Varakiel was at the hospital…and uh..well.
Mary: commander these scars, these injuries, how long has it been since you treated them?
Varakiel: Well uh….
Mary the Doctor nikke was chewing him out.
Mary: And it seems you have low blood flow, did you lose too much blood!? pepper! prepare for a blood transfusion!
Pepper: affirmative. I'll check the blood type…..huh?
Mary: pepper! What are you doing? hurry!
Pepper: there's no record of the commander's blood type!
Mary:..unreal.
Varakiel: alright calm down mary, pepper relax, c'mon inhale, exhale.
Mary: *inhale**exhale* Are you really okay?
Varakiel: Mhm, the reason for my low blood flow is because I've been donating my blood for investigation. My blood is special so please don't divulge this information to anyone. It's top secret.
Mary:....and still you went to the battlefield like that, what were you thinking!?
Mary, the nurse that always had her eyes closed, opens them up.
Mary: You will stay for recovery, understood?
Varakiel: *shiver* o-of course.
Lily: (haha)
Andersen: So you are aware of your blood value.
Andersen suddenly goes inside the room.
Pepper: deputy commander and chief?
Mary: What are you doing here?
Andersen: I came to see him. it seems you came back safely.
Varakiel: andersen, it's only been a day and it feels like years. What do you need?
Andersen: Well, I came to see the hero of this operation, and see if you needed a blood transference it seems it was unnecessary.
Varakiel: Hehe, is it really a coincidence that we have the same blood type isn't?
Andersen: Really do you think so? It's a very rare blood type, only a handful throughout all of human history.
Varakiel: yep coincidence.
Andersen: Who knows? But do you from all people think it's just a coincidence?
Varakiel: right…brother?
Andersen: Please, nothing that melodramatic. First of all, I'm an only child. The blood that you and I have is highly sought after. So to avoid being targeted by those who want our blood, our information is not registered in any database, but by your tone it seems you are already exchanging it.
Varakiel: Oh nothing important is just Syuen who I sold it to.
Andersen: Syuen? That's an odd choice, can you tell why?
Varakiel: ingrid would sell me out if it's for the benefit of the ark and mustang would sell it to the biggest bidder, Syuen? she would keep it all for herself and her pride wouldn't allow her to betray someone.
Andersen: you know the mentality of all the CEOs very well, good to know you know what you are doing.
Varakiel: But it seems you are talking about other people who sought after it.
Andersen:.. I am sure you want to know what happened to marian.
Varakiel: Such a bold change of subject, fine if you don't trust to give me that information is okay.
Andersen: excluding the mass-produced nikkes, there were no major casualties. Everyone returned safely. All in all, a resounding success.
Varakiel: Anything else?
Andersen: You must meet with marian.
Varakiel: Like right now?
Andersen: Right this instant.
Mary:...you better come back to rest, or i will go directly for you commander.
Pepper: *pst* commander she is telling the truth, don't risk it.
Varakiel: Alright, I promise I will come back.
...
Mana: hello.
Andersen: mana, it's been a while.
Mana: It's okay.
Ingrid: varakiel, any problems with you?
Varakiel: nothing to worry about, chatterbox was really aiming for marian on his last struggle.
Ingrid: good to hear. The mission was successful, and for that I congratulate you. However, I called you because there is something more urgent…it's something only you can do.
Andersen: mana.
Mana: roger.
Mana presses a button, causing a glass box to rise from the floor. and inside the box is marian…
Varakiel: Hello Marian, how are you feeling..
Varakiel puts his hand on the glass. and closes his eyes.
Varakiel then uses telepathy on marian.
Varakiel: (i know promy should have teached you this one right?)
Marian: (yes, honestly we are pretty unlucky that that guy did something so bold) commander.commander.commander.commander.
Ingrid: as you can see, she's been corrupted. She also has no NIMPH in her brain. For reasons unknown, the vapaus has worked. corruption occurs when rapture code is embedded into the NIMPH. Yet Marian, despite having no NIMPH, is still corrupted.
Andersen: How is this even possible?
Mana: chatterbox planted the code physically into Marian's brain. She cannot be controlled and does not respond to any commands. She is, for a lack of a better term, a vegetable.
Andersen: chatterbox simply did it out of spite.
Varakiel: (yeah, i didn't expect he could do that either, luckily your soul is everything you could need right now, as long we can repair the corrosion you will be fine, for now try to move your body little by little, no sudden moves, and also don't trust anyone in the central government, you can trust in andersen and ingrid to a certain degree, got it?) Yes, he couldn't handle losing to humans this way.
Marian: (of course varakiel…..is finally nice to be able to talk with you again, i even keep the bandage you gave me in my magic storage.) commander.
Andersen: Is there any way to treat her?
Mana: our only real option is to do a complete neural wipe.
Varakiel: What would that do?
Mana:....she will become a complete blank slate. as there is no NIMPH, you won't be able to implant any additional information into the brain. She would be no different from a newborn child. she'll forget everything she knew. Besides her memories, she would also not remember how to walk or speak.
Varakiel:...hm..
Ingrid:..so we have two options. We can send her off peacefully or have her go back to the beginning.
Andersen: You want us to choose? now?
ingrid: if more time passes, her brain will be severely damaged and even a neural wipe will no longer be an option. We have to make a decision now.
Andersen:...Varakiel, you're her current commander.
Varakiel: (well marian i guess your difficulty went from easy to hard, hehe you think you can handle it?)
Marian: (of course, promestein said that as long as there is a brain in the body i can live on it, and she even said if it's a new brain even better because i can learn to do everything way better than i did before.)
Varakiel: *nod*
Ingrid: you have to be the one to decide.
Andersen: Stop this.
Varakiel: Hey andersen.
Andersen:....what?
Varakiel: You believe in miracles right?
Andersen:.....i want to believe yes.
Varakiel: heh, then why not expect a miracle from this, i know marian is strong, truly strong, i know she won't forget us,
Mana: that's impossible, the neural wipe will delete everything.
Varakiel: mhm, indeed and that would save her brain but her soul still remains in there, as long her soul lingers she will remember who she is, isn't marian?
Marian: (c'mon i can do it, for the commander!)*nod*
Marian's body faintly but certain makes a nod.
Ingrid: incredible.
Andersen:....so miracles exist huh.
Mana: t-that!?
Varakiel: so, we're do we sign?
Ingrid: sigh here.
Andersen: fine, if varakiel believe in her then i will do as well. marian also now belongs to counters. she will be under your squad.
Varakiel: very well.
Ingrid: Marian is now somewhere between a rapture and a nikke. Many will be eager to experiment with her. Having her officially under your command will prevent all of that.
Andersen: How did you manage to pull that off?
Ingrid: just had to pull a few strings. now sigh here, Varakiel. i….i also believe that marian will be able to overcome the odds, i believe in her.
Varakiel: Thank you, I know Marian appreciates your trust in her guys.
varakiel then signs the board ingrid was presenting to him.
Ingrid: final approval has been granted. When this is all done, I'll have her sent to the outpost. I know this was a difficult decision. you did well.
...
back in andersen office.
Andersen:...
Varakiel:...so I'll go back to the hospital, I can't break my promise to Mary.
Andersen: Yes, go back and focus on getting better.
Varakiel: Was chatterbox retrieved?
Andersen: Yes, we've collected his fragments and will be keeping them in the atlas cage.
Varakiel: What about absolute, matis, infinity rail and coffee sweety?
Andersen: They are fine, don't worry they came back safe.
Varakiel: *pew* good
Andersen: *sigh* Listen, we've accomplished a lot with this mission. We've destroyed the rapture's underground facility, defeated chatterbox and also collected the fragments. and…one heretic was neutralized. Comparatively speaking, our losses were minimal. if i am sure you don't care about this but…all of this is thanks to you. I know you still have the energy to keep working, but that's exactly what you're going to do. That's an order.
Varakiel: one month or two?
Andersen: two.
...…..
two days have passed
Back to the outpost, rapi neon anis, mihara and yuni and snow white were talking together.
Rapi:....
Neon:....
Anis:...argh!! This is so frustrating! That son of bitch was an annoyance till the end!
Rapi: calm down anis, like the commander said, marian is okay no matter what.
Anis: I know but.
Neon: no buts, i believe in master i know marian will be back to normal soon enough!
Mihara: I agree with neon, the commander is not the kind of man to lie to casually.
Yuni: Yes, like mihara said i also believe that the commander is telling the truth.
Snow white: I agree if what he's saying is true her body is the only one who will need to remember.
Rapi: mhm. and where is the commander right now?
Neon: He said he's coming back right now.
Anis: really? I suppose his injuries weren't that bad after all.
Neon: Of course, master is heads and shoulders above regular humans!
Anis: -_-....true.
Rapi: What about Marian, did you hear anything?
Anis: the corrosion seems to have had a direct effect on her brain. After the neural wipe, she'll be assigned to our squad. This was the decision of the commander.
Rapi: *sigh*....but varakiel said she will be okay?
Neon: yes, he told me he will explain everything when he comes back.
Anis: really?...
*beep*
Anis: speak of the devil…
Varakiel was being carried on a bed pushed by mary….
Anis: What's all that equipment? I-is the commander's condition that bad!?
Varakiel: relax anis i am okay.
Mary: no you're not okay, i told you to stop waking up early and take some rest, at that path your blood will take longer to recover…
Varakiel:....but I am really okay…
Mary: the diagnostics don't lie commander.
mary looks at varakiel with her eyes open.
Varakiel:.....ok.
mary: *sigh* we're going to have the commander's room double as a hospital room.
Anis: why?
Mary: is the request of the commander, he just needs to rest and let his body recover.
Anis: Is that okay? doing all of this, i mean.
Mary: Of course it's not okay. The risk of infection is higher and it's not as well-equipped as a proper hospital room….but i can see the room is completely clean.
Varakiel: I told you, I take good care of our health.
Anis:...*sigh* you wouldn't take a no for an answer now do you? at least promise you will rest commander.
Varakiel: I can do that.
Mary: good. then you girls have to…
...
Mary: And that's about everything. Did you get all of that?
Rapi: yes. no problem.
Mary: If you just follow everything I've told you. they'll recover soon enough. they heal up quickly. If anything happens, just give me a call. I'll be available 24/7.
Rapi: thanks.
Varakiel: Thanks mary.
Mary: don't mention it.
Mary leaves Varakiel room after saying goodbye.
Rapi: I'll watch over them. you two get some rest.
Anis: alright. then.
Neon: All right, we'll be back in four hours.
Mihara: take care commander, we'll also take turns with Yuni, take a good rest you earned it.
Yuni: please commander recover quickly.
Snow white:...see you later.
Varakiel: Are you coming back?
Snow white: ….yes.
Varakiel: Alright then see you later.
Then everyone except rapi and varakiel leaves the room.
Rapi:....
Varakiel: what is it rapi?
Rapi: I heard about marian. Will she really be okay?
Varakiel: mhm, she will be fine, her body will lose every muscle memory but from there is still the marian we all know.
Rapi: Can I know why?
Varakiel: Remember when I shot marian? i actually used a vapaus bullet at that time.
Rapi: And then?
Varakiel: i sent her body to my world, there the most intelligent person in the world helped marian to recover, her body was just a bunch of scraps but they managed to pull of her soul and strength it, right now marian could easily live as a ghost for at least a 100 years.
Rapi: I see, then why stay in that body?
Varakiel: Well that body could help us discover the position of other heretics and know more about them right? and besides that, that body was a copy of marian body so it would be the most compatible, and the neural wipe would actually help her out, since she can learn from scratch what her new body can do, instead of what modernia could do.
Rapi:....varakiel….thank you….for saving marian, and giving us this miracle.
Varakiel: hehe, this miracle was possible thanks to everyone's effort, rapi, thanks for always believing in me.
Varakiel holds rapi's hand that was resting on the side of the bed.
Rapi:....yes, varakiel and thank you for believing in nikkes as well.
Varakiel: i don't believe just in nikkes, rapi, i believe in humanity, nikkes and humans are no different, you should know that by now. nikkes are humans too no matter what everyone else says.
Rapi:....ok. so please, rest for now you have worked hard enough for us. I will be by your side. always.
Varakiel: Mhm, I know…then good night.
Varakiel closes his eyes and falls asleep.
...…