It was difficult, trying to concentrate on talking to the rogue with the golden, shifting mask. It was just fascinating, watching her body work. So many inefficiencies, so many little, silly faults of dumb, iterative design she'd seen a million times over in a million people simply not there, replaced with a physiology that ran like an atomic clock compared to a kid's plastic watch. And then there were the parts that she couldn't see. There was definitely something working in Aurum's body besides normal biology. The nerves were the obvious part, but when she looked closer almost every organ was doing things which it shouldn't physically be able to do. Enzymes were colliding with their substrates at a greater rate than they ought to at their temperatures, waste materials left the cells with incredible speed and in the muscles there were bands of something that she couldn't see. She couldn't even tell exactly what those did, but she was sure they had some function. The rest of her body was so perfect a construction it would be strange for something not to have a reason to be there.
"Um, so, that's awesome and all and I'd love to talk to you about it, but, uh, can you do anything about, like, my shoulder and my leg?"
Amy started, then blushed. "Uh… did I say all that out loud?"
"Um, just the stuff about the muscles. That's really interesting to know, actually."
"You're welcome, I guess," Amy said. "Uh, here you go." A flicker of will was all it took to set the cells dividing to patch up the wounds. Another thought created a brace of enzymes to digest the traces of contaminant from the wounds, then denatured them back into amino acids once their work was done. "You didn't really lose much mass from those wounds, but you should make sure to eat well for a while. Plenty of proteins."
"Okay," Aurum replied, and Amy got the impression that she was smiling underneath the mask, despite the eyes like steady golden coins. "Seriously, thanks. I don't know what I'd have told Dad. Um, the Merchants stuck something in me. A syringe. Is… there anything left from that?"
The healer blinked. She hadn't noticed anything acting on Aurum's system, and she certainly didn't look drugged. Now that she concentrated on looking for that, though.
"Huh. There is some there. Looks like… a combination muscle relaxant, hallucinogenic and psychotropic. Those weird nerves of yours are helping you out again, though. The drug's reacting with your system, but the signals just aren't getting to your brain." She frowned again. "No, they are, but… ugh, I don't even know how to describe it."
It reminded her vaguely of when she healed people who were asleep, the odd flashes of activity they got in their brains as they dreamed. The difference was that with Aurum she couldn't see the action potentials travelling along the nerves, and even then the patterns were different.
"Nevermind. I'm guessing you want me to get rid of the drugs?"
"Yes please," said the rogue. Amy noticed a slight increase in the levels of stress hormones. She didn't like the idea of the drugs. Not really a surprise. Not many in the Bay outside the Merchants or various addicts did. It all too-common an occurrence to see someone ODed in hospital or freaking out on a bus. Not, Amy reflected, That I go on buses much anymore. She felt the corner of her mouth twitch upwards. That's what Vicky's for. Then the guilt flooded back and she concentrated back on healing Aurum. The drug molecules broke down quickly and Amy reluctantly released the rogue's hand. She immediately felt the absence of the marvellous chemical clockwork of her body almost physically, but pushed it away.
"OK, there you are."
"Thanks so much," said the gold-masked rogue. "If there's ever anything I can do to help, please let me know. I've, ah, got my number… here!"
She pulled a slightly bent card from her breast pocket and handed over. There was a slight bloodstain on the corner, but a brush of Amy's thumb over it sterilized it and killed off the bacterial colonies that were already starting to grow.
"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind," she said automatically. She'd had plenty of people give her their cards before after she healed them or cured their cancer or leukemia or gout or whatever, but somehow this felt different. Maybe it was because Aurum's body was just so incredible-
Amy blinked. There was more than one thing wrong with that thought. If she'd said it aloud, she shuddered to think what Vicky would have made of it. She'd never have been able to live it down.
A hand fell on Amy's shoulder and she jumped, whirling around to meet the grinning face of her sister. Her feet were a foot off the ground.
"Don't do that, Vicky!"
"But your face is so funny!" the elder sister laughed. Her eyes flickered past the healer to Aurum, then down to the business card that was still in her hand. The edges of her grin threatened to reach her ears. "Ooooh, and what have we here? Exchanging numbers, Ames? And without even introducing your sister! For shame," Vicky teased.
"Vicky," Amy warned.
"Oh, I'm just teasing. But seriously, you wanna introduce us?"
"Um, I'm Aurum," piped up the rogue, sounding a little overawed. "I'm, um, a rogue. I, uh, kinda ran into some Merchants which is why…" she trailed off, gesturing at the ruddy stains on her suit.
"Fucking scum," said Vicky, her face curling into a disgusted sneer. "You alright?"
"Well, I am now. I, uh, got shot, a bit, but Panacea's just helped me out with that."
Vicky grinned again. "Yeah, my sister's great isn't she?" Amy tried to ignore the curl of warmth that settled in her stomach at that. "So, what do you, you know, do? I mean, there's been no, like, arrests by a new hero on the news or PHO. Are you just starting out?"
"She's a rogue," Amy interjected. "She's got a website."
Vicky floated back a fraction. "Oh, cool. The only rogue I know is Parian, and she never wants to talk."
"That's because whenever you try it's at one of her performances, Vicky."
"Yeah, well, that's when I know where she is. So, you're a rogue, huh? What kind of stuff do you do?"
Aurum raised a hand. A moment later, a glowing, golden mist floated up and out of the skin, gathering into a rough sphere in the air. "Well, I can add this to computers and 'upgrade' them, so I've been selling the use of that. Also, I'm really good at programming, so I've been writing programs and selling those, too. I've got a few other ideas coming, but that's what I've been doing so far." The rogue's stance shifted and the golden mist flowed back into her hand. "Though I might have to dial back a bit. For a while at least. I don't exactly want to get kidnapped again." She rubbed her arms uncomfortably, then seemed to realize something. "Shit!"
Amy looked on in bemusement as Aurum fumbled a cellphone from her pocket and dialled. It rang briefly, then was picked up.
"Dad?"
There was an indistinct exclamation on the other end.
"I'm-I'm fine. I'm at the PRT headqu- No, I'm not hurt... I'm fine, Dad, I'm fine... Really... No, not Ta- me-fine, actual fine…"
It was kind of unsettling, Amy reflected, watching the rogue talk so normally when she had a blank, ever-shifting mask for a face. The eyes definitely didn't help. Although the look might be useful when you're intimidating someone, she mused.
"OK, I'll see you there. Love you too, Dad," said the rogue, then lowered the phone from her ear.
"OK, I've got to go. Thanks so much for helping me, Panacea, and it was, uh, great to- meet you Glory Girl."
"You're welcome," said Panacea. "And be careful."
"Heh. I will. Thanks again."
Amy watched the back of the gold-masked rogue until it vanished behind the door.
"So," said Vicky. "You wanna play with me and Dean? It's Mario Kart."
Amy looked over at where Dean was still sitting on the sofa, and at the paused video game.
"Okay." Maybe it would help her keep her mind off all the ideas that were suddenly flooding through her head.
"Great! Who d'you wanna be?"
XxXxX
That night, Amy lay awake in her bed, trying to push the images and ideas out of her mind. Is this how tinkers feel? She didn't really talk much with Kid Win, but he was always scribbling stuff down when Vicky dragged her over to sit at the totally-not-the-Wards table in Arcadia's cafeteria.
She reached up and rubbed at her face, then glanced over at the clock. 00:07 blinked back at her. She groaned. The twiggy shadows of the tree in the garden waved across the curtains, seeming to beckon to her.
I could…
Amy turned over, looking away from the window. No.
Minutes crept by. The tree creaked and whispered. Ideas percolated through her head. Trees grown into houses. Plants growing medicines. She'd had them before, but she hadn't mentioned them to anyone. She wouldn't be able to do it, anyway. The pharmaceuticals companies would be up in arms over the very proposal, and building companies wouldn't be far behind.
The tree called out to her.
What if I did something just for me? Just for fun? Got a shoot and… played with it. Made some flowers...
Fuck it.
She threw off the covers and padded downstairs, carefully avoiding the creaky step, before letting herself out into the back yard.
There wasn't much there, just a small not-quite-square of grass bordered at the end by what was meant to be an artful rock-garden and on the sides by head-height fences. The old apple tree stood leaflessly off-center, waving in the night wind. Amy shivered, feeling goosebumps raise up on her arms. It was cold with just her pyjamas on. She reached up to grab at the lowest branch of the tree and pulled it away, killing off a layer of cells at its base to make it easier. Quickly, she grabbed a pot from the small shed that clung guiltily to the side of the house and scooped up a few handfuls of dirt from the rock garden to fill it before planting her apple twig.
By this time the cold had gotten all the way through her pyjamas and she was shivering in earnest, so the frizzy-haired girl beat a retreat back inside and up to her room, being careful not to get any mud on the carpet. Once she reached her room, she set the pot on her windowsill, brushing aside a collection of other knick-knacks to make a space. A couple minutes' work remoulded the stick into a plant in itself, extruding roots from the base and leaves from the stem. Delicate pink flowers unfolded in the moonlight.
Amy sat back on her bed, staring at the new plant. Ideas raged in her head like a storm, but she felt more like she could manage them.
Her dreams were full of trees and beasts and forests that throttled skyscrapers.