CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[insinning]

I wont. [He looks up a little. Or at least, he'll try not to. It's hard to say what that machine will make him look at next.

Still, the thought of that person...something twists in him] But enough about me...did they ever tell you what happened to make so many gauntlet knights sick like that?

[dissimulative]

Nope. As usual, they don't tell us jack shit. I saw the notice that went out to everyone too. It read like politics bullshit as it always does.

[ Oria really doesn't want to bring up the "my mother will hear about this!!" except, she probably will and he actually doesn't want that lmao ]

I didn't notice anything weird until Katja pointed out that I was bleeding out of my nose. As I stopped and took in the situation, my mind went blank and... that's it.

[ Then he fell and Sinclair caught him. ]

[insinning]

But you were feeling unwell earlier right? Do you think that was related?

[ Of course the scientists didn't say anything to those actually impacted. Why is Sinclair even surprised? But he tries to push the pieces of the puzzle together. A strange person who claimed to know him, looking for a coin. Oria being as unwell as the factory-born knights even though he was Ciconia-born. There must have been some kind of hacker, but why?]

[dissimulative]

The day when we were watching a movie? I'm not sure...

[ Oria sure saw red when he wasn't supposed to. He thought the sword had a red matte shine. ]

What are you thinking of?

[insinning]

...I don't think I have enough proof, but...isn't it possible to implant illnesses within people? I know 8MS is tightly guarded, but if there was something like a malicious 8MS, then...

[It didn't explain why Oria was a target and how Sinclair got out unscathed. But it would explain one thing: why there had been no word on what it was. Why no one tried blaming another faction just yet.]

These days, a hacker would have to be really close, to us, right? But, if they had some kind of personal 8MS they were sending out, maybe...?

[dissimulative]

But that's impossible... 8MS would require so many resources to look into and you'd definitely get caught. 8MS security is one of the tightest security there is and it's looked over by all nations because they don't want any other country to get ahead.

[ At least, that's what Oria thinks. ]

All hackers leave behind a trace too, but... I'm not a hacker.

[ There was the little rook that tried to hack into Sinclair before, but that thing left a very tiny trace. Demian will find that it's identified as "A1". As for its owner? Instead of a secret trying to hide its existence, it just says outright that there's no owner, no controller.

... ]

[insinning]

[Was anything truly impossible? If you had enough money, and enough power, and everyone was too busy fighting with each other to look at you...]

...there was one after me, I think. Back when we were hanging out at the shops.

[Sinclair had intended on keeping quiet about it, but if that silence put Oria under further harm...Demian had wanted to keep it secret for a little longer. But Sinclair couldn't hold back anymore]

It got stopped, but the trace it left behind was "A1".

[dissimulative]

[ Okay, wait. Wait a moment. ]

Someone tried to hack you?

[ And Sinclair seems fine? Huh? Maybe Charon traded all her navigation skills for firewall defense, he thinks. ]

A1... AI? Does the letter and number imply there will be more? What the heck...

[insinning]

[ahaha...yeah. Well.]

Mm. It was like a little rook piece? I don't know. But it was like, the longer it subverting the firewalls, the more information it was able to steal.

[He's not sure if he can admit the other part yet. Oria already worried about him...]

Or...maybe multiple of them were sent out already. It feels like a grid piece.

[dissimulative]

... Do you think it's worth telling the doctors about this?

[ So that they can find possible traces of the hacker within Oria if there is one. But he's also aware that he might not get any answers out of it and be left in the dark like always because adults are just like that. Also, he wouldn't want to leak anything anything regarding Sinclair, since that seems to be sensitive information now. ]

[insinning]

[He squeezes Oria's hand]

...anything to make sure they can find whatever did this to you and the others. They might have already thought of it, then dismissed it so they wouldn't do anything unnecessary.

[Honestly, Sinclair had kept it quiet simply because he didn't want to return to the laboratory. Charon was strong but not that strong of an AI. They would have questions, a need to make sure their weapon hadn't been sabotaged. But Sinclair was willing to take that chance, now that other people were on the line]

[dissimulative]

... Alright.

[ He wants to keep Sinclair out of it as best as he can anyway. It's fine. ]

Then I'll let them know of the possibility. You said it was a rook named A1?

[insinning]

Mm, that's right. I wonder if there's a way to transfer a copy of the trace to see if anything else can be found.

[ Another gentle hand squeeze. Definitely don't mind him absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over Oria's palm to make sure it's nice and whole without any strange dents]

[dissimulative]

[ Yeah, his hand is fine. No dents. Even his legs which seemed to take the most of the dents are now full and healthy! Isn't that so weird? They're hidden under the blanket unless Sinclair wants to see his legs for some reason?? ]

If only if it was that easy... Man, of all the connections my family has, I don't think a hacker is one of them.

[ ................... ]

Except... Aria. I think she was hanging out with some hackers.

[insinning]

Hackers? Aria?

[ Then maybe...that couldn't have been his imagination then? That familiar feeling. An uncomfortable feeling settles in his chest.

And he's not looking at Oria's legs, geez!!]

[dissimulative]

Yeah. That was one of the things I found out when I was looking into things, but I don't have any leads regarding their identities. For all I know, they could be from a different nation.

[ He sighs. Oria didn't want to say it because he found nothing definitive before apart from their identities are hackers, but it seemed worth to bring up now. ]

[insinning]

What reasons would Aria have to get involved with hackers?

[It's not like as gauntlet knights they were required to do any behind the scenes work. They were the faces of military might]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria frowns when asked. It's not because of Sinclair. He hasn't done anything wrong, but it reminds Oria that Aria didn't trust him as much as he did for her and when things are unbalanced like that with Oria giving "more", it makes Oria want to recoil and abandon things altogether. ]

I don't know. It surprised me too, when I found that out. She usually just hung out with her friends after training.

[ Typical normie stuff, like going to cafes, going shopping, etc ]

[insinning]

[ He thinks, it makes sense. Aria was the older sister after all. And older sisters always

Emil. Run!

Something churns in his stomach.]

... Aria was more mysterious than we thought, huh? She must have been looking for something.

[dissimulative]

Aria? Mysterious?

[ In the past, he would have blown that off completely, but all it does is make him feel a little bitter. ]

I think anyone would laugh if they're told that.

[ Because Aria was such a ditz outside of gauntlet-related things. ]

But I wonder what she was looking for... to the point of asking hackers under the table.

[ There's a pause. ]

Maybe I should go home to try and find more things about her. She never stayed in the dorms like us.

[insinning]

[He wishes he could make that better. But it's the kind of feeling words couldn't fix. The only person who could address it wasn't here.]

...that's right. She always left at the end of the day.

[Sinclair was practically permanently confined to the dorms outside of the outings he had earned with merit points]

They'd probably let you take a day off or two after you get better too.

[dissimulative]

I wish you could come with me...

[ Oria sighs while looking annoyed, but it's really to hide his uneasiness. He doesn't want to go home. He doesn't want to talk with his mother again, but he knows that she was closest to Aria out of all the siblings. ]

[insinning]

I can try asking for permission.

[ He fidgets, frowning a little. He just needed to find the right reasons and someone other than Oria to vouch for him. But even then...]

You don't really like visiting your home, do you?

[dissimulative]

Yeah. I hate going home.

[ Without hesitation. ]

Now that Aria is dead, I'm the only one left. What used to be a family of six is reduced to three.

[insinning]

[ Sinclair looks down]

... I see. [ Only three after six, huh? He wonders how much that must hurt for those left behind. ]

Then, I'll do my best to get permission to go with you then. So you don't have to go on your own.

[ Even if he had to agree to unreasonable demands.]