Meeting
All the glamour and shine of the room aside, my attention was focused onto the back of the room, where a large bed was placed. Stepping forward, I saw the unconscious form of the brown-haired girl tucked messily into the sheets. Walking up beside me, Azul threw me a question: "Well? I hope you had a plan. From what I've heard, she's shown no signs of waking up the last time an attendant checked up on her." I replied calmly: "The medical tests her doctors conducted showed no internal or external injuries on her," Getting up on a large stool beside the oversized bed (My child-sized legs couldn't even touch the ground whilst sitting on it), I fumbled my pockets as I continued, "Their analysis was that she was simply exhausted, and in need of rest. But it's been almost two days since I've found her in that state." Finding what I needed, I pulled my hands out from my pockets, taking out a small, metal device in the shape of a small rod. On one end, there was a large, circular tip and on the other, a sharp, needle-like tip.
Azul gave the device a curious gaze, eyes clearly asking me what I was up to. Making a small grin, I explained, "This is a medical-grade rejuvenator, a miniaturised version, of course, since as you know, the standard ones are as large as the bed she's currently on." I motioned to the very-large bed the girl was sleeping on. A hint of realisation crossed Azul's eyes. Staring at me, he put the pieces together. "So you intend to-"
I cut him off. "Yep. Just wake her up with a slight jolt. As you're aware, this thing was developed for medical use on unconscious or knocked out patients, so it doesn't have any negative side effects, although there's obviously a feeling of discomfort from being jolted awake." Pausing to myself, I mused, "Well, it's not like I ever experienced it, so I wouldn't know what it's like." A hint of playfulness dyed my next words, "Do you?"
Azul stared at me, probably wondering how much he should reveal about his past. Why was he being so secretive? It's just small talk, after all. Besides, I already knew everything there was to know about him from his files. Not that the man himself knew, of course. The question I asked was more or less to gauge the man's response, and how much he would be willing to open up to me. After a few seconds of deliberation, he replied: "Yes, once. Although, my condition back then was rather…… unique." I knew what he meant by those words. As someone who's had a similar past, I wasn't intending on going any further and digging up old wounds.
Stopping myself at that, I returned to the task at hand. Carefully gripping the small device, I pointed the sharp edge towards her neck, ready to make a small prick. Rejuvenators work similarly to an injection. Poke the needle inside a person in specific areas near nerves, and it helps wake their brains up with a mild jolt. And no, it sounds dangerous and painful, sure, but it's pretty common to find it in Cordiale research facilities for unconscious operatives and personnel these days, especially in situations where we needed testimonies and eyewitness accounts urgently from unconscious patients. Besides that, I've also heard that the miniaturised version, like the one I was using, had also been gaining popularity amongst Task Forces and senior operatives for helping unconscious comrades or civilians in emergency situations during missions. Apparently even some guys in Division Samiel were using it. So yeah, it's pretty safe for use.
I held my other free hand on her neck, trying to feel her pulse and veins. But just as I did so, I felt something very out of place. "Hmm? Wait– this girl– this was… I- okay." I quickly collected myself from the recoil. This was unexpected. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Azul throw me a curious glance over my reaction, but I wasn't in the mood to indulge him. I felt it, the minute reaction I felt the moment my hand made contact. Yeah, no doubt about it. I was pretty confident that my heightened senses were capable of picking up most body language. This girl was sound awake.
I lamented in a small voice: "Sigh, this was unexpected." Looking back at the girl in front of me, who was still pretending to be asleep, I pondered the current situation. How long had she been awake? Definitely not from the beginning, that's for sure. I couldn't imagine her fooling me whilst I had been holding her in my adult form back then. She probably woke up whilst at the mansion, and if I had to guess, probably after the last check-up Azul had mentioned. If so, she hasn't been awake for long, and is probably scared and very confused about the situation she's currently in. The mischievous part of me was wanting to use the rejuvenator anyways, to give her a shock that'll definitely get her up, but I decided against it. Couldn't blame a poor, scared child for trying to play a sleeping princess card in front of her "captors".
Collecting my jumbled thoughts, I spoke out in a small voice, trying to not give the girl any alarm as I did so, "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. You're safe. We're not bad guys— " Wait, were we the bad guys in her eyes? I mean we did sort of…… ah, kidnap? Her? No, it was for her own good. She would have been caught up in the crisis and killed by the monsters streaming out of those blood-red Cracks otherwise.
Finishing my thoughts, I quickly continued: "Yeah, we're good guys. We aren't gonna eat you or anything, don't worry. You can stop pretending now." I saw a visible jerk in her otherwise motionless form. Azul also seemed to have caught up with the situation. I waited as the seconds passed by, carefully observing the girl. Then a minute passed. Then two. Slowly, after all the apprehension and deliberation from her side, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she seemed to notice was the tall form of Azul, who was currently standing beside me, looming over her. She visibly froze upon seeing his figure, and just layed there motionless and wide-eyed, staring at Azul. Uhh, hello? Your saviour's over here? Damn it. I should have kept my previous adult form. Clearing my throat, I seemed to finally catch her attention when I spoke, " Hi, over here. My name's Iv, and I'm sort of the boss around here," Was it a bad idea to give my name out like that? No, not really. Most people only knew me by my title of Administrator anyways. Continuing on, I spoke, "Sorry if this is all quite terrifying for you. I promise I'll give you an explanation, so please calm down, okay? Like I said, we're not here to hurt you." The small trembling of the girl's form finally began to subside, and the fear in her eyes seemed to slightly fade away, though I could still sense her anxiety. Maybe I should have worn something less dubious than my usual white attire.
I began my explanation, "Alright, I found you out in the Canadian woods, near Vancouver… um……" It was then that I realised I didn't know how much I could actually divulge to the girl. I didn't know how long she had been out for when I first found her, or whether or not she had even seen the Crack. Shit. I should have thought about this sooner. What was wrong with me these past few days? No, focus. She probably saw something regarding the Crack, which was probably what left her unconscious in the first place. How did that work? No idea. Still, it seemed the only plausible explanation as to why she was lying unconscious on the ground like that where I found her. Perhaps the Crack had done something to her? If so, then that was a subject we would need to dig deeper into.
The little girl in front of me, clearly apprehensive about me stopping mid-sentence, finally spoke up, in a small, slightly quivering voice. "Uhm… hello, I– Iv? Where am I? What- I mean, who are you? Are you some sort of magical witch? How can I understand you? Wh-" Raising my hand up, I tried to calm the little girl down as she began asking away a flurry of questions. "Woah woah, slow down there, kiddo. I'll answer them one by one." As the little girl began calming down, seemingly realising her own panicked state, I continued on: "Right, so like I said, I'm sort of the boss around here. As for what I am, I'm human, just like you. No need to worry, I just have a special condition, that's all, but I’m not a witch, that's for sure," Shit, was I speaking okay? Were my words too difficult for her to understand? But seeing the kid slowly digest my words, I figured she was okay. Continuing on, I elaborated, “As for how you understand me, ah…… We’re both speaking English?” I wasn’t really quite sure what she meant by that question. Was she suffering from memory loss or something? I saw her face blush a second later as the realisation caught up to her. Putting aside that somewhat adorable reaction, I continued, "As for where you are, you're currently at my home. I can’t tell you where it is though, but it’s not anywhere dangerous, I can tell you that.” Pausing for a moment, I briefly pondered on my next course of action. A pang of playfulness seized me, leading onto my next words, “Hey, I can’t tell you, but I can show you something cool. Wanna see?” The girl again looked somewhat hesitant, before shortly nodding her head.
Making a small grin, I jumped off the oversized stool (Which was honestly more of a massive chair, at this point) and led her off the bed. The two of us slowly walked across the room, with the girl taking small, wavering steps. Figures, considering how she’s been in bed for the past two days straight. Anyways, I led her to the large window on the side of her room, which also happened to be facing the large tree. The girl’s eyes grew as large as saucers as she stared out onto the scenery before her. A tree that cut into the heavens, surrounded by endless fields of untouched grasslands and distant mountains. It sure made for a picturesque view, almost enough to make anyone envy our servants working here.
“I- Tha– Thi– I, What……” The girl’s mouth stammered open a few times, only to close back up again as she failed to form a right sentence. She was clearly flabbergasted by the impressive scene before her. I couldn’t help but make a smug grin at her bewildered expression. Whilst the girl was still in shocked disbelief, I took a quick glance towards Azul, standing behind the two of us. He gave me a sharp look, as if asking me, “Why?” Yeah, I could see why he would think that. Displaying over-the-top scenery to such a little girl we were planning on sending back home to a civilian life wouldn’t do good for the Cordiale’s secrecy. But hey now, she really was a little girl. Nobody was going to take her seriously even if she started blabbering about a magical wonderland after being missing for a couple of days. Most likely, they’d just treat it as a child’s wild imagination to cope with the tragedy of the crisis. And especially with all the death and destruction near her home, I doubt people would seriously look into it.
Besides, I wasn't planning to just lock her in here without giving her the chance to even look outside, so she was going to see it eventually. Giving Azul a reassuring look, I turned my head back to the girl, addressing her out of her stupor, “Well? Pretty cool, right?”
Meeting
All the glamour and shine of the room aside, my attention was focused onto the back of the room, where a large bed was placed. Stepping forward, I saw the unconscious form of the brown-haired girl tucked messily into the sheets. Walking up beside me, Azul threw me a question: "Well? I hope you had a plan. From what I've heard, she's shown no signs of waking up the last time an attendant checked up on her." I replied calmly: "The medical tests her doctors conducted showed no internal or external injuries on her," Getting up on a large stool beside the oversized bed (My child-sized legs couldn't even touch the ground whilst sitting on it), I fumbled my pockets as I continued, "Their analysis was that she was simply exhausted, and in need of rest. But it's been almost two days since I've found her in that state." Finding what I needed, I pulled my hands out from my pockets, taking out a small, metal device in the shape of a small rod. On one end, there was a large, circular tip and on the other, a sharp, needle-like tip.
Azul gave the device a curious gaze, eyes clearly asking me what I was up to. Making a small grin, I explained, "This is a medical-grade rejuvenator, a miniaturised version, of course, since as you know, the standard ones are as large as the bed she's currently on." I motioned to the very-large bed the girl was sleeping on. A hint of realisation crossed Azul's eyes. Staring at me, he put the pieces together. "So you intend to-"
I cut him off. "Yep. Just wake her up with a slight jolt. As you're aware, this thing was developed for medical use on unconscious or knocked out patients, so it doesn't have any negative side effects, although there's obviously a feeling of discomfort from being jolted awake." Pausing to myself, I mused, "Well, it's not like I ever experienced it, so I wouldn't know what it's like." A hint of playfulness dyed my next words, "Do you?"
Azul stared at me, probably wondering how much he should reveal about his past. Why was he being so secretive? It's just small talk, after all. Besides, I already knew everything there was to know about him from his files. Not that the man himself knew, of course. The question I asked was more or less to gauge the man's response, and how much he would be willing to open up to me. After a few seconds of deliberation, he replied: "Yes, once. Although, my condition back then was rather…… unique." I knew what he meant by those words. As someone who's had a similar past, I wasn't intending on going any further and digging up old wounds.
Stopping myself at that, I returned to the task at hand. Carefully gripping the small device, I pointed the sharp edge towards her neck, ready to make a small prick. Rejuvenators work similarly to an injection. Poke the needle inside a person in specific areas near nerves, and it helps wake their brains up with a mild jolt. And no, it sounds dangerous and painful, sure, but it's pretty common to find it in Cordiale research facilities for unconscious operatives and personnel these days, especially in situations where we needed testimonies and eyewitness accounts urgently from unconscious patients. Besides that, I've also heard that the miniaturised version, like the one I was using, had also been gaining popularity amongst Task Forces and senior operatives for helping unconscious comrades or civilians in emergency situations during missions. Apparently even some guys in Division Samiel were using it. So yeah, it's pretty safe for use.
I held my other free hand on her neck, trying to feel her pulse and veins. But just as I did so, I felt something very out of place. "Hmm? Wait– this girl– this was… I- okay." I quickly collected myself from the recoil. This was unexpected. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Azul throw me a curious glance over my reaction, but I wasn't in the mood to indulge him. I felt it, the minute reaction I felt the moment my hand made contact. Yeah, no doubt about it. I was pretty confident that my heightened senses were capable of picking up most body language. This girl was sound awake.
I lamented in a small voice: "Sigh, this was unexpected." Looking back at the girl in front of me, who was still pretending to be asleep, I pondered the current situation. How long had she been awake? Definitely not from the beginning, that's for sure. I couldn't imagine her fooling me whilst I had been holding her in my adult form back then. She probably woke up whilst at the mansion, and if I had to guess, probably after the last check-up Azul had mentioned. If so, she hasn't been awake for long, and is probably scared and very confused about the situation she's currently in. The mischievous part of me was wanting to use the rejuvenator anyways, to give her a shock that'll definitely get her up, but I decided against it. Couldn't blame a poor, scared child for trying to play a sleeping princess card in front of her "captors".
Collecting my jumbled thoughts, I spoke out in a small voice, trying to not give the girl any alarm as I did so, "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. You're safe. We're not bad guys— " Wait, were we the bad guys in her eyes? I mean we did sort of…… ah, kidnap? Her? No, it was for her own good. She would have been caught up in the crisis and killed by the monsters streaming out of those blood-red Cracks otherwise.
Finishing my thoughts, I quickly continued: "Yeah, we're good guys. We aren't gonna eat you or anything, don't worry. You can stop pretending now." I saw a visible jerk in her otherwise motionless form. Azul also seemed to have caught up with the situation. I waited as the seconds passed by, carefully observing the girl. Then a minute passed. Then two. Slowly, after all the apprehension and deliberation from her side, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she seemed to notice was the tall form of Azul, who was currently standing beside me, looming over her. She visibly froze upon seeing his figure, and just layed there motionless and wide-eyed, staring at Azul. Uhh, hello? Your saviour's over here? Damn it. I should have kept my previous adult form. Clearing my throat, I seemed to finally catch her attention when I spoke, " Hi, over here. My name's Iv, and I'm sort of the boss around here," Was it a bad idea to give my name out like that? No, not really. Most people only knew me by my title of Administrator anyways. Continuing on, I spoke, "Sorry if this is all quite terrifying for you. I promise I'll give you an explanation, so please calm down, okay? Like I said, we're not here to hurt you." The small trembling of the girl's form finally began to subside, and the fear in her eyes seemed to slightly fade away, though I could still sense her anxiety. Maybe I should have worn something less dubious than my usual white attire.
I began my explanation, "Alright, I found you out in the Canadian woods, near Vancouver… um……" It was then that I realised I didn't know how much I could actually divulge to the girl. I didn't know how long she had been out for when I first found her, or whether or not she had even seen the Crack. Shit. I should have thought about this sooner. What was wrong with me these past few days? No, focus. She probably saw something regarding the Crack, which was probably what left her unconscious in the first place. How did that work? No idea. Still, it seemed the only plausible explanation as to why she was lying unconscious on the ground like that where I found her. Perhaps the Crack had done something to her? If so, then that was a subject we would need to dig deeper into.
The little girl in front of me, clearly apprehensive about me stopping mid-sentence, finally spoke up, in a small, slightly quivering voice. "Uhm… hello, I– Iv? Where am I? What- I mean, who are you? Are you some sort of magical witch? How can I understand you? Wh-" Raising my hand up, I tried to calm the little girl down as she began asking away a flurry of questions. "Woah woah, slow down there, kiddo. I'll answer them one by one." As the little girl began calming down, seemingly realising her own panicked state, I continued on: "Right, so like I said, I'm sort of the boss around here. As for what I am, I'm human, just like you. No need to worry, I just have a special condition, that's all, but I’m not a witch, that's for sure," Shit, was I speaking okay? Were my words too difficult for her to understand? But seeing the kid slowly digest my words, I figured she was okay. Continuing on, I elaborated, “As for how you understand me, ah…… We’re both speaking English?” I wasn’t really quite sure what she meant by that question. Was she suffering from memory loss or something? I saw her face blush a second later as the realisation caught up to her. Putting aside that somewhat adorable reaction, I continued, "As for where you are, you're currently at my home. I can’t tell you where it is though, but it’s not anywhere dangerous, I can tell you that.” Pausing for a moment, I briefly pondered on my next course of action. A pang of playfulness seized me, leading onto my next words, “Hey, I can’t tell you, but I can show you something cool. Wanna see?” The girl again looked somewhat hesitant, before shortly nodding her head.
Making a small grin, I jumped off the oversized stool (Which was honestly more of a massive chair, at this point) and led her off the bed. The two of us slowly walked across the room, with the girl taking small, wavering steps. Figures, considering how she’s been in bed for the past two days straight. Anyways, I led her to the large window on the side of her room, which also happened to be facing the large tree. The girl’s eyes grew as large as saucers as she stared out onto the scenery before her. A tree that cut into the heavens, surrounded by endless fields of untouched grasslands and distant mountains. It sure made for a picturesque view, almost enough to make anyone envy our servants working here.
“I- Tha– Thi– I, What……” The girl’s mouth stammered open a few times, only to close back up again as she failed to form a right sentence. She was clearly flabbergasted by the impressive scene before her. I couldn’t help but make a smug grin at her bewildered expression. Whilst the girl was still in shocked disbelief, I took a quick glance towards Azul, standing behind the two of us. He gave me a sharp look, as if asking me, “Why?” Yeah, I could see why he would think that. Displaying over-the-top scenery to such a little girl we were planning on sending back home to a civilian life wouldn’t do good for the Cordiale’s secrecy. But hey now, she really was a little girl. Nobody was going to take her seriously even if she started blabbering about a magical wonderland after being missing for a couple of days. Most likely, they’d just treat it as a child’s wild imagination to cope with the tragedy of the crisis. And especially with all the death and destruction near her home, I doubt people would seriously look into it.
Besides, I wasn't planning to just lock her in here without giving her the chance to even look outside, so she was going to see it eventually. Giving Azul a reassuring look, I turned my head back to the girl, addressing her out of her stupor, “Well? Pretty cool, right?”
