–––
The Southern Labs
–––
"Emily." You envelope her suddenly.
"Its alright." Squeezing gently, tenderly even, you hug her tightly. Not letting Emily go. Taken off-guard by your sudden affection she begins to sob harder and her sniffles turn into sad little croaks. Are you simply doing it wrong? Is that what it is?
Raising your free right hand to her head, you begin patting. "There, there, its alright."
"B-b-but. . . I. . ."
"No buts, its fine, its over. Emily, you did a good job."
Still doubting, herself, her muddy-brown eyes, glassy from hysterics, look up into yours. "H-how c-c-can you say t-that so c-c-confidently?"
". . . Because I can and I will." You try to smile reassuringly.
"Emily. You were by far, the braver one - charging into that formation. . . all I did is hid back and struck out from afar. You need to give yourself a bit more credit when credit is do, Emily."
"B-but that's-"
"But what?" You peer into her startled eyes. "Do you doubt me Emily? Is that what it is? You think you can shoulder all the blame in the world? Do you truly want me to think less of you? Well Emily, sorry to disappoint you, I won't. You can't make me. So prepare yourself for more hugs and headpatts!"
She squeaks out an 'eeep', when you pick her up and embrace her evermore tightly; this wasn't ideal. If this doesn't stop her from bawling out, you don't have an fainest clue, what will. So you hold onto her for while. Eventually, she accepts it, and the crying and the sniffles ceases altogether. Finally.
You carefully put her down as to not aggravate any injuries. There, good, since you have a degree of silence, you can finally use the intercom. ". . . Dr. Julius!" No response. . .
"E-eve what are you doing?" Emily panics.
Shit.
"I'm contacting someone through the intercoms." You plainly state. "Are you really okay? Emily, you need to stop squirming around so much, you'll only make your injuries worst."
"Y-y-you d-don't see h-how that's b-b-bad?"
"What do you mean, Emily?"
"T-talking to t-t-them!?"
Right.
She did kill a couple a dozen people. That fact, alone, might make things abit complicated. "Don't worry."
". . . Let me do the talking, and I'll figure out a way to absolve you from this mess."
"B-bu-"
"Emily. Please, believe in me, I haven't lead you astray, have I, now? So, I would appreciate it, if you gave me a little bit of faith, too. You big worrywart, you." Ruffling her hair, you give her another bright, reassuring smile. Be quiet, already.
She glances down at her feet with a guilty look. "S-sorry."
"G-g-gimme a m-moment to d-de-sync."
That ridiculous, faux-armour get-up, disappears in a sudden flash. As Emily reverts back to her normal self. "I-it should-d-d work, n-now." While you wanted to question that kind of necessity. You simply nodded and gave her a headpat.
"Dr. Julius!"
The intercom begins to flair up in response.
["Eve? What happened? Nevermind. Just come back, we've have bigger issues to deal with."]
Huh? Righty then, "Let's go, Emily. . ."
"Y-yes."
–––
The Testing Area
–––
You give Emily a piggy-back ride. She's either surprisingly light or you are just too strong. The trip, itself, was largely uneventful. With Emily occasionally muttering nervously to herself.
You were greeted to the familiar sight of Dr. Julius and that woman.
With an additional tag-a-along; that black-haired girl from before with the blank eyes. She also appears to be using a relic. If that suit of hers is any indication. Infuriatingly, its better covered that both yours and Emily's combined.
And for whatever reason. She seems to be staring at Emily with a knowing expression.
What's going on?
[] Write-in
