I place the drugged handkerchief onto the targets sleeping face, very carefully.
...He did not even wake to fight back.
“Target captured. Bringing them in.” I notify Lily through the comms as I drag them out of the building using a window right at the bottom of the stairs in the first floor.
“Good job Tin-head. Next is my turn alrite? ^.^”
“…”
“Hey, I did not pick your callsign, you drew it from the hat, not me~”
...Why did we pull for callsigns anyway?...
After that. Lily began interrogating him, as I waited outside.
… Loud…
“Wow, a screamer huh?” A familiar frail looking woman asked.
“...Naomi.”
“Hi.” She responded
“....”
“....So… Why did you join TEAR?”
...T.E.A.R... Tactical Espionage and Armed Reactions. Tasked with identifying and eradicating any unpatriotic groups through careful information handling and correctly applied force.
“... It is my job.”
“...Ok……” “...You are as difficult to talk to as always huh… how does Lily do it…*sigh*”
30 Minutes later. Lily finished extracting the intel and giving him a strong amnesiac to wipe out his memory of the last 24 hours. I returned him to where I extracted him from.
.
..
…
..
.
… For once, I slept well…
“Good for you ^-^”
… Oh right. The suffering migrated outside my sleep.
“How rude.~”
Getting out of bed, I headed to the kitchen, unsurprisingly I found Alicia there trying to make breakfast.
Obviously I helped her.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“...We will go to the Pharmatics Group later today to get you an artificial joint... alright?” I asked during dinner.
“Okay.” She answered with a somewhat relieved smile. Having only 1 functional arm must be horrible…
But before that can be done, there is one, much more pressing thing to be done today.
Today they hold a memorial for everyone who died during the invasion.
After finishing our meal, (and morning maintenance) we headed to the plaza. A wide, park-like area inside the arcology.
Normally it is a peaceful place to rest. Today however, it is packed full of dark-clothed people and had coffins neatly placed in dozens of rows. Every coffin containing someone who fell to save this arcology.
The memorial was long and boring. And ultimately irrelevant in my opinion, who gives a fuck? But there was a reason I went.
“...Tolstoj” I called out to the group of few people to the side, just as bandaged as I am. But still here, dressed in black.
“Sir!” He instantly reacted, as they all came over to talk.
“...I am not your leader anymore. Just Rasmus will do.”
“Nonsense sir. You said when we met for the first time didn't you? It’s either boss or Sir.”
Heh, I did say that.
“...So, how are you guys?...”
“Recovering. Samuel got himself a pair of artificial eyes” he pointed at the bald guy with bandages all over his head. There is a small hole in the bandaging to let him look through.
“ Keane is getting a prosthetic.” He nodded towards a black haired guy that was using struts to get around.
“...And may I say sir… We are itching to get back into action.”
...Eh?
“...I thought you had your own squad to return to?” I asked him.
“Yeah… I was going to get back to my squad, Samuel as well… but it is not the same anymore… their eyes are so naive… they can't even meet ours anymore… ...And the silence is-”
“-Haunting.” I finish his sentence. I know their feeling.
“...So we think… us beasts should stick together and all, you know?... So, what do you say sir, will you keep leading us?”
...Heh…
“If you want… But there is no slacking under my command. Got it?”
...They all salute, going “sir yes sir” ...seeing them smile in such a battered condition feels strange… But I must say, that really could not have gone in a better way.
“...Wow, that is an extreme case of Stockholm syndrome I say =/”
After finishing our conversation, I passed between the grieving people and the pale coffins, making my way to a particular coffin.”
“...Goodbye old friend…” I said for the last time. As I smiled sadly towards his coffin
.
..
…
..
After the memorial service, we had a meal and headed to the Pharmatics Group for a new elbow-joint for Alicia.
The Pharmatics group building is an interesting one, the walls are pale white, floors pale gray, everything is so… clinical.
After discussing with a local professional, the options were dumbed down to:
Lexton-254
Price: 260 Credits (operation price not included)
A Cheaper one with a little less motion range, it would also require more effort to learn to cope with, 660 Creds for the whole operation. (operation costs 400 credits)
Tarkos-267
Price: 390 Credits (operation price not included
The pricier would move better and would be much easier to get used to. But would cost 790.
I asked alicia which one she wanted and she picked the cheap option. So I complied and bought it for her, her operation would be 2 days from now. So we are grounded for a while.
“Good, use the free moment to go get a new mechanic. You know you need one!”
….
...You are right. But it does make me nervous, it has been so long since I had to get a new mechanic… I don’t know how much the recruitment scene has changed…
“Eh, shrug it off you wuss. Onwards!”
...
...And so, I head to the local Mechanic’s Union office.