Jarxen was the first to rush into the testing room as soon as the sliding doors opened. He nodded towards Freckles as he picked Red up on a princess carry.
He was careful not to shake him too much since his ribs might puncture his delicate lungs at any moment. "Worker one-one-zero-one. I want you to get an IV catheter inside the first-aid kit. Administer the right amount of propofol and ketamine. I'm guessing you know how to do it right? You can find the rest of the anesthetics inside the first-aid kit."
Freckles nodded and set to work.
"I want the rest of you to hold Red up on a sitting position. I'm going to call an acquaintance." Jarxen announced, setting Red on his bunk bed.
As Freckles administered the anesthesia, the others set to work keeping Red's inclined sitting position. Jarxen didn't waste any second rushing out of the block.
"Hey Freckles, Red will live right?" Curl muttered. "He will, right?"
"Relax, Curl. He's still breathing." Blond tried to calm her down. "Besides, Red wouldn't die that easily."
"Those outclass humanoids... Even I don't know if I could fight two of them head-on." Scar commented, recalling Red's desperate struggle against them.
"Yeah, and he took care of them like it was nothing. I'll tell ya. Red must've been a world-champion mixed martial arts fighter before he got here." Gadge agreed.
"That's right. He's our only hope in getting out of here alive. We should keep him alive at all costs." Blond spoke up. "That's why we have to prepare to fight those humanoids with or without Red's help."
All of them nodded.
... ...
"I've finished administering the anesthesia. Let's wait for Jarxen's acquaintance." Freckles broke the silence as she cleaned up and arranged the first-aid kit.
A few minutes passed and Jarxen finally returned to Block-16. Behind him was a woman that looked like a model with her tall height and slender figure. "Here he is, Ventio." Jarxen panted.
"So, you called me out, and all that I need to do is check on your worker to return the favor? It's not even worth it, Jarxen." She muttered.
"No, Ventio, just take a look at him first," Jarxen muttered.
"I already told you, call me Julia." Julia softly reminded him.
"Sorry, force of habit."
The shock from Julia's face became evident as she took a closer look at Red. "I see, what do we have here." She muttered. "Server humanoid? No... he should've been sliced up if that were the case. A regular humanoid? No... this is a teenager so he shouldn't have gotten this badly injured."
"It was an outclass humanoid."
"OUTCLASS?!" Julia flipped out. "I'm surprised he's still alive. Last time I heard, an outclass wiped out all your testers, right?"
"It wasn't just one. He faced two of them." Jarxen added with a hint of pride on his face.
"TWO OF THEM?! AND HE"S STILL ALIVE?! Even the resistance coul... "
Jarxen covered her mouth before she could speak another word. "I know this is surprising but don't slip. We cannot disclose such information to workers." Jarxen gravely warned her.
"Sorry. I was just surprised. Even I'm not confident in facing an outclass all by myself." Julia responded.
Julia got to work before Jarxen could speak. She grabbed a few bandages from the kit. "You, worker one-one-zero-one, you're the one who administered the anesthesia, right?"
"Yes, was there anything wrong with the dosage?" Freckles shook on her seat. She knew that a slight mistake on the dosage could very well cost Red his life. That's why she double-checked it before administering it. Still, a wave of anxiety began telling her that she got the amount wrong.
"Don't worry, you did a good job," Julia reassured her. "Can you please put him on the bed? Slowly please."
"Uhm... miss Julia, Red will be okay, right? He won't die.... right?" Curl asked, her voice raspy from all the crying.
"Have some faith in his survival, dear. This redhead here just took on two outclasses! Two! That alone should tell you that he won't die that easily. Don't cry, okay?" Julia comforted her, patting and stroking her curly hair to ease her sobs.
"Thi is why I didn't want to call you. I feel like you're getting attached to them." Jarxen sighed.
"Why did you call me to save this kid in the first place? Aren't you the one getting too attached to them."
"Wha?! Wh.... what are you talking about!" Jarxen defended. "I called because I wanted you to check up on this unusual kid. It was astonishing to see him fight, so I thought you might have any idea as to what he is."
"You don't have to deny it that hard. I was just teasing you." Julia chuckled. "Now... let's see. Hey, blond kid, can you help me take his shirt off? Just hold him up a little bit for me... yes that's it."
Blond almost gasped after seeing the bruises and welts on Red's body. He knew that underneath them, some of his ribs were broken and he couldn't stomach looking at it any longer. Notwithstanding the appearance, Blond helped get his shirt off all the way.
"Also, can you grab a few wooden slats underneath your beds? Good thing we got wooden planks to act as a brace." Julia ordered everyone. "What are you standing around for, blond kid? Go help them."
"Oh sorry... it's just... your eyes." Blond didn't finish what he was saying.
"Yours too." Julia Ventio smiled. "You were about to call them beautiful, right? We got the same blue eyes."
"Mhm." Blond nodded.
As soon as he turned around, his expression suddenly got serious. "That woman, she's just like me. I don't know why but I got a bad feeling about her. She's dangerous." Blond thought, grabbing all the wooden slates underneath his bed and offering it to the woman.
"Moreover, how did she expect what I was going to say? Pure deductive reasoning?" Blond muttered, but his test worked well for him. He finally got a vague idea of the woman's nature.
"You didn't have to bring so many." Julia cheerfully laughed. "Thank you,"
Blond nodded, keeping his guard up by wearing an expressionless face.
Julia gently wiped off the clots on Red's body before wrapping him up in bandages. With Freckles's assistance, they took care of Red until his whole body was carefully covered. After that, the duo set to work putting braces on Red's appendages and back. "Jarxen, make sure you resupply the first-aid kit on this block. A testing block should have a couple of first-aid kits available after all. Head Cipher's direct orders, right?"
"Keep them alive as long as you can as a block owner," Jarxen said in his mind as he nodded towards Julia.
"I'm heading out. Expect a fever in a few hours." Julia told Jarxen in advance.
Jarxen escorted her to the block entrance. "As usual, thanks for the save."
"I didn't do much. Thank that teenager over there with freckles, she gave a perfect dosage of anesthesia on Red. in fact, it scared me by how precise she is."
"Yeah, all of them got the potential. I won't be surprised if all of them make it out alive in the upcoming Runner's Survivors."
"Just pray they survive this week. Something weird is going on within the board of directors and it's not looking good. I mean, two consecutive testings for outclass humanoids? That's crazy!" Julia exclaimed in a hushed voice. She didn't want anyone overhearing their conversations, especially the guards just outside the block entrance.
"Fortunately, Red handled it pretty well."
"Miss Julia!"
Just as Jarxen was about to open the entrance to the block, Curl ran up to them, calling Julia's name.
"Thank you so much for saving Red." Curl respectfully bowed.
"I didn't do much. Your friend with freckles would've done the same thing even without my assistance. That said, please take care of him for a few more days. He won't be able to test humanoids but his speedy recovery would be for the best. And also, advise your other friends to not gather around him too much. Red's only half-conscious due to the anesthesia so he could still hear what's happening around him. Gathering around and making noise would just hinder his recuperation."
"Yes, ma'am."
After patting her curls one last time, Julia bid goodbye to her and Jarxen.
The door slid down as Julia took one last glance inside the lodging room, that's when she noticed Blond, looking at her suspiciously. She smiled and pointed somewhere, making Blond avert his gaze from her. "That kid is interesting. Seriously, what am I doing?" Julia chortled as she walked away from the block.
"You don't have to stare at me like that, I know we'll meet each other again soon." She said to herself.
As the guards finally closed the huge metallic door with the Block-16 sign, they felt a chill ran down their spine after hearing an indistinct chuckle emanating from Julia herself.