May I Enjoy My Life: Chapter 3

Entry 5: Day 21

Turns out being a passenger on the Oripathy Underground Railroad is really boring. Especially if you can’t even make any Harriet Tubman jokes. I tried, but Sussurro just looked at me funny and Gavial seemed to think I was making a fat joke. 

“Never mind, I guess knowing about Moses is a Columbian thing,” I said with a heavy sigh. 

“You’re from Columbia? Figured by the accent, whereabouts?” Gavial asked. 

“Uh, little place you’ve probably never heard of, called San Diego,” I said. “More specifically, Carlsbad. Good surfing there.” 

Now that wasn’t an out and out lie, and I felt kinda bad. I’d have to tell these two at some point that I was, you know. Human. Homo sapiens? Damn, what was the scientific nomanclature for the various Terran races? 

“Nope, never heard of it,” Gavial said with a shrug. “I’ve been to Columbia, but only as far as Tkaronto. That was back in my merc days. Mostly stayed in Sargon and a brief stint in Bolivar. Good merc work there.”

“I’m from Palermo in Siracusa. That’s also where I graduated from medical school, though I finished my training at Rhodes Island after I was infected,” Sussurro said. 

“How’d that happen?” I asked. I probably like, should have known? But as previously mentioned basically never read any of the lore. Aside from an occasional summary video on Youtube, I got most of what I know from the anime. Which had a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from Sussurro. 

“You’ve heard of the Palermo Incident?” Sussurro prompted, and I could only shake my head. “Hmm, well, it was a major catastrophe for us, but I suppose Siracusa is rather far away from Columbia. Anyway, a factory that processed Originum exploded. Coated a quarter of the city in Originium dust. The poor quarter. I was, of course, in the nicer part of the city, attending the Palermo Medical Academy, in my third year. They asked for volunteers to help treat the infected. So I did.” 

Sussurro leaned back, her eyes unfocusing as she gazed off at nothing. “We were running out of medical equipment and supplies. I was careful, but not careful enough, it seems. Probably when I was treating one of the acute cases. So many died. I ended up infected. Since I was a doctor, well, a medic really, but I was being treated as a doctor, I got access to first-line anti-oripathy drugs. I’ve been infected for five years now, but my disease has barely progressed. Prognosis is good. Actually, excellent, considering what you did. Time will tell, but I’m expected to make it to 60.” 

I nodded slowly. “Guess you all know how I got infected. What about you, Gavial? If you don’t mind sharing, that is.”

“Nah, it’s cool. We’re all infected here,” she said, tweaking Andrey’s nose when the boy started to look overly morose. “Friend of mine, Tomimi, got caught in a mining accident. I ran in without thinking, stupid and careless, didn’t even get any PPE, not even a bandana around my breathing holes. Anyway, I got Tomimi out fine, and she was wearing gear like a sensible person, wonder of wonders. I cut myself on raw originium, got infected. Tribe wasn’t too happy about that. I told them to go to hell, and left to go to medical school. To pay off my debts, I joined a merc company for a few years. Got bored with that, so I joined Rhodes Island.” 

“You must, uh, really care for Tomimi. Was she at least grateful?” I said. Now that story, I knew. Tomimi was the biggest Gavial simp in the entire universe, and I was pretty sure they were in lesbians with one another. 

“Sure, she’s a great friend of mine. Down bad for me, too. Sucks for her I’m straight,” Gavial said with a completely deadpan expression. 

I looked to Sussurro, who shrugged. “Doctor-patient privilege.” 

Damn. That meant there was some legendarily epic tea behind that door, but also that I couldn’t pry. There’s certain things you don’t do, and trying to get another doctor to break doctor-patient confidentiality is one of them. 

Also, the yuri shippers on Reddit would have an absolute conniption if they ever heard about this. 

“Don’t get me wrong, though, I’d lay down in traffic for that girl, dumb as she is. She’s a real sweetie but tails of my foremothers, she is dumb. Hell, I think she thought shooting down my aircraft was a freaking romantic gesture.” 

“She tries,” Sussurro said, though her lips were twitching in a smile. “And she really is head over heels for you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavial said, blowing a bit of air out to make one of her bangs flop back into place. “Ugh, I almost feel bad about the whole thing. She fell for me the moment I rescued her from that mine. Even carried a shard of originium I impaled myself on getting her out around with her like some kind of talisman. Sheesh. Like I’d ever want to see that thing again.”

“Well, must be nice to know someone wants you at least,” I said, my mind wandering slightly. I wouldn’t say Gavial was in my top ten Arknights waifus, that’s a very stacked list with my beloved Blaze at the top of the list, followed by Specter and Skadi because I have a thing for yanderes, but she was definitely moving up the list. Plus, you know…she was real now. And very attractive, alligator tail and all. I tried not to think too hard about it, though. We were already in a very awkward situation, and coming on to her would just make it worse. 

“Not much success in the romantic department?” Gavial said with a grin. 

I grimaced. “I just graduated from medical school. I haven’t had time for that sort of thing since I got my undergraduate in neuroscience. I tried dating for a bit but Tinder is fucking cancer and I just didn’t have the energy.”

“La mia anziana nonna, I feel you on that one,” Sussurro said with a shudder. “I take it Tinder is some sort of Columbian dating app?” 

“Uh, yeah,” I lied, rubbing the back of my head. “Good for the occasional hookup, but, uh, I’m a 7/10 at best. At least I’m actually six foot. Uh, that’s 183cm.” 

“Eh, you’re not bad kid, even if you’re a bit young for me,” Gavial said with a wink. “I’d give you an 8/10 for sure.”

Huh. How old was she? Gavial looks, I dunno, mid thirties, maybe? But I’m shit at judging ages usually and frankly I have no idea how a crocodile person ages. 

“Thanks, maybe I can put that on my profile when I try dating again,” I said. “Doctor Gavial of Rhodes Island gives me an 8/10, would not date but he’s cute someone should totally pick him up!”

Gavial and Sussurro both went quiet and looked uncomfortable. After a moment, a revelation hit me. I couldn’t use Tinder again, and more importantly…

“They…they don’t let you use dating apps if you have oripathy…do they?” I asked, my voice rather tiny, and feeling sick to my stomach. It would be like dating if you were HIV+. No one would touch that who had a lick of sense. 

“There’s lots of cute operators at Rhodes Island. I’m sure you’ll find someone,” Gavial said in too chipper tones. 

“Easy for you to say. You know what happened to me and Askel,” Sussurro said, making a gesture of negation with her hands.

“He another doctor?” I guessed, though I couldn’t recall an operator named Askel. 

“He’s on Operations Team A4, a caster, not a medic,” Sussuro said, shaking her head. 

A caster on A4? That was a 3 star team, so it was either Lava or Steward, and based on context, I was guessing Steward. Huh. Guess they tended to call one another by their names when they weren’t on the clock. 

“Anyway, we just…drifted apart. He keeps getting deployed all over the place, and I’m always so busy with medical work…there wasn’t any real spark, and I could tell he was starting to develop a thing with Merry. So I broke up,” Sussurro said with a heavy sigh. 

I think Merry was Cardigan, and was…a member of the ski patrol or something? Wait, no bobsled team. Her and Steward, huh? Cute. 

“Yeah, I had to talk with both of them about having safe sex since she’s uninfected,” Gavial said with a sigh. 

Wait, was oripathy an STD? That would…sort of make sense? Shit, I really needed to look this stuff up. There was a lot different about being a doctor here. Maybe I’d have to repeat medical school. 

“Hey, you got any literature on you?” I asked, as casually as I could. 

Gavial raised an eye at me. “In front of the kid, McCoy? I’m not giving you some skin mag.”

I spluttered and went bright red, which made Gavial laugh. She dug out a phone and tossed it to me. “I take it you mean medical research, right? Here. I downloaded all the latest stuff from Rhodes Island before we came. I might not look it, but I do a lot of reading so I can keep up with current treatments. Just ask if you have questions, though you’re better off directing your questions to Lucia here. She wrote half this stuff.”

I muttered my thanks and got to reading, taking notes on my phone as I went. The formatting, at least, was pretty familiar, and to my surprise, almost all of it was in English. Or at least, it looked like English? It’s probably Victorian or something. There was a lot to chew through, but I started with the basic stuff and worked my way up. It was, at least, something to do while we waited in the basement. 

Entry 6: Day 22

Waiting around in the dark is a good way to make you go crazy. Gavial started doing calisthenics with Andrey, and I joined in. After watching for a bit, Sussurro did too. We had to keep it quiet, but Gavial was actually really good as a fitness instructor, though she did a lot of katas and shadowboxing. I’ve never done any of that stuff, so she came over and corrected my form a few times, but at least it was sort of fun. 

Aside from that, I pissed in the bucket that Igor brought down for us, we can’t even go up stairs to use the bathroom, and ate some of Kataya’s admittedly excellent cooking. I wonder if their kids would be bears, cats, or a mix? Huh. Can they have kids? I really should have paid more attention to the lore. The uh, subreddits of ill-repute I’ve visited would lead me to believe species are cross-compatible, but I don’t think H-Dojinshi are good reference material. 

Well, at least it’s good for letting me read up on oripathy. Turns out, it IS an STD, and certain precautions have to be taken when having intercourse with an infected person. Depending on the level of infection, even a kiss or any exchange of bodily fluids can result in infecting your partner. Just my damn luck. There goes the dating pool. 

Entry 7: Day 23

Well. That was a nice break from the existential dread. Now we’re running for our lives again. Because the just about the worst news imaginable came. 

It was Kataya who ran down the stairs at about 10:00 am by my phone clock, looking pale-faced and panicked. 

“Who are you, what have you done!?” she hissed, looking angry and terrified. 

“What do you mean? We’re from Rhodes Island,” Gavial said, sitting up from her upteenth game of cards with Andrey. Sussurro and I had just been talking quietly about a medical paper she’d written on treating patients with acute oripathy, but we’d stopped when Kataya had scrambled down.

“The Special Patrol has been tearing apart the city, but that we expected,” Kataya swallowed, closing her eyes as tears leaked down her cheeks. “But…but it is worse. There are rumors. I just heard from Svetlana that…that an Emperor’s Blade has been seen in the city. And they are asking questions about Rhodes Islanders.”

My heart froze in my chest. The cards fell out of Gavial’s nerveless hands, and Sussurro whimpered a “Armi sacre dei Sankta!”

Andrey started crying. I don’t blame the kid. 

“You’re sure?” Gavial said, bolting to her feet, her tail stiff behind her. “An Emperor’s Blade, here?”

Kataya could only nod. “They have instituted a curfew. And…and they have publicly announced that they will be executing Doctor Sergei Medvedev tomorrow at noon, in the city square. They have not done public executions since…since the riots after Chernobog.” 

“Well. Fuck,” I swore, putting my hands to my head. I was familiar with the Emperor’s Blades. Mostly as a horrendously difficult boss, famous for initially being completely impossible to defeat. You just had to survive and run. They were later introduced as a boss in a side event that farted out black clouds that were so debilitating that they would render entire teams of the most elite operators completely impotent. 

“B-but Dr. Gavial…she’s really scary. You…you can keep us safe, right?” Andrey said, clinging to Gavial.

She gave him a pained smile and rubbed his head. “Sure thing, kid. One shows up and I’ll beat him until he takes his medicine.”

She was lying, and terrified. I could tell. Oh hell. Gavial was definitely the most combat-capable person here. If she was scared of taking on an Emperor’s Blade…

Kataya left, and were were collectively shitting bricks, and trying to figure out what we were going to do, when the trap door opened again. Gavial shoved Andrey behind her and growled, baring her teeth, while Sussurro raised her crossbow in trembling hands. I just sort of stood there, frozen, like a bitch. 

But it was Igor who came down. He saw the crossbow and grunted. “Put that away. If the Tsar’s sword finds you, a toy like that will be doing nothing. I am having good news. Your message, it was being received, yes? Somehow, your friends, they are coming. Tonight. We must be getting you to evac point.”

“What about Dr. Medvedev?” I blurted. 

Igor looked pained. “You will not be breaking him out, I think. Foolhardy to try. Against the city guard…doable. Against the Infected Patrol…hard, but possible for you I am thinking. But an Emperor’s Blade? Unless you are hiding an entire army inside your coat sleeve, no. Even then, would only be even chance.”

“That’s…that’s a slight exaggeration, right?” I said, glancing at Sussurro and Gavial. 

“Director Kal’tsit reportedly fought an Emperor’s Blade once,” Sussurro said quietly, and Igor looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “Her and Monst3r. They fought the Blade to a draw.”

“That is being impossible! No one can fight a Blade and live!” Igor snapped.

“It’s true,” I said, and Igor nodded, until I continued, “But she didn’t kill the Pursuer, only fought him off. And if an ancient immortal witch and her pet demon can’t kill an Emperor’s Blade…we’re turbo fucked.”

It was dead quiet, and I shivered. Then I noticed the expressions of shock and near horror that Gavial and Sussurro were giving me.

“Igor, take the kid upstairs,” Gavial said, her tone suddenly dangerous. 

“What? I cannot be doing-” Ignor cut himself off, as Gavial snarled and gave him a death glare that would have given even an Emperor’s Blade pause. He grabbed Andrey and hauled him upstairs and shut the trap door behind him.

Then I was hit by a brick wall and found myself pinned to the wall by my throat, and angry Gavial’s face about one inch from mine, her fangs bared. 

“Alright. You’ve known just a little bit too much for a while now. But that? That’s classified shit that even I don’t know all the details of. Sussurro! What the fuck is wrong with you!? You do not just go spouting off details of Operation Walk in the Dust! Just because you’ve been read into some of the Classified stuff does NOT mean you get to spill the beans on that shit!” 

“I’m sorry! I just, that’s common knowledge! What even is Operation Walk in the Dust?!” Sussurro said, wringing her hands. She spared a glare for me, though. “But how did he hear about a rumor that’s only whispered about on the landship? I heard that from Heidi herself, and only when she was completely wasted.”

“Fuck. Forget you even heard the name of that operation. I forget you’re not a senior field operator,” Gavial said with a heavy sigh. “I’ve…fought an Emperor’s Blade before. Got the low down from Doctor and the Director during Chernobog. But that shit is ultra classified.”

“You…you fought Reunion?” I gasped around the hand choking me. “B-but you guys didn’t defeat the blades, they just urk sort of wander off the field and you have to keep them off Ta-”

The hand tightened, and I saw stars as Gavial’s hot breath washed over me. 

“How. Do. You. Know. That.” Gavial hissed. 

I slapped at her arm to indicate I couldn’t fucking talk if she was strangling me, and she eased up enough for me to gasp for breath.

Sussurro was looking panicked now. “Gavial! Don’t kill him! If he really can cure oripathy, he’s the best hope for-”

“Shut it, Lucia! Now. You. McCoy. If that is your name. Talk.”

I gagged a bit, and Gavial gave me a bit more breathing room. “Not…not a furry.”

She frowned at me. “What?” 

“I’m not...fuck, what’s the word? Kemo-mimi…shit. I’m human!” 

“We’re all human, though I’m starting to question if you’re just a plant,” Gavial snarled. 

“Wait. Hold on. Let him down,” Sussurro said.

Gavial glared at Sussurro, but the fun-sized vulpo drew herself up to her full height. “I’m in command of this mission, Gavial. Let him down.”

She grunted and complied, and I gasped for breath and sank to my knees, massaging my throat. Sussurro stood over me, frowning. She ran her hands through my hair, which I keep relatively short. I’ve never had much time for bothering to comb my hair every day, having to shave is bad enough. Though at this point, I had more than the start to a beard going on. 

“Lucia, what are you doing?” Gavial said, sounding exasperated. “We need to know who the fuck this is, and how he knows this kind of shit.”

“Quiet. You, McCoy. Strip,” Sussurro ordered. 

I blinked at her. “Uh, I don’t think this is really the time for-”

“Strip,” she said firmly. “Now.”

Slowly, I complied. My clothes were more than a little ripe after spending three days in them, not to mention the exertion I’d been through running for my life and the workouts with Gavial. I got all my clothes off, and nervously put my hands over my privates to retain some modesty. 

Sussuro moved my hand away and, uh, inspected the goods so to speak. “Turn your head and cough.”

I almost laughed because that actually made things less awkward. “I’m a bit young for a prostate exam,” I said, but did as she told me. 

After I complied, she made me go to the center of the room so she could walk all the way around me, checking me out from head to toe. It was, uh, well more than a little awkward. Especially with Gavial looming there in the background. How the hell did someone six inches shorter than me manage to loom that well?

It’s probably the crocodile teeth. 

“What’s the capital of Columbia?” Sussurro said, coming to a stop in front of me and looking up at me, frowning. 

Oh shit. Uh, quick, what were all the Colombian cities I knew? Fuck it.

“I honestly have no clue,” I admitted. 

Gavial snorted at that. “Sure, kid. Try again. Anyone would know the capital of Columbia is Max DC. Lie and I’ll rip your arms off.”

Sussurro shot Gavial a glare. “I am in charge here, Dr. Gavial, and if I need intimidation, I will ask.”

Gavial shrugged and mimed zipping her lips, though she continued to stand there menacingly. She really probably could rip my arms off. 

“No signs of fur, feathers, scales, a tail, or any other characteristics of any known race,” Sussurro said, playing with one of her bangs. “Dr. Gavial. What does that suggest to you?”

“Huh? But he…wait.” Gavial came over and did her own very thorough inspection. She even made me open my mouth and peered inside. “Well. Fuck me.”

“I told you, I’m human! I’m, look, I’m not-”

“Not from Terra,” Sussurro finished, and threw my pants at me. “Get dressed. We really need to get you out of here, now.”

“Wait, you’re…not surprised?” I asked as I hopped into my pants. 

“Know anything about the Urals, kid?” Gavial prompted.

“They’re mountains? In Europe?” I guessed. “Uh, like, Russia, I think? Geography isn’t- oh.”

“He’s like those guys from Watchtower 33,” Gavial said to Sussurro, who nodded. 

I brightened at that. “Wait, the Rainbow Six guys are here too? So you’ve heard of uh, homo sapiens before?”

Sussurro looked at me from hooded eyes. “You know a lot of very suspicious things, Dr. McCoy. Are you even a doctor?”

In response, I dug out my wallet and gave her my California Medical License.

“Medical Board of California. Post-graduate Training License, James Leonard McCoy. Expiration 06-30-2028. Original date of issue, 05-23-2025,” she read. She showed it to Gavial, who frowned at it, then shrugged. 

I will never forgive my parents for making my middle name Leonard. At least they didn’t make it my first name. Damn Trekkies. I suppose the primary advantage of moving to Terria is I won’t get any more of those stupid jokes. 

“Well, I guess you’re legit then,” Gavial said, passing me back my liscense. “Though I take it you’re going to need some retraining.”

“Why do you think I’ve been reading like crazy for the past couple of days,” I said, pulling my shirt on. I grimaced, then said, “Sorry for not, well, telling you. I just…sorry. I should have.”

“Honestly, kid, don’t sweat it. Shit, if I ended up on a whole ‘nother planet, ancestors know I wouldn’t want to go spreading around I was an alien,” Gavial said, and gave me a somewhat sheepish smile. “Sorry about the whole scare tactics thing. I’m wound a bit tight at the moment. But kid, you have GOT to keep whatever weird alien knowledge you got rattling around in that skull of yours quiet.”

“Uh, yes ma’am, uh, doctor,” I said, feeling more than a little stupid. I mean…it had just…sort of slipped out. High stress moments and all that. 

Sussurro stayed quiet, turning her back on me and picking up the scattered cards. I knelt down beside her and helped, feeling more than a little awkward. When we finished, I managed, “Sorry again.”

“It’s fine. I’m just…re-evaluating. I conducted several of the exams on the Rainbow Six operatives, so I have a basic understanding of your races’ anatomy. I’m just kicking myself for not noticing earlier.”

“Yeah, well…I probably should have told you anyway. You did save my life,” I said, still feeling rather awkward about the whole thing. 

“You barely know us, Dr. McCoy. I don’t blame you for wanting to keep your origins secret.”

“I’ll tell you all about it later, whatever you want to know,” I promised. 

She nodded, though she still seemed rather cold. Apparently, I’d hurt her feelings pretty badly. Well, shit. At least she was being professional about it. 

“So, Operator Sussurro. You’re in command. What do?” Gavial said when we had everything together. 

“We get McCoy out of here. Get him to the evac point, and get him to Rhodes Island, fast. We already conducted several trials with extremely promising results on the other…homo sapiens. So this is of utmost importance.”

“Question,” I said, raising my hand. Sussurro gave me a flat look, but nodded. “Uh, not to sound racist or anything, but…if I’m homo sapiens…what are you two? I don’t want to keep calling you a fox lady and an alligator lady in my head.”

The stony visage cracked, and Sussurro snorted, a smile quirking her lips. “I would be homo vulpo. Gavial is a homo archosauria. Andrey and the other ursus are homo ursus. Any other questions?”

“Are Sarkaz different? Wait, no, never mind, that’s not actually that important. Anyway, I vote we go save Dr. Medvedev.”

“For someone not from around here, you sure are up on your recent scientific literature,” Gavial said, rubbing her chin. She sighed and shook her head. “But, to the second half…I ain’t in charge, but I’m gonna vote no on that one. I’m tough, kid. But when I say I ‘fought’ an Emperor’s Blade before, what I mean is, I ran like hell with everyone else and patched up the ones who survived the encounter. There were two of them, and we have four squads of some of the very best LGD and Rhodes Island operatives. When were were done, we had maybe one and a half squads of effectives, and one squad of LGD was just completely wiped out. That was WITH Ch’en and the Doctor directing things. Fuck, we just got out of their way, it was Tahlulah and Patriot that really scared them off, not us.”

Sussurro looked uncomfortable. “Gavial…Medelev has saved the lives of countless infected. He’s a good man.”

“Yeah, and? You’re the one who just pointed out we got an invaluable research subject here. Someone who can maybe, just maybe, cure oripathy. Do you know how many lives that is worth, Dr. Sussurro?”

“Annually, about ten million people,” Sussurro admitted, looking like she wanted to cry when she said it, tail and ears dropping.

My head spun at that. “Ten…ten million people die of oripathy, a year?!”

“Leading cause of death globally,” Sussurro said quietly. 

“Oh. Fuck,” I said, feeling sick to my stomach. I clutched my head. “Shit. Shit. Shit. This…this is a triage situation, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, kids. But it is.” Gavial rested a hand on both our shoulders, and when she spoke again, there was raw emotion in her voice and tears on her cheeks. I didn’t think they were crocodile ones. “I wanna go save that kind old man too. But we gotta look at the facts. I…I can’t fight an Emperor’s Blade. None of us can. Sussurro, you’re barely qualified in combat beyond being a damn good medic, and McCoy, from what I’ve seen, you’ve got the combat instincts of a newborn fowlbeast.” 

I could only nod at that. I had gotten in a few fights as a kid, never anything serious, just the scuffles boys get into. I’d got my ass whupped every time, even if we had laughed it off after. 

“We’re doctors, all three of us. So is Sergei Medvedev. So, in this situation…medically…morally…what’s the right call? It’s yours to make, Dr. Sussurro. So I’ll abide by whatever you choose. But you have to weigh it all.”

Sussurro was crying now. Ugly crying, with the snot and everything. Shit, I’m not much of a cryer, but I was hiccuping and dabbing at my eyes too. 

“W-we…we can’t. W-we…we have to…we have to let that good old man…we have to let him die…”

“Yeah. We do,” Gavial rasped, then blew her nose loudly and sniffed again. “Fuck. Look, I wanna be the cavalry, and run in there, arts blazing, and rescue that old coot and ride off into the sunset. But we have here an unprecedented opportunity. A chance to save millions of lives. And we can’t throw that away on the off chance we can get Dr. Medvedev out.”

“So, that’s it then,” I said, feeling hopeless. “Sergei’s gonna die, and Ivanka will be a widow.”

Gavial didn’t say anything, just squeezed my shoulder. 

“They tell you that you can’t save every patient,” Sussurro whispered, eyes closed. “And…and I’ve lost some. Oh God. I…I remember Leithanien, those needlefly wounds…I didn’t save everyone…”

“I read that report. You did damn good. Saved a lot of people. Remember those, Lucia. Not…not the ones you didn’t…” Gavial cut herself off and put her forearm to her face, gritting her teeth. Apparently, she’d had patients she hadn’t saved either. 

I swallowed. “I…I never…I haven’t…not yet. This would be…”

“It’s not your fault,” Sussurro said, and to my shock, she hugged me. I closed my eyes, resting my chin on her drooping ears, and squeezed back, hard. “It’s these damned Ursi and their puttana treatment of the infected!”

“We…we’ll change it. Somehow. If you gotta suck all my blood out, or-”

Gavial barked a laugh, and Sussurro and I jerked apart, staring at her in shock.

“Kid, do NOT say that around Warfarin, or you’re in for a WORLD of pain,” she gasped. 

“Uh, yeah, probably not the turn of phrase to use around a vampire, but you get the idea,” I hiccuped, trying to smile. 

Sussurro laughed, scrubbing at her eyes. “Yes. Most assuredly not. And McCoy…”

“James, please.”

“Very well, James. And call me Lucia. Just…don’t sacrifice yourself, OK? Stay alive,” Sussurro said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Coming from the woman who, without a second thought, ran into the infected quarter and gave herself super cancer.”

She reddened at that, and Gavial chuckled. “Guess we all have a bit of a martyr complex, eh? Why else would we become doctors?”

“Well, the pay is pretty good, right?” I joked.

Gavial and Sussurro exchanged looks, then both giggled. It was cute coming from Sussurro, and a bit disturbing from Gavial. 

“James, I’ll have to show you our pay package some time,” Sussurro giggled. 

“Let’s just say I would have made more opening a back alley clinic back in Sargon,” Gavial chuckled. “Anyway. We’re agreed?”

We all sobered up, and I looked to Sussurro. “I frankly don’t know the first thing about how risky this all is. It’s your call. I want to save him, but…if it’s that dangerous…”

Sussurro bit her lip, and I felt really bad for putting the pressure on her. But she nodded. “We have to get you out, James. And even if you weren’t such a high-value target…attracting the attention of an Emperor’s Blade is sheer suicide. Even if we had the full extraction squad to back us up, and there’s no guarantee we will.”

I felt sick, but nodded. “Andrey, though?”

“Kid comes with us. Ivanka too, if we can swing it,” Gavial said firmly. Then grimaced. “Sorry, I should let you make that call.”

“No, no, you’re the one with much more combat experience. My operations have all been non-combat ventures, stressful as they have been,” Sussurro said. “I’ll rely on your instincts in that matter, but I agree we get Andrey and Ivanka out. At the very least, Sergei Medvedev’s wife will survive this.”

After that, we went upstairs and told Igor and Kataya the plan. Andrey did his best to look brave, but I could tell he was terrified. Kataya cried, and Igor looked close to it, but he nodded and gruffly said, “Yes. We will get Ivanka. Sergei…the doctor is out of reach now. I was not knowing how you would rescue him before, but now…it is too risky. Yes. Come. We will make plan.”

I think this will work, though I honestly just shut up as Gavial and Igor mostly came up with the plan, with Sussurro commenting occasionally. This is one big huge clusterfuck. 

Maybe I don’t die today. 

But me living just means someone else has to.