The early morning traffic in Aurelion moved much faster than Eli expected.
Their car rolled through a different part of the city where the streets widened and the buildings got lower. The glass and polished stone walls faded into solid concrete, loading docks, and fenced off strips of property that looked like it didn't want to call any attention to itself.
Eli actually felt a sense of comfort around this part. It almost reminded him of home.
He sat with his shoulder rested against the passenger door, watching the city change street by street. The crow ring hung from its chain around his neck, tapping him lightly whenever the car hit a split in the road. He hadn't taken it off since the drive back from the station. Part of him didn't want to touch it, and part of him kept checking it like a reminder that it wasn't a dream. It just didn't feel real.
Brad drove with both hands on the wheel this time, steady and calm like this was just another errand.
"You're quiet this morning," Brad said.
Eli didn't look over.
"I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
Eli let out a shaky breath.
"About what's about to happen to me."
Brad glanced at him briefly and then back to the road.
"It's nothing dramatic or too intense, just a couple tests to see what you're capable of right now."
"What kind of tests?" Eli asked.
Brad slowed down as he approached a light and kept his foot on the brake.
"Simple stuff first," he said. "Like your hand-eye coordination, reaction timing, how you handle under some pressure."
Eli's jaw tightened a bit.
"And what if I don't handle them well?"
Brad didn't answer right away.
The light in front of them stayed red, the traffic idling quietly next to them. He rested his hands on the wheel and watched the intersection like he was thinking about how much honesty Eli could handle at once.
"Then we just learn where you're starting from," he said finally.
Eli looked over at him.
"That's it?"
Brad gave a small shrug.
"Well, you're not supposed to be any good yet anyway."
The light turned green and the car moved forward again.
"You've only been activated a few days," Brad continued. "That means the connection is there. But knowing something exists and actually being able to use it are two very different things."
Eli leaned his head back against the headrest and stared out the window again.
"So basically I'm going to embarrass myself the whole time."
Brad gave a small smile.
"Yeah, probably."
Eli huffed sharply and tried his best to relax.
"Great."
The car turned down a new street, narrower than the ones before, the buildings around them much older and industrial. A tall black metal fence ran along the right side of the road and ended with a tall gate and nowhere to turn around.
Brad slowed the car down as they approached.
"This place isn't open to the public," he said. "Completely private facility. Some people train here when they need to get stronger without drawing too much attention to themselves. People like you mainly."
He held up a card to the reader at the gate. The lock made a sharp click and the metal doors slid open.
They drove inside and parked on the side of a very long and plain concrete building.
Brad shut the engine off and looked over at Eli.
"Hey, don't overthink it," he said. "You'll do fine."
Eli reached up and adjusted the ring against his chest without realizing he was doing it.
"It's a bit late for that."
Brad opened the door and stepped out.
"Come on, got somebody I want you to meet in there."
The air outside was cool and smelled like a mixture of old rubber and metal.
Brad pushed through the building door.
A sharp impact cracked throughout the inside of the room.
Eli paused in the doorway.
Another hit landed somewhere else in the building, heavier this time, followed by the sound of something sliding across a workout mat.
Brad didn't slow down.
Eli kept up right behind him.
The room opened wide in front of him. Thick padding covered most of the floor with a couple walkways here and there. Racks of different pads and boxing gloves lined one side of the wall. There were cracks and holes throughout the concrete walls showing obvious signs of wear.
The place looked used, not polished. The kind of gym where things got broken and fixed again instead of replaced.
Two men were moving across one of the center mats.
Not sparring lightly. Real solid hits.
One of them stepped into the other's guard and drove an uppercut right into his ribs. The sound made Eli wince as if he felt it himself.
The man took a staggered step back and came back with a hook that snapped the other fighter sideways.
Neither of them looked surprised by the hits. They just kept moving.
Brad walked straight toward them.
"Hey," he called out.
The taller of the two men stepped back first, breathing steady, sweat dripping from his face down onto the mat. He wiped his mouth with his arm and turned to face them.
"This is Tomas."
The man's eyes shifted toward Eli.
"So this the kid?" Tomas asked.
Brad nodded.
"Yeah."
Tomas rolled his shoulders once, loosening them.
"Alrighty then," he said with his eyes fixed on Eli. "Let's see what you got."
Eli slipped off his new sneakers and stepped onto the mat, the foam giving a little bit under his toes.
Tomas walked past him and grabbed a pair of light gloves from a rack and tossed them to Eli without really looking.
"Put these on," he said.
Eli caught them awkwardly.
"I thought this was just testing."
Tomas started to stretch his arms across his body.
"It is."
Eli slid the gloves over his hands while Tomas moved into the open circle on the mat.
"Come over here," Tomas said, motioning him over.
Eli stepped in the circle, unsure exactly what the first move was supposed to be.
Tomas pointed to his feet.
"Stand square, like any type of fighting stance you know."
Eli adjusted his stance slightly.
"No," Tomas said. "That's how you stand if you want someone to break your nose."
He stepped in a little closer, nudged Eli's foot back with his own, and lightly pushed his shoulder to give his stance some angle.
"Like that."
Eli tried his best to hold it.
Tomas nodded once.
"Good."
Without warning Tomas flicked his hand out and tapped Eli on the shoulder.
Eli flinched.
"Relax, take a couple breaths," Tomas said.
Eli took a couple and tried his best to shake the jitters out of his arms.
Another quick tap, this time on the other shoulder.
Eli tried to react a little faster, lifting his arms in an attempt to block.
The taps came even faster now.
Shoulders, chest, side of the arm. None of them were very hard, but they were enough to keep them both reacting.
Eli found himself moving more than he was thinking, his hands shifting and feet adjusting in unison.
After a few minutes Tomas took a step back.
"Alrighty then," he said. His bright tone catching Eli a little off guard. "It looks like you're not completely frozen. That's a good place to start."
Eli pulled one of the gloves off and rubbed his wrist.
"So that was the test?"
Tomas shook his head.
"Sorry son, that was just the warmup."
Eli looked over at Brad.
His uncle was leaning against the wall nearby, arms crossed in front, watching like he had all the time in the world.
Tomas led Eli over to a heavy punching dummy closer to the wall.
The thing looked almost twice the size of Eli. It had a thick rubber torso on a reinforced metal base that was bolted into the floor.
Tomas tapped it with the side of his knuckles.
"So I heard you got the lecture about everything yesterday. You think you understood it all well?" he said.
Eli nodded slowly.
"Yeah, kind of."
"Kind of is good enough for me," Tomas replied.
Tomas looked right at Eli.
"Ya' know, I'm a carrier too," he said.
He stepped back a pace and rolled his shoulders once.
"My binary is Strong and Weak."
Eli blinked.
"Okay... but how does that actually turn into..."
Tomas moved before Eli could finish the sentence.
His fist drove straight into the dummy's chest.
The sound exploded throughout the room.
The entire metal base tore free from its hold on the floor.
The dummy launched across the mat like it had been hit by a truck, smashing through a couple racks of pads before slamming into the far wall hard enough to leave a large crack in the concrete behind it.
The metal frame stuck halfway through the wall.
Dust around the room slowly settled down.
Tomas shook out his hand like he had just barely tapped a speed bag.
"Impact," he said simply.
Eli stared across the room at the newly destroyed dummy.
"That was... one punch."
Tomas nodded.
Brad pushed himself off the wall.
"Carrier field makes the rule real, remember?" he said. "Maybe I should've brought you here last night instead of my kitchen sink example."
Eli looked between them, and back to the hole in the wall.
"That's insane."
Tomas glanced back at him.
"That was just the easy part," he said, raising his hands slightly. "Warmups are over, now it's time for the real fun."
Eli felt his stomach sink.
Brad's voice came from behind them.
"Don't hold back too much."
Tomas nodded once.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Eli noticed Tomas didn't look at Brad when he said it. Just kept his eyes forward. Like he'd already decided what the session was going to look like before they walked in.
He stepped forward.
The first real punch came so fast Eli barely had enough time to lift his arms before it hit.
The impact knocked the air right out of his chest.
Not a training tap. A real hit with real weight behind it. Eli realized immediately that Tomas had been holding back during the warmup and was only now deciding not to.
He staggered backward, barely keeping his feet under him.
"Guard up at all times, you never know what or who is coming," Tomas said, already taking another step inward.
Eli tried to reset his stance the way Tomas showed him a few minutes ago.
Too slow.
Tomas stepped inside his arms, hooking one of his giant arms around Eli's shoulder, and flipped him clean onto the mat.
The padding below him still hit hard.
"Watch your feet," Tomas said. "If you ever start to lose balance try your best to fix your feet before anything else."
Eli pushed himself back up, his ribs already starting to ache.
He was barely fully upright before Tomas moved again.
A quick strike snapped toward his shoulder.
Eli blocked it this time. The force still shoved him sideways.
"Better," Tomas said.
Brad's voice came from across the wall.
"Again."
Two hits came in succession, a jab and an instant reverse punch with the other hand. Eli was quick enough to block the jab, but the reverse slipped through and caught him right in the stomach.
Eli dropped to a knee.
"Steady breathing, get up when you're ready," Tomas said.
Eli forced himself to stand, his arms feeling pounds heavier than before he started.
Tomas started to notice his expression.
"You're starting to hesitate now," he said.
"I'm starting to hurt all over," Eli shot back.
They started circling each other again.
"That means you're learning something," Tomas said.
Eli wasn't sure if that was encouragement or just a fact being stated. With Tomas it was hard to tell the difference.
Another strike came.
Eli just ducked out of the way this time instead of trying to block.
Tomas sent a kick into Eli's side right as he tried to get back up.
Brad spoke again.
"Keep going."
Tomas glanced back at him this time.
"You sure about that?"
Brad nodded once.
"Push him today."
Eli lowered his arms slightly, breathing harder now.
"Maybe listen to the guy actually punching me," he said.
Brad's voice stayed calm.
"You wanted to know what you are."
Eli wiped sweat from his eyebrow.
"Yeah."
Brad didn't blink.
"Well, this is part of it."
Eli's jaw tightened.
Tomas stepped in again.
This time Eli tried to move first.
He threw a clumsy swing.
Tomas slipped it easily and drove a short punch into Eli's shoulder that spun him halfway around.
Eli caught himself before he fell.
"Now listen," Tomas said. "Anger doesn't make you faster."
Brad spoke again.
"Do it again."
Tomas hesitated this time.
"He's slowing down."
"Good," Brad said.
Eli turned toward him.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you."
Brad didn't answer.
The silence had said enough.
Eli's frustration finally snapped through the exhaustion.
"What exactly are you trying to prove here?" he said.
Brad stepped forward from the wall now.
"That you don't break the first time things get difficult."
Eli gave a sharp laugh.
"Yeah? Because right now it feels like you're just seeing how far you can push me."
Brad met his eyes evenly.
"If that were true," he said, "you'd already be on the floor."
The room went quiet for a moment.
Tomas looked between them.
"Maybe we should cool it for a minute," he said.
Brad finally nodded once.
"Fine."
He turned toward Eli.
"Let's take a break."
Eli bent forward slightly, his hands on his knees, trying to slow down his breathing.
Brad ticked his head toward a thick reinforced door along the far wall.
"Come on," he said, throwing Eli a bottle of water. "There's something else I want to show you while we're here."
They all walked over to the solid metal door. Brad tapped his keycard on the small panel beside it and entered a small code as well.
The internal mechanism grumbled alive, and a deadbolt opened with a heavy thud.
The room on the other side looked nothing like the rest of the gym they were in.
The lighting was softer and more focused on rows of thick steel cabinets that lined the walls. Reinforced glass panels sealed each individual compartment. Every shelf held a single object resting in steel mounts or foam pillows.
Most of them looked like everyday objects. A short iron rod, a pair of heavy steel cuffs, a small antique nesting doll.
Each one had a small bronze plate underneath with identification numbers etched into the metal.
Eli stepped inside slowly, taking each object in one by one.
The air felt much cooler in here.
Not just temperature. The whole room felt different. Quieter in a way that had nothing to do with sound. Like the objects on the shelves were taking up more space than their physical size should allow.
"What is all this?" Eli asked.
Brad walked a few steps in behind him.
"These are called binary instruments," he said.
Eli glanced from one case to the next.
"They all look just like random junk."
Brad nodded.
"They usually do."
He tapped lightly on one of the glass cases.
"Every one of these has a sealed entity inside it. Most of the time it's a Shade that got contained instead of destroyed."
Eli's expression changed.
"You can actually seal them?"
"Sometimes," Brad said. "If the person handling it has the right tools and enough control."
He gestured around the room.
"When a Shade gets bound into an object like this, it becomes an instrument. The entity inside still exists, but the effect gets redirected through the object."
Eli crossed his arms slightly.
"So they're basically weapons."
"Sometimes, but not always," Brad said. "Sometimes they're used for defense, sometimes they're used as containment tools. It really depends on the entity that got sealed."
Tomas leaned against the doorframe behind them.
"And some are more trouble than they're worth keeping around."
Eli studied one of the cabinets.
"So only carriers can use them?"
Brad shook his head.
"Nope, anyone can."
Eli looked back at him.
"Instruments don't care if you're a carrier," Brad said. "Carrier or normal human, the object still works."
Tomas gave a small shrug.
"Which is why some normal people get themselves killed trying."
Eli watched his uncle closely.
"So you're a carrier then," he said.
Brad shook his head immediately.
"No."
Eli blinked.
"What?"
"I'm not a carrier," Brad said calmly. "Never have been."
Brad stood up straight and lifted his arm, pulling his sleeve back to reveal a dark black band around his wrist.
Eli narrowed his eyes a little. He remembered it instantly. His uncle had the same device around his wrist a few days ago at the station.
"That's the same one you used at the station," Eli said.
Brad nodded.
"Yeah."
He lifted his wrist slightly.
"This one is a suppression instrument. It dampens carrier-field activity and can interrupt early destabilization if the timing is right," he said. "I'll show you a better demonstration another time, like when we aren't getting attacked."
Brad gestured around the room.
"Instruments follow the same phase structure as carriers. The stronger the entity sealed inside, the harder they are to control."
He tapped one of the cabinets.
"Everything stored here is lower phase. Nothing past early pro or prometaphase."
Eli nodded slowly, remembering the phases from the night before.
He glanced back at Tomas.
"That's right, do you know what phase you are in?"
Tomas scratched the back of his neck.
"Well I've been in this for a while now. So if I had to guess..."
He shrugged slightly.
"Maybe metaphase."
Brad nodded once.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Then Brad's eyes shifted toward Eli's chest.
"And you're already carrying one."
Eli touched the crow ring.
"The Shade from the station?"
"Yeah," Brad said.
"That thing's a destabilization detection instrument. It reacts to destabilization spikes and self-doubt escalation. Basically an early warning system."
Eli turned the pendant between his fingers.
"So it doesn't fight anything."
"No," Brad said. "No offensive capability. Just tells you when something's about to go wrong."
Eli nodded slowly.
Then he looked back at Tomas.
"Do you use one?"
Tomas raised both fists and flexed them.
"These are the only instruments I need."
Brad snorted.
"That's because most instruments would break before you finished swinging them."
Tomas grinned.
"Probably true."
Brad turned toward the door.
"Alright. Break's over."
Back on the mat, Eli's body already felt like it had been through a full day.
Tomas rolled his shoulders once.
"Ready?"
Eli lifted his gloves again.
"As I'll ever be."
Tomas stepped forward.
The next round started slower. Not much easier, just more controlled.
Tomas kept the pressure steady, forcing Eli to react instead of think.
A quick jab. A body shot. A sweep that nearly knocked Eli sideways before he caught his balance again.
"Feet," Tomas reminded him.
Eli reset.
Another punch came toward his guard.
He blocked it.
The impact still rattled through his arms.
They circled again.
Eli's breathing got heavier, but he still maintained it.
Tomas stepped in once more and drove a straight punch toward Eli's chest.
Eli raised his arms. The hit landed right into his forearms.
But the force didn't feel the same this time.
Instead of crashing straight through him, the pressure compressed between his arms and chest for a split second.
Then it snapped back outward.
Not a block. Something else. The force hadn't stopped, it had been redirected. Like hitting a wall that decided to hit back.
Tomas stumbled backward two steps.
Both of them froze in place.
Eli looked at him.
"I didn't me..."
"Again," Brad said from the wall.
Tomas looked at Eli for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright."
He stepped forward again and threw another controlled punch toward Eli's guard.
Eli braced for another impact.
It landed.
But Eli felt only warmth this time instead of pain. A familiar warmth he hadn't felt in a while.
And the force kicked back again.
This time it was a bit stronger, enough to push Tomas a little off balance.
Tomas stepped back and let out a short laugh.
"Well," he said, shaking his arm out, "that's interesting."
Brad didn't say anything at first.
He was watching Eli more carefully now.
Eli lowered his hands slowly.
"Wait, what just happened?"
Brad finally spoke.
"Looks like your carrier field finally responded."
Eli stared at his gloves.
"But I didn't even try to do that."
"That's normal," Brad said.
Tomas nodded.
"Your body must've figured it out before your brain did."
Eli turned that over for a second. His body working out something his brain hadn't caught up to yet. It wasn't the first time that had happened in the past week. The blackouts in class. The heat before he collapsed. The seam down the middle of his apartment.
His body had been doing things without him for a while now.
Eli looked between them, still breathing hard.
Brad checked the time on his watch.
"That's enough for today."
Tomas clapped Eli once on the shoulder.
"Nice one kid. Not bad for a first real session."
Eli winced.
"I feel like I got hit by a truck."
Tomas laughed.
"That means it worked."
They cleaned up the mats and did what they could about the dummy still lodged in the wall.
By the time Brad and Eli stepped back outside, the sun was already dropping behind the buildings of Aurelion.
Eli leaned against the car for a second, letting the cooler air hit his face.
His whole body hurt.
But his mind kept replaying the moment on the mat.
The punch.
The warmth again.
The way it snapped back.
Brad unlocked the car.
"You hungry?" he asked.
Eli nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
"Let's eat then," Brad said.