Free Awoken by Alex South

these tools before. I won’t need them,” Oa said, interrupting Ohm as he waved the glove and microbur canister away. He held out Seeker in his right hand. “Watch this.” The young Awoken sat back and withdrew into himself.
    The Traveler had helped teach Oa how to control Seeker, and now he was confident that he could use the device to heal his new friend. Ohm sat, watching Oa levitate Seeker between his palms as he silently meditated. After a moment of observation, Ohm shrugged to himself and got to work. He swapped the old microbur canister in his mask for a fresh one; taking care to align the connectors properly. The blue lights behind the mask sparked up once again, as the canister connected. Oa was vaguely aware of the exchange as his inner sight began to take hold. He quelled his curiosity about the mask, narrowing his gaze on Ohm’s wounded limb.
    Gradually, Oa’s mind cleared and his world exploded forth into a maelstrom of strange symbols chaotically racing through existence. In the midst of the torrent of information, Oa glimpsed the aura of Ohm’s limb. He pushed through the chaos around him until the visage was resolute and unwavering. The appendage was severely damaged; but Oa could see every alloy, vein, and spark of energy as they were meant to be. He drove toward the goal, grasping at it with his mind. Seeker spun slowly, glowing white-hot as energy flowed around it. The design grew brighter and clearer to Oa as Seeker began to spin faster and faster, humming as its energy spun out to thread together a new leg of solid radiance. The light grew to a blinding brilliance, dancing across the smooth stone.
    There was a loud crack that echoed through the gorge. The light dimmed and the echoes faded. Oa felt himself tire; but he held onto the vision, willing Seeker’s power to remain at the ready. He looked up toward Ohm’s missing right hand and face and was shocked to find a familiar murky shadow hovering over Ohm’s mysterious injuries, blinding his vision. Oa was troubled; then he felt his strength slip away, replaced by a ravenous weariness. Seeker stopped spinning and plopped back down into his hand.
    Ohm sat staring at his leg, new as it had been the moment he awoke, every speck of matter in its proper place. There was no sign of damage. “What …?” he gasped in disbelief. He moved his leg hesitantly, rotating his foot and tapping it on the ground. “Impossible! I can feel—I can move it.” His head snapped up toward Oa. “I must inspect that gizmo!” Oa tossed Seeker to the old Awoken then sat back exhausted by the inexplicable strain he felt after mending Ohm’s leg.
    Oa was still upset by his inability to heal Ohm’s hidden wounds. He tried to recall the mysterious force that had hindered him when suddenly his vision darkened. A pair of red eyes burned into his consciousness with a ghastly shriek. As quickly as the trance took Oa it left. Wait, what wounds? Oa thought to himself as he looked at Ohm. There was nothing wrong with Ohm. The Awoken was missing a hand but Oa did not think it strange anymore. He realized with a tired shake of his head that he had forgotten something important. His mind told him he had fixed Ohm, but a hint of a memory whispered that he was missing something. Oa tried to chase the whisper through his consciousness, but he gave up and accepted the fuzziness in his perception as a side effect of the effort he had exerted.
    Ohm snatched Seeker out of the air and shook it, listening for any noise. Then he held it up to his one good visual receptor, inspecting the orb closely. The blue light from his eyeplate reflected off the shiny metal. Ohm found nothing and started to bang Seeker against the ground. He listened to the hollow ring that it made as it hit the rock. He returned to intensely staring at the rune covered sphere.
    After some silent pondering, Ohm spoke. “You didn’t happen to get any readings on what just happened, did you Fred?”
    “I was only