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 think everyone had more fun pointing fingers at whoever they think is dating.

[Sinclair laughs, and pats Oria's hand]

I know. Hospitals suck.

[dissimulative]

[ He quietly huffs. ]

They really do. I never wanna get sick again!

[ Says the person who rarely gets sick. ]

[insinning]

[Is this the first time Oria has been bedridden for this long?]

I know. I'm glad I got permission to visit this time...does your selcom have to stay offline?

[dissimulative]

It would be better if it does for less mental stress or whatever. It's more of a personal choice, though.

[ Peaceful. Quiet. ]

Though I'll probably have to turn it back on when I tell them about a possible hacker fucking things up.

[insinning]

I think I understand. [Sinclair had to block a lot of things to keep his head together. But that does remind him...he digs through his bag and pulls out a blocky device]

Umm, one of the researchers gave this to me when I was...[locked up??] with them. It's apparently an old school version of tetrio that's handheld. He said it was good to disconnect sometimes.

[dissimulative]

A handheld device?!

[ He takes it when offered and looks at it with wonder. ]

Oh my god, this is like... an ancient artifact, except not as fragile... I think?

[ He looks at Sinclair as if to confirm those claims. ]

[insinning]

Right? I was so scared when he gave it to me, but apparently he just picks up scraps and fixes them for fun...

[Anyway, since Oria is bedridden, he can have it!]

A lot of people aren't interested because they like their selcoms and wanyadora more.

[dissimulative]

That's true... beating wanyadora's popularity is a tough feat.

[ Sorry, he cannot make tetris/io trendy again. He looks back at the handheld with a newfound appreciation. ]

Thanks, Emil. I think my stay will be a lot more bearable now.

[ Hehe... ]

1/2

[insinning]

I'm glad. [ Sinclair beams. Ehehe]

I'll see if there are other handhelds he's happy to share if you want more.

2/2

[insinning]

[ He's about to settle in a little more when a nurse abruptly comes over, wheeling over a cart of questionable food

"Visiting time is over. Please leave so our patients can rest." ]

H-huh? Already?

[ Yes so get out, the nurse seems to say with her eyes as she stares him down. ]

1/2

[dissimulative]

[ When Sinclair looks over at the nurses, Oria' head does too. The blue eyes seem colder and almost glowing for a moment as he narrows them at the nurse. Spooky.

It's what the military staff are scared of seeing again. ]

2/2

[dissimulative]

[ Oria squeezes Sinclair's hand one last time while smiling a little. ]

Looks like it's time to go.

[ He pulls Sinclair closer to himself by the hand, quietly muttering: ]

I'll message you later.

[ Then he smiles his normal smile, letting go of the hand and waves. Bye byeeee ]

[insinning]

[ How odd. He swears the orderly and the nurse flinched away but why would they? It's just him and Oria, and it wasn't like Oria was doing anything weird. He squeezes Oria's hand in turn, trying not to notice how closely he's been pulled in. This is normal.]

Yeah. See you later.

[ Waving as he leaves and he goes straight to Dr. Faust about permission to leave with Oria to visit his family. Dante would back him up, he thinks.]

[dissimulative]

[ After Sinclair has been granted permission and Oria is finally out of the medbay, they take a subway to the Severine residence. It's about 30 minutes far by train, in which Oria talks to Sinclair about how the handheld device saved his sanity while recovering. He is so tetris-pilled right now.

But they eventually arrive to the destination, which was a quick bus ride and walk from the subway gate. Oria looks a little nervous, looking to the side where the cars should be and not finding any there. With the driest voice he can muster: ]

... Welcome to the abode, or whatever.

[ yeah hi welcome to the severine house, sinclair. The air feels fresher than around the military buildings and the greenery is vibrant. It's hard to tell if it's artificial or real by appearances alone, but you'd know the greenery is artificial when you know that growing plant on the barren, wasted soil is nigh impossible.

Anyway, Oria unlocks the door with the key that he always had (mom: you will use this one day) and the interior is pretty lavish with decor, but not overdone. Everything looks nice until one may remember that this is a house for three now, with one that doesn't even come by anymore. ]

Mom...? You home?

[ It's quiet. ]

[insinning]

[ Sinclair is a bit overwhelmed when he looks up at the Severine house? Mansion?

The air smells better somehow and that would be enough to get Sinclair admiring how nice it was if it weren't for Oria's expression. He holds Oria's hand instead]

... it's really quiet here.

[dissimulative]

[ Despite being government-regulated, sometimes you can straight up buy more 8MS, even if their usage is always recorded in data logs that the government will always peek into. Oria quietly breathes out the tension that he's been feeling when he holds Sinclair's hand. ]

... Yeah. It doesn't look like anyone's home right now.

[ He's already assuming that his father is out somewhere, because he's always out for some reason or another from what he remembers. ]

I think she left the rooms as they were. Come on.

[ Time to go up the stairs. ]

[insinning]

Are they normally out?

[He holds Oria's hand firmly as they walk up the stairs. It was luxurious... but it felt empty somehow.]

[dissimulative]

I don't know, since I don't live here.

[ It sure is an empty place, and far too big for one person to live here at most. The vastness of the house, punctuated by the fact that the mother has lost three children whom she dearly loved. It sounds unbearably lonely.

Oria knows this. Even so, he continues upstairs, leading Sinclair and never looking back. They get to Aria's room and surprisingly, it's unlocked.

It's a cute room. It has pastel pink walls with a wide window, covered by a lace curtain with small, hanging decor dangling from it. There are large stuffed animals on the bed, lined up on the wall that it's against. The desk is also clean and tidy, with one of the keys to the drawers hanging from the keyhole.

There are several things inside the drawers if they decide to open it: a bullet journal decorated with cute mascot stickers, washi tape, and glitter pen ink written neatly across the pages. There are also several folders that seem familiar with how the military keeps their stuff. ]

[insinning]

[ Sinclair looks around in surprise. He had heard of stories about rooms like these but]

...her room is really cute.

[ And untouched and clean, despite Aria never being able to return. He touches one of the files and pulls it out.

Ah, that was his name.]

[dissimulative]

... Yeah. I think she was the only one out of the siblings that actually liked cute things.

[ Though Oria also looks through the drawers, pulling out the bullet journal. ]

Why does she have your files here? Weird... I thought people are supposed to keep them at the base.

[insinning]

[Sinclair opens up the files...he doesn't even know what's on his, so he's a little curious.

The first page is standard notes on him. His age, height, personality (wishy-washy? That was rude...), skills...

Oh, his birthplace had been redacted even here]

Mm...I'm surprised it's in physical form too and not a mental tablet. But what would you say is more secure if you had to hide things? The base or here?

[dissimulative]

Since we have hackers that can literally hack into your mind to steal information if you're within range, I think having a physical copy would be best, if you can deal with all the caveat that comes with it.

[ He peeks at the report. ]

Wishy-washy, huh.

[insinning]

Ugh...I guess this is the psychiatrist's assessment[ There is a note on his insecurities (thanks) and his tendencies to be overdependent (that is even more rude); and a psychiatrist noting that the Geroy Training Tactics simply were completely ineffective on him and to take an approach of care and support if the military wished to make the best use out of him as a weapon.

He flips the page over and finds even more redacted.

After the events of [redacted], subject has proven to be very emotionally volatile. Many guards have been injured due to his aggression. Subject has undergone a memory modification process. This should create stability in his nature and make him more pliable to directions.

Caution and care is to be taken when mentioning the names 'Calw' and 'Kromer' around him even after the procedure has been done as it could activate latent memories.

Kromer.

Kromer? His stomach churns a little]

[dissimulative]

[ This report is unbelievably rude to Sinclair. Oria reads it over Sinclair's shoulder too and frowns. ]

They really weren't kidding about trying to make you into a weapon.

[ Oria really hates that and still thinks Sinclair should be treated with respect as a human being. His voice sounds disgusted and a little incredulous over the fact. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair nods, feeling a little bitter. It's not unexpected but it still stings to read.]

I still wonder why they chose me...

[ There is so much redacted that Sinclair feels dizzy trying to make sense of it but the last few lines stick out.

It is recommended to create a sense of family around the subject to make use of his dependency on others. Despite his actions, his loyalty to his parents and sister is clear. While it is recommended to block off all memories of his family, due to the instability it creates in him, the remnants of those feelings can be used to foster his devotion to the AOU and divert it from the ABN.

...

The paper crumbles beneath his grip]