Night 74: Night, Farwell

[sixth_attack]

Who: Sechs, Marc
Where: Sector #4, Courthouse
Summary: Having met his demise in the underground coliseum, Sechs awakens to find himself severally injured but alive within the rebel city of Farwell. At last, after all the agonizing weeks he had experienced within the institute's walls, Sechs had finally escaped...



For an artificially born Replica, cloned from another and destined for disposal, living in the world for just a little over two years rarely gave one time to ponder questions regarding the afterlife. Sechs wasn't ignorant about death of course, having been acquainted with it many times as a thrill-seeking battle android. Yet he always escaped any true intimacy with it -- at least, that was until now.

The last choice Sechs thought he would ever make in his short life came so suddenly, so abruptly with little thought, he did not have time to fear what exactly it meant to die. He lost track of when it began, of when it ended. It was like falling asleep after a very long and difficult day, but with no recollection of getting into bed in the first place. All the pain and troubles drained away with the fleeting light into the endless abyss. Memories and faces which once flooded his vision slowly fell back behind a thick unseeing curtain. Sechs was free from his agony, but he was no longer conscious to grasp the peace which followed its absence. There was nothing left. It was over.

...

...But it wasn't over, was it? Something about this state of unconscious eternity was changing, like it was regaining awareness and a sense of time. That wasn't supposed to happen, right? Was this death? Or was this sleep?

The answer to that question came in the form of pain, an ache which grew with intensity while adding unbearable seconds to what was supposed to be a timeless existence. Sechs couldn't rest any longer, his awareness was forced to flounder in the pitch darkness until it broke through the thick surface of the subconscious. With an internal gasp he regained connection with his lost body.

Sechs woke up.

Opening his eyes for what felt like the first time in his existence, Sechs was met by a blurry palette of evening tones and architectural decay. He was on his back, laying on something soft in what appeared to be an expansive space, and the pain which wouldn't let him rest was emanating from his lower torso. He remained still, unable to believe his groggy senses. All Sechs could do was mutter the first thing that came to mind. "Dead... Am... Am I dead?"

Comments

[damned_rebel]

Marc smirked triumphantly at the mention of Landel throwing some kind of fit. Yes, Marc had harbored Landel for the time when the military had taken over the institute, but he had only done so because he'd had no choice. He'd still been recovering from his injuries at the time, and there hadn't been any way for him to take the Head Doctor out.

That was something he was trying to make up for now, and they were finally getting somewhere. It was good to hear that Sechs was on board -- once he'd healed, anyway.

"A few people have passed through here, though most of them have moved on by now. We've got Byrne here still, but Sora and Locke both headed back to the institute. Claude, Guy, and Anise also passed through, and we gave them something that should help disable Landel."

Those were all the recent arrivals. "Other than that? We've had a few. But the people who were brainwashed are lost to us for right now. Who are you looking for? I can let you know if I've seen them."

[sixth_attack]

Sechs nodded, but he only recognized one of the names Marc listed. "That's all, huh?" he asked with a disappointed shrug. "I kinda know Sora though. He was the one who told me about Farwell."

So far things didn't seem too promising when it came to finding his lost allies, but Sechs wasn't giving up yet. "Well, first off, I'm looking for someone named Alita. She's from the same world as I am," he explained. "She visited me one time awhile ago, but she wasn't herself at all. She insisted that her name was Yoko, and that I was her brother named Cody..." Sechs cringed inwardly from that memory. That visit was one of the cruelest jokes Landel had played on Sechs. At the time he thought he was going to be saved by Alita, but was confronted by an unsympathetic "Yoko" instead.

"When the military was in control of the institute, I got the impression from this General Berg guy that prisoners like Alita are brainwashed and living outside of the institute," Sechs said. Thinking he ought to give a description of his Original, (just in case) Sechs added, "I guess you could say she looks like my little sister, even though she isn't really... So let me know if you see her, alright?"

Now it was time for the question Sechs had been dreading to ask. He knew Alita was alive out there, but now his mind was on those whose fates weren't so clear. Thinking about his lost friends had been bothering him like a festering wound for some time now; it was an internal pain he avoided as much as he could, but sooner or later he would have to face it. "Everyone else I'm looking for... They were pals of mine back at the institute, but they disappeared..."

Sechs trailed off. For a moment he wanted to just drop the subject and bury his aching worries even further into the back of his mind. Yet he decided to go forward with his question and took in a deep breath. "Teisel, Admiral ZEX, Forte, Fai, Kibitoshin, Ritsuka and Utena... Do any of those names ring a bell for ya?" he finally asked. Turning his head away from Marc, he quietly added, "I gotta find 'em... They helped me a lot."

[damned_rebel]

So Sora was out there spreading the news. That was good. Marc hadn't spoken to the boy himself, but he'd heard about him from some of the others, and he sounded like a spunky kid.

But as Sechs went ahead with his explanation, offering up physical descriptions and then a list of names, Marc found that he couldn't really help him. Most of them didn't ring a bell, save for one, and even then he didn't have any helpful news.

He let out a sigh, leaning against the doorway with his head bowed slightly. "Well, your friend Alita is definitely out in this world somewhere. Once Landel's disabled, she should snap out of it.

"The others are probably in the same situation, but I can't say for sure." Some of them may have been killed in the institute. He just didn't know. "I met Utena once, back when I first arrived in Doyleton, but I haven't seen her since then."

Sechs was just going to have to believe that they were all right, and that they would come back here once the brainwashing had been undone.

[sixth_attack]

"If that's how it works, all hell is gonna break loose once Alita is back to normal..." Sechs replied with a small chortle, reminiscing over his Original's powerful capabilities. "She doesn't take kindly to being controlled by others, especially by tyrants like Landel."

Despite his little laugh, Sechs was bracing himself for Marc's next answer. A deep part of him was convinced that the only news he would get about his friends would be the locations of their dead bodies. He didn't expect anything good, but a small part of him still hoped...

Yet to Sechs' relief, the answer he dreaded didn't come -- but it wasn't the good one he wanted either. "So there's still a chance of finding them alive then?" Sechs asked. He couldn't be so sure about Admiral ZEX though, he learned of his death through a bulletin post left by Zero. Yet Sechs himself had died but was alive now, so could the same be applied to ZEX and any other innocent victims who died in the institute?

Considering this, Sechs felt his nagging dread over the fate of his friends ease away. The inner wound was still there of course, but Marc's answer was like applying a fresh new bandage over the pain. There was no damning end for his lost allies. There was still hope.

It was then that another question wandered into Sechs' mind. It was something he had been wanting to ask the Radio man for quite some time, but never got the chance. "Hey... Y'know that note you talked about over the radios a couple of weeks ago?" Sechs questioned, "I found it with some other patients, but I got to keep it. It was about Lydia... I was supposed to protect that note, but..."

Sechs trailed off, recoiling from the shameful memory related to his discovery. He was supposed to be in his room that one night for Javert to come by and see the note. Yet Sechs was forced out beforehand to become an SC patient. The criticism he received from Javert afterwards still echoed in his head. Since then Sechs believed that his failure placed Lydia in danger -- or worse. Once again Sechs braced himself for a negative answer. He took in a breath and glanced at Marc. "Is Lydia alright?"

[damned_rebel]

Marc would guess that most of the people who had been brainwashed were going to be pissed when they snapped out of it, and he had to admit that the thought of them all storming the institute in a rightful rage was something he'd daydreamed about a few times.

While he wished that he could give Sechs some more concrete answers about his friends, that was all he had. He wasn't even sure about the fates of those who died in the institute. He got the feeling that they were gone for good, or made into leftovers -- which he had no intention of bringing up right now, no sirree.

It looked like this little Q and A session wasn't over just yet, though. He hadn't expected Lydia to be brought up, and without even realizing it, a smile formed on his lips.

"You found that, huh? Well, don't worry too much about her. Lydia knows what she's doing. She's smart and she got away from that maniac. She's way off the grid now -- it wasn't safe for her to be here. I don't even know where she is, but I'm pretty confident she's just fine." Besides, she had Harrington with her.

Marc pushed off of the door frame and started to turn away. "Anyway, let me go grab that heating pad for you. I'll be right back." And with that, he disappeared into the dark hallway.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs grinned at this piece of news. "Whew...! That's good to know," he said, turning his gaze back to the ceiling. Once Marc excused himself from the room, Sechs gave out a great sigh of relief. Lydia was alright then. He didn't screw up or get her into trouble. That particular nagging lump of guilt was finally off his shoulder! He couldn't stop smiling to himself. With what he had learned from Marc so far, things were turning out far better than he thought possible. For once in a long time, Sechs felt he could allow himself to be at ease for now.

As he waited for Marc to return, Sechs felt a blanket of sleepiness fall upon him. Not wanting to strain his neck, he tried to stifle a yawn but comically failed. That's funny... He had been itching to jump back into action just a few minutes ago! Why was he suddenly so tired? Maybe all the exertion and excitement was too much for him right now? That, or it was whatever painkiller he was on that was putting a damper on his energy.

Either way, he felt satisfied with what he had learned so far from Marc. Like a beast having feasted on a big meal, he now felt the urge to take a power nap. He needed all the rest he could get to recover and kick some ass as soon as possible! Besides, it wasn't like he could do much with his injuries for the time being anyways...

With another sigh, the former android allowed his amber eyes to close. Already forgetting about his request for a heating pack, Sechs dozed off almost immediately. The only sign that he hadn't died while Marc was gone would be his soft snoring which followed shortly afterward...

[damned_rebel]

It did take some time for Marc to dig out a heating pad. That wasn't the sort of thing they needed that often around here, and the job was made more difficult since he was searching in the dark.

Still, he eventually found it, which was good because Marc hadn't wanted to come back empty-handed. By the time he returned to the infirmary, though, Sechs was fast asleep.

It wasn't that much of a surprise. It was the middle of the night, and he was badly injured and on heavy pain medication. This was probably enough excitement for one night, and hopefully he'd feel at least a little better in the morning.

As carefully as he could, Marc reached out to roll Sechs over and then set the heating pad under him. Then he plugged it in and turned it on -- soon enough it should warm up and offer him some relief.

With that taken care of, all Marc had left to do tonight was that radio announcement. Considering this a job well done, he left Sechs to sleep and went to the broadcast room.