(Untitled)

[hold_r1]

[Wendell's in the hospital ward. Again. His sleep was peacefully black and empty, up until the last hour before he awoke. Anyone checking in on him around then, medical staff or otherwise, would find him restlessly tossing about as if in a nightmare. Vague, unsettling and paranoid thoughts and images haunted Wendell until he physically jolted

Comments

[saikyocivrobo]

[Luckily Prometheus is around to give him the bucket fast enough. And hey, here comes Werter.]

Hey, I heard you're getting be-what the hell.

[hold_r1]

[He takes a breath... only to retch again into the kindly offered bucket. The next retching happens immediately after the first with no time for breath this time. After a moment, Wendell takes a few shaky breaths, but it seems that he's finished heaving up a lung for now.]

Th...at's new...

[saikyocivrobo]

Damnit, you're not dying, are you? Wait a sec, I'm gonna call a doctor. I mean, Gott in Himmel... And I'm not even religious.

[hold_r1]

No! I'm okay.

[Wendell sits back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.]

You don't need to call anyone.

[saikyocivrobo]

Are you sure about that? What was it just now, then? Don't tell me you suddenly became a half-octopus...

[hold_r1]

[He glances at the bucket.]

I guess that's a little unsettling. I'm feeling better now.

[The flinch gives away the lie as Wendell holds his side.]

Mostly better...

[saikyocivrobo]

I'll take a sample of this for analysis, okay? I'm not a doctor, but I did study biochemistry before becoming a pilot.

[hold_r1]

Um.

[Wendell looks uneasy about this offer.]

Okay.

[saikyocivrobo]

Man... I'm worried about you. If this is a side effect of piloting Sigil, and it gets worse over time...

1/2

[hold_r1]

Don't!

2/2

[hold_r1]

[His expression softens from desperation to a quiet sorrow.]

Please... don't say what I think you're going to say.

[saikyocivrobo]

...Just don't die. She wouldn't want that.

[hold_r1]

I... I know.

[saikyocivrobo]

I'll tell you if I get any results from the analysis. This is some really nasty stuff, but I want to know just what the heck is going on. It might help us uncover something useful we didn't know about Sigil or the Colossi, too.

[hold_r1]

Okay... thanks. Sigil's still pretty much a mystery to me.

Not that examining something I coughed up might prove useful is very comforting.

[saikyocivrobo]

It might turn out to be something bad, yes.

But knowing the bad truth is better than ignorance, isn't it? At least you know what you're standing on.