Chapter 291
“Mira?” I dropped everything I was doing and turned to Mira. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”
Her eyes trembled slightly when they met mine, dropping to the bed. “I-I feel fine- my spine aches- my head throbs- am I really out- where are we?”
“We’re safe.” I set aside my deck and sketches, moving closer to her side. “In Absolom Clinic.”
She flinched at the word clinic, though quickly covered it up with a fragile smile. “I’m sorry I was taken- smile so she doesn’t-“
She forced herself to go silent by clamping her jaw. I watched for a moment and then reached forward to grab her hand. She trembled at the contact, though some of the tension faded away. Her eyes still darted around without pause, though her muscles relaxed away from the fight-or-flight instinct.
I forced my voice to come out low and calm, completely at odds with how I really felt. By some miracle, I didn’t even stutter. “It’s not your fault, Mira. None of it is.”
“I should’ve fought harder- surely she hates me now- shut up- why can’t it just be quiet-“ She crawled back into the corner of the cot, wrapping her arm around her knees. Still, she refused to let go of my hand.
“I definitely don’t hate you…” I eyed the halo on top of her head. Even now the experimental chrome pulsed with a faint light. “Is it the halo?”
My mikata slowly nodded her head. Her weak smile twisted into a frown. “It’s like there’s five of me- I’m the real one-intrusive thoughts were already bad- shut up- why can’t I control my mouth?“
Her words came out in another torrent, all merging together. Each of her separate thought processes clashed independently against each other. I- I had no idea what I could do to help her in the slightest. Brain stuff was so far out of my comfort zone.
The Halo Cortex was a multi-thought processor according to the documents I’d stolen. It seemed it literally split her mind into five different chunks, each capable of independent thought. The biology part of it slipped over my head, but the processing cores throughout the halo were in my wheelhouse.
Why would anyone want something like that? Even dealing with just one of me was nearly impossible, but five separate thought processes going at once? I can’t even imagine. It’d make even the smallest of psychological issues all the more evident.
”I’ll go get Nael-“
Her grip on my hand strengthened, keeping me hostage. Although she looked like she hadn’t been eating, she still had a surprising amount of strength left. Might be some strengthening of the exoskeleton too. “Stay with me- sorry, I shouldn’t have- she has better things she could- I don’t deserve-“
She slammed her eyes shut, and her grip loosened. I watched her for a moment and shifted onto the bed, sitting beside her. “I‘m not going anywhere…”
Silence crept into the small room. It was weird- scary even. Mira was never silent. I couldn’t think of a single time in the past where there’d just been quiet between us. It made me deeply uncomfortable, as if further driving the point home that something was wrong.
I hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug. She didn’t resist, allowing herself to be pulled along. After a few moments, her body broke out into trembles and she sniffed quietly. “It’s okay to cry.”
She shifted, wiping her eyes on the patient gown Nael put her in. ”No it isn’t- what am I if not the strong one- where’s pa’?”
I rubbed her back gently. I really should’ve gotten Nael. I- I just didn’t know how to deal with- with this
. I wasn’t a psychologist. “You’re still you. You’ll always be my best mikata. The only one I’d trust to have my back no matter the situation.”Her bald head sunk down, the chrome halo tapping against her knees. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to situate herself better. The chrome made it difficult. “I- good old Shiro- why wasn’t she there- that isn’t fair- I hate myself.”
Words bubbled out of her in an uncontrolled mess. Each one stung worse than the last, though I didn’t let it show on my face. Especially not when she peeked up worriedly at me under her arm.
I shifted, pulling my HUD up into my vision to send a text to Nael. “Uncle Ezra is trapped on a base near the Eternal Sandstorm… he said he’d be here soon, but I haven’t heard from him in a couple days.”
”Interference is a big- I wish he was here- why didn’t he come- stupid FSA- why am I still dressed-“ She bit her lip, forcing herself to go quiet.
”Do you want some other clothes?” Ugh- I should’ve thought about this. Of course the clinical gown would make her uncomfortable. This was probably the worst place for her to wake up anyway. It’s too much like the lab.
She put that weak smile on once more. ”That’d be nice- and some food- don’t ask for too much- she definitely hates me-“
This time, I was the one to cut her off by pulling her tighter into a hug. I was careful not to mess with any of the still healing injuries from the surgery. That, and the black exoskeleton sticking out along her spine. Still wasn’t sure what it did. Now definitely wasn’t the time to ask.
“You can ask for as much as you want. I’ll get you anything.” I put on a playful smile, hoping to keep her mind—minds—off things. “I’m not broke anymore.”
“C-can I come with you- I’m just baggage-“ She shook her head, stuffing it back into her knees.
I took a breath, flickering Cold-Blooded to suppress my raging emotions. Seeing her like this hurt more than anything I’d experienced so far. Even worse than losing a hand and having most of my bones shattered.
”Let me ask Nael?” If not… I’d get Corvid to go fetch us stuff. Or Saint. He should be finishing up whatever he was working on soon.
She snaked out her arm, wrapping it around my waist to pull me closer. Her warmth pressed into me, pushing back the chilling effect of Cold-Blooded. Although she wasn’t saying it, that fear that I’d leave was evident in her eyes.
I made a show of pulling out my phone and calling Nael. Thankfully, he picked up after a few rings. “Shiro… She's awake?”
“You’re on speaker. Can we… leave?” I felt her flinch next to me.
”I’d recommend staying for observation… but I’ve done as much as I can without attempting a removal. Might be better to get out of here, kid. Somewhere that doesn’t smell like chemicals.” Nael got to the crux of the issue without any issue. It seemed he was thinking along the same lines as me.
”Mira is… stable, right?” At my words, she went back to trembling. Her head dipped even lower, hiding her expression between her legs.
”Physically.” He left a lot unsaid. “I’ve called in a favor with a neurosurgeon I know to help with the Halo Cortex. She’ll be in town in a couple days.”
I rubbed at her back, and her trembling subsided slightly. “What about the ExoCore?”
Nael sighed slightly. “Scans indicated some kind of magitech. I have no idea… I’ll ask around though. Just be careful, yeah? Call me if anything happens.”
”’Course.” Not like I’d call anyone else. They might charge me an arm and a leg. Literally.
“And we need to talk. Soon. I’ll unlock the back exit… and bring some clothes.” A groan came from across the phone. Was he working on a patient? “Just give me a few minutes.”
”Take your time…”
He hung up, leaving us to sit in silence for several uncomfortable seconds. Mira’s head popped up with faux-cheer, just like she used to have. That cheer immediately died when a winter draft blew into the room.
She shivered, rubbing at her hairless head. “Th-think it’ll grow back- what a stupid concern- she’s no longer broke- I can’t wait to leave-“
“Of course it’ll grow back.” I hoped. They might’ve used some kind of chemical to prevent its growth, but… no, Nael probably would’ve taken care of anything like that in his initial scans. He was good. Although this was outside of his area of expertise, that didn’t mean he wasn’t still a capable Medek.
Mira put on that stupid fake smile and dropped her head onto my shoulder, pressing me down slightly. I thought about making a joke about being short to lighten the mood, but decided against it and just settled back into the bed. This time, the silence wasn’t lingering.
After a few moments, her breathing evened out and she fell asleep on my shoulder. It looked like I wouldn’t be getting back to work with all my stuff over there. I could summon Corvid to get it for me…
The interface blinked into my vision once more. I finally gave it some attention.
「Request - Lost Mikata - Completed
Find Mira
Reward: 25 EF, Pack Gift」
Lightning thrummed through the Aether, condensing in front of me. I flicked on Aetherial Perception, watching the lightning blend and blur together. For a moment, I was tempted to reach out a hand and feel it thrum through me. I’d yet to give into my electricity addiction though, and it certainly wouldn’t happen now.
The lightning closed into a ring, turning into a complete circuit. It shrunk and hardened, forming an ornate ring. It took on a silver hue, though still looked like a hardened piece of lightning. A wolf’s claw formed around the small band.
「Packheart Ring
Even when distant, be still and know the pack runs with you.
Create Pack Rings at will.
Instinctively feel the pack’s presence like a second heart
Distant howls sound close」
Thanks for the gift, Wolf… I turned the ring over in my hand, eyeing the magical item. Hmm… with a thought, the ring duplicated. The duplicate, however, didn’t have the wolf’s claw. Definitely one of those Pack Rings…
From the description, I could take a guess at its effects. Maybe it worked like a commlink? And a tracker all rolled up into one. But, like, a magical one so I wouldn’t have to worry about Netrunners getting into the channels.
I’d have to test it out to really see if it’d be good. Not on Mira. Not yet, at least. When she was more… stable, I could tell her more about how much things have changed with me. For now, it was best to take things one step at a time with her. Maybe test it on Saint?
「Bounty - Predator - Complete
Kill 100 People
Reward: 100 EF」
That… No way I killed one hundred people since the whole bounty system was unlocked, right? Unless it counted indirect kills? Like how my freeing of all the experiments in the lab resulted in dozens of scientists and guards dying.
That- that made me sick to even think about. I mean, they deserved it. There was no doubt in my mind that they deserved it. But getting favor for just killing people? It was so much EF… and yet, so little. We’re people just worth a single EF to the eidolons?
Regardless, that put me at 176 EF. It was just over a fifth of the way to a Skill Point if I wanted to go for that. Otherwise, I could afford most of the cheaper stuff on the list, including Crow’s Wheel of Wares.
A text from Nael popped into my HUD. ‘Back door is unlocked. Clothes out front of the room’s door. Should fit just fine. Let me know when you leave.’
Right… I shifted my leg slightly, causing Mira to pull me closer to her like I was some kind of ready bear. I looked at her sleeping face scrunched up in distress and carefully wrapped my arms back around her, pulling her into a gentle hug.
I’d let her sleep for now. Once she woke up, we could get outta here. Until then, I tried to keep myself busy by jumping around the net on my phone, checking up on city news, new cases in the Crusade, and other happenings around Aythryn City.
One thing caught my eye. The new mayor, Mayor Cinder, was working on a new set of bills regarding mercenaries, PMCs, and other assorted ‘troubleshooters’ throughout the city. I read through a few articles from different sources, trying to understand the new bills.
If I was understanding this right, the council wanted to legalize a lot of merc jobs. Right now, most of us act in a grey area. If the new bills passed, we’d be pulled out of that grey area and tossed into the light. A lot of the larger ramifications were lost on me, but it was definitely an interesting proposal. I’d have to ask Saint about it when we got the time. He could probably break it down.
I continued to just surf the net and wait. Eventually, my own drowsiness pulled at me and my eyes slowly closed.