Rez would unfortunately be bedridden for a while, a fact which greatly displeased him. He wasn't sure what to do with himself whilst he was stuck in a medical bed in a quiet room. Of course he had the television, although it would often be interrupted by Theodore's propaganda.

It would spout some patriotic speech about protecting your homes from the 'terrorist' threat that Ironclad posed while showing footage of Officers marching in ways that paint them as heroic and strong.

Of course what the footage doesn't show is Officers brutally executing people speaking out against Theodore.

Rez recalled a time where he overheard an Ironclad soldier talking about his experience in one of Theodore's so called integration facilities.

He was unlucky on a mission, half of his team was killed in an explosion and the rest, including him, were taken hostage.

They were there for months, forced to take part in an Officer assembly line under heavy surveillance.

Abysmal conditions and horrid treatment were one thing, but if an Officer malfunctioned during its test, it would mean a very unpleasant death.

It convinced them all not to even try and sabotage them.

Rez had stopped listening at that point as it reminded him of his own time at the strange laboratories underneath the surface of Venus, but he was pretty sure he heard that the soldier's friend was practically quartered by four Officers as an example of failure.

Rez shuddered at the though and exhaled as he looked down at his arm, still in a cast and kept close to his chest. It was healing much faster than anticipated, but not fast enough for Rez. He was eager to get back out there and continue his training. Although he wasn't even sure if Jacks would accept that. She hadn't visited since the incident.

Now that was something that made him worry, if Jacks was so angry that she couldn't even visit him weeks after, then his life expectancy just halved about ten times.

But the sliding sound of the medbay door brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see who was there. He was pleasantly surprised to see Yui standing there, she waved and smiled as she walked over.

"Hey" she said gently "How're you doing?"

Rez smiled, it was always nice to see Yui. She had visited a few times before, but it never hurt to see her again "I'm doing alright, apart from the arm. What about you?" Rez replied as he sat up in his bed, flinching slightly at the stinging in his side.

Yui pulled up a seat and sat next to the bed, she had a small box with her that was red and tied up in a blue ribbon.

"I'm alright. A bit stressed out with everything at the bar. Business is slow..." she stated, sighing with a defeated tone, before continuing.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I've gotta think of something to get people coming back in, y'know?"

Rez nodded in agreement, glancing down at the present, then back up to Yui "Well, you could maybe redo the menu, or have an event night. Like a big quiz for people to come to and take their minds off of things." he suggested, adjusting the sling around his arm.

Yui seemed to think for a moment, before nodding and smiling "Yeah that actually sounds like a great idea. Thanks Rez." she smiled at him, then seemed to remember that she had brought something.

"Oh, sorry. I got you this." she handed him the box, then put her hands on her lap as she waited eagerly to see his reaction.

Rez looked at her and smiled, and thanked her before he undid the ribbon and opened the box up to see what she had gotten him.

He was pleasantly surprised to see a scale model of Mars that slowly rotated on its base. It even had a small light that shone up onto it.

Yui scratched the back of her head, her cat like ears twitching "Sorry if you were expecting something you could actually, like. Use. But I saw it in the store and thought of you"

Rez had to take a moment as he got lost in thought, seeing his red home again. He shook himself awake and looked to Yui with a smile "Hey, don't worry. I love it. I'll put it right by my bed" he said as he gently ran his finger over the smooth surface of the model.

Yui seemed happy at that, and she placed her hands together "I'm glad!" she said, her silky tail flicking back and forth behind her.

Setting the model down by his bedside table and watching it slowly spin for a moment, Rez exhaled as he sat back, then looked over to her "I can't wait to get out of here. But it did give me time to catch up on 'Biz's Construction Conundrum'. It's pretty cool how they build those giant apartment buildings."

Yui smiled at him, then she looked down at her watch "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've gotta get back to the bar and help out, okay?"

Rez smiled, but puffed his cheeks up "I bring up my enjoyment of documentaries and you're ditching me?"

Yui gave him a small laugh, then smiled "I didn't take you for the kind to enjoy them, to be honest." she said, then waved as she left.

Rez gave her a wave back, then laid his head back and sighed. He looked back over to the model of Mars and remembered the time he spent there, living in a city of gigantic glass towers and advanced technology. Maybe one day if everything goes back to normal he could show Yui what it was like before Theodore and his Officers crushed the solar system under their boot. That's what he hoped for anyway. But he knew it would be a long time until that was even a possibility.

He sat back and flicked the TV on, looking for something to watch.