Colin's posts

Ryker narrowed his eyes as he looked at Eke.

"...mmhmm." he mumbled.

"Is something wrong?" Savra asked him.

"Don't know." Ryker responded. "Depends on what I find out later..." he said further.

"By the way, you got a home?" he then asked Savra.

"No..." they replied, sadly.

"Well, that's a lie." Ryker told them. "If Eke hasn't told you already, you're living with us now." he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Savra was silent for a moment, before looking at Eke and smiling. It seemed like they were also looking for acceptance from Ryker, and that seemed to be just what they needed to hear.

"Hm." Chris muttered.

"All I can think of is to give him a couple of hot water bottles and press them up against him for further regulation." he shrugged.

"...also depends on if Hazel had any alignment in any of those manas." he then realised.

"For all we know, one of them was tainted or pure, and THAT might be messing with him." he reasoned.

"Or... for all -I- know." he clarified. "Odds are you've already thought about that and tested and such." he reasoned.

"Anyway, do whatever you need to do." he told her.

"I'll... do nothing, or do whatever you tell me to do."

"...." Chris was silent for a moment, thinking about it.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"He's... he's gorgon-spawn, right?" he asked.

She nodded in response.

"So he's technically reptilian... I mean... hm." he mumbled further, before just shrugging.

"Best I can offer is to surround him in a nice warm bath, and allow his temperature to slowly reach a more stable temperature." he told her. "But, admittedly, I only know this because of... well... the ramaarin here." he admitted.

"If I recall, after he was routinely submerged in ice-cold water, he was put in warm water to save his life. Vanessa's goals being to either create a ramaarin soldier that could withstand cold temperatures, or find out JUST what the limit was for one, before their heart gave out..." he admitted, sounding ashamed and disgusted.

"Indeed." Chris replied.

"Like I said, the chest is the big thing, and the headache is the smallest thing." he told her.

"Everything else falls somewhere in the middle." he continued.

"...oh, one more thing." he then said after a pause. "Well, two things." he corrected himself.

"I asked how Hazel was, but what about Dr. Remmington and Dr. Nicolo?" he asked.

"How are THEY faring?" he asked her.

"They were the closest, aside from me, to whatever it was that happened to Hazel." he reasoned.

Again, Chris sighed.

"Yeah." he said.

"Doubt they'll be kind." he muttered.

"But all I care about, really, is that Ayla is allowed to have her life back." he told her. "She's gone through too much. She deserves a break. If anything, she's one of the worst cases that has escaped from Vanessa." he went on.

"...sorry." he apologised.

"I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that."

Chris looked at her when she asked her question, and thought for a moment.

"I... well... I can't say for certain." he told her.

"When I saw she wasn't moving at all, I just... forced my body to get closer towards her, and when I saw she wasn't breathing, all I could think was 'what can I do to fix this?' he admitted." he went on.

"I was... just... well, I felt like it was the right thing to do." he said further.

"It was like some little voice in my mind was telling me that I have the power I do, it's time to start using them for good. To try and help people. Especially those I've wrong in the past." he admitted further.

Now, that could have easily been seen as Ashleigh's mana pushing him to do it, but from what she knew, the mana wasn't actually 'programmed' to make him do so. She had a feeling it was him finally listening to his conscience.

"...this is true." Chris responded. "But it doesn't excuse what I've done in the slightest." he told her.

"Rather... it's nice you've managed to find stability and love, despite what's been done to you." he went on, before pausing. "...maybe that's not how to look at it, but I don't know how fate works or anything like that." he admitted.

"Still... it seems that at least SOME of those who were ruined by Vanessa are finding out there's life after her... which is rare." he lamented.

"Anyway, I'm not asking for forgiveness." he then said. "I don't feel I deserve it, quite frankly." he admitted. "But... I WOULD like to at least attempt to try and make up for what I've done." he told her further.

"Whether anyone forgives me or not is up to them, and I wouldn't blame them if they held a grudge against me forever, but at the very least, I want to try and do SOMETHING good with my life... now that it seems I finally have some control over it again." he finished.

Chris shook his head slightly.

"...nothing I did to anyone, I did out of hate." he said candidly. "Truth be told, I've never hated-" he went on, before pausing. "Well, okay, thinking back on it, I've hated a number of people." he then admitted.

"In retrospect, I hated my parents... still do... same with my sisters..." he listed off. "And I... well, I used to hate Azari, and I think I still do, but for different reasons than before. But that's something else entirely." he sighed. "And I hate Vanessa." he then said, pain and anger in his tone.

"But no. I don't hate her. Never did. Same with you. Or... or anyone that I ever had a hand in making their lives miserable." he said. "I did what I did... because... well... I was pathetic. Or MORE pathetic, if you want to look at it that way." he clarified. "I just... blindly did what Vanessa told me, because I wanted to be useful, and I equated her keeping me around to her loving me, or at least caring about me moreso than just a resource." he explained further.

"...and yes, in retrospect, I know that makes me sound stupid and weak and pathetic and... well, I keep using that word a lot, it's started to lose meaning, but you know what I'm saying." he muttered.

"Regardless, for whatever it's worth to you, or anyone inside you listening to me, or anyone else, I never hated any of you." he confirmed. "If I did, I don't remember it... maybe it was manufactured or implanted by Vanessa. Wouldn't be surprised if it was." he ended, sighing again.

Chris just sighed again.

"Yeah, tends to happen when I push what I can do to the very limits." he told her.

"Same thing happened when I got those three out of the complex." he went on. "Though it was worse... probably because of the nexus boost I unwittingly received and used." he continued.

"Regardless, okay then." he said further.

"...was it at least worth it?" he asked.

"Is Hazel all right?" he asked further.

"...." Chris was silent, looking at her for a moment, and then sighing.

"Like crap." he said.

"I feel... well, my fingertips hurt, I feel burnt in places, I feel a shiver within me, and my chest hurts." he told her.

"...and a minor headache, but... well, that's ignorable." he then admitted.

"The biggest one is my chest hurting, if I were to rank it." he added.

"...and you're here to make sure I'm all right...?" he then asked, before pausing.

"Oh, right. You work here in the medwing, specifically." he remembered.

"Make sure doors are opened for us, and keep people out of the way." they replied, as everyone was prepped for transport.

- - -

Chris groaned as he regained his consciousness, and found himself staring at the ceiling again.

"...hmph." he mumbled.

"Seems familiar." he said to himself, before noticing he had bandages all on him, and looked to be in worse shape than the previous time this had happened. "...bit different." he then said, before looking and seeing a female there.

"...quite different." he changed.

"You here to gloat or take advantage of me in this weakened and subservient state?" he asked her.

"From what we've gathered, the effects of what happened appear to have been minimal on those in the building." they informed her.

"And... time manipulation...?" they asked, looking over at Chris. "I see." they said.

"Regardless, we'll need to take the 4 of you to the medical wi-" they started to tell her, before the one tending to Chris shouted out.

"His heartbeat's erratic!" they declared.

One one with Hazel shook his head.

"If you can move on your own power, please go with the medics taking Dr.'s Remmingon and Nicolo to the medwing." he told her, before going over to help stabilise Chris's heart.

Savra was quiet as Eke said what he did, just as Ryker returned, some food on a plate, and yogurt and berries in a separate bowl.

"Hey." he said.

"..." Savra didn't say anything, and just started to slowly eat.

"...hm?" Ryker mumbled.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Something happen while I was up?"

Sure enough, within a matter of a minute, a medical team arrived, with enough people to tend to 4 potential patients. They went to Kiah and Ilias, starting to tend to them, while others went to Chris.

One approached Hazel, herself, and sighed.

"What happened?" they asked.

"Overall, you seem to be faring the best, can you explain the situation?" they asked further.

"And does it have to do with what pulsed through the Unit not a few minutes ago?"