With Siegfried's directions, the trio found themselves outside the school's medical bay. Roza's injuries were too severe to be treated in the hastily-set-up tent, and she'd had to be relocated to somewhere with the appropriate facilities.
To Ilise's surprise, it was entirely unmanned. Countless MUTHR units similar to the one Ilise had at home buzzed around, juggling tinctures, ointments and medicines with their seemingly unlimited appendages. Students lay in their beds, shifting in pain as the robots administered their medical concoctions. There was no magic going on here - just science. Where healing spells failed, modern medicine could always be relied on.
Rei sat alone in the far corner of the room, his head hunched over Roza. Four MUTHR units were tending to her. When he saw the three of them approaching, he stood up.
"Hey." His voice was choked up, and his eyes were red and puffy. He'd been crying. The side of his face was bandaged, just like Siegfried's arm.
"Will Roza be okay?" Ilise asked.
Rei shook his head. "Something went wrong with that spell. Roza wasn't supposed to get knocked out by it. I've seen her use it before. She had no problem with it during our training, and the Discharge spells she used previously shouldn't have drained her that much. I- I have no idea what went wrong." He looked like he was on the verge of breaking down again. Ilise sat down beside him, and pulled him into a hug.
In a most un-Rei-like action, he reciprocated, and buried his face in her shoulder.
"I-I apologise for my rudeness. I shouldn't be crying into anyone's shoulder right now. The nurse came here a while ago. She told me that she'd have the MUTHRs tend to her first before they arranged to transport her to Midgard Tower. They're doing what they can for her right now. Ilise, I know this is a lot to ask, but can you put in a word with your sister? Roza worked hard to get where she is. I don't want her to get disqualified because of a spell misfire-"
Ilise silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Siegfried and Toby told me. I'll ask Bianca once the day's over. Maybe she can ask her father to talk to the headmaster."
"Thank you. I am in your debt." Rei bowed.
"What are they giving her?" Ilise asked. The MUTHRs were injecting a sort of green fluid into Roza's arm.
"Neural relay fluid. It'll give them a self-updating readout of Roza's condition. But the problem is," Rei rubbed his temples, "Nothing's wrong. The nurse ran a scan on her using magic earlier, but it yielded nothing. Her mana supplies are all right. She wasn't overclocking herself with that spell. It just - it bugs me, not knowing something. All my magic invested into making myself smarter and I can't even figure out what's going on with my sister."
Roza started to thrash. Violently. She cried out in pain - no, agony - as her hands curled up into claws. She clawed at the air in front of her, and raked her nails down the MUTHRs' metallic carapaces.
"Roza! What's going on? Roza! Talk to me!" Rei cried.
"Stand back, student. We are administering an anaesthetic. Do not interfere." One of the MUTHRs said. It raised a syringe-finger and prepared to inject its pinkish contents into Roza, but Siegfried pushed it to the ground. HIs hands were crackling with electricity.
"Don't you DARE tranquilise my sister like she's some sort of animal."
"Do not interfere, student. You shall be escorted out of the premises. Visitation will no longer be allowed. We are preparing to transport Student Register Number 1107 to Midgard Tower for further medical treatment. Her condition has escalated. She will be placed under the effects of an anaesthetic to ensure that she does not harm any other patients. We thank you for your cooperation."
"YOU CAN TAKE YOUR COOPERATION AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ROBOTIC-"
"REI! STOP!" Ilise and Siegfried held Rei back, preventing him from blasting the MUTHR with an electric shock. They'd never seen him quite this worked up - even when Ilise had punched Roza, he hadn't reacted this badly.
"GRAAH! GET OFF ME, THE BOTH OF YOU! THIS IS MY-"
"Concussive Force," Ilise whispered. Rei went limp in their grasp, knocked out by the blow to his head.
Something rolled out of his hand. A vial filled with red liquid shattered on the linoleum floor.
"Foreign contaminant detected. Sanitising area." A MUTHR said dispassionately. Just before the MUTHR hosed down the floor tile with a disinfecting spray, Ilise scooped up the glass fragments of the vial. Black text had been printed on its surface.
"DNA...stabiliser?"
"Please step away, Student Register Number- Error. Reconfiguring. Kindly step away, Ilise Rossweisse. There is a wounded person in front of you. Per MUTHR Protocol 76.2, we are to tend to the person immediately. You are also holding a foreign-contaminant-infested object. Please surrender it to me immediately." The MUTHR said.
"Right." Ilise passed over the glass fragments to the MUTHR. It shovelled them inside a chest compartment.It, with its six omni-directional arms, relieved Ilise and Siegfried of Rei's weight. Its eyes flashed green for a moment.
"Patient analysed. They are temporarily incapacitated, and will reawaken in five minutes without medical intervention. Ilise Rossweisse, please tell Student Register Number 1106 that he should rest up and avoid strenuous activity."
"MUTHR! Wait! I have a question."
"It is not within my precepts as a medical MUTHR to answer most questions, but as per MUTHR Protocol 1, I am to obey a Rossweisse's order. Please ask your question."
"What's a DNA stabiliser?"
"That is classified information. Please input overriding credentials."
She looked at Siegfried and Toby, who shrugged.
"Credentials were not received. Inquiry timed out. Students, please clear the way. Student Register Number 1107 will now be escorted to Midgard Tower."
The MUTHRs trundled out of the medical bay, wheeling Roza's hospital bed with them. Ilise got one last glimpse at Roza before she vanished around the corner - somehow, her very hair appeared to have lost its colour. She thought she could make out a few streaks of white, but that couldn't have been possible - could it? Ilise subconsciously toyed with a lock of her own hair.
"Good thinking with Rei, Ilise." Siegfried grunted. With the MUTHR gone, they had to carry Rei all the way back to the lounge. "I would've appreciated it if you didn't completely knock him out, though. God. He's heavier than he looks."
"If this pattern keeps up, hopefully Ilise and I don't get knocked out in the next exam. I mean, we're right after you, Roza and Rei."
"Ilise!"
Bianca entered the medical bay, the scent of her rosewater permeating the air aorund them. Toby and Siegfried's jaws dropped. Ilise resisted the urge to snap at them for gawking at every female member of the student council they saw. Wait till they meet Sephia, Ilise thought darkly. Rita hadn't been that bad, but somehow two of her friends ogling her sister made it worse.
"I had a feeling you'd be here." She shot a glance at Siegfried. "Kallen. I hope you aren't a bad influence on my sister. Anyway, I'm not here to dictate who Ilise can befriend. You guys need to make your way down to Ground Beta. Your exam's starting soon."
"But it hasn't even been an hour!" Toby protested.
"Yeah, well, it sucks to be you. If you want to make it in Mistilteinn, you have to be constantly prepared. And if I'm not mistaken, you weren't injured in the previous exam. I don't see Kallen here complaining, even though he literally had half the skin on his forearm burnt off."
Siegfried's face was a light shade of pink. It wasn't the peachy sort of pink either - it was what happened when you fused the white of being embarrassed in front of everyone and the red of being angry and not being able to do anything about it. Maybe Siegfried would've tried to get anyone who called him Kallen to stop it, but like he'd said, Bianca was an exception. She always had her way.
"Bianca?" Ilise asked, noting Siegfried's obvious discomfort. "Do you think you could stop calling Siegfried Kallen?"
"Hm? Oh, right. He doesn't like that name, does he? Well, I'll try, but I can't say I'll remember it."
"Thanks."
"No problem. On with the three of you. Marten wants to speak to you guys about your current circumstances, seeing as you're down one member. I'd take you there myself, but we need to prep. Remember, Ilise. If you're going up against me, I won't take it easy on you."
"That's assuring." Ilise mumbled.
"Don't worry too much. With the way you've performed so far, you've practically guaranteed yourself a place in Mistilteinn." Bianca laughed. "That's enough talking. Go on. Marten's ridiculously uptight about punctuality." She shooed the three of them out the door and deposited Rei's body outside. Promptly turning back towards the council room, the trio was left to process what had just happened.
Toby and Siegfried glared jealously at Rei, who now smelled of rosewater.
"Ilise, can you knock me out next time?"
"Stuff it, Toby. Let's go."
--