"Tina, you should approach her," suggested Henry.
"Why me?" I asked.
"You look like the most approachable person out of all of us and a little girl would be more willing to open up to an older sister or motherly figure." explained the captain.
I of course knew this already. The reason I asked said 'Why me?' is so they could understand that I didn't want to do it.
You know what, I'm sure that they did understand but are unwilling to go themselves.
Everyone knows I'm not a very sociable person. Henry is the most outgoing and pleasant person on this team. Normally, he is the one approaching witnesses. Unfortanley, he only gets along with adults.
He gest very awkward and jittery when talking to kids. We don't know why that's the case but we don't mind since never interact with children anyways.
With everyone staring at me and my unyielding determination to get the job done as efficiently as possible, I walk towards the little girl in the forest while the rest of the crew follows me.
They do keep 6 feet in between me and them for some outlandish reason.
Once I get close enough, I kneel down to talk a closer look at the girl.
I only have one word to describe her, beautiful.
A slightly pale face with the smoothest skin I've ever seen. Her cheeks had a wholesome amount of baby fat that would make you want to squeeze them.
Her facial structure was defined and I was sure she would be quite gorgeous when she grew up. Her eyelashes were also thick and nicely curved.
Then my eyes wandered to her body. The black dress did not hide her skinny figure at all. I realized that her degree of paleness was not healthy at all.
'She must be malnourished.' is what I thought. This little girl needed emergency care.
I looked back towards the captain and he too had a resigned expression when he saw the condition of the girl.
"Take her to Dungeon Hospital," he said while shaking his head.
"Yes sir!" I said as I gently put my hands under the frail figure and picked her up in a princess carry.
I couldn't afford to use my strength and dash away as the girl may not be able to withstand it. I still took a look at her name and level just in case.
After the advent of the system and dungeons on Earth, anyone can see another's name and level. If they are a hundred levels above, you can't see their level but you still see their names.
[ Name: Nina
Race: Human
Level: 25]
'Why does she not have a last name?' I wondered but soon understood that she may not have a family. Orphans rarely had last names and the system never shows the wrong name unless someone has a special skill to hide one's identity.
A 10 or 12-year-old girl having such a skill is impossible unless they can enter High-Grade dungeons or have a rich family behind them. neither of which is possible for this little miss.
That is why I could take her without worrying about someone coming to the park to look for her. I know I shouldn't just pick up little girls of the street but some sort of motherly instinct that I rarely feel had been awakening inside me.
I don't know how to manage these feelings but I'll think about that later.
As most humans, I like to set aside all problems when I feel like I can most efficiently solve them.
After a minute of light jogging, I reach the government-issued cars that we all drove her in. They were two black humvees with powerful machine guns attached to the top.
Although these guns do nothing to people of my level, it's better than not having one since it makes controlling crowds of civilians easier.
I enter one of the humvees and lay the child down on the large sofa in the back. The sofa was big enough to make sure the girl won't accidentally fall off if she were to roll in her sleep.
I get into the driver's seat and set course towards the public hospital specially created by the government for dungeon-related injuries.
The system level-ups do not heal everything. It only heals wounds that take a short amount of time to heal.
Stuff such as poisoning, curses, brain damage, or bone damage could only be healed using the help of high-level healers.
Malnourishment is also solved by them because sometimes people can be stuck in dungeons for quite a while without food.
It did not take me long to reach the hospital's parking lot as I don not pay attention to the designated parking spots and just place my car in quite a troubling location.
But that does not matter to me at the moment. All I can think about is getting that child to a doctor before anything untoward happens.
I can usually keep calm in all situations but one like this where I was becoming frantic over the health of an unknown child was something I thought was impossible for me.
At least I now know that I'm not an emotionless monster as most humans tend to think when looking at my cold exterior. I of course knew this before but was not willing to acknowledge it.
'This girl seems to be breaking all my barriers. This is no good. I might become a fallen one because of her.'
I was scared that I would fall for this child and want to keep her as my own. But I know that I should not do that.
I enter the building and walk past the multiple hordes of people that avoid me due to my uniform while others give me disgusted looks. I'm already sued to these stares so they do not hinder me from reaching the elevators and pressing the button on one of them.
DING!
There was only a second delay since I was using the government-only elevator and used it to get to the specially designated floor for us Dungeon Security Department.
--------
It was now 9 pm and I was sitting on a couch across from the bed where the Nina was sleeping with a pleasant smile on her cute face.
I wanted to squeeze those chubby little cheeks of her but that I convinced myself to just let her rest.
"C'mon Tina, you can do it. You have resisted the charm of little sister types in the past and you can do it again." I psyched myself up and decided to give it my all to wait patiently for her to awake.
The doctor came in earlier and had asked why I was still here and not working. I feel like that was quite rude of him. I didn't have the mood to yell at him so I just told him she was a possibly important witness.
He seemed like he didn't believe me though. I know exactly why too. I held Nina's hand the entire time he examine her and I also seemed very anxious when coming in.
If the doctor didn't personally know me, he would think she was my little sister.
"Ahhh... It's too late. I've already fallen." If I can't get her to respond to my feelings, I'll probably be stuck in an icier shell for over a year at least.
"Mhmm..." I heard a small grunt coming from Nina and immediately got up and stood by her sides.
She was rolling around uncomfortably and stopped her movements shortly after her eyelids started to twitch.
"Mhmm.. wh..where am I?' she mumbled while trying to get up. I placed my hand on her back and raised her pillow so she could comfortably sit up.
Nina fully opened her eyes as she turned to me and started to examine me from head to toe. She looked to be extremely confused about something. I mean, she did wake up in an unknown place with a stranger looking over her.
"You're in the hospital dear. I found you in Central Park, unconscious."
I try to put on the best smile that I could but it ended up looking awkward as my mouth was twitching from the unfamiliarity of moving in such a way.
"Where is Central Park? What continent is this?" she asked while tilting her head sideways. If she lived in New York, there is no way she doesn't know what Central Park is.
She must not be from the city then.
"We are on the North American continent." I held myself back and just told her what she wanted to know. Nothing more was added as I waited for her response in since.
A minute went by as a frown formed on Nina's face as she seemed to be contemplating. After not getting any words out of for the next 3 minutes, I decided to break the ice myself.
"So, Nina right? My name is Tina. Where's your family?" I know it might be a sensitive topic for someone who is potentially an orphan but I could not think of what else to ask.
I know I have more options but I was just too flustered and inexperienced with talking to children. My common sense does not seem to be functioning today.
Nina looked at me and made a question face that indicated that she was trying to decide if I am someone trustworthy.
She then just shook her head and then sighed.
"Nice to meet you, Tina. I'm Nina. I don't have a family."
I felt sorrowful when I heard that. People always told me that those without parents at an early age would have an unbearably tough life and I agreed with them.
I am an orphan too. I experienced the tragedies first hand. I knew what she might be going through right now and I wanted to comfort her.
The frown had not left Nina's face and that left me distraught.
Instead of comforting her with words, I did what most humans would do, distract themselves from their problems.
"Do you remember how you ended up at the park then?"
"No..."
"Anything about a dungeon then?"
"No..."
"Do you remember anything about yourself then?"
"No..."
Amnesia. Probably the only thing I can guess but why does she remember her parents then. Maybe it's partial amnesia where she only forgets certain chunks of her life.
I can't make any solid claims about her condition so I go over and call over the doctor to get get her rechecked.
-----
40 minutes later, I have a diagnosis report compiled by the various checks from multiple healers and doctors.
{ - Body Condition: Originally the subject's body was on the verge of death due to insufficient nourishment and a lack of water as well.
The subject's body was only able to survive her dire condition is through a high VIT stat.
Her body is now in a stable condition and will return to an optimal phase after proper care
Mental Condition: Healers indicate that there is no physical damage to the brain and psychiatrists believed that the subject indeed has retrograde amnesia ad cannot remember much of her past.
The subject's soul was also checked by healers. They agreed that there must have been some severe trauma that has affected the child and caused to her lose her memories.
Her soul seems to be in an unstable state and requires constant emotional care. Recovery of memories may not be possible. -}
I almost fainted after reading that report.
"What kind of life must a child have gone through to have a damaged soul?" The possible circumstances that could have taken place overtook my thoughts.
I could feel my heart constricting as if someone was strangling it with their bare hands.
I made my decision then and there.
I will toss away this cold facade for her and only her. I'll adopt her and make her my little sister. I will give her a warm family that the world could not provide.
I will protect her and give her the strength to survive in this system-oriented world.
I know what you might be thinking. 'This girl is crazy. She's going to adopt a child she just met today?'
Well, I am crazy so deal with it or else I'll come out there and make you catch these hands.
I've always wanted a sibling and you can't stop me if she is as adorable as Nina.
"She won't say no to me....hahaha...right?"