It was slow, but my new body adjusted to the patterns of the old one. Though it had been centuries, my skill had not dulled. The physiotherapy helped, and I wondered the difference it would’ve made if we’d had such things back in my first life. I had been plagued by battle wounds, injuries that acted up on rainy days. As I thought of how much better I would’ve been, I went through the motions of hand to hand combat alone.

My hands though, felt empty. I was used to fighting with swords, any kind of sword. They didn’t seem to be common nowadays. Even a bow and arrow would’ve sufficed to satisfy the itch in my fingers to train the way that I used to. I jogged till my legs screamed for rest. I lifted weights until my arms were limp, but it was mind-numbing work. I wanted challenge, an opponent to fight.

“I want to train,” I said as Dr. Rossi walked into the room. “Wrestling, boxing, archery, anything.”

“You haven’t fully recovered yet, Ravi,” she said. “Just a few more days. Your physiotherapist says you’re doing well, but we want to be sure before we let you spar with the others.”

“I’m doing perfectly well physically,” I responded. “I was never this healthy before.”

“Before, you lived in a time riddled with infectious disease and no cures, no modern medicine, and poor sanitation. It’s different now. You’ll see.”

I sighed in frustration and fell back into the bed. It was Lina that made me more desperate to start training. She came back each day satisfied and exhausted. There were a few others in the hospital wing I was in, but most were still asleep. All I needed to do was patience, but that had never been my strong suit.

Lina walked in around dinner time. “I asked, and you can come to the cafeteria from today. You can meet some of our seniors.”

“Our seniors?”

“The ones who woke up before we did and haven’t been discharged yet. I’m training with them.”

I looked down, trying to hide my envy. Lina chuckled.

“Dr. Rossi’s right to make us wait. The training here is nothing like what we faced before. We’re fighting against our equals or our betters. And we’re not just human anymore. Not entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“The adjustment takes time,” Lina said. “Step by step. Human bodies couldn’t handle it if all the changes came at once.”

“What changes, Lina?” I asked.

“You’ll see. It’s a surprise,” she said. “Let’s go?”

I got up from the bed and started to put on my shoes. I moved slower than I needed to. I got along with Lina, but from experience I knew that wasn’t always the case. I was never a social person, and from Ravi’s memories, I knew he wasn’t either.

“You can’t be a loner forever, Ravi,” Lina said. “And they’re cool.”

She grabbed my hand and led me to past the park, to the cafeteria. There were a few tables of people dressed identically. The institute enforced uniformity strictly. We all wore the same white shbirts and trousers, all like old-fashioned pajamas. We were all issued the same white slippers for our wing, and plain white sneakers for exercise.

A tall black man with dreadlocks called out to Lina as soon as we entered the room. Their table was nearly full, and they pulled another chair over to the table and made room for us.

“So, you’re Ravi?” he asked. “Nice to meet you, bro. I’m Dennis.”

I shook his extended hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Get your food first,” he said, pointing a thumb towards the rows of food laid out along one side of the cafeteria. “It’s taco night.”

By the time I came back, Lina was already sitting next to Dennis. The other empty chair was across the table, between two people I didn’t know yet. They were engrossed in a conversation about swords, and I listened in.

“What do you think?” the one of the left asked. He was a small, wiry man, with curly dark hair and a thin mustache.

“I always liked my estoc, but I imagine weapons evolved and improved after that.”

“They have, although estocs are good. You don’t really need something that can pierce through chain mail nowadays, though.”

“You don’t need swords at all,” Dennis said. “I’ve grown quite fond of the more efficient weapons available now.”

The man to my right shook his fork at Dennis. “You have no appreciation for the classics, Dennis. Besides, are your modern weapons as silent as swords? Do they require skill or finesse to wield? There’s no challenge with guns.”

“Killing shouldn’t have to be an art, Louis,” Dennis said. “It’s just killing.”

He was speaking about us, and what we all signed up for. It was the first mention I’d heard of what we’d have to do after leaving the institute.

“This topic is getting a bit morbid. Have the standards for polite conversation fallen so far?” Lina asked, laughing. “I really don’t feel like discussing death and killing over dinner.”

“Although it’s our bread and butter?” Louis asked.

“Especially because it is,” she said. “We already spend enough time thinking of ways to kill other people in training. Let’s talk about happier things when we’re eating. For example, my grandma’s ninetieth birthday is coming up. I’m gonna be discharged by then, so I’ll get to celebrate it with her.”

“My son got into the school’s soccer team,” Dennis said.

“I hear we’re getting a bowling alley,” the man to my left said.

“Is that the happiest news you have, Paolo?” Lina asked.

“It’s the only happy news I have, Lina,” he answered, mocking her tone. “That, and that it’s pancake day tomorrow.”

I was sick of the sweet breakfasts. I wanted Ma’s dosa or poori, spiced tea instead of black coffee, and food that wasn’t tainted by the smell of disinfectant.

“I’m gonna go call my mom,” I said. “Talk to you guys later.”