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“Does that mean you can help my dad?” Luis asked with hope in his voice. He looked up at Skylar with big, pleading eyes.

Skylar blinked as the question snapped her back to the present, her training faltering for just a second, “I could… but your mom has to give me permission first.”

“That’s right!” Mrs. Mendez glared down at the two of them. “It’s my call, and I’m not consenting to you using your unreliable magic on Michael. He may have lied about his job, but it was a spellslinger that brought down the bridge. Magic brought nothing but pain to this world.”

Skylar straightened up, all business again, “Mrs. Mendez, there are many people who feel that way. However, in this situation, it would save you a lot of money to allow me to restore Michael. In addition to the reduced material cost, the recovery time is much faster, which means less time paying for inpatient care.”

Mrs. Mendez crossed her arms, “No. Magic. I’d rather he be left untreated and manage things myself than allow him to be altered by you.”

Skylar let out a slow breath through her nose. It crystallized in the air, giving her a draconic aspect. “You’ve made your decision then?”

Mrs. Mendez faltered, glancing back to her palmtop, “Not just yet. I’m waiting for the bank to transfer some funds. I think we can afford at least some bionics or grafts. The Network is lagging with all the emergency services. Or maybe Michael didn’t tell me about paying our service bill. Is there somewhere I can find a Netdrop to plug into?”

Skylar pointed over to a crowded kiosk in the corner of the waiting room. It was clearly marked ‘Network Access’ with the Geoponics Biotechnology corporate logo right above the price list. Mrs. Mendez stormed over, looking like she was ready to toss people out of her way.

Luis watched her go, but stayed there with Skylar. “She lost her parents last year when the Tempest got real bad. They worked in Mudslide, near the land. I don’t wanna lose my dad, and I don’t care if it takes magic to do it.”

Skylar bent down again to look Luis straight in the eyes. “I understand. But even that would take a lot of money. I can’t just do it because I want to. I would get fired, and they’d never let me help anyone else. Anywhere. Ever again. If I did, they could throw me in jail for practicing without a license.”

The boy looked over at his mother, arguing with someone at the kiosk. He looked down in thought. “You said the walls were keeping out the noise. The potential?” he asked.

“Uncontrolled potential, that’s right. The walls reduce it a lot,” Skylar replied.

He looked up, looking her in the eyes for the first time, “How do we know it’s not reducing ours too?”

Skylar’s mouth opened, then closed. As she stood up, her AR informed her that the interaction limit had expired. She looked over her shoulder to the front desk, and the cameras watching her. The face of her old manager flashed before her eyes again, reminding her of the last time she felt this powerless. She may have sacrificed everything to escape him, but she made sure he couldn’t do it to anyone else.

Skylar stormed out of the waiting room and headed back to the ER, pulling her medical mask back on as she went. After slamming the doors open, she brought her masque to her face, magically attaching to her aura. Unconsciously, Skylar began to hunch as she walked with determination through the hospital. The rest of the staff stopped and stared at the bear-faced woman stalk through the crowd. Even the armored Samaritans gave her the right of way.

When she arrived at Michael Mendez’s room she latched the door behind her. As she approached the bed, she looked up into another camera with the Geoponics Biotechnology logo staring back at her. She took out her palmtop computer and displayed it for the camera. For the second time in her young life, Skylar ruined her career.

“I quit!”

Skylar threw the computer at the camera, breaking shattering the computer. She turned to Michael and laid her hands upon his bandaged head, and her hands began to glow a warm, yellow light.

“Once upon a time…”