CHAPTER ELEVEN
Time For Rejoicing

Tomoe Tachibana

"If patients start convulsing, turn their heads aside! Make sure they don't choke on anything, like their own vomit! Check on them from time to time to update triage tags!"

In the midst of the coughing patients, ridden with the Rosalia Virus, Esha Patel stand by the brick Resurgam First Care wall and shouts out orders to the paramedics, directing the traffic flow between the hospital and the first response grounds. In the distance, she can see more and more army helicopters and trucks pulling in, pulling out more patients... green-and-yellow-dressed paramedics run everywhere, struggling to keep those who are still alive stable, and transporting more patients by the second. Still, it's not enough, and as Esha watches the black triage tag numbers increase, hope begins to fall, because when a black tag has been put on, it's all over.

"This is Leukocyte, dropping in ten..."

Esha shakes the ridiculous sound out of her head, telling herself that this is no video game, and there should be no weird announcers saying stuff...

"Nine, eight, seven..."

Surprise overcomes her face as Esha sees paramedics looking up, from where the voice is coming from. Gasping, she recognizes the sound... it's Holden's voice, coming from the sky...

Raising her head, she whispers, "That's..."

"Three... two... one..." The countdown hadn't ceased as Esha was thrown into confusion, and now, she watches something fall out of a helicopter and down to the ground... a giant metal crate of some sort... with a parachute...

Screaming, she runs, because she is standing right under the spot where the box is aimed to drop... as she runs, she can't help but sneak a look behind her, and the last thing she had ever expected to see is that Maria Torres is standing on top of the box, clutching the parachute's strings tight.

Esha dives to the ground, rolling for cover as the box falls onto the grass with a thud, though thankfully, not on top of patients. But it had almost crushed Esha, and now she stares at the paramedic, eyes wide, mouth wide. "M-Maria...? You're...?"

Maria Torres jumps from the top of the crate, heedless of the paramedics now staring at her. "Chief! We've brought the serum! Start distributing it!"

Maria leaves the chief alone on the field, and she runs off for the hospital, a vial of something clutched in her hand. Her short brown hair is swept apart by the wind, yet it doesn't obscure her vision at all, though lost hours of sleep is causing fatigue to dawn on her. Still, she can't give up now... this is the final battle...

"A-All right!" Esha stammers, ditched by the paramedic. "Hey, where are you... whoa!" Her last words are cut off as the red-and-white parachute falls on top of the chief's head.


CR-S01 and Tomoe Tachibana are still in the middle of the hopeless operation. Tomoe treats one blood pool and a spot of hemorrhaging, but more show up. When the field has finally been cleared, though, the black bruise remains, causing more and more untreated areas to show up. It just... never... ends...

The thundering of footsteps causes the two distracted surgeons to look up, and both of their hearts lighten as they see who is sprinting into the room at full speed, panting from her run.

"Maria!" CR-S01 and Tomoe cry simultaneously, but Maria cuts them off.

"Tomoe! The serum!" Maria yells, unable to keep her voice controlled. In her right hand, she clutches a vial of some sort of liquid: the serum extracted by Naomi from the Asclepias flowers. "Use this!"

Tomoe, not wasting time and breath for asking questions, beckons quickly for Maria to come forwards. "Quickly, set it into the endoscope!"

CR-S01 had already snatched the vial from Maria, though, his skills and reflexes just as fast as they are in the middle of an operation. "All right...!" he declares, obeying Tomoe's orders, and having spent many hours by Tomoe's side during endoscopic operations, he knows how to set a serum in. "It's good to go!"

"I'm starting the treatment at once!" Tomoe announces with an aura of determination raging and boiling from all around her, emitting a sense of fierce Tachibana blood inside, refusing to give way to any disease that threatens the path of honor. "Let's end this war!

And with that, Tomoe Tachibana throws herself back into the operation.

"The antiserum inhibits the Rosalia Virus' growth!" CR-S01 says, being the expert on the virus that he is. "It has no effect on areas that are already affected. "

"Understood." Tomoe responds, readying her endoscope. "I'll inject the serum after treating them."

"The colonies have begun to appear! Watch the vitals!" CR-S01 says, eyes fixed on the monitor.

"We won't lose! We will stop this virus!"

Tomoe sets her endoscope inside the patient and begins to move it through the lung tubes.

"All right! The antiserum is ready to use. Resume the treatment!" CR-S01 confirms.

"Indeed. Let's hurry!" Tomoe uses her practiced hand to guide the endoscope.

"The procedure will be just as I explained it before. The serum will not work on the affected areas that have already formed. Treat all the affected areas first, then inject the serum into the discolored area."

"I understand." Tomoe says, determination in her voice. "We'll win this fight, no matter what happens!"

Tomoe guides the endocscope into the nearest passageway. Immediately, she runs into one of the black areas, the walls covered with the blood, ulcers and lacerations covering the walls. Tomoe sets to work, using her drain, hemostatic forceps, and antiviral spray to treat the anomalies.

"The affected areas in this area are gone!" CR-S01 says. "Use the antiserum! Now!"

Tomoe quickly switches out the tools in her endoscope and injects the antiserum into the tunnel's walls. Instantly, the darkened walls begin to glow, and the infection seems to be sucked out of the tunnel.

"The antiserum! It's working! If we keep this up…" Tomoe says excitedly. Then, the blackened area seems to disappear altogether, leaving smooth tissue behind. Tomoe quickly repeats this procedure on the other blackened areas. After treating all affected areas, she pumps antiserum into the tissue, and the black tissue vanishes.

"The blackened area's gotten smaller! We can do this!" she says, determination written on her face. She makes her steady progress through the tunnels.

"This is the last discolored area!" CR-S01 finally remarks. "Hit it with the antiserum!"

"This is the last one," Tomoe agrees. "Leave us in peace!"

After a final pink glow, the infected tissue disappears for the last time. "The virus colony has disappeared completely. Operation complete!"

"We… we really treated her!" Tomoe says, grinning from ear to ear. "We really did it!"

"I've kept too high an opinion of myself," CR-S01 remarks.

"Why? What's the matter?" Tomoe asks.

"Oh, no, it came to me while watching you operate. I need to study more."

Tomoe turns her head, looking into CR-S01's eyes, but the heated crimson color seems to have faded to a dull, softer color, one that almost seems defeated or lost. Smiling softly, she can only celebrate with the rest of the doctors and hope that one day, the young criminal surgeon will find peace among what little is left of himself in this world.

"The vitals are stable," says Tomoe gently. "We're done. Operation complete."

Maria, who had been standing silently in the corner for the whole time, swallows down her final doubts of a true operation success. If one person is cured... does that mean everyone else can be cured as well?

"We... we did it?" she breathes. "We did it..." Laughing, grinning, and crying at the same time, she runs forwards and tackles Tomoe with a hug, no longer caring about how she is displayed in front of the other nurses in the room, no longer caring about embarrassing herself. All that matters is victory, the pure, sweet taste that will linger in her mind forever. "It's over! We won!"

"Whoa..." Tomoe gives a small squeak, but smiles. "H-Hey, Maria?"

In the distance somewhere, Emma and Darnell are also cheering with Maria and Tomoe, the heroes of this epidemic. Their cheers all drift away into nothingness... just as Albert Sartre had described... in CR-S01's mind. He doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything, merely stares ahead at Tomoe and Maria, laughing and cheering. The prisoner stays absolutely still, knowing that with his success, his freedom will end.

Soon.

But... while his sister and stepfather have been eradicated from this world, at least... they still live, within his memories. Memories that will never be stolen again. Finally, at peace, CR-S01 lowers his head slightly, and closes his eyes.

"It's over," he murmurs softly. "It's all over, Professor Sartre."

For the first time in eight long years, and perhaps, even longer, CR-S01 does the most unimaginable thing ever, one thing he had thought he'd never do ever since his imprisonment.

It's faint, it's weak, it's mild, but it's there. It's unbelievable, but it's still there.

CR-S01... smiles.

He is left at peace, thinking about his retrieved memories, and while they were ugly, it's better to keep them there, in their rightful place, something to hold onto back in prison. Happiness engulfs him for the first time in years, perhaps even decades, but it's short-lived and doesn't last long.

"Wooooah! He cracked a smile!" Maria laughs, running up to CR-S01's smiling figure. That's unheard of. "I didn't know you could!"

Almost immediately, CR-S01's smile fades and vanishes into his old scowl. "What the..." he starts, hands already protesting for him as he raises them slightly.

"Make up your mind!" Maria admonishes. "Are you happy or angry?"

The next scariest thing happens: everyone in the room starts to laugh, celebrating their victory, the first victory since the epidemic first began. Darnell, Emma, Maria, and Tomoe... all laughing hysterically, but in the midst of it all, even the criminal surgeon CR-S01 somehow manages to laugh along with them.


"Nice timing," Gabe smirks, standing on the roof, beady eyes glaring at Jacob Tillman before him. "I forgot to ask what you want on your tombstone."

The old Tillman would've scowled and swore, but the new one just chuckles. "I can't die. You owe me, remember?"

"Hey, easy," Gabe laughs. "I never want to look after a fogey like you again."

On the other side of the roof, something completely contrasting from the casual conversation of Gabe and Tillman's is happening; CR-S01 and Ian Holden stand, staring each other down.

CR-S01 speaks first, breaking the silence, all too aware of Gabe's stare on his back.

"I'm glad to see that you're all right," he says carefully.

"Surprised?" Holden chuckles.

"Don't worry," says CR-S01 lightly. "If anything happened, I'd operate on you." He almost smiles, but remembers the seriousness of this race: Holden is no longer a friend, but now, an enemy.

"That's a good sign," the FBI agent shrugs, not quite fitting CR-S01's description. "Ah, right, I had something to t-"

The rest of Holden's words are cut off by Maria Torres running – and coming to a stop – right between the two men. CR-S01 feels almost disappointed, because he senses that Holden was going to tell him something, but...

"Aha!" Maria grins. "There you guys are!"

"Don't hide over here and smile at each other!" Esha adds, cutting in between Maria and CR-S01, and as a matter of fact, neither men are smiling. "Join us!"

CR-S01 tries to move, but Esha blocks his way by an arm, joined by Maria. "Oh, no. You're not going anywhere. Start celebrating, dammit!"

"Maria," Tomoe laughs, catching up. "Please, don't push so much."

"Hey, keep it down, you numbskulls... this is still a hospital..."

Laughing, the scene on the roof is indeed something very surprising: Esha Patel and Maria Torres cutting off CR-S01's means of escape, laughing merrily, with Tomoe Tachibana, Gabriel Cunningham and Hank Freebird watching. In the back, Ian Holden and Jacob Tillman stay back, watching the fight in front of them, but enjoying every moment of rejoicing. It certainly does seem to look like a blast – but one person is evidently missing from the crowd: Naomi Kimishima.


I TOLD YA! CR-S01 IS A REGULAR HUMAN! (After Time For Rejoicing, he is)

Ahem, I know it's Darnell who did the creepy laugh, but I CAN'T HELP IT. Pretend that he laughed, even a leeeeeeetle bit? *puppy dog eyes*

And yes, I did have to throw a bittersweet light onto the end. Muahahaha.

(op by Aya)

~fk