“We better heal them up so they can get back to it,” Ranger Michael said. “I gave these two the ol’ Systemic treatment, but there’s a couple dozen wounds to actually heal, yet.”

  “And you have to look at Danielle’s cuts,” Heather reminded him. “She’s got a few on her shoulder that she keeps ignoring, but they’re probably infected too.”

  “Ah, right. Put down your bags please, and let me see,” Ranger Michael said.

  “Getting them off and back on is going to be a pain – someone grab the berry bag, I can’t set down the backpack one until that’s somewhere else or we’ll just have juice,” Danielle said.

  “I’ll get it,” Heather said. Danielle heard and felt her unclipping the food bags, then she lifted the main bag so Danielle could slip out of it. Danielle didn’t have much trouble with the satchels, but her shoulder hurt enough that she let Heather help her out of her denim shirt, too, before she rolled up the sleeve of her T-shirt.

  “Just the one spot?” Ranger Michael asked, peeling at the bandages. Danielle suddenly realized he was using a Skill to help with that, and her Mana Deflector Trait was interfering.

  “It’s three, but the bandages kind of ran together because they were so close,” Danielle said. “Um, let me pull in my Trait a little so your Skill can work properly.”

  Ranger Michael paused, and Danielle concentrated on her Trait. “Go again,” she said.

  This time, the Ranger was able to peel off the whole set of bandages with much less pulling at her skin. “That was much better,” he said. “That Trait could be bad news if you went unconscious, though, especially as you level up.”

  “I’m hoping for a Skill to bypass it,” Heather said. “Danielle’s not even the only one I know with a Trait like that.”

  “Really? What are they doing in the schools these days?” Ranger Michael asked in exasperation. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “Your Healer’s right, by the way, this should have been stitched too; and of course all three are infected. Are these they only three places it got you?”

  “Yeah, I ended up fighting defensively, for myself and for the others, and it didn’t get through the gloves,” Danielle said.

  “Good. I can use a smaller Skill then,” Ranger Michael said. “Activate Disinfect Wound. Activate Disinfect Wound. Activate Disinfect Wound. Activate Loosen Scabs. Activate Align Body. Activate Close Wound.”

  “Why is your System in full verbal mode?” Ranger Flo asked.

  “Because it was that kind of morning,” Ranger Michael said.

  “The call at the Rooms?” Ranger Flo asked, sounding a bit confused.

  “You don’t even know how paranoid that caller was,” Ranger Michael muttered.

  “You can take a minute to change it back if you want,” Danielle told him. “We’ll all live long enough to do a minor System adjustment.”

  “Hah! Thank you. Is everyone else OK with that?” he asked.

  “Why wouldn’t we be?” Akari asked back, confused.

  “Some patients prefer to know everything I’m doing in exact detail,” Ranger Michael told her, adding under his breath, “A few can’t contain their suspicions even then.”

  “You weren’t by chance healing a guy who goes by Gonzo, were you?” Danielle asked him.

  “No? I was healing a party of Systemists that, well, I won’t overshare here, but they did something unwise and the whole party got food poisoning,” he told her.

  “And Michael here’s our very best antibiotic Skills expert,” Ranger Flo said.

  “Set Interface mode to visual,” Ranger Michael said. Danielle watched his eyes as he activated three more Skills, examined her arm, and activated three more. “OK, medic, you’re good to go,” he said.

  “Now on to the hard part, huh?” Ranger Flo asked.

  “Actually, I have kind of a terrible idea,” Ranger Michael said, somewhat hesitantly, looking back at Sadie.

  “If it’s terrible, why are you considering it?” Ranger Flo asked.

  “The Skill manuals say it takes ten attempts at field-suturing to unlock Guided Sutures,” Ranger Michael said.

  “Michael!” Ranger Flo exclaimed. “You can not ask them to do that!”

  “We can provide the local anesthetic this time, though,” Ranger Michael said, “and – ”

  “No! Are you crazy? They don’t need more stitches when we’re already here to heal them in full!” Ranger Flo argued.

  “I’ll do it,” Sadie said.

  “He didn’t even tell you what he wants to do, yet,” Ranger Flo objected.

  “He obviously wants Danielle to stitch two more wounds so she can unlock the Skill,” Sadie said. “If you’re going to numb them first, then it’s fine. Actually, wait. If she just uses the antibiotic-with-pain-relief stuff and does it, will that unlock the Local Anesthetic Skill? Or is that not a Skill?”

  “It is a Skill, but you don’t have to – ” Ranger Flo began.

  “Is it a Skill you unlock when you try to numb someone while you do Healer stuff and it doesn’t work?” Sadie interrupted.

  “Well, yes,” Ranger Flo reluctantly admitted. “But it’s also a Skill your Healer can unlock without having to put you through this.”

  “Heather can’t share. If we help Danielle unlock it now, then in a few months she can sell it to all the Healers in camp,” Akari said.

  “And she’ll have it next time we need to stitch up to wait for Heather’s mana to come back,” Sadie said. “Danielle has more mana than Heather. It’s better for her to have it. Well, it’s better for them both to have it, but like you said, Heather can get it whenever. Danielle has to unlock it or she won’t have it.”

  “If there is a next time, I can unlock it then,” Danielle said.

  “What if it’s a really long cut next time?” Sadie asked. “We know how big these are. They’re not that big.”

  “Besides, you won’t have it available to share in the meantime,” Akari said. “What if it’s another year before you have real wounds to work on like this? I volunteer to let you do one, the hard way, if you’ll promise to give some priority to actually taking and selling it.”

  “I need a Class and Flash Shield first!” Danielle protested.

  “It doesn’t have to go first, you just have to put it on the high priority list for after that,” Akari said.

  “I’ll do both of them, I can take it quieter – I’d rather do it than listen to it,” Sadie said.

  Heather broke in to say, “You’re both crazy! Let the high-level Healers do their job!”

  “No,” Sadie said stubbornly. “Danielle finishes her unlock first.”

  “Agreed. The only part that’s still up for debate is whether we use our kind of pathetic tube of anesthetic that’s getting replaced, anyway, or whether we drop that part and let the Healers use their Skill for anesthetic,” Akari said.

  “I’m not really debating that. I want her to unlock that Skill too. Danielle, are you going to do this?” Sadie asked.

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  “I’m pretty sure I still need Heather’s help,” Danielle pointed out. “Maybe the Rangers too; I’m not positive what Loosen Scabs does but it might be required for this to work.”

  “It’s required for it to not be a farce,” Ranger Flo said sharply. “I can’t believe you said that, Michael.”

  “I wasn’t expecting them to volunteer for no anesthetic again!” Ranger Michael protested.

  “Heather, are you going to do this?” Sadie asked again.

  “I, um. If you’re sure, Sadie,” Heather said reluctantly.

  “I’m absolutely sure. They didn’t tell us much about how Sendings work, but I learned something important from one of the hang-out people on Sunday,” Sadie said. “The longer we’re out here, and the stronger we get, the less help they’re allowed to give us. Right now, we’re ahead of the curve, so when we need help it’s not a panic situation – we didn’t have to call them last night when we were down the river, we could afford to wait. Normal for now would be calling them in a panic, right?” She looked to the Rangers for confirmation.

  “Pretty much,” Ranger Flo admitted.

  “We have to stay ahead,” Sadie said. “When we were talking about whether or not to buy tools from the catalog, Danielle said we should buy tools now, but still work on making our own later so we don’t end up weak. She was right: immediate survival comes first, but we don’t want to skip the hard parts and mess up on long term survival. This is an opportunity for us to do the hard part now while we’re allowed to have plenty of support. If Danielle messes up right now, it won’t matter; the Rangers are already here. If she waits until it’s an emergency and messes up, it’ll be serious.

  “Akari’s right, too; if we don’t do it now, we won’t be able to do things with it in the meantime,” Sadie continued. “Maybe Danielle won’t have it when she needs to stitch patients like the ones that gave Ranger Michael a headache this morning. She won’t be able to sell it to Healers that are leveling slow. It won’t be included when she looks for new Classes and Careers this Thursday!”

  “You’re going to the access point on Thursday?” Ranger Flo asked.

  “That’s the plan. I was wondering if we were going to be able to, last night, but if we’re getting healed up anyway, I guess it’ll be fine,” Danielle said. “Listen, Sadie does have a point about doing this while you’re on hand to catch anything that goes wrong. How sure are you that the unlocking threshold is ten for both of those Skills?”

  “Very sure, when it comes to stitches,” Ranger Michael said. “Less sure about the Local Anesthetic unlock.”

  “Bluntly, nobody unlocks it that way,” Ranger Flo said. “Healers get it on their Class list, and anyone else that wants it gets it from the Skill Sharers. Eventually.”

  “Eventually?” Akari repeated, raising an eyebrow.

  “There’s a waiting list for the Inside Skill Sharers,” Ranger Flo said. “Most of the people who want this Skill are classed Healers anyway, so it’s not a high priority for their time.”

  “We do have to practice to get Guided Suture though,” Ranger Michael said. “That one only unlocks for people who are actually trying to close wounds the old-fashioned way.”

  “To be fair, that’s because Close Wound is pretty easy to get, and once people have that, there’s less need for sutures,” Ranger Flo said.

  “Until you run out of mana,” Heather said darkly. “Does Guided Suture have a cost per stitch?”

  “No, like most Medic Skills, it’s a duration thing rather than a total use thing. It is tier 2, so it costs a little more to activate, but if you get two wounds closed during the duration then it pays off.”

  “If you get one wound closed during the duration and don’t spend any more mana, it already paid off,” Heather said. “I’m in, Danielle.”

  Danielle went over to Sadie. “Which ones do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Do a couple on my left arm,” Sadie suggested.

  “OK. I’m going to use the new equipment here, so the Rangers can correct me if I’m using it wrong,” Danielle said. “Can you sit down now?”

  “Oh, um, sure.” Sadie said. “I, uh, might need help getting down without getting anything in any of these, though.”

  “I’ve got you,” Ranger Flo said, and went to help ease Sadie awkwardly down into a sitting position.

  Danielle knelt beside her and opened the medical case. It zipped all the way around and unfolded into a three-compartment layout. The compartment in the flap was empty. The compartment in the middle had a bottle of rubbing alcohol strapped into one spot, and a variety of straps and loops for other tools sitting empty. The right compartment, which would form the front of the bag when she zipped it closed, had the suturing kit: four curved needles of different sizes in individual cases; a pair of long-handled, short-bladed scissors with a blade guard holding it closed; an oddly proportioned tool she could only identify as needle-nosed pliers, also held closed by a cover; a second pair of “pliers” that seemed bent, complete with appropriately shaped cover; a pair of large tweezers, and two spools of red thread.

  “What are the plier-things for?” she asked.

  “Holding the needle, especially if you need to get it into tighter spaces,” Ranger Michael explained. “These covers are to help keep them sterile between uses – ideally, you put away your tools sterile so they’re ready to use right away in an emergency. The handles and covers are high-temperature safe – the needle cases too – so you can boil it all if you need to. Do that enough and you’ll have access to Sterilize Object after a while, which is more convenient, but this kit was designed for use when everyone’s out of mana and doing things the hard way.”

  “You hold the bent needle-holder in one hand, and use it to put the needle in and under,” Ranger Flo said. “Then use the straight one to pull it around and out. You never get your hands in the actual wound. The forceps can also be used with the needle, or can help get foreign objects out of the wound, or other things you don’t need to worry about right now.”

  “Forceps is the tweezers?” Danielle asked. “What’s this empty spot next to them for?”

  “Yes, that’s right. The empty spot is for a scalpel holder. You aren’t qualified to be doing field surgeries yet, so it wasn’t included.”

  “This seems awkward. I’m really glad you explained it, I wouldn’t have figured out that ‘not with your fingers’ thing,” Danielle said, picking up the two needle holders.

  “Inside, you’d be wearing gloves on top of it,” Ranger Flo said.

  “Inside, I’d be calling someone else to do it,” Danielle replied. “My hands aren’t clean enough to thread the needle. Can you do that?”

  “Sterilize your hands or thread the needle?” Ranger Michael asked.

  “Either?” Danielle said.

  “Hold your hands out,” he told her.

  Danielle held out her hands, still holding the needle holders, and watched his eyes again. She caught four skill activations – two on each hand.

  “All right, your hands are clean and the needle holders are sterile again,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Danielle told him, and got out a needle to thread, then set it back in its case and got into her own first aid kit for the antibiotic cream with pain reliever. “I’m thinking we use this and you take some Fever-Ace,” she told Sadie. “And then we give it a few minutes to start taking effect. I should’ve done that first.”

  “That’s a good plan,” Flo said, though Danielle could tell she still disapproved. “You have to re-wash your hands though; you touched something non-sterile.”

  “Oh. Oops. I need to get used to thinking about this stuff, I guess,” Danielle said. “Last night we used soap and water from those distillers they passed out on Decision Day – distilled water is nasty tasting, by the way; why is it like that?”

  “Because it tries to dissolve everything and ends up being a little bit pot-flavored,” Ranger Flo said. “It’s a great choice for emergency medical use though.”

  “Ten minutes at the rolling boil is just as effective and faster than full distilling,” Ranger Michael said in the longsuffering tones of someone rehashing an old argument.

  Danielle got Sadie the Fever-Ace and started spreading the antibiotic cream along the two injuries she was planning to stitch, tuning out the Rangers as they bickered about distilling vs. boiling. Then she held out her hands to be cleaned by Ranger Michael again, picked up the needle holders, got the needle firmly held in one of them, and nodded to Heather.

  “We really should have included a practice block,” Ranger Flo muttered.

  “Let me use Loosen Scabs before you start,” Ranger Michael reminded them.

  “Ready when you are,” Heather told him.

  “All right – ” his eyes flicked, and Danielle felt the Skill’s mana tingling under her fingertips. “Go.”

  Danielle activated her two Skills, Heather activated Align Body, and Danielle started stitching. “So did I do the right stitch yesterday? I’ve never actually had stitches, so it’s not like I knew how they’re supposed to go,” Danielle told the healers. “My Skill mostly tells me how far they should be from the edge of the wound and each other.”

  “Oh – uh, slow down a little. Flo, you actually have experience with this, right?” Ranger Michael asked.

  “Yes. We normally don’t put such long stretches of unbroken thread, Danielle; tie it off and start again on the next stitch. No, let me teach you the right knot – you loop it around the needle holder,” Ranger Flo started in and ended up giving Danielle step by step instructions for the whole wound, including commentary on how the stitches would be removed later.

  Danielle did the next one without the running commentary, at her request; Ranger Flo allowed it to be a much improved technique, though she pointed out a few things that could have been done better. Finally, Danielle sat back. “OK, so now I would normally go sterilize everything before putting it away, right?” she asked.

  “Yes, but this time, give it to me, and I’ll use Sterilize Object,” Ranger Michael said.

  “Thank you,” Danielle told him, gratefully holding out her equipment. He sterilized the needle holders and needle case, then pulled out a bottle of water from his pack and rinsed off the needle before sterilizing it too.

  Ranger Flo, meanwhile, borrowed the scissors from the kit and went over to Akari. “All right, I’m going to start healing you properly now,” she said. “I’m going to cut out the stitches, then realign the wound with my Skills and close it; that will keep the stitches from getting stuck in the healing process or causing scars. Sewing thread isn’t really suitable for this – better than bleeding out, but still a choice of last resort.”

  “Will I be able to get more of this proper medical thread at the seasonal fairs?” Danielle asked.

  “Yes, actually, though you might be asked to prove you have the right Skills for it,” Ranger Michael told her. “It won’t be in the special catalog though. This isn’t something we’d trust just any fourteen-year-old with.”

  “I can’t believe you were considering letting me have it with no instructions,” Danielle said. “We talked a blue streak about unlocking System Skills and didn’t even think about just plain teaching me the skill of using these tools.”

  “We’re still expecting you to use it as emergency supplies, not career tools,” Ranger Flo said. “Not that I mind teaching you, exactly, except that I still think we shouldn’t have inflicted this plan on Sadie.”

  “I was the one arguing for it,” Sadie reminded her.

  “Well, it’s time to heal you up the rest of the way,” Ranger Michael said. “I think I’ll start with the shallower ones. I’ll have to concentrate for a while, so please don’t ask any questions until I’m done, unless they’re urgent.”

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