CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[dissimulative]

[ The next day has been fine—passing by with no problems. Oria is still on probation, but it's his last day.

He is very pumped to go all out on training again, since he wanted to use the gauntlet so bad. Katherine trains with them. The coach notifies that Katherine will be sorted into a new AOU group, but for now, she'll keep training with Striking Badgers. They'll find them a third member yet, the coach says anyway.

Oria is sparring with Katherine to help her learn how to defend herself when she's not covered by anyone. It's a great time and Katherine is learning a lot. She's really grateful and is about to say as such, but her eyes go wide.

"Oria, your nose is bleeding!"

Oria wipes it, shrugging it off. It's fine until it isn't when he wobbles midair and plummets. Sinclair catches Oria in time to prevent another incident and Katherine panics, saying that she didn't do anything that would cause Oria to suddenly be like this. They were just sparring with defensive instructions. Sinclair probably saw them. Nothing was weird about it.

Oria, unconscious, is taken to the infirmary, where Sinclair and the others find out that Oria isn't the only one with this problem. There are a few other Gauntlet Knights throughout the AOU faction that have been suffering the same, if not worse, symptoms. One of them is extremely pale and coughs up blood. The infirmary staff aren't sure if it's contagious, so they're working with hazmat suits and usher the visitors out. They need to be quarantined until they can confirm what is going on.

The AOU chatroom promptly explodes with worries and conspiracies that pop up more by the minute to the point it gets extreme overwhelming. Is it a targeted attack against AOU? Who would do such a thing? What about their wall of peace? Which nation is attacking them? Is it an insider? No one knows. No one can answer.

It's been three days. Still no news from the medical department. However, Sinclair receives the notification that Oria is online through Selcom. It must mean he's conscious now, finally, after several days. Will he text or try to find him in VR?

The illusion of choice is always apparent. ]

[insinning]

[ Katherine had nothing to do with it. Of course she didn't. She was just another teenager like them. Sinclair had been sick with worry over the last few days. He had been grounded from air battles - all the knights were - until all the knights were tested and the origin was found but...

Being locked out of the medical ward while this was going on only made things worse.

As soon as he gets Oria's notification he bursts into the VR]

Oria...!

[dissimulative]

[ Sinclair can get the feeling that there's someone in this VR room. The last time he was here, they chatted. Just them together.

When he walks inside, he's greeted with Oria's avatar that is on the verge of fritzing out. His face can't be seen with how the reception signal seems to be extremely poor, though nowhere in the building was ever this bad. It must be connected to whatever is going on instead. If interacted with, the avatar doesn't respond.

It lasts for a while until the avatar disappears completely. Oria has logged out of VR, says the notification. ]

[insinning]

[ Ah...

Sinclair reaches out much too late and in the emptiness of the VR room, he feels sick. If things got worse... if something happened to Oria and the others...

He sends a few messages to Oria again.

I hope you're okay

please be okay

And he'll see if there's anything he can dig up among the messages from the knights and if the guards are willing to share anything with him. He doesn't want to sit and wait anymore]

[dissimulative]

i▓ barely aw▓ke
but i sti▓l have the sense to m▓ss▓ge you

[ At least Oria seems to be "okay" as in he's not dead from this mysterious outbreak. Sort of. His texts seem a little glitched too.

Unfortunately, all the other knights have are rumors and some of them quite fantastical. But there are rumors about a hacker hacking into your body and collecting information about you, including secrets and memories.

If Sinclair asks the guards, they heard that it's destructive for factory-borns, but Oria is presumed to have received one of the more concerning symptoms of the entire bunch. Was the guy that frail before? He seemed so healthy! ]

[insinning]

[...he doesn't like that. There's a relief of course which is muddled by all his other thoughts]

is there anything i can do tor you? i can try sneaking in peeps with the next guard

[ It's a playfulness that he doesn't feel at all. But to the guards, he continues talking] >

...if it's destructive for the factory born, that's practically everyone in the AOU.

[ But not Oria. Even so, there's no relief he can find in that knowledge. He can't dismiss what the other knights say about the hacker because

Charon tried running over them. Charon failed.

But Sinclair was... okay.]

[dissimulative]

[ The texts take some time to be replied to. Perhaps Oria is really struggling to get them out there. Whatever he's affected with, it must be so dire if he can't even use his Selcom with no trouble. ]

no
j▓st ta▓k to me
e▓eryt▓▓ng h▓▓ts so ▓uch

[ Oria is never the type to admit his vulnerability right away, but here he is. It must be pretty bad.

If it's that bad for the factory borns, then why was only a handful selected? And one of them being Oria, who has always claimed to be ciconia-born? Something doesn't add up, but the guards admittedly don't know a whole lot. It's just the things that they heard from other people while doing their job.

The medical department finally releases a statement that the new sudden affliction is contagious and that no one should get in contact with the affected. It also seems to heavily affect their P3 levels. The department is working day in and out to find a cure.

Sinclair would get the feeling that the first statement is false. If it was contagious, he and Katherine would have been affected by now. The hacker theory sounds more right with each evidence stacked against it. Perhaps the government doesn't want visitors for whatever reason and wants to keep them quarantined. The second statement about the P3 levels... the only basis Sinclair has is that Oria can barely use his Selcom. Whether it's true or not remains to be unclear. ]

[insinning]

okay. I'll keep talking. what did you want to hear about?

[ anxiety and worry gnaw at Sinclair's mind. Seeing the way Oria had dropped from the sky had made Sinclair's heart drop and he had barely been able to sleep since. Again. Again. No, not again.

Especially if it was the p3 levels...

Aria...now Oria and far too many people.

Being told he wasn't allowed to visit even in a hazmat suit makes Sinclair mutinous. Yes, he was factory born but he was healthier than most people.

And he's getting better at sniffing out the lies the officials tried to pull on him. The guards he's friends with can't really help. So he spends his time watching the medical facility, while keeping Oria updated on mundane things. If there was a chance he could sneak in, his own health be damned...]

[dissimulative]

i do▓t fee▓ f▓▓ly a▓ake
how lo▓g ▓as it b▓en

[ Security is fortunately pretty lax for Sinclair's standards once he gets into the medical facility. Most of the guards were outside, probably due to contagion fears, and they were associated with the government, not Limbus.

It's lunch break. They have 30 minutes, in which they'll eat in a different room. The doctors look so tired when they leave.

It's Sinclair's chance. ]

[insinning]

it's been a few days. everyone keeps spreading rumors about what's happening and why

[ Aha. Sinclair brightens when he spots his chance. He steals a coat from a rack and walks in, trying to imagine the confidence someone like...well an actual scientist would have here. He Does Not Feel Guilty (no). If he walks in like he meant to, then no one will stop him. Hopefully the medical bay hasn't been changed too much since and he can find Oria easily]

[dissimulative]

[ It looks like it's been sectioned off according to the patient. When Sinclair sifts through them, none of them look like they're conscious, even Oria when he finally finds him despite how he's barely using his Selcom to message Sinclair.

He lies on the medical bed with his back against the mattress. He isn't covered by a blanket, but it looks like random parts of his body were dug up with how many "dents" there seems to be. If these are what hurts Oria, he most likely haven't been given painkillers—perhaps there is a good reason why, but no one knows for sure. ]

it h▓rts
i▓ hu▓▓s
▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓

[insinning]

Oria...

[ It takes all of Sinclair's strength not to collapse on the spot. This... wasn't right. Did they remove Oria's implants or something else? He presses a hand to Oria's forehead, gently pushing back his hair. He's so very afraid of causing Oria more pain]

I'm here. Everyone is working hard to help you.

[dissimulative]

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

[ The heart rate monitor seems to slow, but that's just Oria's usual. He always had a slow beating heart for some reason, and he was never as warm as most people.

For a moment, Oria's lips slowly part from a small smile. ]

"My... Sinclair".

[ Oria never calls him by his last name. ]

"You came for me. I'm so... so happy."

[insinning]

...Oria?

[ Sinclair brightens when he hears Oria's voice but then the words sink in.

That.. isn't Oria, is it?]

Of course...

[ There's only one person left in this world that calls him Emil. He hadn't realised how much he needed to hear it until now]

[dissimulative]

"You sound so disappointed."

[ It doesn't change how giddy he seems to sound despite the pain. ]

"But I'm happy anyway. I hope you remember our promise... I'm here to fulfill it, for you."

[insinning]

... because, you don't sound like Oria now. And you're not well.

[ His brow furrows and he takes Oria's hand anyway. He feels uneasy.

And somewhere, he remembers an echo of a voice, a laughing and grating voice that sent chills down his spine.

"My Sinclair...you did well."

Huh? Why was he suddenly thinking of that?]

Our promise?

[dissimulative]

[ There seems to be a small dent in Oria's palm when Sinclair takes Oria's hand. ]

"Yes, our promise. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot it..."

[ There's a wistful smile on Oria's face. ]

"After all, you forgot everything prior to the incident."

[insinning]

...incident? [ That wariness grows, uncertainty deepening] What do you mean? We only met two years ago.

[ ... didn't they? No, Oria would have told him, would have known and]

[dissimulative]

"Well, yes and no. You met 'Oria Severine' two years ago."

[ The voice grows fainter. Maybe Oria's body isn't meant to be talking right now from how painful everything is. Imagine that. ]

"Do you still have the coin?"

[insinning]

[ The...coin?

Something snaps in Sinclair's head and he lets go of Oria's hand, sinking to his knees.

The coin. The coin...?

A woman's scream, pained cries for him to run. Blood. Bodies everywhere.]

...if you're not Oria. Who...who are you?

[dissimulative]

"My Sinclair... Have you really forgotten?"

[ The strength seems to be sapping rapidly, though Oria's heartbeat still continues, steady... steady... ]

"I am the reason why you're here in the first place. After all, these factory-borns... they're an affront to humanity."

[ The hand drops onto the bed and the heart rate lowers significantly, but it never dips to the point of no return.

There is no more response from Oria's mouth. The Selcom seems offline too. ]

[insinning]

[ Shut up! He wants to say. But Oria's hand stops moving and...

Factory born...?]

... but I'm Factory-born. And Oria...

[something doesn't add up. Of those afflicted, the Factory-born had it the worst. But it was so clear to Sinclair that Oria was suffering so much too. His gaze falls on the clipboard with the doctor's notes. What an old fashioned thing. But it was something that couldn't be hacked...]

[dissimulative]

[ Sinclair can "hack" it by overwriting the things on the clipboard if he wants, but the meal break is nearly over. Moreover, the significant drop in heart rate have alerted the medical staff to come look. Time to bail... ]

[insinning]

[He's just taking a picture of the board and leaving, hopefully without notice.

What that person in Oria said...

He goes to look for Limbus Personnel. He had to speak to That person. And maybe...they could help him help Oria ]

[dissimulative]

[ A few more days pass and there has been no signs of Oria's Selcom coming online throughout the time. However, once those few days pass, Oria is allowed to have visitors in a separate private ward.

His Selcom is still off, but Oria is seen looking out the window at the occasional passing bird in the sky. ]