Chapter 13: Thirteen
Despite the vicious march of time, several buildings still stood within the long dead town, held aloft through magnificent feats of engineering and the pure spite of architects who refused to see their work destroyed even by the violence of war.
"Site 5…medbay," Ezekiel read aloud, looking at the writing on the wall of the largest standing building he'd found thus far.
He hadn't seen that word yet, but he figured there must be something useful inside.
He hoped so at least.
With a generous and clever application of magical energy, Gemma had managed to get Glissandra's eyes open, though he doubted that the miniscule fairy would be doing any fighting anytime soon.
Azael and Taniel however…nothing they'd tried so far had gotten either of them to awaken.
With no idea what the ritual she'd been part of entailed, let alone what went wrong, Ezekiel didn't have even the slightest clue what to do for Taniel.
Azael though…he was badly injured, and with gaping wounds and shattered bones, he had no idea how the man was even breathing.
Gemma worked some more magic and his breaths slowed, becoming more stable, and she told Ezekiel she'd done what she could for the pain, but he was probably lost.
After a quick look inside the 'medbay', he found a table that was lit by some mechanism he couldn't find, with the words 'Procedure Enclosure" written along the side.
Touching it carefully, looking for instability and coming away satisfied it wouldn't collapse under the man's weight, he ran and carefully brought Azael back to rest on it so they could get a better look at the damage.
The mysterious light helped significantly in this endeavor, and Gemma was able to identify the cause of the worst of the man's ills.
"Siren," she said, frustration radiating through her voice.
"One of the newforms," Ezekiel asked tentatively.
She nodded and said, "That he's alive at all is a miracle."
The man stirred gently and muttered, "Gliss."
The fairy, resting in Gemma's hair, weakly pulled herself forward to see her friend and said, "Gods…"
Adjusting his arms so they were straight by his sides, Ezekiel leaned over the man and tried to open his eyes, unsure of what he was looking for.
A weak and fractured voice spoke from the table, sending Ezekiel jumping back, "Entity 77-9 damage acknowledged, beginning restoration process."
The three watched as a bright and thin light emitted from the foot of the table slid over Azael, adjusting angle and direction several times in the process until finally the table spoke again.
"Analysis complete.
Severe structural damage to Human Azael Nefis found.
Residual Reality Disconnection found.
Administering Reconstruction."
A glass dome formed around him and became opaque as the table began to hum quietly, the sound of its work taking the shape of a song that was distantly familiar to Ezekiel.
The tune grew in volume and complexity until the room was filled with music, soon joined by a gently pulsing blue light that replaced the more natural glow that had suffused the room prior.
As the process continued, Ezekiel's surprise soon turned to concern as the machine did whatever it was doing to the investigator.
Anxiety filled his chest, catching him more than a little off guard.
He liked the man, for sure; he was interesting and seemed to have people's best interest at heart…even if he might neglect himself somewhat, and the idea of him dying bothered the young swordsman.
Shaking his head and gesturing to Gemma, he said, "I'm going to check on Taniel."
She nodded and he walked over to a different table in the same room where they'd placed the Songstress, unsure what to do with her.
Lying perfectly still, not even breathing, Taniel seemed to be dead…but a check of her pulse said she was absolutely alive.
How that was the case, neither Ezekiel nor Gemma were sure, but he was thankful for that much at least.
Her beliefs annoyed him, but she was a good person as well.
There were few enough genuinely good people in the world that to lose one to some fool errand would be a tragedy.
The way she lay there so still stirred something in him, not quite a memory, perhaps a sense of painful nostalgia.
Somewhere in the depths of his mind, he knew he'd seen something like this before, and wasn't sure what that meant.
The ritual must have failed, or else the girl would certainly be up and moving, right?
No successful ritual would have violently changed the Choir into sirens as this had, at least so he thought. Ezekiel trusted the Church about as far as he could throw them, but even they weren't capable of deliberately doing something like this.
Checking her pulse again, Ezekiel felt that anxiety building in his chest again, and with nobody else to check on this time, he simply dropped to a crouch and checked Taniel's temperature.
Her forehead was blazing hot, so much so that he worried that it would burn his hand.
Something was happening inside her, though he refused to even hazard a guess as to what that might be.
Ultimately, not great, he decided in a rapid assessment of the job.
Surrounded by technology and magic that defied his knowledge of both, his charge gravely injured and the local hero in even worse shape, he knew, on a pragmatic level, that this would badly affect his and Gemma's reputation in the area.
They might be heading to the desert sooner than he'd thought.
Standing and looking around, he noticed a doorway marked 'Administration' and made his way to it, moving the remnants of the building's furniture out of the way as he did.
"You good," Gemma asked, concern coloring her question.
He nodded without answering and pushed the door open, unsure what he was looking for.
The room glowed a gentle white from an altar that was positioned on a metal desk on the far end of the room.
Walking to it, he sat in a chair that may have been plush and comfortable in the past, but now was barely functional as a seat.
Touching the glowing thing before him, he was surprised to find he could read the words that flashed across the altar, though he was unsure of their meaning.
Site Five - Governance Research
Populace Maintenance - 40% functionality
Governance Protocols - 40% functionality
Local Agricultural Protocols - 20% functionality
O.D.N - Communication Failed
F4R4.D4Y Systems - Critical Error - Running System Diagnostic
Reaching up and pressing a shape that looked like an arrow, he was quickly overwhelmed as thousands of words and shapes raced across the altar, almost too fast to read, definitely too fast to understand.
The light from the doorway flickered and turned green and a voice rang out, "Procedure Complete."
Standing up from the altar, he walked out of the room, casting an unsure glance at the machine, motivated only by Gemma calling out to him.
He turned his back on the device, focusing back on his new companion and the girl he'd failed to keep safe.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone