Erica's body protested as she moved across the transport. A young man was sitting there, his mouth tight as he cradled one arm against his chest.
"Are you hurt?" Erica asked. The man nodded.
"Just a bit. One of those energy bursts winged me." He held his arm out a bit, showing a blistering, charred burn across his forearm. Erica winced, feeling his pain wash over her, combined with a touch of guilt. She knew she couldn't have done more to keep them safe, but she still felt like she should have.
Looking at the young man's arm, the strong desire to help resurged in her chest. She felt herself reach out. A warm golden light began to emanate from her hand.
Before the man could do anything, Erica touched his arm beside the burn. The light on her hand expanded to encompass his injury, and she imagined a soothing balm covering the area.
As she watched, the burn slowly healed. The blisters shrunk, the skin turned pink, then white, then tan, finally matching the rest of the man's arm exactly. The golden light faded away, and a wave of exhaustion almost knocked Erica over. The throbbing in her head increased again, and she squinted at the text appearing in front of her eyes.
[Ability Unlocked: Minor Healing]
[Due to your strong empathic talent, you have developed the ability to accelerate the healing of minor injuries on others. The amount and speed of healing are based on your Spirit and Mind Attributes, as well as the level of this ability.]
[You have earned an award for your first successful use of New Ability: Minor Healing]
[Reward granted: 10 Minor Healing Ability Points, 10 experience points.]
[Minor Healing is now Level 2]
The man stared at his arm, eyes wide. Others in the transport began to murmur to each other, their attention having been drawn by the earlier light.
"Can you help me too?" A teenage girl spoke up from the other end of the space.
Erica wobbled to her feet and approached the girl. She wasn't sure how to activate her ability, but she could feel the girl's pain calling out to her.
Erica knelt in front of the girl, hands out.
"Show me, I'll try. I'm not really sure how this works yet"
The girl straightened up in her seat with a wince, showing a more serious burn on her side. The wound was longer and deeper than the man's had been, creating an actual hole in the teen's side.
Erica breathed deeply and reached out with her heart. She wanted to heal this injury, to soothe the girl's pain, to make everything better. She imagined the soothing balm again, rebuilding the lost flesh and restoring the teen to normal.
The bright golden light began to shine from Erica's hand again, and she reached out, gently touching the girl's side above the burn.
The person next to her gasped as the wound began to close. The hole filled from the inside out and the girl's skin healed in the same way as the man's had done before. The other injured people on the transport started to clamour for Erica's help. Erica focused her wavering vision on the notification that appeared.
[Used Minor Healing Level 2. Minor Healing Ability points gained: 10. Experience points gained: 10.]
[Congratulations! You are now Level 2]
[Level Up Rewards: 4 Attribute Points, 7 Skill experience points, 7 Ability experience points]
Erica's mind cleared and the pounding in her head eased. She didn't feel any other changes, so she would have to check her System Interface when she could. For now, there were more people who needed her.
Most of the injured on their transport had less severe burns than the girl, earning Erica only 5 Ability points and 5 experience each. However, after healing only one more person, her Minor Healing Ability became Level 3. This took much of the effort put of healing the others, and Erica was relieved that her headache didn't return. She healed two more people before they arrived at the military base.
The transport rolled to a stop and a soldier opened the door. Erica and the other passengers climbed out slowly, looking around. Erica had never been on a military base before and she was surprised at how normal everything looked.
The group followed the soldier to one of the buildings nearby. On entering, it was clear that this was the infirmary. Despite their assurances that they weren't hurt (anymore), the military doctors gave each new arrival a check-up. When that was finished, the soldier escorted them to what appeared to be a lecture hall. Erica wasn't sure if it always had been a lecture hall or if it was newly rearranged to deal with an influx of people due to the current situation.
Then the questions started.
What did you see? What did you hear? What happened next?How did the aliens sound/look/move?
Erica knew that it was all important information and that the military needed to know as much as possible so they could make plans to fight back. She was just bored, and annoyed at the repetitiveness of the questions because each one seemed to be asked in about 5 different ways.
Finally, the interrogation ended and the civilians were guided to their new quarters on base.
Except for Erica.
Erica was escorted to a large office, where she was introduced to the officer in charge. Brigadier Mark Doppler was a tall man with blond hair which was starting to go grey. He sat back in his chair and looked at her with light blue eyes.
"I've been informed that you activated a System. Is that true?"
"Yes, sir," Erica replied, "Do you know about the System?"
The Brigadier sighed, his shoulders slumping momentarily.
"We only had our first few Activations today, the same as you. When facing a life-or-death situation, the System appeared to each of them and unlocked a different skill.Tell me about yours."
Erica explained her abilities and her current level, realising that she had not looked at the panel since it had first appeared. The Brigadier told her to check it again before she did too much, as she may be able to improve on her abilities. He also explained that each person on the base would be assigned duties within their ability so that everyone contributed to the welfare and safety of the community. Based on her current System Abilities, she would likely be assigned some border defence and infirmary shifts.
Given the rest of the day to sort herself out and familiarise herself with the base, Erica was escorted to her assigned quarters.
Sitting on her bed, she opened her System Panel .