ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
ā¦
āI am the one who ruined me; I did it myself.ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#F54D70 ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #FF7256ć
|| Dearly Beloved || Utada Hikaru ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#F54D70 ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #FF7256ć
|| Dearly Beloved || Utada Hikaru ||
"It's a hemorrhage," the aneurysm had turned out catastrophic. "Yes, Hymnos," Dr. Grover whispered, "put her to sleep." They had to make an incision on Callisto's head. Long blonde hair was shaved off, falling in piles to the ground of the operating room. They would relieve cranial pressure by removing a block of the skull for the time being. "It's inflamed," this was the worst case scenario. They were going to relieve the pressure, place a drain, and stick her body into the hyperbaric chamber to reduce inflammation. "What do we do next?" The surgeons looked at her, what steps would they take? Dr. Grover had some of the most advanced medical equipment in the world in her lab. "The cancer came back, it's malignant." End stage, end game. The stasis chamber was helping slow the growths, but it wasn't stopping them. They needed a new game, they needed to be smarter, one step ahead.
"Cryo," Dr. Grover turned to face her team, "we'll use cryo therapy to freeze the tumors. We're going to start a new chemo regime, throw radiation into the mix. Then, between stages, we'll keep her body temperature below average to stay one step ahead of the cancer. Start a blood transfusion and get me a catheter." This was a risk, of course, but every new procedure came with them. Once the inflammation went down, they would replace the fraction of the skull that had been removed. "Intubate, the last thing we need is a drop in oxygen stats." They worked around her, the poor child filled with more wires than an android. "I made a promise," Dr. Grover said quietly, "I'm not going to let this girl die."
Callisto felt as though she were floating. One second, her world was pain as she was poked and prodded, bright lights blinding her eyes, doctors whispering all around her. She was familiar with this world, this haze of aching that never went away. Now though, she was floating, her body drifting in a sea of quiet darkness. All was at peace and Callisto felt as though she didn't have a care in the world. An ocean of code swam underneath her. Callisto opened one eye, then the other, and realized that she wasn't alone. A gasp was stuck in her throat as she slowly turned, seeing through the eyes of every other android, all of them connected to Hymnos. "Where am I?" Callisto herself had never been attached, Dr. Grover had made certain of it. Lita had though.
"You forgot me."
She stood before her, pink hair voluminous, her golden eyes filled with tears. "No, I could never forget you." tears sprung to her own eyes. She was in her body, her real body. Blonde hair gone from chemo, blue eyes giving her a doll-like appearance. She was small, frail in appearance, not the vibrant-full of life character everyone knew her to be. Lita stepped forward, embracing her, the hug was short lived. She melted away, her memories rejoining Callisto's own. Callisto shivered, but she felt stronger somehow. Callisto balled her hands into fists, placing one over her heart. "I'm sorry Lita."
~~~~
Jace was already on her way to GENOS Labs. Whatever had happened, it wasn't the Game Master's doing. No, it must have been her real body. Did Metis see it? Did he make the connection? Black Jack rang, they were headed to GENOS too. "Keep Minnie out of there, she has no business in this." Jace growled, hanging up. She jumped from roof to roof, it took her a bit longer, but she reached the lab right behind the party she had tried to keep away. Dane, Black Jack, and Minnie, all waiting, like sitting ducks because they had no clearance. "Come on, just don't draw attention to yourselves. Minnie, hide your face," Jace took them through the service entrance, where androids went to get repaired. She led them past the rows of android bodies, waiting for interfacing, and upstairs. No elevator, elevators had cameras.
The stairwell led them into the hallway of tanks, floating human bodies sleeping like babies within. Jace had always wondered, if she passed by her body, would she recognize it? There were dozens and dozens of stasis tanks, some now empty, their hosts dead thanks to the Game Master. They would find replacements soon enough, there was a demand for androids, more so than orphans and street rats. "Callisto's tank isn't in here." Io's would be, if she was still alive. Jace didn't want to put Minnie through that, besides, finding her in this maze would be nearly impossible and Jace didn't even know what Io really looked like.
"Callisto is this way," they left the hall of tanks and entered a separate, private chamber, the tank empty. "No," Jace whispered, circling the empty tank, water splashed on the floor, it was a rushed job. She touched the glass, the door hissing open from the other side. "Hide," Jace hissed, pushing Dane and Minnie behind one of the machines to obscure them from view.
"Jace, Black Jack, I was expecting you." Dr. Grover removed a pair of gloves, it did not escape Jace's notice that they were bloodied. "What happened? Where's Callisto?" Jace pressed, "I could ask the same of you. She slipped right through your fingers, didn't she?" The jab would have hurt if Jace had a heart. "There's been... a complication." Black Jack placed an arm on Jace, whose hands were balling into fists.
"The cancer has returned, it led to an aneurysm none of us were expecting. It... hemorrhaged and caused swelling." None of that made sense to her, all that medical talk meant nothing. "What does that mean?" Dr. Grover pushed her hair back from her face, she kept a tight pixie cut, close cropped around her cheeks. "The tumor was malignant. It's end stage, her body is in rapid deterioration. This isn't something a human recovers from." Dr. Grover smoothed out her lab coat, bits of crimson blood staining it. "More than likely, Callisto human body will remain in a vegetative state, indefinitely."
"But she can still interface?"
"Yes, her implants were not damaged." Jace sighed in relief, that was good news, at least.