

Then it hit her like an unseen enemy — I’m truly never going home. She felt her legs give and she started to fall against the wall.

Her attendant had paused to let her rest but did not move to catch her.

It was Mr. Hasan who swooped in and wrapped his arm about her shoulders, putting her back on her feet. In a fluid motion, he dipped his head down and whispered in her ear before turning back to the attendant.

He stumbled on his words when addressing her attendant, “You’ll just let your charge collapse? Is the woman not under medical surveillance?”

The attendant’s jaw caught and a strange expression pulled the heavy cheeks up into something like a smile, causing its eyes to narrow as it focused down on them. After a moment, it blinked and spoke again, muscles relaxing. “055-7426B, we must return to quarters. I am in need of maintenance.”

“Of course,” Evara nodded and laid a hand on Mr. Hasan’s shoulder, thanking him as loudly as she could in the aether.

He winced slightly and nodded at her, releasing her.

As they walked away, she could hear Mr. Hasan’s whisper reverberating in her head, likely slipping through her consciousness out into the aether itself — “You will be fine. I will see to it.”