章節 14: Aftermath

One Week Later

Ray wakes up and finds himself in a hospital cabin. His right arm's wrapped in bandages. There are also faint burn marks all over the right side of his body. He looks around and sees it's night outside. He looks around but sees no one. He's alone in the room.

A few moments later, Mrs. Karim enters the room with a basket of flowers. Ray greets her. Mrs. Karim gets shocked seeing Ray awake. She drops the flowers and hugs Ray. She lets go of Ray and sits on a chair next to Ray's bed.

Ray says, "Mrs. Karim, I…..I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? What did you do wrong?"

"No matter the situation, the fact remains that I'm the one who killed your son. I....I'm the one who murdered my whole squad with my own hands."

Mrs. Karim hugs him and says, "What are you talking about? Yuki told me everything. You didn't kill anyone. In fact, you freed their bodies from being used by any filthy parasites. I'm sure none of your friends want you to agonize over what you did. You….."

Suddenly a policeman enters the room and says, "Mrs. Karim, your visit time's over. Come back tomorrow."

Ray gets confused as to what is going on. Mrs. Karim bids Ray farewell and is escorted outside by the policeman.

Ray telepathically calls for Yuki. Yuki too is shocked when she hears Ray's voice calling for her. In a second, Yuki enters the room and jumps onto Ray. Yuki asks him about his body and Ray says he's alright now. Ray then asks, "What about Tess and Captain Lee?"

"Captain Lee's broken spine has been healed by Jaeger healers but....His spirit was killed while it was still connected to him. It took a huge toll on his mind. He's in a coma."

"And Tess, what about her?"

"She woke up the next day after the day of the battle for a few hours but her spirit channels were too unstable. If she were to remain conscious it would have been bad for her brain. She's been artificially put to sleep right now and has been taken to Lost Eden for treatment. Who knows how long it will take for her spirit energy reserves to go back to normal?"

"That's good, then."

Yuki then says, "Nothing's good. They…..They're planning to kill you. They don't want the information that entomorphs wiped out a full battalion of border patrol and 2 test platoons of Jaeger. They say it would be bad for public morals. So, they've blamed the test platoon's death on you and are planning to execute you the day after tomorrow."

Yuki gets confused as she sees Ray not giving any expressions. Ray says, "Where are they wrong? It's the truth that I've killed them. My friend's blood bloodies my hands. Dying would be the best way to repent. You two should start looking for a new contractor. You'll be free in the next 48 hours after all."

Yuki silently looks at Ray and then leaves the room.

As Yuki leaves, Ray lies down again; as he does so, the battlefield memories flood his mind. A few drops of tears drop out of his eyes.

The next morning Ray wakes up to some people talking in his cabin.

"Tch. Why do I have to treat a murderer?"

"Treat him silently and leave."

"Yes, sergeant."

Ray opens his eyes and sees a Jaeger healer healing him. Slowly the burn marks fade away and the healer removes the bandage from his severed right arm. Ray sees that even though he's still missing his arms, all the burn marks and other battle marks are gone.

The healer then salutes the other guy and leaves. Once the healer leaves, the sergeant comes closer and stands next to Ray's bed.

He then says, "Hello, Ray Foster. I'm Sergeant Sajjad Hossain. How are you feeling?"

Ray sits up and says, "Fine."

"In the last battle, your platoon faced a human-like prime entomorph that spoke human language. That entomorph was able to kill your whole squad and used them to attack you, your team's healer and the team's captain. Am I correct?"

Ray nods.

"Right now, if the word gets out that there are entomorphs powerful enough to take out hundreds of Jaegers at once and can control their bodies, the trust and morale between the Jaegers will drop. Which we can't have. So General Liu sent a proposition for you. You will take responsibility for the death of your squad members and the death of the members of the 69th test platoon. In turn, your friend Tessa will receive the best treatment we can offer to fix her SED."

Ray gives a small nod and lies down.

The sergeant bows down and says, "Thanks for your sacrifice." and leaves.

That night, Yuki sneaks into Ray's cabin and wakes him up. Ray wakes up and sees Yuki sitting on the bedside table.

Ray asks, "Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to search for a new contractor?"

Yuki says, "I will go if you want me to. But first please, listen to this."

Yuki hands him a tape recorder.

"Before being put to sleep, Tessa recorded this for you. Listen to this and then make your decision. I promise to respect whatever decision you take."

Ray picks the recorder up and after some thought plays it.

"Ray, when you hear this I'll most probably be asleep. Listen, Ray, They're trying to blame you for the death of Rohan and the others. You did nothing wrong. Knowing you, I'm sure you're burning from the inside due to guilt. But don't let that guilt overcome you. You need to live on. I'm sure Rohan wanted you to live. I want you to live. Please, Ray. Don't let them deceive you. I know they'll try to get your cooperation by saying they'll treat my SED. They can't. No healer in the world can fix SED. It either heals normally with time or it never heals. So, please Ray, live. Live on for both Rohans and my sake"

Ray notices tears flowing down his cheeks. He just sat there silently with the tape in hand for a long time. Just before morning, Ray wipes his tears and smirks. He looks at the tape and asks, "Yuki, will you be with me wherever I go?"

"I can't leave my master alone."

"Good. Get ready for a fight."

Ray is taken to the border a few hours later. There he's put on his knees. He was surrounded by Jaegers. Sgt. Sajjad then starts reading from his tablet, "Cadet Ray Foster. On the morning of 28th February 2131, your squad was sent to Delhi to hold off an entomorph invasion. Where you went berserk and killed four of our squadmates and injured your captain. So, for the crime of murder, you've been sentenced to death by execution. Any last words?"

Ray looks at the Jaeger and says, "Yeah. Sorry, I won't be dying today."

Just as he says that Ray yells, "YUKI."

Yuki jumps up in her tiger form and knocks the Jaegers aiming weapons at Ray. Ray too stands up and both of them run toward the entomorph-infested lands. The Jaegers handle themselves and get ready to pursue them but Sgt. Sajjad stops them by saying, "Don't waste your breath. He won't live long in those lands."

Sgt. Sajjad looks towards the way Ray ran and thinks, "You've got guts, boy. I hope you succeed in whatever you're planning."

At Lost Eden, a Jaeger frantically gets into General Liu's office and informs him about Ray's escape. General Liu was working on his computer. Once he hears the news he stops and leans back in his swivel chair. He tells the Jaeger to go away and lights a cigarette. At that moment he hears laughter from the side and looks that way. A 22-23 year old woman with light blue hair and black eyes was sitting on the couch loudly laughing.

General Liu asks, "What's funny?"

The girl says, "Nothing. What will you do? Send a pursuit for him?"

"Hmm. I doubt he'll survive in the Wastelands. Let's wait and see."

"What? Feeling bad for the boy?"

"While I do feel bad for the boy I don't think what I've done is wrong."

"Huh, Whatever. Now, What will you do boy?"

In the wastelands, Ray and Yuki were getting some rest after running for almost three hours. Yuki asks, "What will we do now, master?"

Ray thinks for a moment and asks, "Yuki, what is this power that lets you transform into a tiger and makes me more powerful?"

"It's a blood pact."

"Woah, scary."

"It's just named like that for the procedure. For a blood pact, you need to meet certain requirements. Once those requirements are made the spirit can feel that a blood pact can be made. If the spirit then drinks his master's blood then a blood pact will be formed. I licked your blood when you fell down that day."

"Then, what are these requirements?"

"It's different for every spirit. For our case, the requirements were the contractor's desire for power."

"Hmm. But Why did I fall down only a few moments later?"

"Blood pact grants the user power in exchange for his/her blood. You had already lost much blood before the pact. So, you fainted because of Low blood pressure."

"Ohh."

Just in that moment, Ray remembers the voice in his head.

"I've decided. We're heading north."

Yuki looks confused but smiles as she says, "As you wish, my master."