Moe Eisen didn’t like what was going on with Bernard. He also didn’t have any

  means to stop it. He should have stored neutralizer for this kind of emergency.

  He told himself that he couldn’t read the future. He couldn’t have known that

  someone would turn Bernard into a promise of violence before his eyes. You couldn’t

  account for bad luck.

  “How do you feel, Bernard?,” Eisen asked. The boy shivered from the buckets of

  water poured on him to try to wash the mixed alchemical formulas off of him.

  That had been a partial success from what the alchemist could tell.

  Bernard opened his eyes. The irises were shifting chemical symbols. His visible skin

  was cover in interlocking gears with combinations of the same symbols locked inside.

  Gray streaked through the brown of his hair. His skin had lost most of its color,

  reducing him to a ghost whiteness from the tan complexion he had before their

  encounter with the Sharriff.

  One of the gears glowed as Eisen watched. He frowned, wondering what it meant.

  How long did they have before Bernard died? They needed to get him to a competent

  healer to try to erase the effects.

  “I am suffering degradation,” said Bernard. His voice was a monotone. “Estimation

  of lifespan is three years. Normal biological processes have been suspended. Flushing

  system is impossible at this time.”

  Eisen didn’t like that. How did he break the news to Bernard’s grandparents that the

  boy would only live another three years? They would hold him responsible for this.

  He needed to get the boy to a healer.

  “I’m going to take you to a medic and have him look at you,” said Eisen. “Maybe

  there is a way to fix this so your degradation can be stabilized.”

  “It won’t matter,” said Bernard. “There is no way to fix it as far as I can see.”

  “We can try,” said Eisen. He put the bucket on a counter. He gathered up the leaves

  and wrapped them again. That could wait until after he was sure Bernard wouldn’t

  turn into a monster.

  He opened a small vault under the counter. He placed the leaves inside and closed the

  door. He made sure the door was locked.

  He would give it back if the medicians couldn’t help Bernard. He had other things to

  keep his attention. A commission from a criminal would have been all right until he

  doused Bernard.

  If he thought the Guard would do anything, he would have turned everything over to

  them to see what they would do. He didn’t because he thought of the Guard as corrupt

  and useless.

  “Come on,” said Eisen. “Let’s see if we can get a second opinion that is more

  hopeful.”

  “They won’t be able to do anything for me,” said Bernard. He looked down at his

  hands. “This is set up like a curse, but the only way to get rid of it is to pull all the

  chemicals out of my system. I don’t think that is possible without killing me.”

  “How do you know all this?,” asked Eisen. He pulled on his coat over his work apron.

  “This allows me to know everything about my body and heal it from harm,” said

  Bernard. He pointed at the glowing symbol. “It also tells me what the other symbols

  do, and how to use them.”

  “All of these gears are different abilities?,” asked Eisen. He gestured for Bernard

  to lead the way out of the back room. He would have to replace the tank when all

  this was over.

  “Yes,” said Bernard. The glow faded from his symbol. Tears ran down his face. “I

  only have three years, Pa? Three years?”

  “Let’s see what a medician says first,” said Eisen. “Maybe a second opinion will spur

  some idea of how you can be helped.”

  “We still need to get the headache powder,” said Bernard. “Grandma needs it.”

  “It can wait for the moment,” said Eisen. He ushered the boy out of the shop. He

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  put the close sign up and stepped outside. He locked the door. Anyone who wanted

  could still break in. The lock was for the casual visitor. “Let’s walk down the

  street here. I can take care of your grandmother while we’re getting you checked out.”

  “How are you going to do that, Pa?,” asked Bernard. He looked down at his wet

  clothes. “I’m soggy as milk toast.”

  “I know some people,” said Eisen. He paused at another alchemical shop. He opened

  the door for them and gestured for Bernard to go inside. He walked in, and let his

  eyes adjust to the lighting. “Hello, Larry.”

  Larry Kobach nodded at his visitors. He had lost most of his hair on top, the rest

  filling out the sides of his head in graying red. He wore the same type of stained

  apron as Eisen. Small eyes and a sharp nose completed the picture.

  “Hello, Moe,” said Larry. He rubbed his hands together on a rag. “What can I do for

  you? What happened to the boy?”

  “I need to send some headache powder and a note to his grandmother,” said Eisen.

  “A pushy customer spilled my tank of failures on him, and I need to get him looked

  at by a healer of some kind.”

  “That’s bad, Moe,” said Larry. He turned and searched his shelf. “The whole tank?”

  “I don’t know,” said Eisen. “I didn’t check the inside of the tank. I’ll pick up some

  neutralizer on the way back to the shop to take care of the rest. I might need at least

  a gallon.”

  “I’ll get you some,” said Larry. “Are you taking this, or do you need it sent?”

  “Send it, Larry,” said Eisen. “I’ll need to send a note with it so she knows everything

  is fine for right now.”

  “I understand,” said Larry. “Put it on your account?”

  “Yes,” said Eisen. “She already paid me, so I’ll pay you at the end of the month like

  always. I’m hoping that a healer can help the boy, and then I can get back to work.”

  “Let me have the address and the note,” said Larry. “I’ll send it out as soon as Raven

  gets back.”

  “Thanks, Larry,” said Eisen. He wrote a note explaining that he was taking Bernard

  to get looked at because of an accident in the lab, and there was nothing to be worried

  about. The boy would be home as soon as the healer could tell them something. He

  folded the paper up and wrote the address and the name of Bernard’s grandmother on

  the outside. Larry copied the address on a wrapper and wrapped the headache powder

  bottle. He placed it to one side.

  “If anyone comes looking for me, Larry, tell them the truth,” said Eisen. “The man

  who did this to Bernard will not have any scruples about hurting an old man.”

  “You’re older than I am, Moe,” said Larry. “I understand the situation. What about

  the Guard?”

  “I don’t think they can help,” said Eisen. “It’s something I will have to take care of

  after Bernard is checked.”

  “Understood,” said Larry. He nodded at the strange pair. “Good luck.”

  Eisen nodded. He ushered Bernard out of the shop and they started down the street.

  The alchemist noted the gears moving around. The one for the self diagnosis had

  shrank and had slipped to one side.

  He kept an eye on it as they walked. It grew slowly as they passed door after door

  to the small park surrounding the Wayne Temple of Healing. It suggested a time

  constraint on Bernard’s abilities, whatever they were.

  He didn’t want to test that. What if the three years meant that it would take that long

  for the abilities to be used up and kill Bernard in the process? Removing them would

  be for the best before that happened in his opinion.

  “We’ll go in and have you looked over, Bernard,” said Eisen. “Once we know where

  we stand, we’ll see what options we have.”

  “The Sharriff won’t like you not working on the weed he brought,” said Bernard. He

  looked doubtful about the whole enterprise.

  “Then he shouldn’t have caused this,” said Eisen. “Now I have to worry about you

  and your grandmother. I have to think about my oath. And I have two and a half

  days to work on his problem, if I want to work on it at all.”

  “I think it will be bad if you ignore his demand,” said Bernard. “He might burn your

  shop down.”

  “I can’t worry about that now,” said Eisen. “First, I have to do what I can for you.

  If I had neutralized the mix, you wouldn’t be in this situation at all.”

  “It’ll be all right, Pa,” said Bernard. “I can deal with only having three more years to

  live.”

  “You might have longer if you don’t use your abilities,” said Eisen. “I don’t know.

  Hopefully someone will be able to tell us something we can use.”

  “You’re going to try to cure this?,” said Bernard. He gestured at the whole of his

  body.

  “I’m going to do what I can,” said Eisen. He led the way to the front of the Temple.

  “I can’t make any promises.”

  “Thanks, Pa,” said Bernard.

  They walked into the Temple. They spent a good chunk of time waiting for someone

  to look at Bernard. Then they spent more time while tests were being done. In the

  end, the ranking cleric tried for a healing ritual. He shook his head as it failed.

  “I’m sorry, Master Eisen,” said the cleric, Doctor Tiablo. “Whatever happened

  to the boy has changed him at the base level.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Eisen, but he did. He just didn’t like it.

  “The mix of formulae soaked in his skin has changed him from a human boy into

  something else,” said Tiablo. He gestured with his hands which made the symbol for

  Trenchen the Healer dance on the light blue tunic he wore. “And that has turned all

  of his biological processes into something that runs on that formulae. And when it

  runs out, so will he.”

  “How long?,” said Eisen. Healers knew enough about the body’s problems, they

  could give him an estimate on time of death.

  “Two to three years from the feedback I received,” said Tiablo. He folded his hands

  in front of him.

  “Thank you,” Eisen said. He gestured for Bernard to follow him. He had three years

  to find a cure.