Chapter 4: Piece Meal

  "We’ll build you back up."

  [---Citadel Refuge: 2 Weeks Later---]

  The medical spire bustled with professionals holding knowledge she couldn’t fathom, some poked away at their displays as they did their tasks. Checking in with patients, carting medical supplies and stretchers holding the wounded from the border wall.

  Each man and woman had a hardened facade, each soldier and a few Ravenguard were being worked on by both Eta and the growing number of medical personnel as trainees graduated early with horrible hands-on experience.

  One of the Ravenguard held a blackened arm out to a younger nurse, ironically telling the nurse they’d be fine, the burn trailed up the muscular limb much like a piece of charred wood.

  An involuntary shudder passed through her, the contrast of his burned away tissues against the white tiled walls looked wrong.

  She grimaced sympathetically as she crutched along, swinging her leg forward in time with Bishop and thanking her luck she wasn’t one of them. Every swing was a pulsing pain that trailed to her hip.

  Her breath felt coppery and laden with effort, having woken up and barely getting dressed just a few hours prior, she had to go under for a 2-week period thanks to her liver and gallbladder rupturing on impact with the ravine.

  The medical personnel seemed to hide another chart from her.

  The only thing she noticed as the head of the spire, Eta, put the chart away in a locked drawer. The sheet with her biometrics said: Chimerism. It was a latent virus present in all gestaltia organisms, the slice on the back of her neck burned.

  She pushed the potential of her own potential infection away as the person that told her not to worry walked right behind her.

  Like a motherly figure and angel.

  With a shoe in her hand.

  Eta, the almighty leader of the medical spire ensured her didactic rules were ingrained, etched into her skull.

  “Every day, Lil’ Mel, I know the meds taste terrible, but every day. Managed to bust your kidney and punctured a lung during that tumble, too.”

  “I will, I will, Eta,” she swung forward, pausing to readjust as her stomach violently turned on itself, Eta held her by the shoulders. “Thank you.”

  “I know it hurts like hell, but trust me, it’ll make getting augmented feel like a vacation. I’ll give you really good pain meds then.” Bishop met Eta’s gaze as she addressed him.

  “Make sure she gets to her apartment, big man.”

  “I’ve got her,” he rumbled out as he glanced at Melissa’s nauseous face, “need a minute?”

  “Mhmm, just sick.”

  “Thing got you good, huh?”

  “Got you good too.” Her eyes looked pained as she adjusted herself, “thanks for being out there… I owe you guys.”

  “Don’t,” he rose a hand, the hard lines of his face resembled an anatomical sculpture as he flashed a perfect smile, “regardless, it’s an oath taken once you become a Ravenguard. We live and die by said creed.”

  “Oh, well… no one told me that… what’s the oath?”

  “You’ll get to hear it for yourself soon enough, it’s tradition, and the group you and Ripley will be training with will know it by heart, because you’re gonna hear it a lot.”

  Her face morphed into another grimace as they made their way to her apartment.

  It had a drawing of a little white rabbit perched on top of a rock with flowers growing around it, a wolf laid next to it, comfortably dozing. One eye opened looking directly at the viewer.

  Most of the ecological wing were artists, a few doors with similar artwork, all signed as, Nala.

  She palmed the pad on her door, hissing it open as both stepped inside to mostly bare office walls, save for her many potted plants and taxonomic charts lining them for her visitors and clientele operating for, but outside Ravensmantle’s borders. Various journals and notebooks lined the shelves behind it along with her degrees, much like Vahlen’s.

  Her own degrees were that of environmental science, botany, animal husbandry, and agriculture among others.

  Vahlen’s seemed to cover every subject imaginable. She was intimidatingly intelligent.

  “There is a good reason Vahlen has the most effective army at her disposal, and she knows how to choose soldiers.”

  Her grimaced anguish deepened as he finished his statement.

  “That means you too, once you’re healed.”

  “I’ll try.” She palmed the office door open, revealing her living quarters. Her home on the first floor of the Citadel was an almost violating contrast to the industrial space.

  It’s old wood furniture and the smells of cardinals, posie groupings, and hung plants always brought her a homely comfort.

  “You’ll do or die, trust me, I was like you once.” He leaned against her wall, enjoying the scent of lavender, lilacs, and perennials on her countertop across the living room.

  “Really? You’re a tank, what would you be afraid of?”

  He put a hand to his chest, the sincerity in his eyes and sudden gentle tone putting her at ease.

  “Guarding my heart, I was a kid once, grew up to fast and saw things no child should, look, I’m a Ravenguard for those that can’t protect themselves. A beacon of hope for those like yourself just a few years ago.”

  “I know it haunts you, but you’re stronger than you were in Juniper Valley, and you can become something even stronger.”

  The smell of her old home and its lush forests.

  The fire, the screams, the grey cloaks.

  Pounding footfalls, running for her life.

  That horrible, rotten day.

  In whatever way she could manage, she wanted only to remember the positive aspects of the home she burned.

  It was safe, populated, and thriving.

  A nameless city among many other nameless cities, she too came running to Ravensmantle.

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  “You will have to skip a rotation, you need to heal first, so, next month, you Ripley and a handful of others begin.” She blew a drawn bout breath in response.

  “Alright, I think I’m going to lay down,” the wave of nausea attacked her stomach as she slowly made her way in after a hug with Bishop, “thank you again.”

  She spent the following days struggling to do so as they blurred between the pain, medicine, and fact that she couldn’t understand the creature that chased her. Evelyn... she was right in front of it.

  As her ankle and insides slowly stitched themselves back together, she couldn’t do the same with her mind. As she jotted down her thoughts of the day along with her discoveries, she couldn’t help but feel disquiet.

  The urban temple, that little girl. Even after sending her report, thoroughly documenting her experiences and reporting another potential missing person.

  Nothing came up, and there weren’t any children matching the description, nor were they allowed to leave the confines of Refuge City and its miles wide expanse of infrastructure, housing, and garrisons.

  Each one taught the importance of duty to their country, because that meant the world's safety.

  Indoctrination and she held hands, she held it loosely.

  A knock on her office door saw the equally gripped pen flying.

  Despite trying to grab at it in practically slow motion. She felt a growing frustration as her hands couldn’t operate as fast as she wanted them to. Between the recovery and meds, her reflexes were off.

  The softened voice of Eta responded to the audible gasp and clatter inside, trying to speak quietly with the sudden absence of power tools breathing in from the hangar bay. The workers done with their day shuffling by the door made a quiet ambience of murmurs and boot steps.

  “Hey Lil Mel’, you in there? Just here to check up with you, haven’t seen you all day.”

  “Yeah, one sec.” She shut her notebook, marking the page she wrote on for later. The pads of her crutch swung her to the little stain at her doorstep.

  It always looked like a child’s hand just plopped there, stained a strange off-color nothingness.

  “Hey, Eta,” the red-eyed ecologist gestured for her to come in, “I’m… not so great… hanging in there.” The air left her with the sudden hug that briefly took her off balance.

  And, within 5 seconds of Eta being in the room, she felt herself breaking down all over again. Opting to stand on her good foot and letting the crutch lean against the door frame. She found herself terrified in that moment of letting go.

  She felt another pile onto the hug from behind Eta, suspecting Amanda, she and Tom often visited at 530pm, him on his way from geology, her from the hangar.

  It was just about time.

  Both held her for a while urging her to feel and experience it, the sweet smell of linen washed in a soap she had never smelled before, almost metallic with a fresh lime scent, ozone lingered at the edges.

  As she went to apologize for staining Eta’s simple grey shirt with a bear holding a teacup, she waved it off.

  “Knew it’d happen. It’s okay, Lil Mel, you can say the lace fucking sucks. It does for everyone and given what happened in Zone 17…” Eta’s eyes dropped momentarily.

  “But that’s the cost of being super-duper smart, right?” Karla and her blue button up stood just behind Eta as both made room, skirting into Melissa’s office. It had only been a week since Karla’s last visit, either way, it felt like waiting forever.

  “Hey, stranger, how ya’ feeling?” She was a brilliant vaporial biologist, her specialty being gestaltia, anything plant and animal. If it weren’t for her and Nala, none would have bio-stims.

  Her curly hair bobbed along with her dimpled smirk. Despite years, she had trouble looking away from it, once together, separated, and together again in Ravensmantle.

  Still separated.

  She did her best to be happy for her and her new flame.

  Nala was far too kind and seeing both smile at each other as she crept behind Karla brought her a warm feeling regardless.

  Melissa leaned fully on both before righting herself and shaking her head, “better with you two here.”

  “Ahem.”

  “You too, Eta.”

  A moment later Amanda, Tom, Bishop, and Ripley arrived to her surprise.

  “Oh, I forgot to mention, I kinda told people there would be dinner, don’t worry don’t worry. I’ll cook,” Eta raised a heavy bag full of ingredients.

  “It’ll be my pleasure.”

  “I actually appreciate the company… feels like I’m going crazy.” She shot a smile at them as Karla helped her to the door of her apartment, Nala grabbed her crutch.

  Melissa led them inside, shutting her door and sitting on her couch with Karla and Nala. Nala always had an adorable quality she found endearing, she was a vaporial entomologist that often chided at and talked to animals.

  Karla put a little blue succulent on the coffee table.

  “For you!”

  “Thanks,” she smiled at the little blue succulent, it pulsed in patterns, lighting the individual blooms of sepals that winked on and off almost like a flickering set of Christmas lights.

  “Bio lume… did you guys get me a night light?” She shot a playful frown.

  “Well, maybe, or maybe Nala and I wanted to get our rabbit something nice.”

  Nala’s smile lit the room as she held up a chocolate bar, thrusting it at Melissa.

  “Your favorite, sea-salt caramel!” She took it gratefully, if not gleefully.

  “Thank you Posie.” She drew out as she looked at the chocolate and looked at Nala, “thank you Crawly.” She relished the flavor as she tore into it.

  “We got our own here.” Eta strolled to the kitchen island with a few potted plants on it just past the open concept living room, many others were strung up around the place. Mostly green and grey coloring among the other informative charts next to each one.

  The plant hanging over the island was a red cardinal set in a fishbowl, the root system looked akin to a bunch of centipedes, Eta glanced at it with a brief wince.

  A few others had fruits and veggies with a few already harvested and eaten, their scraps were in a small plastic box on the kitchen island covered in cling film for composting.

  She had laid out mushrooms, meat, and other veggies for a stir fry.

  “I can’t feel anything right now,” her slowly listing smile met the cook in her kitchen, “thank you Eta.”

  “Eta makes the best stuff.” Tom smiled wistfully as he popped a similar looking gummy into his mouth with a wink.

  Amanda saw Eta’s shirt and helpfully pointed out as she chewed one of her own.

  “Eta, you drooled in your sleep again?” Eta laughed.

  “Nah, my lil’ bears’ having an emotional day is all.” Amanda glanced at Melissa, offering a reassuring smile as Eta wiped her shirt with a grin.

  Melissa stared briefly at Evelyn’s notebook, some about the last page on the right side. She had tried depicting something on the stage.

  “Hey, Nala... you’re an artist, can you take a look at this and see what Evelyn was trying to sketch out here?”

  Nala accepted the notebook, examining the edges of the image, she squinted at it, holding the book at differing angles under her living room lights.

  The strangely wild and feral smell of the heavily spiced blood red stew wafted as she called to the group, wiping steam from her brow with a rag.

  “Hey, put on something pretty, dinner’s almost ready.”

  Melissa pulled a picture of the spiral flower up, poking a few key buttons on her wrist display, she put it back on the table.

  Amanda sat above her on top of the couch, swinging her leg over as she accepted Karla’s waiting comb, and just before she could ask what both were doing she felt Karla’s hand waft her hair up and a gentle tug and rasp of bristles on her scalp.

  She melted with the sensation briefly.

  “You guys don’t have to do that.” She looked up as Amanda paused with Karla’s comb raised back.

  “Sorry, just a lady lookin’ out… your hair’s a mess, and mines a mess.” She tugged the back of her head, a cascade of waist length steel shimmered down her back

  “I like braids.”

  “Only if you don’t mind… thanks.”

  Melissa, Ripley, Karla, and Nala spent a few minutes styling one another’s hair.

  As they ate dinner over the next hour they discussed what the next few years would look like for Melissa and Ripley.

  Augmentation, training, and cross training in other fields to round out her knowledge like the others.

  Tom spoke after finishing his meal, “so, were gonna show you something only Ravenguard know about tomorrow,” he gestured at the thin cosmological scientist, “or if you’re Ripley. Its gonna raise some questions, but I’ll be there every step of the way, Fe.”

  “Alright, sounds good,” Melissa smiled at the nickname, barely touched her food, stomach going to knots again.

  After Eta helped Melissa with the dishes and the others left for the evening, she paused mid scrub.

  “You’re sure about going through with it? I know it’s a shit ton of peer pressure.”

  “Yeah, I believe in myself enough. Tom taught me that, he helped ease me through the lace too.”

  She smiled, her eyes misty, “I trust his judgement. Whenever he calls me Fe, he knows I can do something and should at the very least, try.”

  "May as well try, right?”