No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End

Once she woke up again, Gree looked around to find no one in the room, just the devices attached to her that were helping her breathe properly. Her memories were very hazy but could fully understand who was the one behind what happened, so with an uninterested look towards the door of the room, Gree began to fidget with a small button to call for assistance, which brought a couple of nurses that look rather worried by the sudden call.

As Gree was being attended by the nurses, Chronos slowly attempted to walk while feeling slight discomfort as he moved, remembering Pandora’s words he attempted to walk out of the temporary facility. However, he was stopped by a doctor who walked by, telling Chronos to go back to his designated room to rest so he could be dispatched somewhere differently. “You are Chronos Cinere, right? Currently, you are being treated by medics contracted by the ruler to keep you and Grace Myers alive.” –the doctor explained. “We can’t let you go around just like that without first checking your body.” –the doctor continued while bringing Chronos back into his room to check his x-ray results before telling him anything else. To his surprise, the fracture looked almost as if it was just a minor crack on the ribcage, leaving the doctor dumbfounded for a moment. The doctor went to compare the x-rays he just saw with the old one taken 3 days ago and noticed an anomaly that seemed to be gluing the cracks together to heal the ribcage.

As the doctor called on some of his colleagues to see what happened, several soldiers began to walk into the facility to request the doctor about the information found about Chronos’ recovery, which it was a necessary intervention from the scientists in the capital’s facility. The doctors concluded that the virus in Chronos’ body had mutated into a symbiotic version that is keeping the host alive. The outrage it created among the doctors had to be suppressed by the soldiers, as the discovery of a strain of virus being could mean the solution to all the hives in the world. However, the subject would have to be subjected to constant vigilance and studies to create a perfect way to eradicate the hives for good.

Elvira was walking towards the building to check on Chronos and Gree but noticed the doctors attempting to enter Chronos' room and wondered what happened. Approaching closer, she spoke to a soldier briefly and found out about the situation, to which she instantly dispersed the crowd of doctors. After she managed to enter Chronos' room, she saw him reading through some papers handed by a doctor. The documents stated a singularity on the strain of the virus that Chronos hosted. Upon reading further, Chronos found out there is a slight difference in the virus sequence that had changed upon entering his body, but the report crossed this as nearly impossible and highly fictional. According to the doctors, what kept Chronos alive seemed to be only luck but this brought hope for the future as the document requested his signature to allow the doctors to take samples from him to work in a way to counter the hives around the world and eradicate the TDW-01.

Elvira was confused as to what the content of the papers was, and why would it be so outrageous for the doctors that were crowding the outside of his room. “What did you get there, buddy?” –Elvira casually asked while sitting on a chair next to Chronos’ bed.

“This paper explains the reason why I’ve survived all this time up until now. It is basically stating that I hold the cure for the virus.” –Chronos answered with a straight face while Elvira looks at the papers in silence after Chronos hands them to her.

Meaning that Sinns and Chronos share a certain affinity for the virus? Back in Delcyt I never heard that Sinns could be any sort of cure for it, how come Chronos is the cure then? –Elvira kept pondering as she read through the document and managed to get to the point where they ask for Chronos’ permission to be used as a lab rat. “You don’t have to accept this, the little freedom you have right now to choose what you want to do will only shrink even more.” –Elvira mentioned to Chronos while placing the papers on a night table next to the bed. “You also have a situation with your mental state, and as for what I’ve heard, you can see Pandora, but not only that, others can see her too often walking around you and staring at them. Only god knows what could happen if your condition gets worse around civilians.” –Elvira crossed her arms while getting annoyed at the thought of the doctors wanting to use Chronos.

“I won’t accept being an experimental subject, at least not yet… there are things we need to do, and Gree needs help. More than I do. Also, you are right, I can see Pandora every now and then, and it feels like she is there as if she could simply appear out of nowhere. Every time that happens, it is as if her presence became more real.” –Chronos explained while shifting his sight to an empty chair across the room.

Elvira took a moment to process the situation and finally stood up to walk towards Gree’s designated room, carrying a box with the prosthetic limbs inside. To her surprise, Elvira noticed Gree ordering nurses around to take her to a workshop they didn’t know about while the nurses attempted to calm her down and put her to rest. Once Elvira knocked on the open door, she caught Gree’s attention as the 2 nurses were holding her still. “You seem very lively for someone who got trimmed down by an edgy psychopath” –Elvira joked as Gree sighed while looking at the box she carried in her arms.

“I’m feeling better now; don’t think I’ll be depressed forever. I just need some help to move around and I will get myself some temporary limbs to work with. However, these two bullies don’t want to help me for shit so I had to try to stand up by myself.” –Gree answered while shaking her head and closing her eye.

One of the nurses felt indignant and wanted to protest but was held back by the next one, who suggested leaving Gree and Elvira talk in private. After they both left, Elvira sat on a chair next to Gree’s bed and Gree attempted to sit up properly but wincing in the process. “How is Chronos doing? Also, do you have any info about Nat? She would be really worried that we haven’t contacted her yet.” –Gree asked while keeping her attention on the box, expecting Elvira to eventually mention it.

“Chronos is rather weird, I don’t understand what he thinks sometimes or what he wants to do, but his situation is concerning, and dangerous, at least seems to care for us though. Concerning Nat about what happened will only make things worse right now, when the time comes I will try to talk with her in private.” –Elvira answered while opening the box as she already knew Gree was curious about it.

The box content didn’t surprise Gree as she already expected something of the sort, but once the prosthetic arm came into contact with her, several needles popped out of the shoulder connection as the arm itself could disassemble. Gree understood the prosthetic limbs were supposed to connect with the body in order to properly use them, but it would have to turn into a very risky operation. This seems too good to be true; however, these limbs look like they are too orthopedic for my taste. –Gree thought while sighing as she was expecting something better from Ivan.

On the other side of Casamira, Ali attempted to help with the reconstruction of several buildings after acquiring a special permit by asking his contacts for it. Lorenz managed to meet him after giving the prosthesis to Elvira for her to carry them to the temporary facility. The soldiers assigned for Casamira happened to help as well, accelerating the reconstruction of the village.

A petition for the operation to attach the prosthesis was sent to the capital in order to treat Gree’s situation. The response took a week to be processed and the answer was positive. Along with the answer, a special team was also sent to Casamira to carry out the operation after being informed of Gree’s situation.

Meanwhile, Cristobal and his team were on their way to Metan, which was one of the nation’s bordering with Delcyt as well as Falladis.

Upon nearing the border, Cristobal was met by a large group of people who were wearing ominous dark robes. While covering him with a plain mask, one of them who seemed to be the leader of the group approached Cristobal with some documents in her hands. The content of the document was the same as the ones shown to Eloise in the past. Without understanding the purpose of this, Cristobal grew wary of the lady in the robes along with her group. However, once he went back to the vehicle transporting Sinns, the group opened a path for the convoy to pass.

The capital of Metan happened to be close to Delcyt, so Cristobal’s team took a day to reach their destination. The place of which the convoy had to be was a large forest in a hill; the top of the hill had a small entrance to a cavern which led to a vast natural area. The cavern was illuminated by hundreds of candles placed into carved holes on the walls. The bottom of the area had been filled with a red viscous liquid that reached knee level and in the middle of it a stone slab was poking up resembling a sacrificial altar. After inspecting the area, Cristobal and his team heard a voice from behind the walls.

“Welcome to the temple of rebirth, where our Lord will bless the corrupted existence of the being you are holding within and so it shall grant his gifts to the believers, the followers of the light. This is the beginning of the new world and thanks to your cooperation we will once again see the Holy Spirit grace us with his presence.” –Aster spoke while the red liquid began to drain under the floor. “Please, place the girl on the altar, to start the ceremony.” –He continued in an ominous tone, to which the soldiers who were holding Sinns followed the order and walked towards the altar. However, Cristobal felt oddly preoccupied, he could only guess something sinister was about to take place.

As the soldiers walked towards the altar, the pool of red liquid drained enough to allow Cristobal to realize something horrifying. There were dead bodies, several of them laying around in a sick pattern which made Cristobal nauseous. “Stop! We are leaving this plac-“ –Cristobal could only say this much before a bright light shone upon Sinn’s body which was already left on the altar while Aster walked from behind him and his team, coming through a camouflaged door.

“Behold! This is the birth of the new messiah.” –Aster exclaimed euphorically while Cristobal looked at the scene before his eyes dumbfounded.

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