"…as you wish, Miss Wicke," Jayken said, speaking the first words since he'd entered her room. He and Yona were uncharacteristically silent the entire time. With a small bow, he made his way out, gesturing for the rest of Last Stand to follow. Rekka stared at Wicke one last time, a complicated expression on her face, as her anguished sobs cut off abruptly as Jayken closed the door.
The indistinct chatter of the monsters in the medical wing were inaudible to Silas. He could only hear the awkward, tense silence that crackled between the Last Stand members.
"What we did was necessary," Rekka said quietly, justifying more for herself than for anyone else. Her face was full of conflict.
"It's not your fault, Rekka. You did what you had to do. We tried our best. If she doesn't want to talk to us, that's fine. It's not the end of the world," Macy encouraged her.
"Damn…" Yona said, laughing uncomfortably. It was nothing like the wild hyena laugh she'd displayed before, but more humbled and controlled. "That's right. Two of our scouts died during the fight with that bristleback. How could I forget?"
"There aren't any funerals here?" Saya asked suddenly. Yona gave her a quizzical look.
"What's a funeral?" Saya paused, considering her words.
"…I actually don't know."
"Wow, having your memories erased must be a pain sometimes," Yona chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah," Saya said, then said nothing more. The usually talkative, smug girl had no words for the moment. She looked down at her heels, realizing how wrong she'd been, and how awful the visit had gone.
"Don't be discouraged by what I'm about to say," Jayken said, rolling his voxen tongue over his thin lips self-consciously. "But you should expect most interactions between humans and monsters to go like that, or worse. I was wrong to guess that Wicke wouldn't take it as bad as the other monsters, but at least we tried. I think it'd be best if we cease contact with her and let her heal from her trauma."
"Don't get me wrong, though. I think it was honorable that you try and establish relationships between humans and monsters. Unfortunately, I just don't see that as possible at the moment. Even Yona and I are just bounty hunters. We're beholden to nobody. At the end of the day, even though we have nothing against you, you'll have to leave, and we won't do anything to stop it. I hope you can understand."
"Human and monsters just can't exist at the same time," Yona said, kicking at the ground with her boots. "There's too much hate and history between them. Even if monsters like us who have nothing against you were to befriend kids like you, the majority of society wouldn't accept you as you are."
"It's best that you know about that ahead of time, just so it's smoother down the road. Don't talk or interact with any of the monsters. Just talk to the guides and the monsters in charge of the experiments. Any other dialogue will just lead to more pain, as you saw demonstrated back there," Jayken said sadly. "I honestly wish it were different. You all are just kids. You could have had such amazing, peaceful lives. But it's all been stripped from you. What a shame. A hard pill to swallow, that's for sure."
When Saya looked at her projector, the clock read 12:30. That meant that Silas had 30 minutes to eat his lunch and head back to the Human Experimentation Labs. Silas tried once again to activate his own projector, but to no avail. It was like trying to open a tight lid of a jar. Silas simply didn't have enough strength yet.
Yona and Jayken came back with steaming bowls of soup from Ludo's Cauldron as Rekka and Macy departed. Their breaks ended earlier and they were needed for further testing. Silas and Saya wished them luck as they headed off into the twisting labyrinth of corridors under Charybdis' watchful gaze.
Yona plopped down with her own bowl right next to Silas. Her thighs brushed up against Silas' leg, and even though his thin pants he could feel the exposed light tan fur of Yona's legs against his own. He saw how the fur covered her body all the way from her legs to her neck to her head. He supposed it should have weirded him out, but it was only strange in a curious way. Silas even found himself thinking Yona would be soft to the touch, like a nice warm blanket.
Yona placed her bowl down with such force that some of the broth splashed out of the bowl and onto the tray underneath it on the metal table.
Silas could tell that, beside him, Saya was itching to say something about what had just happened with Wicke. However, Yona was much to close to Silas for her to say anything specifically for him. Instead, they ate their soup in silence. It started out awkward and tense but soon eased into a comfortable quiet as the sounds of monsters going about their business in the food court surrounded them.
Silas tried to sneak peeks at several of the monsters at the tables next to them. Most of them stared at their food or scrolled through screens with their projectors and their magic, hands-free. They ignored him when he looked at them, but he could tell they knew he was watching, just as when he turned his gaze to the bowl in front of him, he could feel their surreptitious eyes on his back.
As soon as it started, the break was over. It was time for Silas and Saya to head back to the Human Experimentation Labs. Yona and Jayken waved goodbye as they approached the waiting room. They left quietly and diligently, cracking jokes and banter between themselves as they exited. Silas managed a small smile. Despite who they were and what they did for a living, they seemed like genuinely good people. It was hard to believe they were the monsters that had captured them in the first place. If they'd only left them alone, they might still have a chance at survival. It was them who had doomed them to death.
But at the same time, they'd only done so because they knew that humans like Silas, who were young, inexperienced, disoriented, and alone, had no chance in the long run. What did he expect would happen if they let him go? Eventually they'd make a mistake and die, or get captured by some other scout patrol later on. In fact, the Badlands surrounding Lachlan were chock-full of cameras that monitored every inch of the radioactive wastes for any change in surroundings. How could they avoid being spotted?
He supposed he shouldn't blame them. They were only doing their job. And despite the fact that they were monsters, they had human emotions and expressions. As long as they didn't hurt him, Silas saw no reason to hate them.
When it came time for him to leave for the experiments at RimTech, Silas made a mental not to thank Yona and Jayken for not making his final month – and the only month he remembered – as painless as possible. He was bound to die anyway. It was easy for them to treat him as if he was already dead. But they chose not to. Even if it was simply to keep his mental state in pristine condition so they'd get the most money, Silas decided he should count his blessings. That way, he'd be happiest when he died.