By the stars above, physical therapy hurts. It didn't help that Goodwitch was in charge of the sessions. She must have held a grudge against me for my snappy retort the previous night. Regardless, physical therapy left me exhausted and unwilling to move from my position on Beacon's fitness room floor. Goodwitch's harsh regiment of jogging, stretching, and various exercises followed by a less-than-short break before repeating it all over again for hours made me feel resentful for agreeing to stay at Beacon.
When Goodwitch finally called the day's session over, the clock had just struck noon. I barely registered her announcing I was free to explore the campus if I didn't interrupt any classes and subsequent departure from the room before a new but familiar figure leaned over me, blocking the floodlight on the ceiling with her disastrous mass of blond hair.
"What's up Tenno? Goodwitch too good for ya?" Yang teased, reaching down with a hand expecting me to take it. She was wearing a school uniform.
I responded with a slow blink and low groan. I did not want to deal with her right now.
She didn't retract her hand when I refused to take it. Instead, Yang kneeled down, grabbed my limp arm and forcefully pulled my unresponsive and sore body up into a sitting position.
I breathed out a meager 'Ow' from the jolt of pain, but Yang either didn't hear me or didn't care. She was keeping me steady so I wouldn't lean to the side and fall back down on the floor.
"Wow. You're squishier than a plush doll. What did that woman did to you?" Yang seemed to be looking me over, but I couldn't tell from my hunched over position; my neck wasn't sore, but I had no energy to move it. "I guess you want to go back to your room and rest. Do you happen to know where that is? I'm still a bit new here."
"No," My replies were clipped and weak, "Here from Infirmary. Ozpin set up room. He knows."
"Hello, again!" A new voice made itself known from across the fitness room. "Yang Xiao Long? What happened to Tenno? Does she need medical aid?" The newcomer's footsteps rapidly approached my spot on the floor.
"Nah, Pyrrha. Goodwitch put her through a wringer. Nothing a two day nap won't solve." Yang replied. "Hey, I'm gonna go find Ozpin, see if I can get your room number. I think I passed him on the way here. Pyrrha, can you keep an eye on her for a minute?"
"That I can do. Go get the headmaster. Nothing will happen to her." Pyrrha knelt down next to me as Yang stood up to leave. Without Yang holding me steady, my still unresponsive torso leaned to the side and my shoulder landed on Pyrrha's thigh. She froze at the intimate contact, probably unsure of how to react.
"Can't move." I mumbled, as if that explained everything. "Physical therapy. Numb all over." My body was very tentatively moved into an upright position. Pyrrha had very gentle if mildly calloused hands. A warrior and a caregiver.
"I have been in your position before." She said. "PT is not a very fun procedure to endure, but it is necessary. There are some things that Aura cannot heal on its own."
There was that word again. "Aura? What is that?" I asked, hoping for a more concrete answer beyond 'You don't have it.'
"You don't know what Aura is? First Jaune and now you, too." She seemed somewhat exasperated at that revelation, but continued with her explanation. "Aura is the light of our souls. It shields and protects us from harm, while providing the individual with enhanced physical capabilities. I should have guessed you did not have your Aura unlocked by your current exhausted state."
Aura. Sounds a lot like energy shields created by Warframes and Corpus troops, but organically produced. How that worked would have to wait. How someone 'unlocks' it…
"How does someone get their Aura unlocked?" I asked as innocently as possible.
"Usually, someone else will unlock it for you through their own Aura supply." Pyrrha paused as if choosing her next words carefully. "Do you… wish to have your Aura unlocked?"
Yes! But be tactful about it!
"If it'll help me start moving at all, then yes." I replied.
"Okay. I don't know how Aura will affect you, but if you're willing to go for it, I can't refuse." She placed a hand behind my neck. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
"Lotus! Lotus! Come quickly – RISE AND SHINE – you must see this!" Ordis' voice chirped through the Orbiter's intercom. "You won't believe it! It just showed up suddenly! I found – MY MARBLE COLLECTION – the Operator's transference signal and its source vector!"
The Lotus continued to look over the empty transference pod at the back of the Orbiter, seemingly unperturbed by the Cephalon's excitement. Faint pulses of lime green energy snaked through the device and into the crystal tubes connecting the pod to the Orbiter. They began the moment Ordis picked up the transference signal.
"Are you seeing this Lotus!? The trace on the source vector points to…" Ordis' enthusiasm died away. "No. No that can't be correct. I'm running the numbers – AT THE SPEED OF SOUND – approximately twelve million times per second and the chance of all of them being a mistake is effectively zero."
The Lotus calmly walked toward the navigation panel inside of the docked Liset, kneeling as the interface illuminated at her approach.
"This doesn't make any sense! The only possible explanation would be a trap, but emulating a transference signal is almost certainly impossible, let alone having it originate from a completely different star! The logistics of such a feat is both impossible and impractical! Lotus, what should we do? Is this the Operator's signal or is it a trap? I must have your input! My processors are overloading from – CALCULATING PI – running through possibility after possibility over and over again and now my transistors hurt! There's no way its originating from a star 201 light years away!"
The Lotus did not respond as she was pressing and swiping the navigation holograms. A final beep locked in her selections.
"Ordis, I need you to chart a course for this coordinate in the Outer Terminus sector. Get there by any means necessary as quickly as possible."
"Uh, right! Breaking lunar orbit, diverting power to engines, – PUNCH IT – engaging to specified coordinates." The Liset's cockpit rapidly changed its orientation, dancing sunlight all throughout the cabin. "I hope you know what to do, Lotus." The Cephalon muttered as the space craft accelerated to Pluto.
What they were unaware of was that the transference signal was visible to the entire Origin System, and a cluster of oddly shaped asteroids have begun to move.
I gasped and arched my back, wholly unprepared for the sensation of completely unknown energy exploding through all of my body. My eyes were wide open, but failed to see Beacon's fitness room. My ears were clear, but failed to hear the droning ventilation system or Pyrrha's shocked response. My legs were touching the floor, but failed to feel its spongy, rubbery texture. My nostrils flared with my gasp, but failed to smell the sterilized air or Pyrrha's flowery shampoo.
There was no description for what I experienced, so I can only say for certain what it was not. It did not hurt, but the departure of sensation was enough to frighten me, like a hallucination that held nothing recognizable. My different senses were overloaded with the same sensation. Sight, hearing, touch, and smell all returned the exact same thing, and for the briefest of moments, I believed I was dead.