This should take tremendous energy and time, probably all night to see significant progress. Your growth with Redz40 has surprised me, however. You may achieve results more rapidly than my calculations suggest.

  The sound of approaching footsteps pulled Kevin from his concentration. Duncan and Cox moved toward him with purpose, likely coming to discuss preparations for tomorrow's Blues hunt.

  Kevin raised his hand in a clear gesture to keep them back. "Stay there," he called. "Potential contagion."

  Duncan halted immediately, her tactical training recognizing a biohazard warning. Cox's ears pinned back, her sensitive nose flaring as she caught some scent imperceptible to normal humans.

  Kevin turned back to the sick man, whose eyes had widened at the exchange. "I'm gonna try to get rid of your sickness," he explained. "It'll take time and might not work. Do you accept?"

  The man studied Kevin's face, lingering on his glowing red eyes. "You're that Old World soldier," he said, voice rough with illness. "The one they're whispering about." He coughed again, a wet sound that rattled deep in his chest. When the spasm passed, he nodded. "Not like I've got much to lose. Do what you can."

  Kevin placed his hands back on the man's chest, this time with deliberate intent rather than diagnostic curiosity. "How do I channel the energy, AIDA?"

  Visualize the Redz40 in your system as a current flowing from your core through your arms into the patient. Direct it specifically to the damaged tissues you sensed earlier. Your intent shapes the energy's behavior.

  Kevin focused on the red bar in his vision, imagining it as a reservoir of healing potential. He pictured a stream of energy flowing down his arms, through his palms, into the damaged lungs beneath them. For several seconds, nothing happened except the steady rise and fall of the man's chest under his hands.

  Then, suddenly, the connection formed.

  Kevin's hands began to glow with a deep crimson light, the same luminescence that filled his eyes now spreading across his skin. The red energy seeped between his fingers like liquid fire, flowing onto the man's chest and disappearing beneath the ragged shirt. The patient gasped, body stiffening as the Redz40 entered his system.

  "Holy shit," Cox whispered from where she stood, her enhanced vision catching details others might miss.

  The red bar in Kevin's HUD began to drain rapidly, faster than even combat RTD consumed it. The energy poured from him in a controlled torrent, guided by his intent and AIDA's subliminal directions. He felt the Redz40 mapping the damaged tissues, neutralizing bacterial colonies, stimulating cellular regeneration at an accelerated rate.

  Warning, AIDA interrupted, her usual calm replaced by a note of genuine surprise. Energy transfer rate is exceeding estimated parameters by four hundred percent. Your integration is adapting in real-time. This shouldn't be possible.

  Kevin ignored the warning, feeding more power into the connection. The patient's breathing changed first, the shallow, painful gasps smoothing into deeper, more regular inhalations. Color returned to his pallid cheeks in spreading patches, as if someone were painting health back into his flesh stroke by stroke. The gray in his beard began to recede like tide lines on a beach, dark pigment replacing age and stress markers.

  A murmur ran through the growing crowd of onlookers. Kevin barely registered them, his focus entirely on maintaining the energy flow and directing it to the most damaged areas. The red bar continued to empty, now down to twenty percent capacity. Sweat beaded on his forehead from the exertion.

  Five minutes into the process, the transformation became dramatic and unmistakable. The patient's body wasn't just healing, it was optimizing. Sunken cheeks filled out as the underlying structure repaired itself. Muscle tone returned to atrophied limbs, the wasted look of chronic illness vanishing as healthy tissue replaced the damage.

  Where a sick, emaciated man in his fifties had sat moments before, someone who looked like a healthy, robust man in his forties now stared down at his own changing body with wide-eyed disbelief. His hands, once brittle and shaking, smoothed into strong hands with clear skin. The deep lines of pain around his eyes softened, leaving behind a face that looked rested and vital.

  "What's happening to me?" he gasped, his voice clearer and stronger than before, the wet rattle completely gone.

  The red bar flickered at five percent, and Kevin felt the energy flow begin to falter. He made a final push, directing the last reserves specifically at the lungs, ensuring that every trace of the tuberculosis bacteria was eradicated. Then, with careful intent, he severed the connection, removing his now-normal hands from the man's chest.

  The transformation was complete. The patient took a deep, experimental breath, the first painless inhalation he'd experienced in years. He laughed in shocked delight, the sound pure and healthy. Then, without warning, he jumped to his feet with easy motion.

  "You healed me!" he shouted, examining his hands, touching his face, running fingers through hair that felt thicker and stronger. "You're a mystical healer!"

  The crowd that had gathered erupted in astonished whispers that quickly grew into exclamations of wonder. Some backed away in superstitious fear; others pressed forward, hands outstretched, mouths already forming pleas for similar miracles.

  Duncan stepped closer, her tactical assessment immediately shifting to crowd control. "Everyone back," she ordered, her voice carrying the unmistakable weight of command. "Give him space."

  Kevin stood slowly, his legs momentarily weak from the energy expenditure. Yet even as he steadied himself, he felt the red bar in his HUD beginning to refill at an accelerated rate, much faster than normal regeneration. The ambient Redz40 in the air seemed to rush toward him, drawn by the sudden emptiness within his system like water flowing to fill a vacuum.

  He grinned at the healed man, who was now jogging in place, seemingly unable to contain his restored vitality. The implications unfurled in Kevin's mind like a tactical map. Not just a weapon. Not just a soldier. A healer. In a world of scarcity and suffering, he possessed something perhaps more valuable than his combat abilities, the power to undo damage, to restore what had been lost.

  "Well," he said, meeting Duncan's astonished gaze as his red bar surged past fifty percent and continued climbing, "that changes things."

  Chapter fourteen

  YOUT GET SOME REDZ40 AND YOU GET SOME REDZ40

  The newly healed man bounced on the balls of his feet, flexing his fingers and touching his own face with the wonder of a child discovering their reflection. Kevin steadied himself, watching the transformation he'd wrought. The red bar in his vision had already replenished to seventy percent capacity, ambient Redz40 particles seemingly drawn to him like iron filings to a magnet. Around them, the crowd of Fairville residents and former slaves pressed closer, their expressions ranging from religious awe to scientific curiosity to naked hope.

  "Just what the hell was that?" Cox demanded, pushing through the gathering throng. Her wolf ears stood straight up, quivering with alertness, and her tail moved behind her. She stopped a few paces from Kevin, nostrils flaring as she scented something beyond human perception.

  Duncan approached more cautiously, her tactical assessment already shifting from crowd control to evaluating this new variable in their mission parameters. Mayor Curtis followed in her wake, jaw slack with astonishment. The town doctor, her white hair now escaping its severe bun, completed the semicircle forming around Kevin.

  "I can heal diseases and malnutrition," Kevin explained with the matter-of-fact tone of someone describing how to field-strip a rifle. "AIDA helps direct the Redz40 in my system to repair damaged tissue and neutralize pathogens."

  "You gotta be kidding me," the doctor said, pushing her wire-rimmed glasses higher on her nose. "That's not possible. I watched that man coughing up blood an hour ago. His lungs were shot. TB doesn't just disappear."

  The healed man laughed, a sound so pure and healthy it seemed to belong to another world entirely. "Well, it disappeared right out of me, Doc. I can breathe. First time in years I can take a real breath." He inhaled deeply, arms spread wide, then held it for several seconds before exhaling with theatrical force. "I was fifty-two yesterday. Look at me now!"

  "Remarkable," Mayor Curtis whispered, reaching out as if to touch the man, then pulling his hand back uncertainly. "Is this... permanent?"

  The healing appears stable, AIDA's voice supplied in Kevin's mind. His cellular structure has been completely regenerated. Barring new infection or injury, the effects should persist indefinitely.

  Kevin relayed this information, watching as the doctor's professional skepticism warred with the evidence before her eyes. She stepped forward and grabbed the healed man's wrist, checking his pulse with clinical focus. Her fingers probed lymph nodes in his neck, her eyes narrowing as she found nothing but healthy tissue.

  "His heart rate is perfect," she admitted reluctantly. "Lymph nodes clear. Skin elasticity like someone twenty years younger." She lowered her voice. "If you can do this consistently, you've just changed everything about medicine in the wasteland."

  Before Kevin could respond, the healed man turned and beckoned to someone lingering at the edge of the crowd. "Larissa! Come here. He can help you!"

  A woman shuffled forward, supported by two other former slaves. Kevin's enhanced vision cataloged her condition immediately. Severe malnutrition bordering on starvation, multiple vitamin deficiencies, probable lung infection, anemia, and signs of internal bleeding. Her body was a framework of bones barely covered by papery skin. Hollow cheeks and sunken eyes gave her the appearance of a walking corpse. Yet despite her physical deterioration, her gaze remained alert and focused.

  "She's always been sickly," the healed man explained, gently guiding her forward. "Even before the raiders took us. They stopped feeding her weeks ago when she couldn't work anymore. Said she wasn't worth the calories."

  Kevin glanced at the red bar in his vision, now fully regenerated. He looked to Duncan, seeking her tactical assessment. She met his eyes, understanding the unspoken question.

  "Your call," she said quietly. "But remember, tomorrow's mission. We need you to be functional."

  Kevin nodded, then turned back to Larissa. "I'm going to try to help you," he said, keeping his voice gentle but firm. "It might feel strange. Are you willing?"

  The woman nodded, her cracked lips parting in the ghost of a smile. "Can't feel worse than dying."

  Kevin guided her to sit on a nearby crate, then knelt before her. AIDA, full diagnostic assessment, he subvocalized.

  Subject presents with extreme caloric deficit, advanced tuberculosis, internal hemorrhaging, and systemic bacterial infection, AIDA replied. Multiple organ systems in early-stage failure. Significantly more damaged than the previous patient. This will require substantially more energy to repair.

  "I need to build up to this," Kevin murmured, more to himself than the others. "Test the limits before I try a full system overhaul."

  He stood and scanned the gathered patients, spotting a young girl, perhaps eight years old, whose legs were bowed severely from rickets. She clung to a ragged doll, watching him with wide, fearful eyes.

  AIDA, Kevin subvocalized. Can we fix bone density?

  Affirmative. Calcium regeneration is simpler than complex organ repair. It will require steady, low-intensity flow to avoid causing pain during realignment.

  Kevin approached the girl, kneeling to be at eye level. "Hi there. I'm Kevin. I want to help your legs so you can run and play. Is that okay?"

  The girl looked at her mother, who nodded tearfully. Kevin placed his hands on the child's shins. He visualized the energy flowing like warm honey, seeping into the bone marrow. The red glow from his hands was softer this time, a gentle pulse rather than a torrent.

  Under his palms, he felt the bones shifting, straightening as density returned. The girl gasped, eyes widening, but she didn't cry out. In less than two minutes, her legs were straight. Kevin stood back as she tentatively put weight on them, then broke into a delighted smile.

  Control is improving, AIDA noted. Efficiency up by 15%.

  Next, he moved to a woman with severe burn scars covering her left arm and neck, likely from a raider's torch. The skin was tight and shiny, restricting her movement.

  Dermal regeneration, Kevin noted. Surface level.

  He placed his hand over the worst of the scarring on her arm. This required a different touch, a spreading of energy across the surface rather than a deep dive. He watched as the angry red scar tissue softened, fading into healthy, flexible skin. The woman wept silently as she flexed fingers that had been frozen in a claw-like grip for months.

  With each healing, Kevin felt his control sharpening. He learned to modulate the flow, to target specific tissues, to conserve energy where possible. The red bar dipped and refilled, a rhythmic tide of life-giving power.

  "I'm ready," he said, turning finally back to Larissa.

  Kevin placed his hands on Larissa's shoulders, feeling the sharp angle of bones beneath his palms. He closed his eyes, focusing on the red energy pulsing through his system. This time, the connection formed more readily, as if his body remembered the process from the first healing.

  His hands began to glow, crimson light seeping between his fingers and flowing into Larissa's emaciated form. The red energy traced her circulatory system like a map, illuminating veins and arteries through her translucent skin. Where the first patient's healing had been relatively straightforward, Larissa's body presented layers of compounding damage, as each system failing had caused cascading problems in others.

  Target the circulatory system first, AIDA instructed. Repair the internal bleeding before addressing the infections.

  Kevin directed the energy as guided, feeling the red bar in his vision draining rapidly. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he concentrated on repairing ruptured vessels, strengthening arterial walls, and rebuilding damaged heart tissue. The surrounding crowd had fallen silent, watching the red glow spread through Larissa's body.

  After ten minutes of sustained effort, the bar dropped to thirty percent, and Kevin felt his concentration waver. He broke contact, gasping as if he'd sprinted a mile in full gear.

  "Need a moment," he managed, wiping sweat from his brow with a shaking hand.

  Larissa's eyes had closed, her breathing steady but shallow. Already, subtle changes were visible, her skin less gray, her lips gaining color. But the work was far from complete.

  Duncan crouched beside him, offering a canteen. "You need to pace yourself."

  Kevin took a deep swallow of water, feeling the red bar begin to climb again, though more slowly than before. "She won't survive without complete healing. I have to continue."

  When the bar reached fifty percent, he placed his hands on Larissa again. This time, he directed the energy toward her lungs, visualizing the bacteria being neutralized, damaged alveoli regenerating, and scar tissue dissolving. The second effort drained him more quickly than the first, the red bar plummeting to fifteen percent in minutes.

  He paused again, breathing heavily, hands trembling with exertion. Larissa's condition had improved markedly, with her breathing deeper and color spreading across her skin, but critical issues remained.

  "One more push," he said, as much to himself as to those watching.

  The final phase focused on her metabolic systems, rebuilding atrophied muscle, restoring proper organ function, replenishing bone density. Kevin poured everything he had into the healing, the red bar draining to near-empty. His vision began to blur around the edges, a high-pitched ringing filling his ears as he pushed beyond his limits.

  The effect was explosive. Crimson light erupted from his hands, engulfing Larissa's torso. Her back arched, a guttural cry tearing from her throat as her body was jump-started with raw power.

  Kevin watched in awe as the transformation took hold. It wasn't just healing, it was an aggressive rewriting of her biology. Her chest expanded, ribs cracking audibly as they reshaped to accommodate larger, healthier lungs. Muscles that had been withered threads suddenly swelled, knitting together with terrifying speed.

  Bone density increasing, AIDA reported. Muscular hypertrophy detected. Systemic optimization in progress.

  Larissa screamed, a sound of pure agony as her skeleton lengthened. Her legs kicked out, growing inches in seconds, the skin stretching and reddening as it struggled to keep up with the explosive growth. Her jaw squared, teeth shifting in her gums.

  "Hold her down!" Kevin shouted to Duncan and Cox.

  They rushed forward, pinning Larissa's thrashing limbs as her body convulsed with the violent energy of rebirth. Her skin turned a deep, vibrant red, the Redz40 saturating every cell. The matted, dull hair on her head fell out in clumps, instantly replaced by thick, crimson locks that grew with unnatural speed.

  The red bar in Kevin's vision bottomed out. He was running on fumes, pouring his own life force into the connection to sustain the massive biological overhaul.

  Larissa let out one final, shattering scream as her spine lengthened, snapping into a new, taller configuration. Then her eyes rolled back, and she went limp, unconscious from the sheer shock of the transformation.

  Kevin collapsed beside her, darkness claiming him before he hit the ground.

  Kevin woke to a splitting headache and the smell of something cooking. His eyelids felt welded shut, his mouth stuffed with sand. When he finally managed to crack his eyes open, sunlight stabbed into his skull like ice picks. He groaned, pushing himself up on elbows that trembled with residual weakness. The red bar in his vision had fully replenished, but his body hadn't caught up with his energy reserves. Every muscle ached as if he'd run a marathon carrying a full combat load.

  "Well, good morning, Lazarus," Cox called from where she crouched by a small fire, stirring something in a battered pot. Her wolf ears swiveled in his direction, tail flicking with what might have been amusement. "Thought you might sleep through the Blue hunt entirely."