She felt a twitching sensation in her shoulders and lifted her head as much as she could. Both of her arms had grown back, and she was clutching the same artificial plant in a tight hug. The plant shared enough of its energy to regenerate her limbs entirely.
“No, that’s way too much. You don’t survive giving that much energy away.”
The plant looked indifferent to her protests as it hummed with another surge of ions and stored carbon. It was entirely unchanged from when she first saw it in the suite. She pushed herself up and put her new friend on a small table next to her bed.
“Looks like we’re connected now.” She gently tapped on of its leaves. “The spirits won’t be happy about it, but abandoning you now would be even more of a sin.”
She gave her new arms another look. Her CellPulse appeared on her wrist when she requested it. A new chip was already installed. The screen was free from any messages or alerts, making Lunai feel uneasy.
As she opened CheetahChat, a loud rumbling noise came from her right. A curtain separated her bed from the rest of the room, and she pulled it away to find Kelang sleeping in the other hospital bed.
“Kelang!?”
The sheer audacity of the moment distracted her from her worries. Kelang’s gills stretched as he breathed in and out, making a pitiful whistling noise from the air. He was dressed in his standard wetsuit and looked perfectly healthy. There was no reason for him to be in the room with her.
Lunai shook him awake without mercy. The gills screeched as he shot up. He took a moment to register Lunai’s face before giving her a big smile.
“Lunai, you’re awake!”
She crossed her arms. “Why are you here?”
“Ashetana and I took turns watching you while you recovered. She was really worried.”
I could’ve woken up to Ashetana instead? Just my luck.
She pushed her disappointed to the back of her mind and exhaled. Kelang clearly considered himself enough of a friend to oversee her hospital course, though not enough of one to stay awake for all of it.
“Thanks for helping her, I guess. Nice of you to come watch me instead of Bliss.”
“Well…I would’ve if Dr. Crux let me in.”
Lunai’s eyes widened. “Do you know how he’s doing?”
“He’s okay. The reality glue caused a coma, but Dr. Crux said it’s temporary.” He brushed over the gills on his neck. “From what I heard, you’re the reason he made it out at all.”
She ignored his praise; she wasn’t proud of anything that happened that night. “Any word from Argalax?”
“No, Dr. Crux refused to tell me anything. Confidential this, classified that!” He took out his CellPulse. “Here, let me give him a call for you. He’ll want to know you’re awake.”
Lunai let him talk as she climbed back into bed. She looked at her hospital gown and carefully draped the blanket over herself to cover everything up. Dr. Crux walked into the room shortly after Kelang hung up the call.
“Agent Hollybrook, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, somehow. I thought my arms were gone. Nula obliterated my plant matter.”
Dr. Crux looked at the potted plant on her table. “I don’t understand it fully, but I believe you tapped into the entropic energy cycle of my designer plant.”
“A win-gel taking enough resources to regrow two arms should kill a plant that small. We were never allowed to do it.”
“I’m sure you noticed it already, but these plants don’t work the same way. They are made of living plant cells that make their own food, just like any other plant, but they also harness the power of any chemical mistakes inside or just outside their system.”
Dr. Crux approached the plant and ripped one of its leaves off, causing Lunai to gasp in horror. She held her hands to her mouth as the leave regrew before their eyes.
“A disturbance in the system is not a problem for the plant. It’s fuel. They’re just like Rebirth. The destructive force of entropy is tamed into a linear pathway.”
“So I used entropy to fuel excessively fast regrowth?”
“No. You crushed entropy. You made it so small that only one result was possible.” Dr. Crux’s words started to speed up. “The release of uncertainty to certainty is what fueled your regeneration.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The excited tremble of his voice was new to Lunai. If she had to describe it, she’d say Dr. Crux seemed giddy at her newfound connection with the artificial plant. She couldn’t say she felt the same way. Her stomach still twisted with conflict.
They reject the natural design by the spirits. They’re not guided by the laws of nature, they’re guided by the laws of…physics.
She felt like an idiot the moment the words entered her mind. The laws of physics were not separate from the laws of the nature. Surely the plants followed the laws of nature if they existed. Nothing existed without being born from building blocks of the universe.
Do the spirits really oppose you? Or do we just think they do?
Lunai was so lost in philosophical pondering that she didn’t notice Dr. Crux starting to talk about Bliss. She snapped out of it in the middle of his debrief when he mentioned the coma.
“Bliss has been injected with reality glue before. We know that the coma is normal and temporary. A machine is filtering the toxins out of his blood as we speak.”
“Can I see him?”
“Ask the bed for a medical clearance scan. If everything is alright, you’re free to leave.” Dr. Crux looked at the aquatic elephant in the room. “Bliss’s situation is sensitive, so his room is very private. Once you’re alone, I’d be happy to take you there.”
Kelang opened his mouth in protest. “Hey, you can trust me! I told you I’d help find Nula.”
“Your zimyefan insight will be valuable, but you are not cleared for sensitive situations. You can try the training module again in a week.”
Kelang’s shoulders sunk as Dr. Crux stood still with his arms crossed. It was difficult for Lunai to take his sulking seriously while he was still sitting in a hospital bed. She activated the medical scanner on her own bed while glaring at Kelang.
“Ok! I’ll leave. Just let me know how Bliss is doing when you see him.”
He hopped out of bed and his flippers waddled out of the room. Lunai took a deep breath as the bed passed a light across her body. A green light appeared on her monitor that indicated she was ready for discharge.
All of the wires attached to her automatically snapped off. She stood up and activated the costume function on her CellPulse and was back in her dress. She grabbed her plant from the table before looking to Dr. Crux for guidance.
“Perfect. Please follow me.”
He led her down the colorful halls of the hospital until they reached a sealed door with “Void Siren” written above. It scanned Dr. Crux before letting them inside. Looking around, Lunai noticed the color draining from the walls. The small hallway only had one room with thick windows that were impossible to see through.
“I had this wing designed when Bliss first realized his void siren abilities. The walls are fortified with reality glue just in case.” A chill made its way down his rocky exterior. “We had several incidents those first few months.”
“Why is it so depressing in here?”
Dr. Crux chuckled at her. “You never met Mtsislav when he was an adolescent, agent Hollybrook. Every time I tried painting something nice he would melt it off the walls.”
Lunai giggled at the thought before an immediate wave of guilt hit. She knew what Bliss went through before finding the agency. Picturing a sullen teen throwing a tantrum wasn’t fair to a survivor of horrors she didn’t even want to imagine.
Dr. Crux opened the door to Bliss’s room and a cold air flew out. Lunai slowly peeked inside to find Bliss as pale as ever in bed. His eyes were closed and he was breathing rapidly. A machine monitored vitals that he usually didn’t have. Most importantly, Entropi lay by his side, draped over his bed as if she was trying to prevent escape.
Lunai and Crux’s footsteps caused the woman to stir. Lunai’s heart accelerated when she realized Entropi wasn’t wearing a helmet. She instead wore a hoodie over her head with a translucent drape covering her face.
“Oh.” Her voice was soft under the fabric. “Hi Lunai.”
The little words she had spoken were scratchy coming out of her throat. Lunai’s eyebrows dropped at the sound of her weakness. She walked over and sat on the other side of Bliss’s bed, her plant friend sitting in her lap.
“How is he?”
“Nothing he can’t handle.” Entropi lethargically flapped her right hand.
Lunai took a closer look and saw a small metal box resting on Bliss’s chest. A line a light traced its borders in a circular motion, removing any reality glue metabolites left.
Dr. Crux’s hand found Lunai’s shoulder. “He should be back to normal in a few days at most. There is something else I’d like to discuss while agent Entropi is here.”
“Whaddyouwant…” Entropi whined, putting her head back down on the bed.
Dr. Crux unceremoniously pinched her arm. “Bliss is grounded from field-work for the time being. He can do administrative work for you in the meantime.”
She lazily gave him a thumbs up.
“Agent Hollybrook, you have a few options. The search for Placebo has become more complicated.”
She interrupted him. “I want to look for him. And Argalax, if his disappeared is connected to Nula…”
“Are you sure? You can always join another senior’s team. Temporarily or permanently.”
Do I only want to stay with Bliss because he’s popular, or because I’ve become attached? It’s not like either option is good.
Entropi cut right through the noise when she suddenly sat up. “Oh, Cruxy. I forgot to tell you I’m taking this one.”
“That’s very kind, and I know you want to help agent Bliss, but your talents are best used-“
“Nope. I’m taking this mission. I can leave tomorrow.” Her words weren’t slurred anymore. “I’ll take Lunai. Don’t need anyone else. You’ll learn a ton, kid.”
Dr. Crux dropped the polite tone. “Do you want Bliss to wake up alone?”
Entropi was silent for a second. “It doesn’t matter what I want. He’d just yell at me for staying. Now no more talking, I’m still sleepy.”
Entropi ended the discussion by crashing down again. Dr. Crux just sighed and move on, proving that Entropi truly was exempt from his rule book. Lunai felt bad for him, but she knew Entropi saw Bliss as a son. It was no use arguing with a mother trying to protect her own, whether he’s blood or the hybrid spawn of a crack in space-time.
Despite the clear disrespect towards their leader, Lunai felt a smile forcing its way to her face. Working with Entropi was the dream of any intern hero. The attending’s confidence was infectious. Lunai wanted to bask in it for more than a few minutes.
“I think she’s right; it’ll be a good learning experience.” Lunai gave him an innocent smile.
“Good luck, agent Hollybrook. Please be aware that I won’t be directing your mission as much with Entropi at the helm.”
He walked away and left them alone with Bliss. Lunai watched both of them sleep, hoping Bliss wouldn’t consider this a breach of professionalism. She turned to take one last look at Entropi, snoring away with her hand around Bliss’s. Before she could start to think, a pleasant hum stirred in her ear that reminded her she wasn’t alone in her mind.
Ah, the creation of my greatest creation. Learn what you can from this one, intern. It may be your only chance.
[Cultivation] [Progression] [Fantasy] [Action] [Anti-Hero]
Synopsis (Click to Expand)
Two paths define the world: The Arcane and the Auric. Damon walks a third: The mind.
But a unique power is not a gift. It is a curse.
“Pain is the chisel. Will is the hammer. Mind is the stone.”