Day 65: Sun Room

[fallenbeanpole]

His nurse had whisked him away from breakfast as soon as the intercom’s voice faded.  Surprisingly, she didn’t take him to the shower rooms, instead bringing him to the Sun Room (as she called it), explaining that since this was his first day he would be allowed to skip the showers.  Besides, it would be good to let his injuries heal a little more.

 

He’d passed through this room on the way to breakfast, but hadn’t really paid much attention to it the first time.  Now that he was standing here, the Once-ler understood why it was called the Sun Room.

 

Despite the fact that it was cloudy outside, there was still far more natural light coming in through the ceiling windows than he had seen in a long time.  The Once-ler stood still for a few moments, simply staring up.  It seemed almost like a dream, really.  The valley never got brighter than twilight, even at noon.  There was too much smog in the air to let any more light through.

 

After a few minutes, he shook his head.  Anybody who saw him just standing in the middle of the room would probably have questions about it, and he did not relish the thought of explaining himself to a stranger.  He glanced around the room itself, spotting the bulletin board Soma had talked about during breakfast.  The Once-ler decided that was a good place to start, and hobbled on over to get a closer look.

 

[For Nina, I believe?]

Comments

[age_of_kings]

Tolten nodded as he followed Edgar, sinking into a chair by him. He couldn't stand, not right now. Fever pulsed through him and food had become some foreign enemy.

"We made it to the X-ray room last night."

And then everything had fallen apart. Tolten didn't regret the things he'd said, but...well, he could have said them far better. But fear was worming through him, great threatening fear that stood to swallow him whole if he allowed it. He couldn't allow it.

"We're both infected, as I'm sure you know by now."

He looked at his hands, focusing on them, holding on to his control.

[girlsandgadgets]

"I had a feeling..." Edgar said, trailing off as he watched the other man struggle inwardly, only able to see the outward signs of it. He fought not only his health, but some other torment. Edgar's mind again turned to that lingering concern, wondering what had happened.

Despite that, he kept his calm by all appearances, reaching for what information he could. It was so scant at times that he had to take it when able. "And what did you find there?"

[age_of_kings]

"Nothing kind."

Tolten took a deep breath. His chest hurt. The fever was burning in him again, like the desert fevers he'd had as a small child.

"The only cure may well be as deadly as allowing the...disease to simply run its course." Disease. It was hardly a disease, not even one made by magic but a curse all the same. And his anger burned at those that had done this. To countless innocents, himself, Locke...

His life had been one marked by loss and tragedy, though he hadn't seen it that way as he grew up. He had no basis for comparison, loss simply became perfectly normal to him. But then his world view had been shattered and he'd been shown what life could be like. What it could mean to hold someone close in your heart, to love and be loved in return. But still he had thought those things out of his reach - he would marry some far flung cousin and keep the Uhran line pure.

Now everything was different and he couldn't fathom the idea of losing Locke. Not when the other man had become his single joy and light and reason to fight.

All these thoughts only reminded him that much as he would like to throw himself into a corner and wail at the four winds, they had to do all they possibly could.

"There's something inside of us, that's causing it. A device."

[girlsandgadgets]

"A device?" Edgar repeated, trying to quell the ire bubbling in his own chest by sating his curiosity, his need to know what was happening so he could find a solution. So much had been out of his control since his arrival; it wore on him daily, the thought that there was no escape, no way home, and no way to help his friends and allies far more of a burden than he'd have ever imagined. It came with the territory of the unexpected: he was in a strange land, unable to predict what was coming next, to even see their enemy before his eyes.

Celes had vanished, he'd been the subject of experimentation, Terra had been taken from an unstable time in her life, and now Locke was poisoned somehow, possibly going to befall the same fate as the nurses if what they were being told held truth. There was no telling if that would come to pass or not, but Edgar didn't like to bet on chances. Not on this.

This wasn't like the sleep studies. This was Landel trying to turn patients on one another: if they turned into monsters, Edgar was willing to assume they'd maintain as much of their humanity as the nurses. The bump on his head from the rough night told him there wasn't much to that, if any. As for those who didn't change and were seemingly unaffected, some were bound to bite to the suspicion and distrust Landel's seemed to breed, tearing out one another's throats in some vain hope of salvation.

His eyes held a grim quality. "There's no chance to remove this device? Surgically, if necessary." That was a route he did not want to pursue, but at the risk of transforming into a nightmare and slaughtering patients, it was an unfortunate option that needed to be considered, if possible. He knew the choice Locke would make if he were given it.

He was not entirely willing to believe that was the only choice yet, though. There had to be another way.