It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights)

3.27 - Paradise Lost

You take another look at the creature in front of you. Is it speaking the truth?

You don't have much interest in immortality. You never even considered the idea that you would die of old age, and you don't really believe the Plague Doctor can give you flesh that will never be destroyed, a flame that will never be snuffed out. Such a thing is impossible.

Everything dies.

In the end, this part of the offer is of little worth to you.

But….

Your eyes turn to Andoain, and then to the young girl. You'd… you'd rather not have them die, if possible.

It is stupid, and you know it. It's not what you'd do, in normal circumstances. There really is not much to gain here, and a lot of things you can end up losing. Your standing with the Library, for one. Perhaps the trust of Rhodes Island, if they learn you were willing to preserve this sort of entity. You're not sure of what they'll think. Maybe you'll hurt your own friends with this choice, in some way. There's no real way to be sure.

But you'd still like to do it.

There is something about Andoain and the girl that speaks to you. Maybe that spark of life he showed, the way that he raged and fought from the inside of the Apostle shooting at you. Perhaps you still want to know who he is, who was this soul that Adam claimed for himself.

And the knightess- whose name you still don't know. You just don't want to see someone so young die before your eyes. It's irrational, you know. But you're reminded of yourself when you look at her. A youth ready to take on the world, forging gear from scrap and taking whatever weaponry they could scrounge, running themselves ragged in search of a wish.

You achieved what you were seeking, in the end- you got to the top. You became a Color, found friends along the way, and these friends made it all worth it.

So it's for the best if this kid is allowed to go on for just a little longer, if only to satisfy a nostalgic daydream of yours.

You sigh and turn around. Going by his body language, Roland didn't hear what you just said, you're sure of it. If he had, he'd already be here. He's focused on the call he's making with the Pale Librarian, but he should have heard it…

It… it is something you'll have to think about later. You wait for his eyes to turn away from the Doctor.

One second later, they twist almost imperceptibly- his vision turning upwards, to look at Jamie's fallen form. Kal'tsit is focused on her patient. For one miraculous coincidence of an instant, not a single person in this arena is looking directly at you. Some look at the Doctor, some look in your direction. But everything aligns just perfectly for you to do what you're about to do.

It's an opportunity. Your hand becomes a blur, and it lashes out. The Doctor is not startled by the sudden movement, and you pluck a single feather from its face.

Its beak twists in a way that suggests a smile.

It is done.

A bargain has been offered- and accepted.

You turn around from it.

The Apostles will live- and you will hold this little piece of the Plague Doctor with you. A fair trade, you suppose.

It does feel a little strange. You place the feather in your hair, where it will stay hidden by your hat. The perfect crime.

…now what?

"...wait, did they catch any of this on camera?" you mumble. The arena is trashed by now, but it's still possible. Are you going to have to flee the country?

You don't think they're going to be very kind to the Apostle currently embedded in the stands either, especially when the storm's initial eruption was very likely caught on live television.

Roland approaches the Plague Doctor, who has switched from its previous mood of contentment to exhausted resignaton. The Fixer sighs and places the phone in front of the Abnormality.

On the other side, the Pale Librarian says something you can't hear properly. But it's undoubtedly a question.

"There is nothing left of Adam." the Doctor answers.

Ah, so that's what she was asking for. It is a very… inglorious end for the supposed messiah of the Distortion, you think. In the end, he just couldn't take the heat. He simply couldn't handle the strain of his own weaponry, and it consumed him whole.

You wonder how many Agents of L-Corp had the same end- their identities obliterated by E.G.O corrosion. It's unlikely any of them had as close of a bond with their Abnormalities as Adam had with the Doctor, but it makes you think.

In the end. Abel remains inside your mind, and Abram is alive in some level inside that book. A book that you haven't even bothered reading, but still. Adam will simply cease to be.

Roland opens the book. Every page is empty.

Time to go back to the box, you guess.

It's a scene you were expecting, and you've seen it before in the Library. The Plague Doctor's body simply explodes into gleaming pages, and the book sucks them in shortly after. Then, there is nothing left.

You walk back to Kal'tsit. She places her hand on the knightess' neck.

"I suppose it's over?" she says. "She is not dead."

Did you tell her about the Apostles possibly dying when Adam went down? You're not sure you did, but you're starting to get a headache. It might have been something Abel told her. Maybe?

"She isn't. I don't know why." you lie. "Keep her under vigilance anyway, I think. We'll have to go over all of this with more detail later. Now the chief question is what we're supposed to do."

Fortunately for you, there weren't any obvious casualties as a far as you can see. Most people seem to have evacuated. But…

"Any dead?" you ask. There were some of those competition knights in the audience, most likely, and at least one of them has to have jumped there and gotten torn to pieces by the storm, and you doubt all the debris tossed around didn't end up touching one person or two.

"The storm threw a few people out of the arena. The ones who came closer. It's unlikely that they all survived the fall." she says. "However, it is very likely the knight of Pinus Sylvestris, the Apostle Jamie will be hunted down for his crimes. With the "Plague Doctor" gone, the blame for the storm and the devastation that it brought will fall solely upon him."

She is correct, you think.

"And he's a member of an Infected knightclub, after all." you say, guessing what comes next.

You don't know much about this world, but the Infected are essentially forced into a ghetto- what will happen next is obvious.

Kal'tsit nods.

"When it becomes known that this was not a Catastrophe, but rather the power of a single knight's Arts, the world's eye will be on him. Kazimierz will desire to study his power, and it will also desire to punish him for his transgression." she says. "There is no possible way for us to prove the existence of the Plague Doctor's powers, and I agree with the Library's apparent assessment that it is too dangerous to be allowed out in the open. Every second that it was free was a second where it could find another victim. But in the end, Jamie will be persecuted, if he survives as well. And the Infected population will be victim of retaliation as well."

It is the truth. It's unlikely that there are no witnesses capable of pointing towards the E.G.O user you defeated today- nevermind the fully-fledged Distortion running through Kazimierz as of now. The cat is out of the bag already, and there's no going back. You doubt that the rulers of this country will be as understanding and willing to sweep this under the rug as Wei Yenwu was. Not with this dramatic of an occurrence.

Are you willing to shield them from consequence? The truth is, wel, no.

While you didn't want them to die, you aren't going to risk your neck, and possibly the necks of all your friends, for something like this. Andoain can be saved, perhaps, and you doubt that anyone will point directly at the knightess. But…

You realize that you might just leave him to rot here. It feels strange to leave someone you just saved from death behind.

"Well, I might be able to help." says the Librarian who remained, with Roland by her side- the one with the the bony hands. A glowing, intrincately designed circle forms in her hands.

---

Your name is Nicole Teene.

According to the clock, you still have thirty-three minutes and two hours before you will be able to retrieve Czarny without issues.

You were going towards the arena to help out with whatever the hell was happening there- something tells you that whatever it is, your boss was most certainly in the middle of it.

It's his nature- he's just not capable of not getting himself involved, especially when there's a friend in the line.

This storm might have had something to do with Linette, now that you think of it. It's a baseless assumption and you don't put much stock on it, but it's either your boss handling something she got tangled up on, or he got himself tangled up on something really big.

If he did get himself involved, it's likely Library related, actually.

Either way, you're not going to the arena anymore. The storm stopped, and most importantly, the Silverlances are marching down the streets towards your original destination.

Staring at them from a distant rooftop, you frown. You hope your boss isn't there anymore by the time they reach it.

You've been cut off from them for quite some time, now, and it's eating at you- you weren't even there when they needed help. You were stuck here, thanks to Linette's plan. You don't actually know what she wants, and you've realized that even if you missed her deeply, you certainly didn't miss the annoying posturing, and the compulsive lying.

Even if she is just as infuriatingly cryptic and deflective for no good reason as she was before you were separated, she's still one of your friend- and you regret not being there in the arena for them. You've been doing stuff on your own for a while, and even if it's something you're used to, it's not something you really want to keep doing. Not when there's other options. Not when you found Sleepy, then Sieg, Wympe and Arabella, and now Beats and Linette.

You guess there's the new guy with the tentacles too. He does seem interesting.

Someone coughs. It's a wet, sludgy cough.

It's a man in priestly robes- though the robes seem to be in an atrocious state. He looks like he hasn't taken a bath in weeks and he'd likely smell atrocious to anyone who didn't kill their sense of scent with cigarette smoke.

He's cursing in a language you don't have a good grasp on- Iberian? Interesting. You somewhat regret not getting a translator implant, but it's not like you could have possibly known you'd be transported to an alternate reality where you would desperately need it.

Really, it was a miracle you were able to land a job with your previous employer while barely knowing the language.

You turn your attention away from the strange priest.

You're unsure if you should go back to the arena, risking detection by the Silverlances, or go back to Rhodes Island and wait for them there.

You touch the watch in your pocket once again. It is silent, this time.

It seems you won't be given any assistance here. Alright.

…going back to Rhodes Island's little corner of the city seems fair. Maybe your boss will be OK- the storm dissipated, and perhaps that means the worst has passed.

Or at least, you hope so.

---

Everyone has gathered in a circle around the center of the arena. The Apostles and the knights of Pinus Sylvestris are still unconscious, so some of you had to carry them.

The Sankta is in your arms, and he seems to have started breathing.

You don't exactly feel guilty about what you did during the fight, but now that it is over… you do feel something strange.

Well, it's likely nothing.

The Librarian- Tatyana- has a piece of paper in her skeletal hands. It's very obviously a contract, if only for the way Roland is looking at it.

Yesterday's Promise, you recall. One of the Distortions in the Blue Reverberation's Ensemble. Though it never got to a high personal rank itself, the group was collectively rated as a Star of the City.

The ranks are actually pretty arbitrary, in truth. But in that case, you think it was very much earned. The Ensemble was dangerous, and Yesterday's Promise was no slouch either.

Most of what you know are rumours from the survivors of the conflict with the Ensemble- most of them coming from the Hana. From what you heard, Yesterday's Promise possessed the ability of "contracts." If you signed one of its contracts, you would be beholden to its terms, and if you failed to fulfill your obligations, it would start to take its pound of flesh.

Quite literally, as in, it would repossess your organs. Or turn you into a Distortion. Or simply make you explode.

It didn't matter how blatantly illegal and unfair the contract was. Fine print, things scribbled on the back of the contract, additional terms hidden inside the decoration. Once it was signed, both parties would have to fulfill it to the letter.

While its actual combat prowess was not known very well, this one Distortion still left its mark on the annals of Fixers purely by how nightmarish its signature ability was.

When Roland starts his explanation, some interesting fights come to light. Though the books the Librarians are using are apparently weakened in some level by not having the guests here anymore, the page of Yesterday's Promise- or "Pluto," apparently- retains its capacities.

Just as you remember, it was not only capable of enforcing contracts, it is capable of empowering either party based on the terms of the contract.

Thus, the plan. Tatyana will outline a contract where the power of Yesterday's Promise will teleport all of them back to the Rhodes Island landship. They had apparently been trying to use this power to teleport into the arena before, but the storm blocked them off.

It might be just you, but it seems that the powers of E.G.O and Distortions don't have any rhyme or reason beyond some "you get a power vaguely connected to your trauma" thing. Capone wanted to survive, got an ability that would let him survive. And now that you can think more about it, you remember that the Bleeding Heart Forest might have wanted to feed people, so it got the ability to feed people. You have no idea what Jamie really had going on, so you can't judge his ability, but so far it seems that the Distortion is a massive monkey's paw, while E.G.O seems to make the best out of that paw.

"Alright, everyone ready?" says Roland.

"Yeah." answers Linette, and her friends soon follow.

You give a curt nod.

"Yes, we are." says Amiya.

"Are you… sure you'll be able to do this?" asks the Doctor. "You've never been inside of the landship before, as far I remember. Can you really aim a teleportation into it?"

"Of course I can. It's what's in the contract, after all! Most you'll get is some discomfort." answers Tatyana. "And hey, you guys know where to go, which is why one of you will have to be signing too."

The Rhodes Islanders seem to be the slightest bit distrustful of Roland, but they go along. The Doctor's bodyguard, who you now learn is called Gravel, is the most hesitant.

Taking a closer look at her, now, you find some interesting details. Her weapons are two black swords, which you notice seem to have signs of wear and tear on them, closer to the hilt, in a way that some Zwei swords often end up being damaged, too, and suggests they're used to block and deflect enemy attacks very often. It's interesting, though your reading is surface-level. It does check with her being a bodyguard- it's likely that her fighting style is very defensive, either that or simply persistence-focused.

On her shoulder, however, something which is definitely important- a barcode on her shoulder. So knights here are branded, maybe. It does sound like a workable hypothesis- Wing-affiliated soldiers carry some sort of identification mark on their bodies, and most if not all of them carry the company logo stamped somewhere as well, even if it's just on clothing or armor.

You wonder what exactly is marked on that barcode- what information it carries. It could be anything. Every number and every black square could be an entirely different sort of identification mark. Her service history, her specialization and her medals could be written in that code.

Either that, or it's something entirely different, you muse. It's an entirely different world. You don't think you've properly internalized this yet, but it really could be anything, from a mundane tattoo to an extremely coincidental splotch of a falling bucket of ink. You'll keep this as a theory, if a likely one.

It seems that Kal'tsit's reassurance that they would explain all of this to Kazimierz's ruler, someone called Ioleta, eventually, placates the swordswoman. But you doubt that will ever happen in full, and she still seems to be the one holding the most suspicion with the whole situation. Having to sign a clearly magical contract certainly doesn't help- you don't think the devilish appearance (it even has a tail) of Yesterday's Promise does, either.

"I'll sign it." Arabella says. "I know where to go."

"Are you sure?" you ask her. "I can sign as well."

She looks at you and chuckles.

"I am. You've been putting yourself in the line of fire a bit too much recently. I know you don't take that many vacations, boss, but maybe you should have a day off or two?" she tells you, sauntering to Roland's side. "Hold Ayam for me for a second."

The strange child walks up to you, and you're unsure of what to do. You can't really gleam much about them from a glance, besides the fact that their clothing is very obviously thrown together as if they just picked what they thought was nice on an individual sense, and that they have multiple animal parts: going from those ears on her head to sharp fangs and scales on her skin.

You...

You let out a sigh and pat the child in the head, switching Andoain into an awkward shoulder carry. You suppose you'll just have to live with this now.

You are going to shake down Arabella for everything she has, for sure, at the end of all of this. You swear that you will.

You look at Arabella. She reads through the contract and doesn't seem to find much issue with it, but still turns it towards you so you can see it. You don't find anythin, either. It doesn't seem to require anything to be taken from her, unlike the unspecified "favour" that will be taken from Roland. You'd be uncomfortable with signing off in what's essentially a blank check if it was you there right now, but he seems to trust Tatyana, so the Librarians are likely not just coworkers. They're friends. So the situation is understandable.

All in all, everyone agrees without much fanfare. The contract is signed by all three interested parties, and a great circle of light forms above you.

You had suspicions that this Distortion was wielding magic, but now they're confirmed. It's the same exact feeling. Yesterday's Promise really did wield the mysterious powers of the Ruins, which is fascinating. Did he go there to learn it, or does the Distortion just… grant that knowledge? Or does his innate ability just feel extremely similar by pure coincidence?

The circle shines even brighter, and you hear a crack of thunder. Tatyana snaps her fingers, and all of a sudden you are not here anymore- you're falling. You pull Ayam closer to yourself in surprise, and you almost drop the Apostle.

Your feet land on something, and the sound of wood splintering and plastic cracking echoes in your ears...

It seems that your landing spot was a table- luckily, an empty one.

You are in the Rhodes Island landship again, you believe, going by the designs painted on the metal walls. People you don't recognize cry out in surprise. It seems the teleportation spell dropped you in the middle of the mess hall.

Well, it's not exactly home sweet home, but it's the best you have at the moment.

You lurch forwards, ignoring the shouting and the movements around you. Ayam disentangles themself from your grasp, and you stumble. The headache you were feeling earlier is getting worse. It feels as if you are sinking, as if the floor just isn't solid anymore.

"Your mother is right there." you say exhaustedly, pointing at the recovering Arabella, who hit the ground face-first. "Go with her."

The adrenaline is running out, it seems, and the Dreaming Current is stirring again. Thankfully, Ayam doesn't question your words. You're unsure if they should, you're not exactly an authority on children. You were not a conventional child and you don't think you've ever handled any.

Lech had kids, he'd 100% know what to do in this situation.

The Current whispers something incomprehensible in your ears. Your tail starts moving against your will, coiling around your leg. You trip on your feet and almost fall face-first on the ground. Is it getting out of the book? No matter.

You could push it back onto the book, but something tells you that there's a better solution. Focusing your aching mind, you wordlessly, but politely, ask the Current if it could just go back to sleep now.

It complies without much struggle.

Uh.

That was something.

You feel tempted to sink into unconsciousness. You're so fucking tired.

But it's not time for that, at least not exactly now. You shake off the Current and return to the waking world. There's still some confusion about what just happened, but it seems to have subsided for now. Everything is in order, or at least as much as it can possibly be.

You need to check if everyone's okay, at least.

Arabella is okay, Linette and her two buddies are getting up from their own landing. The sullen blond looks specially miffed about being teleported, though that resting bitch face might just be stuck there, and the dark-skinned mercenary doesn't look too shaken up.

Beats, meanwhile, collided directly with horned Operator with a strange red blade- she threw him off and held them at swordpoint with a fair amount of agility. Luckily for all of you, before the situation can escalate and you're forced to intervene, Kal'tsit tells her to stand down.

The Rhodes Islanders are well enough though the Doctor had to be helped up, X is being lifted by that horrible creature it carries around, though people look increasingly nervous around it, though one strange Operator wearing a hood seems to be... fascinated? She carries what seems to be a large sketchbook, and is already hard at work in a depiction of [CENSORED].

You don't think that's a good idea, but the filters clearly aren't down. If they were, the situation would be very much worse. So you stay put.

The Apostles and the Pinus Sylvestris members are being given to the Operators around, and you hear talk of taking them to somewhere- probably the medical wing. A white-haired medic with a robotic voice is checking Jamie's pulse and a woman with a lizard tail is hoisting him up with impressive ease. It seems that everyone... is well.

You take a look at Kal'tsit- who is giving some order or another to a man. Elysium's his name. Yeah. Everything's fine, at least for now. It worked.

Andoain is still in an uncomfortable shoulder carry which you reinforce quickly so he doesn't fall.

Someone comes to help you with him shortly after.

Things continue to happen. Debriefings, explanations, arguments and orders flow around you. You give answers as best as you can, and lug Andoain back to the medical department. He'll need intensive care, the doctors say to each other.

There's a brief discussion regarding the information and whether or not they should be harboring a known criminal who will probably be getting terrorism charges, but a large Operator on a massive suit of armor that obscures their entire body eventually walks into the room, and the discussion immediately dies off for reasons unknown to you. After this, you decide to take a short rest and sit on a chair.

"It's best if you take a breather for now." says Kal'tsit. "We'll continue this later."

You sigh.

"Yes, we really should."

It's not too long before you pick up a chair and do your best to relax.

Sleep comes shortly after.

---

You dream of the Light. It is time.
[ ] Dream of Heaven. (I doubt there's anyone in this world who can sincerely decide to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Humans can only love themselves, after all.)

[ ] Dream of One Sin, and Hundreds of Good Deeds. (Now… fade away without a trace.)