In the man's confusion and pain, Amiya once again touches the emotion that causes her pain.
A black crown appears above her head.
As she touches his consciousness, she sees a small cabin, a woman and child who never returned after leaving home, a cloudbeast leaps from the window sill—
And a man who brought back a monster.
Voice From Radio
'The collapse in the new industrial district caused nineteen deaths and thirty-four injuries at a nearby school.'
Voice From Radio
'...We express our deepest regrets for the accident. Compensation has been issued to those affected...'
Familiar Man
I won't open the window again, Mur. I won't give you another chance.
???
Purr?
Familiar Man
I won't open the door again...
Familiar Man
I won't open it for anyone.
Familiar Man
You and I will be the only ones here.
Familiar Man
Forever...
Voice From Radio
'...An experimental animal escaped from the industrial district. Anyone with information should call the Department of Livestock at 10103. A reward is being offered...'
???
Purr...
Strange Man
We'll never leave each other. They won't take anything else from me.
Strange Man
Yes, that's it...
Voice Outside the Door
Kirill!
Voice Outside the Door
Kirill! Are you home?
Voice Outside the Door
I haven't seen you at the factory in a week. Are you alright?
Voice Outside the Door
If you are, go talk to the supervisor and get formal approval for leave, okay? They won't let me do it on your behalf—
Voice Outside the Door
Kirill...
Voice Outside the Door
If you can hear me, remember that you can rely on us.
<p=1>City of Zelgrad, Underground Residential Layer</>City of Zelgrad, Underground Residential Layer
<p=2> Jan 21, 1102, 02:16</> Jan 21, 1102, 02:16
Hierda
The streets are empty... but the underground is much busier.
Hierda
Is this where the Infected was pointing me to?
Busy Worker
Go get help, we need extra hands—
Busy Worker
Oh. What are you doing here, kid?
Hierda
Is something wrong?
Busy Worker
The pub owner Prokhor is dead! Looks like a robbery-murder. His body was found in the sewers. Who would have thought something like this could happen in Zelgrad?
Busy Worker
The sewer cleaners found him. We need more people to haul the body up, and then we'll report it in the morning...
Busy Worker
Oh, why am I even telling you this, just make way, I need to get help.
Hierda
I'm no help when it comes to something like this... sorry.
Painkillers, please, give me painkillers! I'll give you all the factory scrips I have! I can't take it anymore, I can hear the rocks grow beneath my skin—
Optimistic Infected
The doctor said not to rely on medicine until the pain reaches a certain threshold. It'll keep you from developing resistance too quickly, and make the meds last longer.
Optimistic Infected
Just hang in there... we've got to get back to the factories after we get our meds for the day. You need to rest while you can.
Suffering Infected
I can't stand...
Optimistic Infected
You're just imagining it! You're hurting so much that you can't feel anything. Let's see what degree of pain it corresponds to—
Optimistic Infected
Hey, I think you're allowed meds now.
Suffering Infected
Quick, ask—ask for me!
Hierda
Please, allow me to help.
Optimistic Infected
Who are you?
Suffering Infected
I don't care who you are, just help me—please!
Optimistic Infected
What are you talking about? We don't even know who she is—
Hierda walks forward and takes the hands of the Infected on the stretcher in her own.
Tiny Originium grow from his ice-cold hands and legs. They can cause such lingering pain that death easily becomes preferable.
Optimistic Infected
What are you doing? I'm calling for the doctor. Doctor! Doctor Nadezhda Pavlovna!
Suffering Infected
*pant*... *pant*...
Optimistic Infected
Wait... your Originium is changing color?
Hierda
I can't do much, but I can at least stop the pain.
Optimistic Infected
...Is he dead?
Hierda
No, I think—
Suffering Infected
What are you calling... dead...
Optimistic Infected
Blyat! I thought—I thought you had gone to heaven already, you lucky bastard!
Suffering Infected
It doesn't hurt anymore... thank you.
Suffering Infected
I don't know who you are or how you did it, but could you help that guy over there too?
Suffering Infected
I apologize on his behalf. He might be a rude mudak, but he was only worried about me.
Optimistic Infected
Hey!
Hierda
Of course.
Hierda
This is what I came for...
She speaks softly as she takes the other Infected's hand.
A warm, dazzling light surrounds the Infected. He feels himself rejuvenated and even stands up from the ground.
Optimistic Infected
This is amazing... I got better all of a sudden! It's better than any medicine! How could this be?
Optimistic Infected
What are you—
Optimistic Infected
Oh, Doctor Nadezhda! I-I'm not saying your medicine's bad! Not at all!
Optimistic Infected
Uh...
Hierda
Doctor Nadezhda...
Hierda
(Is that the doctor the man in the underground layer was talking about?)
Hierda turns around to see that a door has opened at the end of the corridor.
The fluorescent white light of an operating room shines through the door, where a masked middle-aged woman wearing a white coat and gloves is standing.
Hierda
Doctor...
The doctor shakes her head, wipes her hands with a towel and puts on her gloves again, before waving Hierda over.
Nadezhda
So you're that one they say removes people's pain with Arts.
Hierda
You know of me?
Nadezhda
I thought you might come. I've already lost a bunch of patients thanks to you.
Nadezhda
You may have cured their ailment, but you've also cost me a large chunk of my income.
Hierda
I thought you were a doctor...
Nadezhda
Does a doctor not need to eat? Besides, legally speaking, I'm not a doctor anymore. My license was revoked. I'm working unlicensed now.
Nadezhda
I'm trying to make enough money to get my license back. What do you think I should do with someone who's ruined my livelihood?
Hierda
I regret it, but I can't just stand by and watch when there are patients who need my help.
Seeing the girl's nervous expression, the face beneath the mask seems to relax.
Nadezhda
Just a bad attempt at a joke. Don't mind it. The atmosphere here is depressing enough as it is.
Nadezhda
But I am curious how you manage to do it. You have such incredible Arts, yet all you do is travel and preach like the Yurodstvo, without charging a single coin?
Hierda
I can't explain my powers... but please understand that I mean no harm.
Nadezhda
Well, you certainly look cute, but I'm not in the habit of trusting someone who gives without asking for anything in return.
Nadezhda
What are you here for, little bunny?
Frantic Infected
Doctor Nadezhda! I have an emergency here!
Frantic Infected
Never seen this one before, but he's in bad shape—
Frantic Infected
Huh? You're here too, Hierda?
Hierda
Oh... it's been a few days, hasn't it? You seem to be in better spirits now.
Nadezhda
Enough chit-chat, let me see the patient.
Nadezhda
......
Nadezhda
Put on protective clothing immediately, Borislav, and prepare the surgery room.
Borislav
Gotcha!
Hierda
......
Nadezhda
...Belay that, take a dose of metabolism inhibitor right now, and try to get in touch with Tonya.
Nadezhda
I'll deal with the surgery myself.
Hierda hears the patient's weak, pained cries as the bed is pushed past her.
She instinctively reaches out, hoping to give her usual help, but fails to give the patient any comfort.
Hierda follows the patient as he is pushed into the operating room, but she could do no more than let go of the hand in front of the operating room door.
Amiya
Thank goodness...
Hierda
Did you find this patient?
Hierda
I should... thank you...
Amiya
Just doing what I can... are you a doctor here?
Amiya
The patient's condition is very unusual. It's not like any Oripathy I've seen before... I'm not even sure if it's Oripathy at all.
Amiya
Do you know—
Hierda
No, I'm not a doctor... I wish I was.
Hierda
But I can't heal them. What I can do is so limited...
Amiya
I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. I take it you are a cleric?
Hierda
It's alright, I didn't notice either... that you're so sick too.
Amiya
You mean my condition...? How can you tell?
Hierda
No, you're not like the others... you're very ill, but you're not seeking salvation, and I shouldn't do anything for you...
Hierda
But how do you endure it, when you carry so much pain with you?
The Cautus before her seems even younger than her, but there is a sort of altruism with her that seems incongruent with her age.
Even without the black crown appearing, the Sarkaz King's power links Amiya's consciousness with her counterpart.
She does not sense any strong emotion, only a disjointed cloud, or a roiling ocean. The endless sorrow in the girl's consciousness threatens to swallow her.
Amiya is not willing to delve any further.
Amiya
But my understanding is that this is not in line with Lateran law—sorry, I don't mean to offend your religion.
Amiya
I don't think any suffering has to be inevitable. The pain imposed upon us is something that we should fight with all our strength.
Amiya
To help those who are suffering and defeat the ones inflicting the suffering... that's what we should do.
There's always suffering, with no end in sight... does what we do really have meaning?
Hierda
Do you not despair?
Amiya
......
Amiya
Perhaps.
Amiya
I would have been crushed by despair, if I were on my own.
Amiya
But I'm never by myself, never have been...
Amiya
Someone once told me of her dream, of her vision for this land... when people will overcome their differences, and Terra becomes a home for everyone.
Amiya
Her dream has inspired and united many people. I have borne witness to the legacy of that dream, and I'm certain that people will continue to carry it on.
Amiya
I don't know how to completely eliminate suffering, of course. I suppose that's something only 'God' can do.
Amiya
There may be no end to suffering, but hope continues to live on.
He must have known that he didn't have long to live, and he didn't want to be found by people who knew him... poor Tonya is still looking for him.
Amiya
Do you mean...?
Nadezhda
I've done all I can, but his basic biological functions have completely failed... all I can do is mitigate his pain in some measure.
Amiya
......
Hierda
Is there anything we can do?
Nadezhda
Even the most miraculous Arts cannot reverse total failure of biological function.
Nadezhda
But feel free to try to ease his pain with your Arts, if he wakes up.
Closure
Did you find medicine, Amiya?
Amiya
Closure—
Amiya
I just found a doctor. Give me a moment.
Amiya
Doctor Nadezhda, do you have medicine for Arts overload reactions here?
Nadezhda
Arts overload reaction? What are the symptoms? Weakness in the limbs, or brain fatigue?
Amiya
She lost consciousness... we don't have enough emergency medicine. Can we get some from you?
Nadezhda
Lost consciousness? That sounds serious...
Nadezhda
I can't just give you that sort of medicine without ascertaining the patient's condition. I'll come with you.
Amiya
Alright...
Hierda
Doctor—
Nadezhda
Metabolism inhibitor for you. I wasn't joking. Stay behind and help him, if you're willing.
Nadezhda
There's no obligation. If you don't want to help, you're free to leave on your own.
Nadezhda
Borislav will be bringing Tonya over. She's been looking for the patient. There'll be someone taking care of him.
Nadezhda
Oh, and... Amiya's the name, right? Take a dose of metabolism inhibitor, since you've been in contact with that patient. Not that it's much more than a placebo, given how little we know about this sickness.
Hierda walks into the operating room after the others have left.
The disintegrating patient has been moved to a bed, surrounded by transparent tarp sheets as a temporary quarantine measure, making it hard to see clearly.
Hierda walks closer, and sees that the patient's chest continues to rise and fall underneath the new bandages.
Strange Patient
Ugh...
Hierda
You're awake? How are you feeling?
Strange Patient
...It hurts...
Hierda
......
Strange Patient
Help me... help me.
Hierda
I-I can't end your pain. I tried, but I couldn't liberate you from your pain like I do with the others—
Strange Patient
Ugh...
Hierda
Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?
Strange Patient
Argh—ugh...
Strange Patient
...Kill...
Hierda
What did you say?
Strange Patient
Kill...
Strange Patient
Me.
Hierda
Kill you...?
Strange Patient
I can't see... Mulka.
Strange Patient
My Mulka—
Hierda
You can't get up—
Strange Patient
*cough* *cough*!!
Hierda
You need to stay still and conserve your strength. Using up your energy now will only make it hurt more later.
Hierda
Do you need something? I'll help you.
Strange Patient
*cough*...
Strange Patient
I went to where we first met.
Strange Patient
I saw you sitting there with a cloudbeast in your arms.
Strange Patient
......
Strange Patient
How strange, when you're already gone...
Strange Patient
...Ugh...
Strange Patient
Argh—
Hierda
Sir!
Strange Patient
What do I want...? I want to die...
Strange Patient
Kill me. Don't give me any more hope.
Strange Patient
Don't let her see me as I am now...
Hierda
......
Hierda
No, maybe... maybe I can—
She cannot describe her sudden impulse. Does she want to fulfill his wish, or help him live on less painfully?
There is no act of resolve. Hierda simply reaches out again and places her hand upon his heaving chest.
Hierda
(I ask you to grant another wish.)
Hierda
(May your blessings be upon all of us equally.)
Hierda
(Even if Oripathy is not the reason for his pain, even if he could not know your name...)
Hierda
......
Hierda
I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you will be far from pain.
The skin, a sickly green covered in red blood, peels off like moss. The soft flesh beneath has hardened.
Orange rocks begin to replace what is left of the man. Hierda's eyes go wide; she has never seen a transformation like this before.
Finally, a small smile appears upon the patient's face.
Strange Patient
...If you see 'Mur'...
Strange Patient
Help me...
Strange Patient
Thank him for his companionship.
Hierda
......
???
What did you do?
Hierda
I... I didn't—
Calm Youth
I don't think I was seeing things.
Calm Youth
Please explain—what did you just do to this patient?
The young man deftly brushes the dead body to one side with his sword, takes a silk handkerchief from a servant, and begins to wipe away the blood from the blade.
Anatoliy
......
Anatoliy
So, tell me...
Anatoliy
What do you mean when you say you don't know where she is?
Brave Servant
...We sent someone to follow Gospozha Hierda, but we lost track of her after she entered the underground residential layer.
Brave Servant
We began searching for her immediately, and we have narrowed down the search to an illegal Infected squatter zone that we have been trying to eliminate.
Brave Servant
We believe that Gospozha Hierda went there to... perform her miracles.
Anatoliy
Perform her miracles... Hmph. Who told her she could hand out blessings like that? Does she think everyone deserves this salvation?
Soldier
Generalik! We found an illicit gathering in the Third District while pursuing the assassin!
Soldier
These Infected are in violation of curfew, and attempting to resist arrest. They may be a diversion for the assassin—
Soldier
Your orders, sir?
Anatoliy
......
Brave Servant
Both the Third District and the main urban area where Gospozha Hierda might be are not far from here.
