Playing doctor was supposed to be fun. It was also supposed to be taboo to do in a church. Which would make it ever more fun. Tessa, however, was not having any fun at all.

“Push-ups? Seriously?” she gasped out as she pushed through yet another one, trying to hurry through the test Lisa was running her through.

“They’re a nice basic exercise,” Lisa said. “We can work on some of the more complicated ones once we’re done covering your other muscle groups.”

“Other muscle groups? How many do I have?” Tessa asked, despair filling her heart as flashbacks of high school Phys Ed classes swam through her mind.

Lisa laughed at the question. It was the laughter of someone who’d heard the question often. It was laughter which offered no mercy though.

“Okay, that’s a full five minutes,” Lisa said. “You did good. Really good in fact. Roll over onto your back now and we’ll see how you do with stomach crunches.”

“You do know that I’m a cubicle potato right?” Tessa asked. “The last time I did a push up or a stomach crunch was, uh, never maybe?”

That wasn’t strictly true. She’d been forced to do a variety of unpleasant exercises in high school, or had tried a handful of times to start “getting in shape” on her own. The longest of those efforts had lasted three days though and she was sure had used up her lifetime supply of stomach crunches.

“Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to do them properly,” Lisa said.

That hadn’t been a concern in Tessa’s mind. At least not until Lisa mentioned it. The idea of messing up something as simple of a stomach crunch seemed not only likely but also fatally embarrassing in light of the suggestion that Tessa might do one wrong.

“You’re just torturing me for fun. Admit it,” Tessa said as she rolled onto her back and let Lisa align her feet and legs properly.

“I will admit to nothing,” Lisa said.

“And how is this playing doctor? I’ve had physicals. They don’t make you do this kind of stuff!”

“I’m going to guess that your regular doctor doesn’t have senses that are keyed to follow blood flow through your body,” Lisa said, the mischief in her smile still so damn tantalizing that Tessa could  scream.

“So, wait, you’re watching my blood?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest as Lisa directed her to.

“Watching. Listening. There’s a few other senses I’ve got now it seems,” Lisa said. “The others map to sight mostly though.”

“What do they show you?” Tessa asked, rising up into the first crunch.

“Health analytics,” Lisa said. “They seem to be spells, or parts of spells? Cantrips I guess. Basically, if I focus in on area of your body that’s changing somehow, I can see some graphs and statistics about how that spot if performing compared to the what your usual baseline is. Or maybe it’s what the average baseline is? Oh, I see, it’s showing me both, I just have to concentrate on it harder.”

“Both what?” Tessa asked, she was on her tenth stomach crunch? Could that be right? On her own she could do, one, maybe two?

“The graphs get more detailed the more I look at them,” Lisa said. “I’m watching your respiration now, and I can see what your normal rate is, what your current rate is, what the average rate for a human woman of your age and build is, and what the optimal level for you would be. Oh and what the max level for a human is. Wow, this is just so cool!”

“I’m glad I make for an interesting experimentation specimen,” Tessa said. 

Was that twenty stomach crunches?

No, was that twenty stomach crunches after five minutes of push ups and, if so, why wasn’t she feeling tired?

“Sorry, I just would have loved to have this in my day job at home,” Lisa said.

“You were a physical therapist right?” Tessa said, continuing on with the stomach crunches since neither was Lisa telling her to stop nor was she feeling like she had to.

“Physical therapist, personal trainer, part-time assistant coach,” Lisa said. “Its fun but the days can be pretty long sometimes.”

“Is this how you test out all your patients?” Tessa asked.

“It depends what they need,” Lisa said. “Physical therapy patients? They’ve usually got a specific need and so we focus on correcting or strengthening that. Personal training clients? It’s a question of what they’re training for, so sometimes we need a full baseline for them.“

“And me?” Tessa asked.

“You? I want to know everything about you,” Lisa said.

“So stomach crunches till I puke then?” Tessa asked.

“No! Definitely not,” Lisa said. “Are you feeling any pain? Or fatigue?”

“I should be,” Tessa said. “How many of these have I done so far?”

“That was one hundred and thirty,” Lisa said. “If you’re feeling at all sore, go ahead and stop.”

“So, here’s the weird thing,” Tessa said, as she continued crunching, “I don’t. I mean, I still look like me right? I’m not as fit as you are. But this isn’t hard. And it should be impossible. On Earth, I’d be dying I think, or at the very least in a ball on my side unable to move.”

“That fits with what I’m seeing too,” Lisa said. “Your pulse, and respiration, and oxygen levels are better than what a top end runner at rest would have.”

“Uh, what?”

“You’re not a cubicle potato,” Lisa said. “If you got up now and started running, you’d probably break some world record marathon times.”

“Seriously?” Tessa said, pausing at the top of a crunch. She knew Pillowcase was capable of superhuman feats – [Clothwork] soldiers were simply built like that – and she knew she probably wasn’t exactly an “Earth standard human” anymore either. The thought that she might get more out of becoming a [Fallen Kingdoms] [Human] than just a class and some gear was a new one.

“Yes,” Lisa said. “You are seriously amazing.”

“Does that mean I can stop doing exercises?” Tessa asked.

“I’ve gotten a pretty good look at what’s going on with your body,” Lisa said before the mischievous smile returned and she leaned in close enough for Tessa to feel Lisa’s breath on her neck, “But I’d like an even better one.”

***

Lost Alice wasn’t always cold.

***

Sister Acroghast remembered the two visitors when the midday sparring session finished up a few hours later. She found the two were still in the [Chapel], though they seemed to be analyzing the [Heart Fire] rather than praying quietly or speaking with someone who had departed.

They also looked rather disheveled which seemed odd but then they were [Adventurers] and [Adventurers] were expected to be stranger than not.

“The big thing we need to be sure of is that this won’t hurt the [Heart Fire] itself,” Tessa said.

“No, the big thing we need to be sure of is that this won’t hurt you,” Lisa said.

“If I get a little singed, you can patch me up,” Tessa said. “If the [Heart Fire] gets damaged, then maybe we get another wave of [Disjoined] followed by [Formless Hunger] round 2.”

“Excuse me,” Sister Acroghast asked. “What are you speaking of?”

“Oh! Hello Sister!” Tessa said. She hadn’t heard the nun enter the room and fought the urge to hop away from Lisa like they’d been caught at something.

“She might know,” Lisa said and turned away from the [Heart Fire] to face Sister Acroghast. “We know the [Heart Fire] can create vessels for souls to return to. Do you if they can also transform existing bodies?”

“Transform in what manner?” Sister Acroghast asked.

“If the body a soul was in was the wrong one, have you ever heard of a [Heart Fire] being able to correct that?” Tessa asked.

“That depends,” Sister Acroghast said, evaluating the two woman with more care. “Simple cosmetic changes are rarely possible. Nor are changes intended to enhance one’s physique. There’s no short cut to strength and endurance, besides putting in the hours of training. There have been people though who were unhappy with their current form, who dared touch the flames with their living hands. Not all such people can catch the fires. I don’t know what quality they possess or lack but for those people, the flames are no more than pretty lights. For the others however, the ones the flames of change lit upon? They burn, but in burning become something wholly new.”

“And do any of them just burn?” Lisa asked. “Does the [Heart Fire] ever hurt the people it touches?”

“And is the [Heart Fire[ itself ever harmed by that?” Tessa asked.

Sister Acroghast looked them over for a moment before answering.

“No, [Heart Fires] are eternal. They cannot be damaged by anything in this world. As for the people? I have never heard of anyone being harmed by a [Heart Fire] though the transformation itself has been reported differently by different people. And, I suppose, bringing someone back to life on a battlefield is an indirect sort of harm. But no, there too, the [Heart Fires] essence is renewal. They do not cause harm. Not in the immediate sense.”

“That’s good to hear,” Tessa said, relaxing visibly at the news.

“Except that we’ve seen that [Heart Fires] aren’t eternal,” Lisa said.

“What do you mean?” Sister Acroghast said. “They are divine. Only one of the creators could extinguish them.”

Tessa and Lisa shared a silent look before Tessa spoke.

“We’ve seen a [Heart Fire] that was destroyed,” Tessa said. “It was in the [High Beyond]. When the Consortium forces attacked.”

“But they’ve been attacking here and there aren’t any reports of the [Heart Fire] shrines being destroyed?” Sister Acroghast said.

“They used different weapons and different troops in the [High Beyond],” Lisa said.

“And there were something else there too,” Tessa said. “It was nameless when it broke through, but it’s become more real since then. The last time we saw it, the creature had become a multitude of [Hungry Shadows].”

“One became many? And what are these [Disjoined] that you mentioned?” Sister Acroghast asked.

“Another problem that we’re hoping the [Heart Fires] can help with,” Tessa said.

“They are the ones who are in the wrong bodies?” Sister Acroghast asked.

“Them too,” Tessa said.

“There’ve been reports of the [Disjoined] here on the surface, so we know they’re not limited to the [High Beyond] like the [Hungry Shadow] is.”

“What sort of creature are they? Can a good axe slay them?” Sister Acroghast asked.

“The ones we fought weren’t particularly tough,” Tessa said. “But we don’t want to destroy them if we don’t have to.”

“They have no treasure? Or don’t provide any experience?” Sister Acroghast, correctly naming the two most likely reasons [Adventurers] wouldn’t be interested in killing a hostile monster.

“They’re people,” Tessa said. “Or the mixed up fragments of people.”

“Many monsters are,” Sister Acroghast said.

“I think these ones we might be able to help. Or I might be able to help,” Tessa said.

“The [Sisters of Steel] will always stand with those who seek to bring mercy and healing to the world,” Sister Acroghast said. “If these [Disjoined] are hostile though, it may be that destroying them is the only option we will have to keep you and the others in this town safe.”

“Oh, we don’t need you to keep us safe,” Tessa said. “That’s the bigger part of why we’re here.”

“If you seek a transformation which will guard you from an enemy, I’m afraid you’re heading for a disappointment,” Sister Acroghast. “Attempts to become a mighty [Wizard] or powerful [Warrior] have universally failed.”

Tessa and Lisa shared another silent gaze before Tessa spoke once more.

“I think this situation might be just a little different,” she said and turned to reach her hand into the [Heart Fire].

When she pulled it back out a wreath of fire was playing down from her finger tips which were already starting to change.