May I Enjoy My Life Entry 13

Entry 18, Day 36

To my great disappointment, I was not immediately assigned to surgery, though they did let me out of the hospital one day after I managed to cure Texas. Aside from now having an even worse case of super cancer, I was mostly fine. Except, you know, for the constant pain. I have a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine. They call it something else, Codetheron, but unless my chemistry fails me, it’s the same thing.

And I hate to say it, but I need the stuff. The aches were bad before, but they’re worse now. My limited research into oripathy, and by that I mean I’m reading for a couple of hours a day now, indicates that acute pain is one of the most common symptoms. Based on my current trajectory…I’m more than a little concerned about developing an opioid addiction. I’d be basically non-functional without this though, so I guess I just have to grin and bear it.

Instead, Sussurro and Exusiai took me to my new apartment, which was located not far from their own. Sussurro shares with Myrrh, while Exusiai and Texas bunk together. The landship is enormous, but space is still at a premium, so my own private room consists of not much more than a fold out bed, a small desk, and a couple of basic appliances like a microwave and a small tv. There’s also a small bathroom and shower stall. The walls are all bare metal, and the floor is vinyl and a bit of carpet. It’s cramped, but the fact that I have it to myself is nice.

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything to put here,” I admitted. “Not even clothes.”

“We’ll go requisition some,” Sussurro told me. “I’ve been assigned to escort you today.”

“And I’m your bodyguard, so I’m coming too!” Exusiai said brightly.

“What about Texas?” I asked. “She’s OK now, right?”

“Oh, she’s fine, but they’re making her do a bunch of tests today to make sure the oripathy is really all gone,” Exusiai said with a shrug. “She’s grumpy as usual, but she’s OK. More than that, really. I thought she was going to die for sure…”

“She’d have lived for a while. Most people survive taking Amp-X for years. Her main problem was the initial shock of her body contracting oripathy plus the arts overuse,” Sussurro said with a shake of her head.

Both women were dressed more in their casual skins than their normal clothes. Sussurro had on black slacks, a t-shirt and jacket, and a ball cap with Siracusa and what looked like a team logo on it. She did have on sneakers that looked about three sizes too big for her, which was sort of adorable. Exusiai was wearing black shorts that showed off her legs, and a white hoodie with DDD and the stylized face of that one DJ from Heart of Surging Flame that looked like Daft Punk. Oh, and a couple of guns, because why not?

They took me first to an official Rhodes Island supply depo on the upper decks, where a bored looking worker issued me a couple of sets of scrubs, two pairs of casual clothes, a lab coat, a pair of hospital slippers and a pair of boots, along with some socks and underwear.

“You want anything fancy, you’re gonna have to pay for it, but this is the basics. Welcome aboard Rhodes Island…Bones?” the grunt said, reading his clipboard. He blinked, then looked up at me. “Wait, you’re not the one who-”

“No hablo ingles. Gracias por la ropa,” I said, then turned around and hurried off.

“I didn’t know you spoke Iberian,” Sussurro commented after having to sprint to catch up to me. “But it would be ‘No hablo victoriano’ for future reference.”

“Oh, right,” I said, wincing and kicking myself mentally. “Uh, what is the official language of Rhodes Island, anyway?”

“Officially, it’s Victorian, but people speak a lot of languages here, so don’t expect that trick to work very often,” Exusiai told me. “Though that was pretty funny, especially since you started off speaking Victorian to him.”

“I…have a hard time telling which language I’m speaking these days,” I admitted. “Not the least of which because you all sound like you’re speaking English to me. Well, unless you spoke Iberian, which would sound like Spanish.”

“My Iberian is rusty,” Sussurro admitted. “And not very fluent.”

Exusiai grinned. “Hablo ibérico bastante bien, pero estoy sin práctica. ¡He aprendido muchos idiomas como mensajero! Aunque es más fácil ya que soy un Sankta.”

“You speak a lot of languages because of your job, but being an Sankta makes it easier?” I translated. My own Spanish is high school level, though I used it often enough to be conversationally fluent since a lot of patients had it as their primary language at the hospitals I trained at.

“Yeah, Empathy,” Exusiai said, pointing to her halo. “If another Sankta speaks a language and teaches it to you…it’s just easy. It’s a little harder if you’re learning it from another Race, but even then, we Sankta pick up languages faster than most.”

“One of the many unfair things about life is that Sankta are better at just about everything,” Sussurro said with a heavy sigh, and shot a jealous look at Exusiai. Odd, she was normally pretty chummy with Exusiai.

“Hey, your cooking is way better than mine! I prefer sweet things, but your soups are really tasty! I can only ever do boxed recipes, I never really learned how to cook,” Exusiai said with a grin.

“I can manage not to burn water, but I’m not much of a cook myself. Your stuff is delicious though, Sussurro,” I told her.

That got her tail wagging, though she obviously tried to stop it. She was kinda cute like that. I know she’s not a dog, but the tail does seem like a dead giveaway most of the time.

“Sorry, not to sound like a jealous beckbeast,” Sussurro said with a heavy sigh. “I was raised in a Lateran family, and while I’ve drifted away from the Church…I never got away from the sense that the Holy Sankta were better than all of us.”

“Nah, that’s a bunch of bullshit,” Exusiai said casually. “Sure, we’re blessed by the Law, but it’s not like we did something to deserve it, you know? It’s like they say: Grace. We’re not any better than anyone. Heck, plenty of the Saints are Liberi, and there’s even Saint Vellatria. She was a vulpo, and a doctor like yourself!”

“I…yes. I, um, still say prayers to Holy Vellatria sometimes,” Sussurro admitted.” Not very often, mind. I really have drifted away from my childhood faith over time. But, well, it slips out from time to time.”

“Well then you’re more devout than me! Here we are, let’s stash this stuff, then take you somewhere fun!” Exusiai said as we arrived back at the apartment.

“Yes, I was going to take him to Susie’s, he could use a haircut, and so could I,” Sussurro said as we set the clothes on my bed, I’d put them away later.

“That sounds good! I could definitely go for some beauty treatments. My hair’s getting kinda long,” Exusiai said, pulling a lock of red hair down to inspect.

“Yeah, looks more like your alter than yours-…” I trailed off, and kicked myself again.

“Oh ho, do you already know what haircut I’m going to get, Bones?” Exusiai laughed.

“Uh, not exactly,” I admitted. Thinking of that, I really needed to talk to Kal’tsit about The Masses Travel. I didn’t know everything about it, but I’m pretty sure it was the one where it was revealed the Law as an ancient AI supercomputer, or something.

“This is from Arknights, isn’t it? I don’t suppose I’m supposed to get a significant haircut,” Sussurro said, her eyes narrowing at me.

“Well, uh, I mean…I only know about your, um…other skin, that I got,” I admitted, blushing myself.

“Other skin?” Exusiai said, looking back and forth between us. “Come on, you’re both blushing like high schoolers! Spit it out, Bones!”

“Um, well, you sort of…get Swimsuit Sussurro,” I said, not meeting her eyes. “I…sort of used that one. It was cute.”

“You would be so lucky to see me in a swimsuit,” Sussurro huffed, but her tail was wagging again for some reason. Well, at least I wasn’t in the doghouse.

“Well, I hope my skin or whatever was cute too! Damn, you’re going to have to spill more of this tea, Bones! Here it seems like you know all about us, and we barely know anything about you!” Exusiai laughed, opening the door. “First though, haircut. You really are all scraggly.”

I rubbed my face, which had at this point, several weeks worth of beard on it. Normally, I was clean shaven, if for no other reason than it’s more comfortable when wearing a mask. My hair was also longer and messier than I usually prefer it. “Yeah, sounds good. Though I am a bit broke…”

“Susie’s a sweetie,” Exusiai said as we headed down the corridor. “First haircut is free. And pretty deep discounts for all Rhodes Island Personal. And patients at the hospital. Honestly, she probably couldn’t stay open if RI didn’t subsidize her.”

“She provides a needed service, and she’s a really good hairdresser. I’d go mad without her,” Sussurro said with a shrug.

We made our way to one of the middle levels, where a sort of mall had been set up, with lots of shops and small cafes. I was led to a hair salon named “Electric Glitter.” Inside, a familiar face was waiting for us.

“Welcome!” the proprietress said, looking up from another customer she was working on. “Oh! Hello, Lucia, Lemuel! Who’s your tall friend?”

“This is James,” Sussurro said, nodding to me. “He’s a new doctor joining the medical department.

“Oh! You must have told him about my special. I’ll be right with you!” she said.

We took a seat, and I muttered, “You didn’t tell me Goldenglow was the hairdresser.”

“Huh? We said it was Susie,” Exusiai said, frowning at me.

“She almost never goes on ops or by her code name. She studies arts on the side, but her real passion is hair care, and since she’s the only hairdresser on the landship, she keeps plenty busy,” Sussurro said, frowning at me. “Odd you know her code name, I only know it because I saw it on her file during her last check up.”

“She’s, uh, well, before a certain jobless lupo, she was one of the strongest casters in Arknights. Still pretty good even after that, just not completely busted,” I whispered back.

“Susie!? You can’t be serious! I saw her cry when she was supposed to use her arts on a live target, a bunch of originium slugs!” Sussurro protested.

“Wait…jobless Lupo?” Exusiai said, her eyes narrowing. “You don’t mean…”

“I was trying to be discreet, and don’t you dare breathe a word of it to Texas,” I hissed.

Exusiai grimaced. “Yeah, even I don’t know what all is going on between Lappland Saluzzo and Texas, but I do know those two can’t be in a room together without trying to kill one another. Which is too bad, because Lappland’s a lot of fun! Totally insane, but fun!”

“Lupo idiota. Doesn’t even try to manage her oripathy,” Sussurro said in disgust. “I ought to sick Red on her.”

“That…might not work so well anymore,” I said. That earned me startled looks from both my companions, but then Goldenglow hurried over, grinning widely and bowing to me. She was dressed in a red apron, with a green scarf wrapped about her pink hair. “Welcome to Electric Glitter! I’m Susie Glitter! Welcome to Rhodes Island, Dr. James!”

“Just James, I’m only Dr. McCoy when I’m on duty,” I said, standing and offering my gloved hand.

Susie glanced at it, then gingerly took it. I let out a yelp, as a spark of static electricity zapped the originium crystals through the wool.

“S-sorry! Um, I mostly have that under control, I’m not sure what happened,” Goldenglow said, hastily jerking her hand back.

“Sorry, I’ve got lesions under the glove, must have attracted the shock,” I said, shaking my hand out.

“Oh! Yes, that happens,” Goldenglow admitted. “Um, it should be OK, unless you have more on your skull…”

“Don’t think so. I thankfully don’t have literal rocks in my brain. Yet, anyway,” I laughed, and followed Goldenglow over to one of the chairs.

She put an apron on me, then mussed my hair. “Hmm, nice and thick, with a bit of a wave! Do you have a haircut in mind, or would you like to look at my catalogue?”

“Sure, I’ll take a look. Don’t really know much about local style here. I’m from, um, Trimounts.”

“Ah, I’m from Caladon in Victoria! I’ve been here at Rhodes Island for two and a half years now, and it’s been wonderful! They’ve helped me open up my dream salon, and even brought my mother here!” Goldenglow said, as she settled Exusiai and Sussurro into their own seats. “What will you have today, Lucia?”

“I’d like to keep it long, just a bit of trim on the bangs and some fluff off my tail, I’ve been shedding something awful since summer started,” Sussurro said.

“Of course!” Goldenglow agreed, and several of her drones zipped out, and began to shampoo and massage Sussurro’s hair.

“Something a little longer and wilder for me, and I’m thinking I want to go a couple shades lighter on my hair,” Exusiai said, her eyes closed.

I ended up going with a long and curly fade, which seemed like it would be nice and low maintenance, but still a bit stylish. I might not be overly fussed about my haircut, but you’ve got to look at least somewhat professional and trendy. If you look like a slob, it sends the wrong message, and I get enough people thinking I’m an idiot without looking like one too.

The girls chatted for a while as Goldenglow went between each of us, but her drones did most of the work. It was actually really impressive how fine her control was, and rather novel to have my hair cut by robot. I talked a bit as well, though I did my best to be careful, as I didn’t exactly have a lot I could share. I told a couple of anecdotes about medical school that seemed like the sort of thing that could still happen on Terra, which got everyone laughing, so it seemed to work.

“Bye! Come back soon!” Goldenglow said, waving to us as we departed, before ushering in her next set of customers.

“I texted Texas, she’s joining us for lunch at Dreams and Spices,” Exusiai said as we left.

“Is that the cafe that Beanstalk runs?” I asked, remembering the place from Kay’s Daily Doodles.

“Yeah! Huh, that weird alien knowledge comes in handy, huh?” Exusiai said with a grin.

The cafe did look a lot like the one in the anime, though it had quite the lunch crowd. I didn’t spot Ceobe or her friends, but Texas was waiting at a booth and looking incredibly grumpy. When she spotted us, she jumped up and ran towards me. I thought for a moment she was going in for a hug with how she stretched her arms out, so I spread mine wide. Only for her to lift me up by my collar.

“Testa di cazzo!” she snarled, her ears flat back on her head. “I should kill you!”

“That seems extreme?” I coughed, even as a worried Exusiai drew one of her pistols, but didn’t point it at Texas.

“Texas, put him down!” Sussurro shouted, but Texas just glared at her.

“He cured me,” she hissed, tail lashing back and forth.

“Uh, yeah, you were sort of dying,” I gasped, though she wasn’t really choking me. “I thought you’d be happy!”

“I was. Until I realized you cured more than you said,” Texas snarled, setting me down and now yanking my head down so we were at eye level.

“Uh,” I glanced around at the patrons, who were staring uncomfortably. “Maybe…we should have this conversation somewhere more…private?”

“Hmph,” Texas let me go, then stalked over to the corner table. Her murderous gaze had everyone around us calling for the check and scrambling away, which made Exusiai sigh and rub at her head.

“Texas…you’re doing it again,” Exusiai said, holstering her guns. “You know, that thing where you give off the sense that you’re going to murder everyone around you?”

“It’s his fault,” she grumbled, arms folded across her chest as she glared at me.

I scooted a little closer to Sussurro as Beanstalk came over and hastily took our orders before rushing away. “Um, Texas, I know you’re not super happy about me curing your oripathy, but I couldn’t watch you die…”

“Not that,” Texas took out a pack of cigarettes, and slammed them on the table. “This.”

The rest of us stared at the smokes, then looked up at Texas.

“Texas, use your big girl words,” Exusiai groaned, slumping in her chair. “None of us know what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t smoke,” Texas said, gesturing to the cigarettes.

“We very specifically told you that you shouldn’t smoke after your surgery, Texas,” Sussurro sighed. “You really should quit. Not only is it a disgusting habit, but now that you’re cured of oripathy, that just increases the risks you’ll die of smoking related health issues.”

“You told me. Didn’t listen. Tried to smoke last night. Couldn’t,” Texas said, still glaring at me.

I blinked a few times. Then I looked at Sussurro, a shocked expression on both our faces. Then we fell all over one another, laughing hysterically.

“It’s not funny,” Texas grumbled. “Can’t think straight.”

“Hahaha, you, you mean he- oh santi e angeli, I’ve got to tell the, hehehe, director!” Sussurro giggled, holding on to me.

I was leaning on her myself, howling with laughter. “Hahaha! Well, it’s for your own good, you crazy wolf! Hehe, I can’t believe it! Hohoho, I’m going to do this to all my patients now!”

“Uh, did you like, do something to her brain, Bones? ‘Cause, that’s kinda messed up if you did,” Exusiai said, looking a little disturbed.

“Ha, no! Or at least, probably not,” Sussurro said, wiping a tear from her eye. “He rebuilt her entire circulatory system, and apparently her respiratory system too! That means she’s got a brand new set of fresh, clean lungs, with no tar buildup, and her body’s probably purged of nicotine too.”

“That’s hilarious! We’ll get you some gum or something,” I sniggered, shaking my head.

“Need something for my mouth. Don’t like gum. Too sticky,” Texas huffed.

“Hey, Jasiri! You got any pocky?” Exusiai called.

“Um, yes?” Beanstalk said, looking up from where she was making our lunches.

“Bring us a box. Strawberry flavor,” Exusiai said.

The sweet was delivered, and Exusiai foisted the box on Texas. “Here, try some!”

Reluctantly, Texas put the pocky in her mouth. She chewed on it a bit, then sucked on it. At last, she nodded. “Fine. But I’m still mad.”

“Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean to cure you of your smoking habit,” I said, shaking my head. “But, consider it a happy byproduct. I’m sure Lucia’s been telling you to quit smoking since she first saw you.”


“Indeed I have. Those things might as well be called cancer sticks,” Sussurro said with a nod.

“It is kinda funny, though. And Sora has said she wishes you would quit,” Exusiai said apologetically.

Texas frowned, moving the pocky stick around in her mouth with her tongue. “She didn’t tell me.”

“She’s too nice too, but I bet she’ll like kissing you a lot more now, so you’ve got that to look forward to. Trust me, I’ve dated some smokers, and it’s super gross to try to make out with them,” Exusiai said, laughing at Texas’ mortified expression.

“Oh. I see,” Texas seemed to consider this deeply, so deeply that she continued to think for a half a minute after Beanstalk brought us our food. At least, she nodded, finishing off her pocky stick. “Alright. Sorry. Thank you.”

“We’ll get you some lollipops or something. That much sugar isn’t good for your teeth, but candy is way better than smoking if you need oral motor stimulation,” I told her, taking a bite of my burger. It was pretty good, with french fries too, though they were called ‘stick fries’ on the menu. No French, I guess.

“You should come with us, Texas, we’re taking James shopping! He needs some stuff for his apartment,” Exusiai said.

Texas nodded. “Yes. I must return to duty.”


“I don’t think anyone is going to try to assassinate me on Rhodes Island,” I said skeptically. “It’s just a shopping trip.”

“Enemies can appear around any corner. We must be vigilant,” Texas stated.

I shrugged and didn’t argue. My friends ended up buying me a bunch of stuff, from some carpets, to pajamas, to a towel and toiletries, and even a poster and some other decorations.

“You guys really don’t have to do this,” I said, feeling embarrassed as Sussurro picked out a few shirts for me.

“I owe you a debt. It must be repaid,” Texas told me, having already bought me a pair of pants and some nice sneakers.

“I mean, you saved my life too,” I pointed out.

“Consider it a welcome to Terra gift!” Exusiai told me, handing me a pair of headphones and a gift card to download music. Though I would later use it to unlock some sweet, sweet premium races on Wintermaul.

After we delivered everything to my room, Sussurro revealed she’d made authentic Siracusan Pizza, which immediately made Texas’ ears perk up and tail wag. “You’re all invited, Myrrh and her boyfriend Gantt are coming, and so are Myrtle and Harry. It will be cramped, but it would be good for you to get to know some of the other people you’ll be working with, James.”

“Sure, I’d stay in a closet if it meant I got to try your pizza,” I said with a grin.

She blushed and then glared at Exusiai. “But so help me, if you put any ranch or hot sauce on my pizza, I will use your halo as a frisbee!”

“I won’t, promise!” Exusiai said, crossing her heart with her fingers. “I’m always up for pizza!”

Gantt turned out to be Windflit, while Harry was Verdant. Turns out they’re both pretty fun guys who are just chill dudes. Windflit works in engineering, while Verdant works in the pharmacy and herb garden. It turned out Myrrh had introduced Myrtle to Verdant, while Myrrh and Windflit had met at the cafeteria and hit it off.

“You must be something special to get Sussurro to actually cook, normally, she just eats the cafeteria food or buys stuff from the cafe,” Windflit told me.

“I’m just a guy,” I said, trying not to paint a target on my back.

“Just a guy who can apparently cure oripathy,” Verdant said, pointing at me around the can of beer he was holding. “Don’t try and hide it, we’ve all heard the rumors, and there’s only one new aegir doctor on the landship. Rumor has it they’re going to officially announce it soon.”

“I, uh, look, even if that were true, I can’t just cure you,” I told Verdant, sipping at my own glass of wine. “It’s…complicated. And messy.”

“James! No curing anyone until we get your own infection under control!” Sussurro snapped at me, her wine sloshing in her glass

Verdant and Windflit eyed me, and I sighed heavily.

“Look, to cure someone else’s oripathy…I have to give it to myself,” I told them. “That’s how I ended up infected.

They both gaped at me, obviously shocked. “You…you deliberately infected yourself?! Are you insane?!”

“Well, I mean, I didn’t do it deliberately. It was sort of an accident,” I said, shifting uncomfortably.

“He used it on Lucia too!” Myrtle said excitedly, her beer sloshing out of her mug as she gestured at Lucia.

All eyes turned to her, and she flushed. “He…didn’t cure me. But, um, he might have severely reduced my symptoms. We were just experimenting, to see if he could even repeat what he’d done.”

“He cured me,” Texas said quietly. “Should have done it to someone else.”

“Well, just don’t use Amp-X to try to save my ass again and we’ll call it even,” I said, glaring at Texas.

“Shit, dude,” Windflit said, shaking his head. “You really can cure someone, but you infect yourself? I’ve done crazy things to get laid, but that takes the cake.”

“Uh, I used my ability first on a ten year old kid, so don’t get any ideas,” I told him, frowning.

“I’m gay,” Texas said flatly, which made Exusiai snort out wine and half choke.

“Lucia isn’t and she-” Myrtle began, then let out a yelp like something had bit her.

“James is merely a fellow physician with an overly developed martyr complex. We’ve learned a lot from his ability already, and the hope is we develop new treatments based on what he can do,” Sussurro sniffed, withdrawing her foot from Myrtle’s leg. “The pizza is my way of saying thank you.”

“Well, Texas appreciates it. She’s always going on about how Lungmen doesn’t really have authentic Siracusian pizza,” Exusiai commented.

“It’s good,” Texas agreed.

“Well, a toast to our new doctor,” Myrrh said, raising her glass of wine. “May he enjoy his life, and practice his art, respected by all men in all times.”

“I’ll drink to that,” I agreed, and we all took a drink.

Once more, I was reminded that life here on Terra isn’t always bad. The food was damn good, the drinks were relaxing, and the company was warm and inviting. Heck, Gantt and Harry are basically just two guys you’d have a couple of beers with. Even the local ladies are mighty fine.

I guess I can enjoy this life after all.

However short it may be.