May I Enjoy My Life: Entry 8

Entry 12, Day 28

I only got about two hours of sleep before Exusiai hauled me to my feet and shouted, “We need to go, now!” 

I stumbled into motion, nerves already fried from adrenaline as I tried to figure out what was going on. Sussurro was getting up with Texas’s help, and the four of us were hurrying towards the back door of the makeshift hospital. There were still dozens of dying and wounded, but Sussurro and I had worked as long as we could before we were dead on our feet, and the couple hours of rest were not near enough to get us back to effective status. 

“What’s…what’s happening? Horn Followers?” I said, my sluggish brain trying to catch up. 

“No, they’ve been beaten back. It’s the Empresses. They’re here,” Exusiai said. “And that means we need to get you back to ground, Bones!” 

“But, there’s more people we can help! We, we can’t just-” I babbled.

“Look, the Empresses brought in full disaster response units. Their medical team will be here shortly,” Exusiai said. “You did good, Bones. But now we need to split!”

I looked back at the people who still needed my help, the bloody bandages, the weeping, the screams. That was where I belonged. I was in over my head, I wasn’t the best doctor, but I was all there was at the moment. I started to resist, until someone took my other arm. 

“James…Exusiai is right. We’ve done what we can. Now we need to go,” Sussurro said quietly. “I’m sorry. If they catch two infected doctors working in this hospital…it would be bad for us.”

I slumped, but nodded, and hobbled out after Texas, who despite probably getting even less sleep than I had, seemed perfectly alert and awake. “This way.”

We started down the back alleys, but neither Sussurro nor I could move very fast. Hours and hours of grueling work on your feet take time to recover from. We’d worked at least a 15 hour shift, from mid afternoon until after dawn, and it wasn’t even noon now. It’s a miracle we were able to stumble along, even like zombies. 

However, we hadn’t gone very far when the screams behind us started, along with a couple of explosions. Sussurro and I immediately slowed, while Exusiai actually spun on her heels, pointing her guns behind us. We heard the sound of discordant music, and more cries of panic and terror. 

“The Echos! They’re attacking the hospital!” I gasped, and took half a step forward, only to have someone grab my arm. 

“We need to go. Now,” Texas said firmly. 

“People are dying! It’s my fault!” I protested. “We have to do something!” 

“The whole plan is to keep you safe,” Texas repeated. “We need to go.”

“Texas…”

Texas looked up at Exusiai, who was shifting from side to side. “Exusiai…”

“Look, I get trying to keep Bones safe, but…can you really turn your back on people in need?” Exusiai asked.

Sussurro shivered, her eyes haunted. “The smart thing is to leave, but…”

“Look, I’ll keep my head down,” I said, and pointed to the side, where there was a dumpster. “Stick me in that! I’m ass in a fight anyway. You go save them.”

Texas’s eyes shifted from me, to the dumpster, then to Exusiai. 

“What would Sora do, Cellinia?” Exusiai asked. 

“She’d go,” Texas said instantly. She shook her head. “Dr. Sussurro?”

“I…” Sussurro swallowed, then looked to me. “La coda e le orecchie della nonna.

I’m not very smart either. We’re Rhodes Island. We have to help.”

That seemed to decide it for Texas. “Stay behind me. Exusiai. Cover us.” 

“Let’s rock and roll!” Exusiai said enthusiastically, her cheeks dimpling as she grinned. Sussurro pulled out a crossbow, and I looked about like an idiot. 

“Here. Don’t hurt yourself,” Texas said, and pulled a large knife from her boot before handing it to me. 

I’m not what you would call martially excellent, but I at least know how to handle a knife. Got my Totin’ Chit and everything, and I’ve never cut myself cooking. Not that I’m much of a cook, mind you, but I do know how to chop up some onions or potatoes. 

Still, I gripped the knife, then jogged to keep up with Sussurro as Texas dashed ahead. I’ve seen people run before, but watching Texas run has to be like watching Usain Bolt do it. Only, Texas was wearing full battle rattle and carrying swords that I’m fairly sure no reasonable person on Earth ever used. I was only able to just keep up to watch as Texas reached the clinic, where a couple of Horn cultists were attacking the medics.

I don’t want to say Texas teleported, she did move between point A and point B. It’s just that she did so in a manner that my eyes couldn’t track. One moment she was 100 feet away and the cultists were just noticing her, then next, three of them were dead and in pieces, and the fourth was keeling over from Exusiai sniping them through the head. 

“Move, move, move!” Exusiai urged, and puffing, Sussurro and I booked it for the clinic. We got there just in time for me to see an explosion blow out the few remaining windows, and hear the cries of wounded and dying. 

I peeked out the window, then swore. “That’s the boss! That’s, uh, the enemy leader, what's his name!” 

It was a goat horned pretty boy, snarling and slinging around arts. Not Ebenholz, but one of the bad guys whose name I just do not know, but I recognized him from the dialogues I skipped past. 

Texas and this guy were going at it, hammer and tongs. He had twenty or so cultists with him, and he was slinging around some serious arts as he played on a damn accordion, of all things. Only instead of Polka, whatever this guy was doing was making the earth erupt and boil, and the air split with lightning as he played. Texas was shooting swords at him with every swing of her blade, but he was blocking those with barriers or shattering them with sound. 

I had no time for that, however, as there were more injured. Instead, I knelt and just started helping the wounded, trusting that Texas and Exusiai had this handled. Sussurro was doing the same, treating a kid whose arm had been ripped up by arts, while I was treating a man whose leg had been detonated by the burning earth spell. 

I heard gunfire and more screams, and tried to focus on my work. Then, I heard Exusiai scream. Not a battlecry, but one of pain and fear. I hastily finished my tourniquet, then ran over to where Exusiai was down, scrabbling at her neck, where a glowing fragment of…something, I wasn’t sure what, was embedded. 

I had no time to think. That was a fatal injury. Exusiai was going to drown in her own blood, if not simply bleed out in moments. I did the exact wrong thing to do: I ripped out the nasty thing, screaming in pain as it felt like grabbing molten lava that also shocked you. Then I poured all the arts I had into Exusiai. My vision blurred, narrowing to a fine point, and when I finished, I just collapsed. 

What happened after I had to get from Lemuel and Lucia. Exusiai apparently was able to get back up after I miraculously healed her. However, my outpouring of Arts did not go unnoticed. The Horn Cultist leader made a call, shouting something about finding “the foretold outlander” and firing off a beam of light into the air that cast a strange shadow. Texas used that opportunity to cut the bastard's head off, and Exusiai shot the rest of the cultists dead. 

“James, James!? Look at me! There, focus on my finger. Can you see it?”

Sussurro’s voice. My head was cradled in her lap, and she had a finger she was slowly waving back and forth. It took a second, but my eyes were able to focus on it. “Y-yeah…”

“Can you walk?” she asked. 

I tried to sit up, but my muscles just didn’t respond. “I…I don’t think so…”

“Merda di merda! Exusiai! Help!” 

My angel was there in a moment, grim faced and covered with her own blood. She hauled me up, impressive as I overtop her by almost ten inches. But she slung my left arm over her shoulders, while Sussurro got the right. They dragged me out of the clinic, to where Texas was finishing off the remaining cultists with a twist of her blade. She looked up, fury covering her face, but then she saw Exusiai, alive and well, and the wrath drained from her. 

“Lemuel! You…you are well?”

“Bones saved me,” Exusiai croaked, her voice more than a little raw. “Let’s book it. He’s down for the count.”

“Copy. Follow me.”

We couldn’t move fast, not with me being dragged like a sack of potatoes. I tried to help, but my legs just weren’t listening to me. My entire body was burning with pain, especially my right hand, which felt like it had withered up and fallen off, though when I saw it dangling over Sussurro’s shoulder, it looked fine. 

We hadn’t gone far before more cultists arrived. They tried to attack, but Texas’ blood was up, and she was taking zero prisoners. The first group to show themselves was impaled on so many blades that rained down from the sky that they looked like pincushions. The next ran right into her blades, and ended up in at least three times as many pieces as they’d started in. It was horrifying, and beautiful. Texas moved like this was a dance that she had long ago memorized, not a single wasted motion, not a single instant of hesitation. Just elegantly executed death. 

Exusiai had a pistol in one hand and pulled off some shots I would have told you were impossible. She even put the gun behind her back and shot someone dead in the chest using the reflection off a car's side mirror. All without breaking stride and puffing like a bellows. 

But, even Texas can’t fight forever. Ten minutes in, and she was visibly slowing, as well as wounded. Even without missing a step, Texas had taken several hits and was bleeding from multiple wounds. She refused to slow down to accept treatment, pressing on. 

I thought we were going to die a death from a thousand cuts, when the radio crackled to life. 

“Delta-five-niner, this is Watchtower. On your eight, multiple hostiles. Engaging.”

We turned to see more cultists running at us, and Texas began to limp that direction. Only for an all too familiar sound to echo across the battlefield, cultists falling in a hail of bullets. 

“That’s…that’s gunpowder,” I gasped. 

The cultists tried to fight back, but their opponents were on the roof on one side, and coming out of an alley on the other. I’m not a tactician, but it looked like a textbook ambush. The cultists all went down, and four figures ran up to us as four more stood overwatch on the roof. I recognized all of them. After all, I’d gone whole hog on their banner. 

“T-Team Rainbow?” I slurred as Ash, Frost, Doc, and Lord Tachanka himself ran up to us. 

“Oh, you is recognizing us?” Tachanka said, grabbing me from the exhausted Exusiai and Sussurro and easily lifting me. Doc was tending to Texas wounds, as she’d just collapsed to the ground, leaning on her swords to even sit up. “I have not been doing such a good job, it seems.”

“Cut the chatter, people,” Ash barked. “Into cover, now! There’s still more of those hostiles close by!” 

We were all scooped up into a nearby building, where after making sure Texas wasn’t going to die, Doc came to crouch by me, with Sussurro right beside him. 

“Hmm. Looks like arts overuse. Didn’t they tell you to be more careful with that, friend?” Doc said conversationally as he pulled out a needle, then jabbed me in the leg. 

“Bones isn’t very good at listening,” Sussurro said, quickly taking my vitals. “And he hasn’t had long to practice his arts.”

“Hey everybody,” I slurred, the shot apparently having contained some sort of adrenaline that was getting my heart going in a hurry. “I’m hic James McCoy. Oh yeah, I’m a doctor now. Sorry ‘bout all this. Hey, you guys know how to get back to Kansas? ‘Cause I’m fresh out of Ruby Slippers.”

The Rainbow Six Operators all froze for an instant. It was barely perceptible, but they clearly tensed up. 

“Ебать,” Tachanka growled. “Another one? I am not recognizing you. You are also a member of Rainbow?”

“Nah, I’m straight, but your banner was pretty cool. Glad you guys got a rerun, oh hi, Ela, you’re pretty cool too,” I babbled. 

“Don’t listen to him. James has a terminal case of Diarrhea of the Mouth,” Sussurro sighed, standing. “James. I am glad you got to meet the rest of your people. Now shut up.”

“Ok. Did you know you’re hic kinda cute? Like, really pretty. You too, Lemuel. Both very pretty. I-”

“I am thinking is time for you to be quiet, Mr. McCoy,” Tachanka said, and pinched my lips shut. 

“That is…an odd reaction,” Doc said, glancing at the needle. “That was just a standard anti-arts drug. Normally, it makes people sleepy, but I haven’t seen it work as a truth serum.”

“Maybe he has ADHD? That can cause odd reactions with certain medications,” Sussurro mused.

I shook my head and tried to say something, but Tachanka kept a hand over my mouth. 

“He’s like us?” Ash asked Sussurro, who nodded. She puffed up her cheeks then blew out. “Fantastic. Right. What was the Babel Has Fallen for? We were expecting to find Rhodes Island under attack, Dr. Sussurro.”

“For James. He’s…special,” Sussurro replied. 

“I am noticing,” Tachanka said dryly. “But we are not usually responding for idiot who cannot keep mouth shut. Even if he is stranger like us.”

I was starting to feel warm all over, and the pain was rapidly fading. Honestly, I felt like I was drunk, or maybe high, though I’d never so much as smoked a blunt. Odd for a California boy, I know, but after learning about the effects of marijuana, mild as they are, I decided I wasn’t going to be OK with mediocrity and eating Scooby Snacks and avoided the stuff. I don’t even ever have more than one or two drinks, bit of a teetotaler. 

“Mmmm, mmmm!” I said, and tried to pull free from Tachanka. He kept his hand over my mouth, and he was far too strong for me to shift. 

“Ela, what’s the situation?” Ash demanded, turning to the other squad leader. 

“Leithanien forces are sweeping through the city and taking out the Horn Followers. They’re getting close to here. If we hunker down, they should be here soon. Might solve some problems for us,” Ela said, eyeing me suspiciously. 

“Can’t…can’t let Bones…fall into…Empresses’ hands,” Texas panted, still looking much the worse for wear. 

The Rainbow Six operators nodded. 

“I’d prefer to keep out of their hands myself,” Ash agreed. “Alright. We move out. Rhodes Island is still hours off, that Catastrophe just ended and it’s going to be a bear to get past even still. I’ll-”

I was slapping at Tachanka’s arms, and he swore when I bit his thumb, dropping me. “What is wrong with-”

I was red faced now and gasping for breath, but I managed to wheeze out, “T-tachycardia, having, having an adverse-”

Sussurro was there in an instant, as was Doc, both of them frantically trying to figure out what was happening to me. 

“His veins! They’re turning black!” Doc hissed, and Sussurro growled in anxiety. 

“His arm! His arts are going-”

I couldn’t contain it anymore. I screamed as that fire began to burn in my veins.

“What did you give him!?” Sussurro demanded, turning on Doc. 

“Neuroquelin! It’s the standard treatment for someone who has overused arts!” 

“Neuroquelin…it shouldn’t be causing this, I’ve never seen…” Sussurro shook her head, but I could see…I could see her whole nervous system. All her organs, layered in her body, little glowing flecks inside of her. 

“I can…I can see you,” I hissed through my teeth. 

“That’s good, vision is fine then, I-”

“No,” I gasped. “I can see…the oripathy. Inside of you. It’s…”

I reached out a hand, and Sussurro took it, a look of deep concern on her face. “James…don’t do anything foolish.”

“I, I won’t, I just-” I gasped as my heart continued to race. 

“Try an arts amplifier drug,” Sussurro said, her eyes locked on mine. “That would counter act the Neuroquelin. Do you have Artilune?”

“No, none of us have arts,” Doc said, sounding frustrated. 

“Left breast. Pocket,” Texas said, and Exusiai hastily dug out a plastic coated automatic syringe, then hurried over

“It’s not Artilune. It’s Amp-X. Texas…uses the potent stuff.”

“Half a dose then,” Sussurro said, and jabbed me with the needle. I didn’t even notice, squeezing her hand so tight I bruised her, though I didn’t notice until later. 

A numbness slowly spread out from the location of the jab. I sighed as my heart rate slowed, and my muscles slowly uncramped. 

“This is…very odd. Normally, Arts suppressors are downers, and the Arts Amplifiers are uppers,” Sussurro said, taking my pulse at the wrist. She glanced at Doc. “Have you ever seen such a reaction from your people?”

“No, I only have those so I can treat an ally. As I said, none of us have arts, so we’ve never taken any,” Doc said with a shake of his head. 

“Can you move?” Sussurro asked me. 

I tried to get to my feet, but my legs felt like jelly and I had to sink back. “Probably not. Sorry. I feel like the damn MacGuffin, or an NPC in an escort quest.”

“What was that about you seeing oripathy?” Doc said, frowning at me. He glanced at my hand, then back at me. “You’ve got a case, I see. But…you said…?”

“Yeah, I’m from SanFran. But somehow, I gave myself super cancer,” I yawned, feeling a sense of lassitude wash over me. 

“Like Lucia said. Bones here is special,” Exusiai said, patting me on the shoulder. 

Blitz suddenly snorted. “Because he’s a doctor, not a miracle worker?”

“Fuck you too, man. Damn trekkies,” I grumbled. 

“We good?” Ash said, and got a nod from Sussurro as Tachanka hefted me in a damn princess carry. Doc helped Texas to her feet, and she was able to stagger, though she looked pretty wiped out. 

“Hold on,” I said. “C’mere. Got something I can do for Texmex.”

Tachana obligingly brought me close enough to Texas for me to grab her, and I poured a bunch of arts into her. 

“Dammit, James, that was what we were trying to avoid!” Sussurro snapped. 

However, using the arts had made me feel a lot better. I flexed my hand and shook my head. “Actually…I’m fine.”

“This isn’t making any medical sense! You had arts overload, then you had an adverse reaction to the suppressor, now using more arts after giving you an amp that should have made you go haywire calms you down!?” Sussurro shook her head in frustration. “This makes no medical sense!” 

“I know when you hear hooves, you’re supposed to think horses, but I’m pretty sure I’m a zebra in this context,” I told her. The look of bafflement I got back made me sigh. 

“He’s talking about, oh, Burdenbeasts and Slumberfoots,” Doc mused. “You really are from Earth, aren’t you, McCoy?”

“I’ve been told I should keep my ‘weird alien knowledge’ to myself. Speaking of, you guys got gunpowder now?”

“I am thinking that is qualifying as ‘weird alien knowledge,’” Tuchanka grunted as we moved out. Texas was back on her feet, though she still looked bushed. “Maybe be keeping thoughts inside small brain of yours. I am fearing they will be leaking out otherwise.”

I switched over to Ursus, we’d been speaking English, and told him, “I learned Russian, by the by. Neat trick, huh?  You guys get any new languages?”

“That is not Russian, comrade. You are speaking Ursus. Very similar, that surprised me. But it’s not Russian. Sounds like my grandfather, if he were from Siberia.”

“Huh, I haven’t really heard anyone speaking Columbian, now that I think about it. They keep assuming I’m from there though, so it must be close?”

“Yes. Many countries match up. Everyone thinks Doc is from Gaul, Ela is from Kazimierz, and so on. When did you arrive, comrade? It took me many months to learn all this.”

“Uh, so anyway, like I said…way back home?” I asked hopefully. “Not that, um, I can go just yet. Pressing business and all, but…is it an option?”

Tuchanka grunted. “Honestly, when I heard you start talking about Earth, I was hoping you might know a way. How did you arrive here?”

I was quiet for a moment. A rarity for me, to be sure. Then I said, “I died, I think. I was trying to save a kid from getting hit by a car that passed a school bus. Think I pushed him out of the way, but then I felt this intense pain, then….then I woke up in Ursus.”

“Ah.” Tachanka was quiet for a moment, and shook his head. “Sorry. We arrived…in another way. And to answer your question, no. I speak the same languages I did when I arrived. English, Russian, German, and Pashto.”

“Pashto? Where do they speak that? Sargon?” I asked. 

“Afghanistan.”

“Afghani- Oh. Ohhhhhh. Shit. Sorry. My older brother…he was there. Served from 2017-2021.”

“Ah. And how is he?”

“Married, with two kids. He and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s an auto mechanic. He’s good, just…he doesn’t like to talk about what happened there. Guess I know why now.”

Tachanka grunted. “I suppose you do. When we get to Rhodes Island, we will drink vodka and talk.”

“I didn’t used to drink. I also didn’t used to see so much death. Guess I see the appeal now.”

“Quiet,” Tachanka grunted, as the column came to a halt. Blitz was running back to us, looking worried. 

“Good news is, no crazy musical cultists up ahead,” he said, crouching low with the rest of us behind a hedgerow. “Bad news is that the Gesatzswächter is up ahead, and so is Empress Hildegard.”

“That the dark one or the light one?” I whispered. 

Blitz glanced at me. “Dark one. Why?”

I grimaced. “Sussurro, um, pow wow?” 

Tachanka set me down so Sussurro could put her big fluffy ear up against my mouth, and I hissed, “She’s supposed to get trapped in the shadow realm, whatever it’s called, when they try to stop the revived Witch King. But if that doesn’t happen…I don’t know. I think I fucked with the timeline.”

Sussurro nodded, then looked over at Ela and Ash, who were quietly conferencing. “Can we avoid them?”

“We’re going to try, but the Gesatzswächter are good. Very good. And since they’re mostly casters, we have a damn hard time countering them. We didn’t train for it originally, and even with Maylander’s help, we aren’t best suited to this,” Ash said with a grimace. 

“Oh shit, you guys work for Maylander? Is Tin Man here?” I said, glancing around. 

“He really can’t shut the hell up, can he?” Ela said with a shake of her head. 

Oops. 

“I think someone needs a crash course in Op Sec before he’s ever allowed in the field,” Ash said, frowning at me. 

I gave her a sheepish grin, and mimed zipping my mouth shut. I’d gotten in trouble a couple of times for HIPPA violations. Never anything major, but enough to get written up. I had thought I was getting better…

We moved out again, but we hadn’t gone far before a wall of black flames appeared before us. We skidded to a stop, with everyone looking around in alarm. 

“Halt! Nicht bewegen!”

Dark shapes materialized, and I recognized the elite knight guys who worked for the Empresses. They were magic knights, which meant that they were all masters of Arts, since Leithanien was basically the arts capital of the entire world. 

“Well, well, well. Rhodes Island, Maylander, and Penguin Logistics? This is a surprise,” a deep female voice said, as the Black Empress herself stepped forward. She was tall and imperious looking, and radiated a menacing aura about her. 

“Kneel!” Sussurro hissed at us, hastily getting to her own knees. 

There was shuffling, as everyone, even the R6 operatives, got down on their knees in supplication to the Black Empress. Well, everyone but me, though Tachanka helped me get to a kneeling position. 

“Your Majesty,” Sussurro said, eyes on the pavement. “We were simply trying to escape the chaos. We did not wish to cause any inconvenience.”

“That is not what I have heard,” Hildegard said, slapping a glove in her palm and looking down her nose at us. I felt my blood freeze, until she said, “Rhodes Island has been rendering aid to Our Citizens, healing the sick and wounded, as well as fighting against the Herkunftshorn. As has Penguin Logistics. But Maylander…you came here quite quickly, didn’t you?”

“When trouble calls, Maylander is there. Majesty,” Ash said, her eyes still down. 

“Hmm. There has been a great deal of trouble of late. Following this one.”

A pair of fine shoes appeared in front of me, and I swallowed. My eyes flicked up, but I was too weak to really crane my neck. Only Tachanka’s hand on my collar was keeping me from just collapsing right then and there. I felt better, but still like a limp noodle. 

“First, you flee Shiraziberg. I have heard rumors that you did so against the will of an Emperor’s Blade. Commendable. But then, you travel to Lungmen, and meet with Wei Yenwu. Indeed, his own niece arrived in the city with you. And now, you travel with…outlanders.”

A hand reached down, and a finger tilted my chin up. I looked up, and beheld dark beauty. Hildegard had dark hair, violet eyes, and black horns like an antelope. She was dressed in a black military suit, with golden pauldrons and cord. Just like her in game sprite, but the power that radiated from her…it was incredible. 

“What is your name? Do not lie. I have the manifest, but it is falsified.”

In that moment, I couldn’t even dream of lying. Something about her voice compelled me to speak, made me ache to answer her. I opened my mouth and-

There were cries of outrage and rattles of steel, and the air crackled with power as a blade interposed itself between the Empress and me, followed by the muzzle of a gun.

“Stay…back,” Texas panted, barely on her feet, her arm trembling, legs shaking, sweat beading on her brow. 

“Sorry, Majesty! But this one’s ours,” Exusiai said, her tone chipper. “I’m gonna have to ask you to back up a couple steps. Respectfully, of course.”

The Empress raised an eyebrow. “You would defy me?”

“Boss…said…to get…him…through,” Texas panted. 

“It’s not personal. Just company policy,” Exusiai said matter of factly. 

“Exusiai! Texas! What are you doing!?” Sussurro gasped, springing to her own feet. “We can’t-”

“Majestät!” one of the guards shouted. “Hinter uns!” 

Hildegard half turned, as a roaring sound washed over us along with the backwash of rotors. A moment later, a red streak dropped out of a VTOL, and a burning figure landed in a crater, carrying a white robed woman. A moment later, the fiery woman stepped forward, and a chainsaw revved. 

It was her. My One True Waifu. Blaze, elite operator of Rhodes Island. A long mane of black hair, held back by a scarlet headband, two big cat ears, a devil-may-care smile, and a body wreathed in flames. She was dressed differently than her in-game image, wearing what I now saw as the usual body armor, though hers had a distinctive Rhodes Island crest on it, and her arms were bare, as they were covered in flames. 

Next to her was the Old Well herself. Her expression was about as emotive as Texas’s usually was, and she was dressed in a green lab coat, though instead of heels, she had practical looking boots. But it was Kal’stit alright, stethoscope around her neck and all. 

“Monst3r,” Kal’stit said quietly, and with a hideous screech, a horrific many-legged demon that was more than 20 feet tall appeared behind her in a billow of green and black fog. 

“Director Kal’stit,” the Empress said as her guard formed a protective screen between her and the newcomers. 

“Empress Hildegard. I am afraid that I am going to need to request that you step away from our employees. While at this time Rhodes Island does not wish for hostilities, we-”

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” I groaned. “Twenty words or less!”

To my shock, Sussurro actually let out a nervous giggle. Then kicked me. 

Kal’tsit regarded me for a moment, apparently not appreciating the interruption, but it was Hildegard who spoke next. 

“Then the rumors are true. This man can cure oripathy. And Rhodes Island is willing to go to war to get him,” the Black Empress said. 

“Blyat,” Tuchuka growled, already on his feet with his weapon readied. 

“He’s one of the Infected, which means Rhodes Island is here to fight for him!” Blaze declared, her flames flaring up slightly. 

“Give me one good reason I should not simply slay you all for your insolence and take this prize for myself,” Hildegard hissed, arts crackling in her left hand as she drew what looked like a conductors baton.

“Hi, yes, it’s me, the guy you’re fighting over? Can I say something?” I said hopefully. 

Hildegard turned one eye on me, and Sussurro hissed, “James!” 

“Look, uh, we got off on the wrong foot, um, your Majesty,” I babbled, and I knew I was babbling. “But really, um…we should be working together, right? Like, you know, advancing medical science for the good of all Mankind? Or humanity, or whatever we’re gonna call it.”

“That man has a contract with Rhodes Island, and is one of our operators. We will take whatever steps are necessary to secure him. Whatever information he holds, it is something that Rhodes Island would be willing to share with Leithanien. You know that we do not jealously guard information, Empress Hildegard. Rather, we seek to be the light in the darkness for all-”

“The man is impudent, but he has a point, Director. Please, be brief,” Hildegard interrupted.

Oh good. I wasn’t the only skipper here.

“I would not sour our relationship, Empress,” Kal’tsit said, her tone rather robotic. Which, you know, makes sense, all things considered. “However, James McCoy is coming with us. And he will do so with your blessing, or by force. You may choose.”

“You threaten me, here? In my own city?” Hildegard said. Her voice was even, but cold, her menacing aura growing ever stronger. 

Then, there was a click and a whirr, as the R6 team, Sussurro, Texas, and Exusiai all touched their ears. 

PTRS Online. Connecting Operators. Please stand by for orders.

Hildegard hissed, and she looked up, even as the VTOL made another pass to set down. “He is here?! The Ghost?!”

“The Doctor is present, yes. We felt this operation was worthy of the highest level of urgency, and thus, have brought all our pieces to this table,” Kal’tsit said. 

Hildegard snarled, readying her arts, and I flopped my hand up. “Wait! Ma’am! Please!”

“Not now!” Exusiai snarled, dragging me back as the R6 team faced off against the Gesatzswächter.

“I came here to save lives!” I gasped. “I tried, OK? I tried to save…to save so many. I know I couldn’t save Greta Baumann, but give me a chance! Give me a chance to save as many people as I can!”

For a few seconds longer, the stand off intensified, then Hildegard suddenly raised a fist. “Abtreten.” 

The Gesatzswächter didn’t look happy, but they lowered their weapons and stopped chanting. Slowly, Hildegard turned to me. “What did you say?”

“I said,” I took a deep breath, struggling to even stay upright with Sussurro and Exusiai’s help. “I said I couldn’t save Greta Baumann. I…I tried. But I missed that she had suffered severe cranial trauma and was hemorrhaging and leaking CFS. I…I’m not even a proper doctor, yet. Just a medical intern. But I want…I want to save as many people as I can. If I can help the Infected? I’ll do that. Do you…do you really think I could save the most lives, staying here, in Leithanien? Because if you do, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Old Man Wei: I will do, whatever I can, to heal the sick. Wherever they are. So, can you, Empress Hildegard, tell me straight up, that you taking me, is going to help the most people? Or would I be able to save more lives going with Rhodes Island.”

“And what if I do not care how many lives you save? Only if you can strengthen Leithanien.”

“Well, I’d say that the horn eating wackos are probably only the first group that is going to try to get their hands on me. Actually, I lied. The first group was a bunch of mafia goons. The second was an Emperor’s Blade. The third was Der Graf Pangwen. Sorry if I butchered the pronunciation. You’re just the latest. Honestly, I’m sort of a problem wherever I go.”

“Der Graf-” Hildegard glanced at Texas, who was still on her feet, somehow, blades up, staring right back. “Ah. I see. Some things begin to make sense.”

For what felt like an eternity, Hildegard studied me intently. At last, she said, “You would cause more trouble. And, it seems, you do care, Dr. McCoy. If that is your real name. Very well. Gesatzswächter, Abtreten.”

The ranks parted, slowly, revealing a path to the now landed VTOL. The ramp lowered, and a figure in a dark hood, face obscured by a mask, stood in the hold, hands in the pockets of the long raincoat. It was him. The Doctor. The Ghost of Babel.

The Oracle. 

“My sister and I will not forget this intrusion, Director. Rhodes Island, for now, has our forbearance. You have rendered us great aid in the past, but this is a mighty sin to overlook. We will expect results. Results to be shared with Leithanien,” Hildegard said as I limped past her. 

Texas was still on watch, refusing help, despite the fact that bloodstains were soaking through her uniform. 

“We were aware there would be a price to pay, Empress. I am merely grateful that there was no need to shed further blood of those who should be our allies, not our enemies,” Kal’tsit said in a remarkable display of brevity for her. 

Everyone piled into the VTOL, with Monst3r vanishing back into Kal’tsit’s…spine, I think? I should ask about that.

Actually, I should definitely not ask about that. 

Kal’tsit came to loom over me, and started talking. 

I didn’t really hear what she said. At that point, finally safe, my brain decided now was a good time to power down. 

That’s probably one reason I’m pretty sure Kal’tsit hates me now. Along with that whole 20 words or less thing. 

Oh well.