Merrion's eyes fluttered open. She was lying on her back, and there was a soft sensation enveloping her from behind. A harsh, fluorescent light embedded in the ceiling illuminated everything with a blinding blue-white light, and Merrion squinted, unused to this unfamiliar ceiling.
She lifted her head off the softness that it was resting on (a pillow?) and quickly looked around her. There were curtains separating some sections of the room. Adjacent to her were what seemed to be various monitors with familiar readings, with a particularly large screen hanging from the ceiling. To her relief, she was in some kind of medical facility, not the dark and dirty environments that she had been travelling through when she was last conscious. A bag of intravenous fluid hung from a stand at her right side, and a line connected it to a catheter inserted into the vein in her right elbow. There was a slight discomfort from the feeling of cold fluid entering, but Merrion could otherwise feel nothing off about herself. A set of faded green scrubs were all that she was wearing, and the cool air circulating in the ward made the delicate fabric rustle ever so slightly.
There was a soft snoring noise that Merrion had not noticed coming from her left, making Merrion jump slightly. Turning her head to inspect the origin of the noise, she found it to be none other than Specialist Jeyga. Clad in a white and grey suit a few shades darker than the one she had previously seen him in, with a black tie instead of blue this time round, the specialist slept in a half-slumped over position in a moderately-plush armchair, his chest heaving softly with each breath taken and his locks gently moving in the wind. Behind him was a small table with a water jug and two empty cups atop it. One of the two cups still had droplets of moisture within, and the other appeared to be bone-dry.
Merrion felt a slight pressure building in her abdomen despite the dryness in her mouth. She looked around the ward she was currently resting in, a single-bed room, and found (to her dismay) that there was no toilet nearby.
Merrion (thinking): Guess I need to go outside.
Slowly and quietly, so as not to disturb the gently-snoring Jeyga to her left, Merrion shifted her weight to the right edge of the bed and carefully maneuvered her legs off the bed –
– A creaking noise issued forth from the bedframe, catching not just her by surprise.
Jeyga: "Huh?"
Merrion: "Ah shit – "
---
The automatic door at the entrance of the ward slid open, and through the portal walked Merrion, holding a wheeled stand with her intravenous bag hanging from it. Standing at her left, escorting her, was Jeyga. As the door slid shut with an audible click, Merrion made for her bed and Jeyga returned to his armchair.
Jeyga: "You gave me quite the shock, suddenly waking up like that you know."
Merrion: "Ah… I'm sorry."
Jeyga: "Hey, it's no big deal. Ed would have my head if anything happened to you on my watch, that's all."
Merrion: "…I'm sorry…"
Jeyga: "Hmm…"
Merrion: "…what's wrong?"
Jeyga: "Ah, it's nothing. Just figured you're not yet used to me because of all your apologizing, that's all."
Jeyga leant back and grabbed the bone-dry cup from the table, filling it up with the water and gulping it all down in a single chug before returning the cup to its original position.
Jeyga: "So, how much do you remember?"
Merrion: "Erm, well…"
As Jeyga sat and listened, Merrion recounted the extent of her memories of her underground excursion, culminating in her manifesting of chains and the subsequent loss of consciousness before waking up in the ward. Merrion found it intriguing how Jeyga would nod vigorously for some parts of her story, and then sit completely still and silent for other portions.
Merrion (thinking): What a strange person. Are all the older agents like this? Is…is Edmund also like this?
Jeyga: "Interesting. Your version, of course, lines up with what Ed told me earlier."
Merrion: "Earlier?"
Jeyga: "Yep, he left not long before you woke up."
Jeyga pointed to the unused cup; the last remnants of its moisture slowly evaporating.
Jeyga: "He had to attend to the other issues of that investigation. Do you have any next-of-kin that we can contact for you?"
Merrion: "Why do you ask?"
Jeyga: "Well, let's see, you were knocked unconscious three times in a single day, fought off thugs that attacked y'all in Ed's apartment, fought off two fellas that, by all accounts, were fully intent on killing you, took a good beating to the head and suffered from dehydration on the side. I suppose that'd be enough reason for me to contact my family if that happened to me. Don't you agree?"
A momentary silence descended over the room as Merrion, thinking about the absurdity in the truth of the situation, pondered about the best way to answer Jeyga's query.
Merrion: "…well, I do have a father, but he's in another sector."
Jeyga: "Oh, well there are the high-speed transfer trams. I'm sure we can book him special passage to – "
Merrion: "– and I'm quite sure he doesn't want to see me. Not yet."
If there was a mirror within eyeshot, Merrion would have realized that her expression was darkening, growing ever more downcast as she recalled her own past. There was a good reason, after all, why she was in a different sector than the one of her birth. But she didn't know Jeyga well enough to feel comfortable telling him her story. Not that she needed to, for if he really did want to know she suspected he could pull out whatever information he wanted from the FID database if that information existed. Thankfully, it appeared to her that Jeyga was more tactful than he appeared, deciding not to pursue this darkened avenue any further and, instead, pull back to more brightly-lit streets.
Jeyga: "I – I see. Well, you shouldn't talk about it if you don't want to. All that matters is that you're better now. Ed'll be glad to hear about this."
Merrion: "Um…if it's not too much trouble, what happened after I passed out? Did Edmund tell you?"
Jeyga's face contorted into a thinking expression. He fell into silence again for a few seconds, before fully focusing his gaze back upon Merrion.
Jeyga: "Well, I suspect he didn't tell me everything, but here's what I know…"
---
The display hissed as it split in half horizontally, condensation forming from where the cold air in the cryocasket escaped from within. As the two halves of the display retracted into the cryocasket, the two men standing at either side of the casket waited with bated breath. The shorter of the two was wearing a lab coat, with a mask covering his face and gloves stretcher over his hands. The taller of the two was wearing an armored vest, and also had a mask over his face.
Ximeno: "There's going to be a body this time, right? …Detective Edmund?"
Edmund: "…I certainly hope so, after all the trouble we had to go through to recover it, Doctor."
Dr Ximeno nodded in agreement. He had last seen the Detective yesterday, together with that shy-looking girl. Now, the same detective was back again, alone this time. Furthermore, the detective's arms were of a different colour this time. Unlike the faux-flesh tones he had previously seen, similar enough to real skin as to be indiscernible without deliberate attention, the detective's arms were now a uniformly-harsh gunmetal grey, going all the way up to the arm joint, beyond which, the armored vest prevented further inspection.
As the metal plate bearing a body slid out from within the now-unsealed cryocasket onto the gurney prepared before it, Dr Ximeno's gaze still remained focused upon the detective's arms, which did not escape his notice.
Ximeno: "…"
Edmund: "… is something the matter?"
Ximeno: "Oh, forgive me, I was staring. The dead don't care if you look too much. Bad habit of mine."
Even with that explanation given, Dr Ximeno continued to stare at Edmund's arms, enraptured by the contrast between the evidently inorganic material and the pallid tones of the corpse between the two of them.
Edmund: "…shall we start the autopsy now?"
Ximeno: "Ah yes, certainly."
---
Edmund watched as Dr Ximeno, expertly wielding the tools of his trade, deftly inspected the corpse of the man who was the Lord Admiral. Although he was not squeamish in any sense of the word, watching a dead body was always slightly unnerving. In an effort to distract himself, Edmund cast his mind's eye back in time; back to the circumstances that he had been in just hours earlier.
---
The hard-fought skirmish in the underground space was concluded, not in a manner that Edmund was comfortable calling a total victory, but it was a victory, of a sorts, with its upsides and downsides.
On the downside, Edmund's prostheses were damaged, and he was missing his arms from the mid-forearm down. Naturally, while he didn't feel pain from this otherwise-debilitating injury of a sorts, instead only feeling a mild tingling sensation from the circuitry registering damage in the region, it still significantly decreased the utility of his prosthetics. He had been so occupied with catching Merrion when she fell unconscious that, only after arresting her fall with his outstretched stumps, did he realize the extent of his injuries.
Furthermore, Merrion was unconscious once again. From experience, Edmund suspected this was due to a combination of physical exhaustion and dehydration from the stressful situation. She was, after all, held captive by people with intent to harm and/or kill her. That she had managed to stay strong through this harrowing ordeal spoke greatly about her resilience. Her prior loss of consciousness after the skirmish in his apartment might have contributed to this current occurrence, or they might have a similar cause, but that was just another of Edmund's suspicions, albeit well-informed.
In addition to that, Anant and his lackey had been rescued by an unknown third party once again. It was clear now to Edmund that, from his recent encounters, the rattling sound was a telltale sign of the presence of the invisible chains maneuvering in the vicinity. Clearly, Anant had been operating a chain, given the sounds that Edmund had heard and Anant's own behavior during the skirmishes.
Edmund (thinking): But, since Anant had that screaming breakdown aimed towards Merrion, does that mean he's not the chain user? He wasn't using any such chain when we arrested him in that sting op five years ago either, so…are there multiple chain users?
However, not all was doom and gloom for them. On the upside, they were all alive: himself, Merrion, and Omar as well, who had come to their aid. Given the unknowns they were dealing with, this was certainly a better outcome than the myriad alternatives where anyone, or maybe even all of them, were to be injured or fatally wounded. Omar's sudden arrival had helped to turn the skirmish in their favor, and without his timely intervention, Edmund had a feeling that the outcome would have been far less ideal for them.
Edmund (thinking): Who's got the devil's luck now, Zora? You picked one hell of a person to send as backup to me…not that I'm complaining.
In addition, although Omar had shown up at the scene of the battle first, he was not the only backup that Zora had called for. Omar had called for other Void Mamba operatives to follow, and it had only been with their assistance that Edmund was even able to extract Merrion and the cryocasket via the final corridor that neither Merrion not Edmund had used earlier. After a long time travelling through the tunnel network, they finally exited out into an abandoned maintenance building elsewhere in the Tainah.
---
Omar: "It's been a while, hasn't it, since I last saw you disarmed like this."
Edmund: "Better the arms gone than a leg, wouldn't you say."
Edmund replied briefly whilst glancing down at Omar's legs.
Omar: "Shut it. Hope you don't mind the dust here. We've not used this hideout in a while. Do me a favor and forget I mentioned that, later."
The two of them sat in the hideout, slumped against a wall opposite the cryocasket. Outside, the other Void Mamba operatives stayed on guard, ready to whisk away their captain the moment official assistance drew near. Nearby, Merrion was lying on the ground, covered by Edmund's jacket. Motes of dust floated in the air, and the sound of machinery operating nearby formed a soothing and familiar ambience that helped to calm Edmund's nerves. Edmund turned to look at Omar, who returned his gaze after a short delay.
Omar: "What's with that look?"
Edmund: "Nothing, I…"
Omar: "Don't tell me, you're thinking that this reminds you of our hideout when we were small?"
Edmund: "How – how did you –"
Omar: "Like I said, don't tell me. It's almost like you forgot how you exposed my hideout on the Mahoney by pure instinct. You just know things about me, and I with you. Consider this me returning that favor, asshole."
Edmund: "Ah…yeah, sorry about that. Zora asked you to help, right?"
Omar: "Yeah, she cashed in a favor. Too bad the cat she loaned me got destroyed in the fight. I quite liked it…"
Edmund: "Why the sudden silence?"
Omar: "…is that girl that Camelia you were looking for?"
Edmund: "Isn't it obvious that she isn't?"
Omar: "Well, that damn Anant was screaming at her and calling her that, so you can't fault me for getting confused. After all, you wanted my help finding her back then, and our search turned up nothing –"
Edmund: "They're completely different…actually no, that's not true…they're surprisingly similar…now that I really think about it. But why would Anant know who Camelia was?"
Omar: "Beats me. Can't even ask that shithead now since he's gone."
Edmund: "Great…anyway, can you help me get my communicator? It's in the pocket."
With both his arms destroyed, Edmund had no choice but to rely on Omar to operate his communicator. Completely ignoring Omar's wistful tone regarding the destroyed construct, Edmund gestured frantically with his severed stumps towards his jacket, and the ridiculous sight made Omar chuckle softly.
Omar: "This is a sight for sore eyes."
Edmund: "Just shut up and help me. I gotta update that husky bitch."
Omar: "Now that's more like the Ed I know."
After a few minutes of fumbling and general clumsiness, Edmund was able to get Omar to send a short text message to Zora with their coordinates and a brief situation update. As he tapped the <
Omar: "Message from a "Merrion" for you, Edmund."
Omar raised the communicator screen to Edmund's face.
Edmund: "Huh? How is that possible?"
Omar: "Says so right here."
Edmund: "But – she's right there."
Edmund looked over at Merrion's sleeping frame.
Omar: "So that's her name, eh? Let's just open it up and have a listen."
With a single touch, Omar opened up the message containing Merrion's audio recording. The two of them sat listening to the audio, barely loud enough for the two of them to hear. As the recording progressed through the bulk of the conversation between Merrion, Seung and Anant, Edmund was mostly unsurprised by what he heard. He had mostly expected it. The only surprise was Anant's outright admission of him being culpable for the Lord Admiral's murder, perhaps out of a desire for notoriety? The reasoning for this escaped Edmund, who could not think of any logical cause for this.
Edmund (thinking): Shit. This is still classified information!
Edmund turned to look at Omar, who merely stared at the communicator, eyes widened.
Omar: "Anant, you fool… what have you done?"
Edmund: "Omar, this…this is classified information. You can't – "
Omar: "It's too late, I've heard it already. And frankly, this getting out is the least of your worries. He's right you know, Anant, I mean. He's done something more significant than he could have ever realized. There will be consequences for this. Those geezers in the Admiralty won't be able to keep this quiet forever. And those madmen won't sit still for long either."
Edmund's ears pricked up as he caught notice of Omar's emphasis on that word. Madmen. As if diverting from that, Omar quickly turned to look at the sleeping Merrion.
Omar: "So, what now? You did it, you saved your partner."
Edmund turned to see Omar's expression of judgement and intrigue. He could tell that Omar was thinking something rather rude, almost improper, about his relationship with Merrion.
Edmund: "It's not like that. I made a promise. To Camelia. That I'd protect her."
Omar: "Her again? It all comes back to her?"
Edmund, not even honoring that question with a reply or even a response, simply sat there, resting his tired mind.
Omar: "Why didn't you tell me then? Why keep this a secret?"
Edmund: "I could ask the same of you. What's the deal with Anant? What's this deal that you made with them?"
Omar: "…"
Edmund: "Omar, who are they?"
A bitter chill descended over the hideout. Nothing about the hideout had changed; the air was still dusty, and the whirr of machinery was still omnipresent. No, the only thing that had changed was the aura surrounding Omar, who remained abnormally quiet before speaking up in a whisper.
Omar: "Edmund, remember when we were young? When we first met Zora, she offered us that deal, and we accepted?"
Edmund's brow furrowed slightly.
Edmund: "Yeah, I guess. But that was so long ago, why bring it up – "
Edmund paused upon seeing the look in Omar's eyes. The familiar, deep darkness in Omar's eyes that was also present, but suppressed, in his own. The same look from all those years ago, back when they lived from day to day in the tunnels, together.
Omar: "It's just like that time again. Someone from outside comes, offering something. The desperate accept their offers, and the secure reject."
Edmund: "What do you mean – "
Omar: "I'm secure now, Edmund. The agreement we made with you, what I – no, what we have now, is worth standing my ground against them. Anant, he was desperate. He – "
Interrupting their conversation, a Void Mamba operative appeared out of the shadows, as if materializing out from the very darkness itself. She whispered something into Omar's ear, before her outline melted back into the shadows. As if in response, Omar stood up and moved for the exit. Before leaving, he turned to face Edmund.
Omar: "He followed them, and others will follow his example too. They are not alone. I suspect they have sympathizers everywhere already. No one is safe from them: not me, nor you."
With those parting words, Omar and the Void Mamba operatives departed back into the tunnels, mere minutes before the official dispatch from the Fleet Investigators arrived.