◆Farian + Alk◆
“Surprised to find you here, Khemmy,” Tusmon was pleasantly surprised when he entered Farian’s clinic. “Saves me an attempt of trying to visit you in the secret lab, I suppose. Still working on permission for that.”
“I’m here because we’re competing,” Alk didn’t even look up from her work. “And I have to make sure that he doesn’t cheat.” The Plague Doctor resumed her work, which mostly involved prodding and taking samples from a disembodied torso. Dr. Graf was also heavily enthralled by an open-air respiratory system, which could be seen writhing and inflating as it breathed.
Whatever they were working on, it was mawhging weird. Tusmon had often seen some confusing and concerning zjik in labs at police stations, but this was something special, and the two ‘medical professionals’ in front of him were treating it like a mundane everyday occurrence. “Alright, I have to ask,” the detective felt like he’d regret his investigative nature, “But what are you competing in?”
“Don’t give us that look, detective,” Farian scowled. “I assure you, we are working on something marvelous. Our competition is to see who can cure the most common illnesses in the form of cheap medication. Things like a cold, allergies, headaches. We want to produce pills that can fully alleviate symptoms and target the source, with short activation times for instant relief.”
“Well, assuming that is accurate, I’d say it is a noble endeavor,” The Investigator had to admit. “A fine use of Fiend powers if I’ve ever seen one. However, it does raise the question again, Ms. Khemmy, as to why you would participate. From my understanding, your ambition is to create diseases, not to cure them.”
“Seriously, just call me Alk, you old mawhger,” the girl glared at him. “And I’m doing this for myself. Not because it has anything to do with my illness. Rather, sick people are gross. Always coughing and hawking, sneezing in your face, wiping their germs everywhere. And almost none of them have enough sense to wear a mask like me.”
“Because I can’t just kill them all, I’ll make it so they have no excuse to stay sick. That, and then it’ll make my diseases even more effective due to their less hardy immune systems. Nothing but wins for me.”
“And I’m just happy to be helping people and to get rid of the low-threat nuisances,” Farian added his take. “With the most common diseases all but eliminated, only the rarer, more interesting ones will be left to cure. It’ll help doctors worldwide too. They won’t be stuck with patients who only have a common cold but have misdiagnosed themselves with something severe. Now if patients are sick, they’ll actually have something to worry about.”
“And don’t forget, Alkahest,” the doctor turned to the girl sitting across the room. “We’re going to cure your illness too. It will be our greatest medical triumph.”
“Like I’d ever let you inject me with something you’d made,” Alk huffed in turn. “But speaking of, Mr. Detective, if you actually wanted to be useful, you’d let yourself be a willing patient.” The Plague Doctor held up a filled syringe, spritzing out a bit from the needle for dramatic effect.
“Ah well, about that…” it made even Tusmon hesitate. Not much phased him, and he wasn’t normally scared of needles or anything of the like—more the one who was holding it.
“Let me guess, you just about want to say the same thing,” Alk’s cheeks rose, clear that she was grinning behind her mask. “That you wouldn’t trust anything I made, especially given our history. But believe it or not, Tusmon, I don’t want to kill you… anymore. Though I’d still be happy to make you uncomfortable and miserable.”
“But I just don’t want to keep holding onto a grudge. Kalter’s hate consumed him, and it’s what got him killed. He just couldn’t let it go. So Lieu and I made a pact after that. We wouldn’t seek out revenge anymore, and would do our best to enjoy the rest of our lives.”
“And even though we dissolved Above and joined the group we swore to surpass. Even though we have to go out of our way to see each other these days. We’re happy. That’s what Creti would have wanted. And I’m not about to risk it by killing you.”
“I really hope that’s true,” Tusmon sighed. “But as a measure of good faith for our cooperation,” the detective rolled up his sleeve and braced himself.
Alk didn’t hesitate from jabbing him immediately, injecting the entire syringe. “Your Fiendness would just fight this off normally, but I’ll increase the potency with my Curse until you start to feel the effects.”
“Oh, yep, I’m feeling it,” The detective’s voice rapidly became strained as he keeled over and clutched his stomach. “The zjik did you just inflict me with?!”
“Gastroenteritis,” Alk giggled with delight. “It’ll take me a minute to prepare the medicine for you, but something tells me you won’t last that long. Bathroom’s out the clinic to the left.”
Tusmon bolted out of the clinic, slamming the bathroom door shut behind him.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
◆Kada◆
“Go on, Chiulu. Push a button. Whichever one calls out to you. Don’t even think about it. Just pick one and push. Push it. Push it. Push it, push it, push it!” Kada encouraged Chiulu from off to the side, pumping her arms wildly with excitement, trying to hype up the woman.
The Bureaucrat really wasn’t sure what the zjik was going on. Kada had specifically requested her for the interview and inspection, and asked her to meet her at very random-yet-specific coordinates that led to an unassuming field. But before the woman could even start asking questions, The Mermaid had grabbed her and dragged her underground.
Chiulu originally thought Kada intended to drown her, but her own Curse never activated in an attempt to save her. And moments later, a rebreather had been put over her mouth, and Kada swam them down deep below the surface. And now they were in a sculpted stone cavern—basically just a plain room filled with doors and buttons. Oddly, though, there were already strange light sources made from glowing rocks that Kada had turned on by twisting their bases.
“Can you tell me where we are and what we’re doing first?” The Bureaucrat had to insist.
“Boo, fine, I guess,” Kada started to pout. “I didn’t want to influence you or your Curse, but if you’re going to be a busybody about it. We’re in one of those ancient vaults, definitely the largest one I’ve seen, might be the biggest one in the world so far. Problem is, it’s too damn big and will take forever to explore by myself, and most of it is boring and bare!”
“So I wanted to take advantage of your Curse. Each of these buttons opens a door to a different path. Your Curse should make you trip or something to pick the best one, right? So go on then, pick one!” The Mermaid gave the woman a light push, just enough to cause her to stumble back on her feet.
Chiulu tripped as usual, landing against the wall. But miraculously, she somehow missed all the buttons. Instead, her arm wrapped around one of the strange sconces and twisted it. There was a click, and all of a sudden, a large hole in the middle of the floor opened, and then the room started to quickly fill with water.
“Yay, the secret option!” Kada leapt forward with joy, grabbing Chiulu again, forcing them to dive into the room’s drain that had started to spin the water like a flushing toilet.
They were submerged underwater for only a few seconds, not even long enough for Chiulu to put her rebreather back on. But when they emerged, the water still carried them.
They went down a series of chutes, almost like an archaic aqueduct or waterslide. As they picked up speed, Kada threw her arms in the air and began hollering with glee. “This is awesome!” Their impromptu ride lasted a bit longer, the sound of raging water ahead signaling the upcoming end of the line. And the chute suddenly vanished beneath their butts causing the two women to plummet down into the darkness before they landed with a splash in a deep well of water.
“Man, hanging out with you is the best, Chiulu!” Kada kept laughing as they swam through the water and climbed onto the nearby thin strip of land. “That was so much fun!”
“Err, no one’s ever put it like that before,” The Bureaucrat couldn’t stop herself from blushing, thankful for the darkness. “Most people just find it a nuisance.”
“Nah, it’s great!” The Mermaid smiled at her, lighting her face up with her phone since there were no more built-in light sources. “Now let’s see where we ended up. Oooo, stuff! I knew your Curse wouldn’t let us down.”
Kada rushed over to the nearby stockpile, a few crates and a table. Even though they were made of wood, they didn’t look worse for wear despite being literally ancient. She dug in and pulled something out, her smile quickly turning into a frown. “Ugh, a book? But I wanted treasure!” She started rifling through it, her disappointment only growing. “Damn it, I can’t read this!”
“Umm, is it waterlogged or something,” Chiulu came over to inspect it as well, far more interested.
“No it’s…” Kada began rotating the book, looking from every angle to make sure she wasn’t just being stupid. She flipped through a few more pages. “It’s definitely not damaged. The pages are weird, pliable like paper but it’s almost like they’re laminated. But the problem is…” She held up the book for Chiulu to inspect. “Have you ever seen this language before?”
“Hrm, no, can’t say I have,” The Bureaucrat got a bit closer, her head suddenly swimming after trying to deduce whatever the book had to say. “What else do we have? Oh, I think this is a map!” the woman pulled out a scroll from the crate and unfurled it on the table.”
“It’s nice and preserved too,” Chiulu inspected it. “But… it’s definitely not a map of our world. There’s several different continents. Hmm, what’s this star in the middle? It almost looks like a star of Cosmos. Or maybe… it’s the goal of wherever they’re meant to go?”
“Wait, I can read that!” Kada jumped and jammed her finger at the bottom of the map. “The font’s weird, but that sure looks like ‘Haste’ to me. What do you think?”
“Yes, I’d have to agree,” Chiulu nodded. “It looks completely different from the writing style in the book too.”
“Anything else?!” Kada dove back into the pile of stuff. There were a lot of loose papers, and a few more maps depicting more detailed sections of the one they’d found. But then Kada found something interesting and returned to the table with her hands cupped. She dropped everything she was holding, and dozens of small figurines dotted the map.
“Hmm, maybe they’re like wartime pieces?” The Mermaid suggested. “Like planning for battles and stuff.”
“They look more like game pieces to me,” Chiulu picked up one to inspect it.
“Ah, don’t tell me!” Kada reached her final deduction. “Man, is this all just some nerd’s table-top game setup?! Haste is probably the name of the game, and that book must be all the boring rules. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good game, but this one looks like it’d be a snoozer.”
“Oh well, I’ll give it to Ipucco and let him figure it out. He’ll drool over this kind of stuff. Maybe I can get something good from him in return. But thanks again, Chiulu. I’d be happy to go adventuring with you anytime!”