"Yes sir, I’ve just completed my rounds and confird the patient is in a green condition.... Of course sir, I’ll transfer the docunts of Mr. Kruger to you straight away."
A certain nurse responded busily to a hologram ssage while typing furiously on her computer. She seed to be multitasking, answering calls and transferring docunts, amongst other things, when a masculine voice ca from over the receptionist counter.
"Hi there."
"All the doctors are occupied with a session right now, but you can pick a slip from the machine and proceed to the waiting room. If it’s for a test, then I’ll refer you shortly." The nurse said, not even looking up from her work.
"Natalie, it’s ."
The voice ca again.
"Sorry sir, please be patient – huh?!" Startled, Natalie finally raised her head. The face she saw ca as a moderate surprise. "Vincent? You’re here..."
"Yup, here I am... You seem to be quite busy today." Vincent said in a soft tone.
"Ugh, tell about it... And it’s all because of that new ga, what’s it called – Culmatization... Climax or sothing?"
"Cultivation Climax." Vincent politely interjected.
"Yeah that, anyways now I’m stuck here covering for three grown ass adults who skipped work to play a goddamn kid’s ga!" Natalie ground her teeth, "Sigh... It’s my fault too though, just what in the world was I thinking accepting all those shifts? Vin, I think I’m going to –!"
Bzzt! Bzzt!
Unfortunately, the young nurse couldn’t even finish her sentence before more calls rang out. She panicked, and hurriedly re assured Vincent.
"Wah, forgive doctor I’ll be right there with those records... Ugh, wait for Vin, I’ll be yours in a mont... Huh, sir hold on! Shit!"
Vincent, on the other hand, could only smile weakly as he watched the youthful nurse scramble to finish her work. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long.
"Sorry about that Vin, things are just... really stressful sotis..." Natalie sighed as she walked with Vincent through a spacious hospital corridor.
"It’s alright, I understand." Vincent said, his tone growing progressively grimr as they walked.
Picking up on his mood, Natalie gave Vincent a long look before asking, "I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about that new ga. Why aren’t you playing it like the rest of the kids? You know, if you needed money, I’d be more than happy to help you get it."
Vincent, recalling recent events related to the ga, simply shook his head.
"It’s fine, I’ve already bought the ga... It’s just; I don’t really feel like playing it right now..."
He lied through his teeth, too embarrassed to tell her what had actually transpired.
The nurse Natalie was a youthful beauty, possessing short ginger hair as well as hazel brown eyes, and although she was already in her late thirties, she naturally didn’t look a day over twenty. She also had a loveable quirky personality and was generously blessed in all the right places, in other words, she was a perfect MILF.
Vincent didn’t really harbour any romantic feelings towards her, considering their relationship and all. However, he sure as hell wasn’t about to make a fool of himself in her eyes.
Natalie locked gazes with Vin, and after failing to decipher his sombre looking face, she simply sighed and glanced at the bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"Sigh... You are here to see your sister, right? Well, her room is just around this corner. You can rest easy; she passed all her hoostasis tests, though she hasn’t shown any sign of consciousness... yet."
The nurse said solemnly, her voice betraying a light of false hope as the two approached a ward.
"Thank you... Natalie, I’ll be going inside now." Vincent nodded and opened the ward’s door.
"Of course, take your ti."
Vincent disappeared through the white door, re appearing on the other side before taking a seat beside his slumbering sibling. Natalie, of course, watched all this happen from the outside through the window.
It was then that another, random nurse, walked up to her.
"Natalie," She started, clearly skeptical.
She hesitated, then sighed, then continued. All the while, Natalie’s eyes never left the two siblings in the hospital room.
"I think it’s about ti you took your mind off of those two siblings... You know, before sothing happens –!"
"Kate, stop..."
At this, Kate was shook. But that shock didn’t persist for every long.
"S-stop...? No.... No, I won’t stop. I can’t stop, because I’m your friend Natalie. You of all people should know just how that disease works... How it steals away the victim’s life when they least expect it... "
Her voice trailed.
"...That girl is already approaching the inactivity stage, it won’t be long before she enters the red zone. The aunt and uncle are doing their best to pay the bills, but their funds won’t be enough to afford the necessary surgery, and when that ti cos –!"
"When that ti cos, we’ll handle it then... IF it even cos, so stop jumping to conclusions Kate. Besides – She looked into the room – its basic ethics to not say such things around the patient’s family."
Natalie cut her off and turned away.
"It’s for your own good Natty. You don’t have to feel bad about it either, if their own brother could easily abandon them like he did, without so much as a look back, then how much more you, a complete stranger!"
Kate yelled, but Natalie didn’t even spare her so much as a glance, walking ahead—walking away.
....
"...And that’s how I ended up dying. Seriously, I can’t believe I fell for the old evil voice in the head cliché, how embarrassing..." Vincent said, looking sombrely at his sister.
She had been reduced to a pale, skinny, human skeleton, who couldn’t even breathe without the help of constantly active machines, due to a particular terminal illness – Cardington’s Slumber.
As its na suggested, the ailnt involved a patient falling into a deep sleep, so deep that their bodies actually forget to perform tabolic activities. Its causative pathogen was still relatively unknown, so there weren’t any cures or standard symptoms of the condition across the board.
But Ying knew one thing; slowly, but surely, the illness would eat away at its victim’s vitality – siphoning it, sohow, until...
"Until the final stage, also known as the red zone, is reached. Then... all hope is lost. The probability of a victim losing their life is all but guaranteed, at that point."
Vincent’s heart ached.
The re sight of his sister, her frail little body hooked up to those... chanical mbers, hurt him.
"Aren’t you going to wake up and criticize with those snarky little comnts of yours, just like you always did back then..."
Vincent’s voice trailed off in deep reminiscence.
An image of five individuals – three male, and two females – sat on the floor around a low table, smiling and laughing their heads off while enjoying each other’s company flashed in his mind.
The bunch didn’t seem like they had much, seeing as they wore retched clothes, and fed from a single bowl, but at least... at least, they were happy.
Vin shook his head.
"Those tis are long gone, and there is nothing that’s going to bring them back, but..."
One of the faces appeared in his head, vividly outlining itself amongst all the others quite well. Blonde hair, brown eyes, and the nervous but charismatic smile of a pop culture idol.
Vincent clenched his fist tightly, so much so that he tore open his own skin. Damning thoughts filled his mind.
"Sigh I think I should leave. All this brooding might end up affecting Lily sohow." Vincent stood up from his seat, changed out her flowers with the ones he’d brought and gave her a kiss on the head.
Taking one last look, he said, "I’ll save you. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I won’t let you die", then left.
"Huh, done already?" Natalie asked, upon his arrival to the reception.
"Yeah, that’ll be enough for today. Besides, visiting hours are almost over." Vinny told her honestly.
"True but... If it’s you, I can always make an exception." The nurse winked at him, but he declined her offers and exchanged good-bye’s with her.
Natalie’s eyes glimred with faint sparks of pity as she watched the young man step outside the premises. Why? Why did she feel so empathetic towards him, why did she care so much?
Well, she had her own reasons.
’He... he’s such a good person, soone like him doesn’t deserve any of this.’
....
The sky had gone dark, but the bright lights of the futuristic city easily drowned the dim glow of the moon. The streets were bubbling with life, youth, and innovations. In the midst of all these revolutionary temptations, a lone man sat on a bench, separate from the rest. He was black haired with a beer in hand, all but one issue weighing endlessly on his mind.
’Money. I need money, and soon.’ Vincent sighed.
’It’s not easy to secure any work in this city without at least so kind of connections, and auntie and uncle... Well, I’ve put those two through enough already.
Sigh. Maybe I should consider joining a ga agency? I saw sowhere that Viking Crown was recruiting new bronze and silver league perforrs. But I’m a no-na, so the chance I’ll end up with a trash contract is all but guaranteed.’
"If things are really bad, then I might eventually have to drop out – Huh? I’m out of beer." Vinny shook the empty can, his thoughts discontinued, then raised his head to a convenience store across the street.
’I need a beer.’
He decided to go get himself a drink. Besides, the alcohol content was not nearly enough to get anyone drunk in this day and age. Booze like that was now a high end commodity, drastically reducing the number of drunks and road accidents.
"Two cans of this please and maybe add so –!"
"– Origami rice."
"Yeah, that’s it... Hold on." Vin had already placed his order, when he realized that he wasn’t the one who said that last part. He turned his head to the side, a short ginger stood beside him.
The two noticed each other at exactly the sa ti.
"Arianne?"
"Vincent?"
Pleasantly enough, it was a dear childhood friend of his, Vincent bead softly.
"Arianne, is that really you? What bring you to this city; I thought you were in Briar?" Vincent asked with a soft smile.
"Well, I am based there, but I ca to Darwin for work. You probably haven’t heard, but I’m a journalist now, graduated last year." Arianne replied with a shrug.
"Seriously? You’ve already graduated? That’s aweso! Damn, really left in the dust haven’t you? What about the others though?" Vinny asked cheerily. He seed to be genuinely happy for his friend’s success.
"Here are your order sir, ma’am." The cashier handed the two theirs bags.
"Yeah, I don’t really know about Jerry, but Rachael’s now a full ti actor so she moves around ALOT, even saw her once in Briar but we didn’t talk... Hey you’re not busy are you?" Ari asked, waving a beer.
Witnessing the gesture, and understanding what she ant, Vincent’s smile grew wider as he replied, "Of course not."
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