Another chapter, another disclaimer
Arknights is Property of Yostar, I own nothing
Real people/events described are coincidental or not to be taken as fact.
Enjoy
Rhodes Island Medical Report of Lungmen Special Investigation's Request
On Friday, March 4th of 10XX, Rhodes Island was contacted by the LGD Special Investigation unit to examine a urine sample. The reasons were not cited, but it became clear once the sample was tested. Whoever the sample belonged to had an impossibly low originium density. In fact, only trace amounts of originium were discovered. The probability of the trace amounts coming from the environment are quite high, but it cannot be ruled out that they came from the body either. Everything else about the sample was normal, aside from trace signs of drugs being metabolized for both unknown and known substances. Excess signs of vitamin metabolism were also discovered.
Medical Examiner Testimony:
This is a unique sample, with such low signs of originium, perhaps we could learn more if we had the subject's blood as well. We have no idea what their u/L are, but given the signs of the urine sample, it could be incredibly low. So far, we are trying to keep this a secret from Warfarin, but we're not sure how long that will last. Many of the medical operators involved are hopeful that whoever this individual may be, they may be able to shed new light on treatment methods. Assessment: Acquire the mysterious subject if possible, and as soon as possible.
-Dr. Kal'tsit, Head of Rhodes Island Medical Department
It was a relief to wake up in the morning without a nightmare. Evan was far more familiar with just waking up in the morning with an empty void in his memory. He was unsure why he woke up though, his phone said it was nearly five in the morning. A familiar short puff from the coffee machine, and he understood why.
Almost immediately on the dot of 5 AM, the machine beeped and moments later, Ch'en walked out of her room, hair unbound and only slightly frazzled. The fridge opened, and some creamer was pulled out. That's when Evan sat up, still fairly groggy.
"Good morning," Ch'en greeted plainly without turning her head as she poured herself some coffee. "Do you want some coffee?"
"Sure," he replied in a tired voice while getting up. Ch'en poured him his own cup and left the creamer out for him to determine how much he wanted. The dragoness leaned on the counter and Evan looked at her. One thing that was immediately noticeable were dark circles and rings under and around her eyes that he didn't see yesterday. "Did you not sleep well?"
Silence followed, and she continued to drink her coffee. After a few sips she rubbed her eyes and groaned in frustration.
"Don't worry, it's nothing new," Ch'en replied without much emotion beyond a tinge of grumpiness.
"You sure? Sleep is incredibly important."
"You sound like Hoshiguma."
"Well she has a point. Your body doesn't do nothing while you sleep. It replaces chemicals, does maintenance, and solves problems. People can die if they get no sleep at all, and stay awake for far too long."
"What are you, a doctor?" she asked rather annoyed and some cynical sarcasm.
"No, but my mom was. I also know quite a bit about psychology, and I know that sleep is important for mental health and work," Evan said, then took another sip of coffee. Ch'en's response to that was to give a rather annoyed 'tsk' before taking her cup to the couch and sitting down. The television came on, and the familiar sound of news filled the background.
Actually, Evan had noticed that contrary to her office, Ch'en's apartment was rather well decorated. There were a few plants, and each corner had something in it. It wasn't anything compared to Swire's, but Evan thought it was nice and quaint. After roughly an hour, Ch'en told him to start getting ready and walked into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of a shower was heard and Evan worked on ignoring it as he sorted his items and picked out his clothes for the day.
After a while, the shower stopped, a blow dryer was heard, and Ch'en walked out in the same outfit he saw yesterday. He noticed that when she got out, the circles and bags were no longer visible, implying she had used makeup to cover the signs of her insomnia. After Evan's turn in using the bathroom, she had piled his stuff by the door and she stood there with an impatient look.
Once they were on the road, she was rather impatient with her driving as well. Hell, it reminded Evan of his mother when she was going to be late to her destination, so he really didn't try to say anything. Especially not when the amped up drive had two swords with her. "I like having my limbs, thank you."
Upon walking through the doors, another person waited, clearly annoyed in their own way.
"Where the hell were you last night?!" Swire asked, approaching Evan. She saw Ch'en and froze in her tracks. "Wait, don't tell me. Ugh, you slept at her place?!"
Heads turned in shock.
"I swear to the god of shit!"
"Why do you care so much?" Ch'en asked with some frustration clear in her voice.
"I lent him those clothes yesterday, and his box of books are still at my place. Of course I care, if you wanted to take him over to your place for the night, you could've at least told me."
"Please just stop," Evan whined in his head.
"Oh shut it, you'll get your clothes back. It doesn't matter that they ended up at my place for an extra night."
More eyes fell as officers came to see what the fuss was about.
"You f*cking bitch!" Swire screamed with her face going beat red with anger. Then she turned her attention to Evan. "Why didn't you come back? Was my hospitality that poor? All this dragon eats are cup noodles, does that really compare to a glass of fine wine and a five star meal?"
Whispers started going rampant, and the two ladies were too focused on each other to bother listening.
"Are Miss Swire and Officer Ch'en fighting over him?"
"Holy shit, did he sleep with both of them? Two nights in a row?"
"Lucky bastard…"
"Please, god, I will never complain about my luck with women again, just please stop these two from fighting."
"Both of you shut up!" a voice boomed from nearby. All heads turned to the more than six foot tall, single horned oni as she marched over to Ch'en and Swire. Both had looks of dread on their face as the angry, six foot tall, single horned oni marched over with steps that sounded like they would go through the floor. "It's seven in the morning, and you two are already going at it?! Do you even hear yourselves right now?"
Before either could speak, Hoshiguma turned them both around to face Evan and used her hands to force all three of them into a deep bow. "I am so sorry on behalf of these two. Now, both of you, apologize before I bend both of you another ninety degrees."
"We're sorry…" both of them said simultaneously. Hoshiguma let go and gave an exacerbated sigh, her face returning to normal and her voice quieting down. "Sorry you had to see that, Evan."
After a moment of blinking, he responded, "No, I should be thanking you. If both of them continued, I dread to think what kind of rumors would spread. Though it might be too late now…"
With that, they finally realized what they had said, both ladies' faces turned a deep shade of pink while some officers whispered and Swire ran off, screaming between her teeth. Ch'en coughed and walked away, LGD officers cowering or moving several feet away as she did. Even though those reactions didn't help the new rumor mill that just got flooded, Evan turned to the last one there and bowed to Hoshiguma.
"Thank you so much, I shudder to think what would be swirling around if those two continued."
"It's nothing," Hoshiguma responded with another deep sigh. "They're normally not that bad. But, I have never seen them this bad first thing in the morning. Swire was waiting there before her shift starts, which was unusual. Now that I think about it, Ch'en appears like clockwork every day at exactly seven in the morning."
"I see…"
Surprisingly, Hoshiguma gave a light chuckle afterwards. Then she said, "I've never seen them fight over someone before. For either one, it isn't easy to invest interest in a single person, so I must say you're quite unusual in that sense. See you later, maybe I'll take you with us next time we go out to drink."
Evan was left there, stunned for a good long while. That day, none of the officers dared try hazing him. Rumors about the mysterious stranger who may or may not have slept with the two senior officers would continue for quite a while. On a technical level, they weren't wrong. That was only if 'with' meant the same apartment and not the same room and bed or a very specific elicit activity.
"Dear god, please don't tell me I'm the protagonist of a harem anime."
It was reaching noon when Evan got called to Ch'en's office. When he left the lobby, he could hear the sound of Swire throwing something at a gossiping officer, again.
"Don't think I didn't hear you!"
With a simple head shake, he continued to walk up. As he approached Ch'en's office, some of the officers began to whisper. All he could really make out was that there was yet another rather attractive young girl involved. This one came in and asked for him apparently. This gossip was proven true when he opened the door to Ch'en's office and saw just that.
"Oh, you must be Evan," she said with a rather happy demeanor. Evan looked her up and down. She was dressed rather heavily, and carried a staff of sorts. She also had a very large volume of brown hair with two pointed ears sticking out either end of her head. She also had a black bag and wore a red hairband with white edges. Her hair was done up in two comically large twintails. Evan looked at Ch'en for an explanation who just shrugged. Evan looked back to the girl and she continued after giving a ninety degree bow.
"My name is Angelina, a messenger from Rhodes Island."
"Rhodes Island?" Evan asked curiously. Angelina didn't seem fazed, she just kept going after that.
"Yes, Rhodes Island. We're a pharmaceutical company who primarily research methods of treating oripathy. Madame Ch'en here sent one of your...erm...samples to us for testing."
"Ok…" Evan said with some unease as this young girl who looked like she should be in school about now began shuffling through her bag. She then handed him a couple pieces of paper that looked like an application of sorts and a report of some kind.
"He can't read," Ch'en stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh, my apologies," Angelina said in a business-like manner. She then began pointing to the papers as she told him what they were. "That's your test results, which are really, really fascinating to the Medical Department for some reason. Then that is an application to join Rhodes Island should you choose so."
"Wait, what?" both Evan and Ch'en said simultaneously with confusion.
"I'm not a doctor," Evan said waving his hands in a 'no' fashion. Ch'en on the other hand was looking at Angelina with a suspicious squint in her eyes.
"Oh, not to worry. There's lots of positions to apply for. Engineering, Human Resources, Messenger and Transport work, Logistics, and even Combat Operator."
"Are you really a pharmaceutical company?"
"Yes," both ladies said with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
"Then why do you have that many vastly different positions?"
For the first time since he met her a minute ago, Angelina looked confused. Ch'en on the other hand, pinched her nose as though something really annoying happened.
"Angelina, may I ask who requested him to join?" Ch'en asked after taking a deep breath.
"Doctor Kal'tsit and The Doctor of course," Angelina responded. "Both were very interested in his test results, and most of the medical team too."
Ch'en's head hit the desk and she uttered some Lungmen profanity before pulling something from her drawers and plopping a stamped and sealed folder on the desk. She then took a deep breath and lifted her head, glaring at Angelina. "Here, this is what we've found out about him so far. You may take that back at least, but do not, under any conditions, open it. Only those two can."
"O-Ok," Angelina replied meekly and nervously as she gently placed the folder in her bag. "What about him?"
Ch'en turned her gaze to Evan and offered him a choice, "Well, I've cleared you of suspicion, so you have a choice here. If you don't go, you can keep working as Swire's assistant. On the other hand…" Ch'en paused a great deal, clearly thinking a lot about her words before continuing. "Rhodes Island, I'm a little suspicious of it. But, it would be stupid of me to deny that they're very impressive and have far higher potential than a career as a nobody here in Lungmen."
Both eyes looked at him, and he looked between Ch'en and Angelina. After a short moment of waiting, he nodded his head then answered.
"Angelina, I'll accept."
"Oh, thank goodness. Kal'tsit really, really, wanted me to bring you back today if possible," Angelina said with great relief. She took the papers back from Evan and stuffed them in her bag and gave a big smile. "Well, I have some other errands to run. You should get packed, I'll be back soon to pick you up."
Angelina left the office, leaving Evan and Ch'en alone. The atmosphere was tense. It didn't last very long though.
"What are you waiting for? Go tell Swire. I'm certainly not going to tell her."
Evan left the office and shut the door, the officers on the floor stopped talking and looked at him curiously. Yeah, he made the right call getting out given how things were going. Hopefully, if he came back to Lungmen the rumors won't have gotten worse.
A short walk down to the lobby, Evan approached Swire.
"Hey, Miss Swire?"
"Yes?" she asked with a small smile, looking up from her work. Suddenly, he felt nervous.
"I've accepted an offer of employment."
Her ears perked up, and her smile grew a little. "Oh, who offered?"
"...Rhodes Island."
Swire's smile vanished in an instant. It wasn't a negative expression, but it was clear she was very surprised at the answer. She turned back to her work and thought for a moment.
"I see...Rhodes Island," she muttered, thinking. She then turned her head to Evan and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Swire looked down at her desk for a little bit then pulled out her phone and immediately dialed in a number.
"Hello Sebastian...yes, I'd like something brought over. Could you bring Evan Carvey's books to the LGD please? ...thank you."
She placed her phone down and turned to Evan. "Well, I'll let you know what your final debt to me is once the messenger I sent to Columbia comes back. If you're ever in Lungmen…" Swire pulled out a pen and paper during her pause and wrote down a series of numbers. She handed it to Evan and finished her sentence. "Let me know."
Evan took it, and walked to where his stuff was. Soon enough, he was waiting outside the LGD patiently. Swire's butler got there first and he nearly had everything back. Everything except his car and what other large luggage was in it. As he was waiting, Ch'en of all people came out.
"Here, this will get you in and out of Lungmen with ease. Until next time," she said in a business-like manner as she handed a card of sorts to him. He looked at it for a bit, but before he could thank her a jeep of sorts playing pop music pulled up and the window rolled down.
"Heyo," a merry girl with orange hair and horns sung. "Penguin Logistics at your service~."
Evan looked inside one of the back windows and saw Angelina waving to him. When he turned around, Ch'en was gone.
True to Ch'en's word, the pass worked its magic. The moment whatever Lungmen called customs saw it, they just let the entire car pass without inspection and just let them on the elevator.
"Good golly Mr. Carvey, you must be well connected to the LGD to have a pass like that," the girl named Croissant stated quite happily.
"Not really, Ch'en just gave it to me as a parting gift," Evan responded a little nervously.
"Still, I'd call that good connections. Maybe you could-"
"Croissant," a quiet voice interrupted from the driver's side. A wolf girl with her focus still squarely out the window put something that, thankfully, wasn't a cigarette in her mouth before speaking again. "Don't get any ideas."
"Aw come on Texas~" Croissant whined. "You know how much more we could expand operations with something like that? We'd make sooo much money."
"No," Texas chastised. That's when the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a tunnel. Texas started driving, all the while her choice of pop music played.
The rest of the ride was something else. Croissant and Angelina proved to be very, very talkative. Just about every mundane subject came about, and they kept asking questions, even when it confused them. They asked Evan about, well, basically everything about him. Where he was from, what he did, and about his hobbies. They basically got his whole life story out of him over the course of the car ride. Somehow, they didn't find out he was from another world, yet. Even Texas asked a few questions or gave minor remarks during the trip, but she really didn't say much. Though once he noticed that the wolf girl was eating pocky, he asked her something that steered the conversation that way.
"Isn't chocolate bad for canines?"
Angelina covered her mouth in an effort to stifle her laughter, and Croissant blinked a little before laughing hysterically.
"Oh, haha, that's, snort, amazing. Pffft, Texas, Texas, did you hear that one? Oh my gosh, it's like he's never seen a lupo before," Croissant said while laughing. After a while, he looked to Angelina who turned her head, holding her mouth with some quiet giggling coming out.
"Well, I haven't seen a lupo before."
"Wait really?" the joyful horned girl asked with genuine surprise. "You haven't? Wait, what races live where you do?"
Evan froze a moment, both girls' eyes were on him. "Erm...well...I don't know how to say this…"
"Oooh, a secret? Come on, spit it out!" Croissant eagerly requested, her hands grabbing the back of her seat and leaning forward to stare at Evan. "It sounds like where you're from is interestin' tell me, tell me!"
"Croissant, sit down," Texas futilely scolded. It did buy Evan some time though. He remembered that file Ch'en handed Angelina, and realized that perhaps the information about him being from another world would be best, not said everywhere.
"You can trust us," Angelina said with a smile. "I'll make sure Croissant doesn't run her mouth."
"Meanie~" the horned girl playfully whined. "But yeah, I'll zip my mouth, and Texas never lets anything slip. So tell us."
"Well...I come from somewhere where no one has...animal features at all," Evan said. Both of them looked at him with curiosity, clearly expecting more. Well he had already said his hometown, the University he attended, and other such things, so he thought, "Eh, what the hell, they'll find out eventually."
"I come from...another world."
"Whoa, awesome!" Croissant shouted. "Hey, you hear that Texas? Another world!"
"Yes, that is interesting," Texas replied robotically. "So, will you sit down?"
"Yeah yeah, you're so stuffy in the car."
"I am driving after all."
Suddenly, laughing started filling the car again. Even Texas looked in the rearview mirror at its source, Evan. He laughed, and laughed some more. Even Angelina gave a small giggle, and Croissant gave a small snort.
"What's so gosh darn funny Mr. Carvey?"
After calming down, Evan answered, "That's the most positive reaction I've seen about my otherworldly origins. It's not exactly easy to conceal since it was probably on the news in Lungmen."
"I'm going to guess it's that Traffic Anomaly from two days ago," Texas added as she pulled another pocky.
"Yeah, not exactly a very fun time," he replied with a rather casual way.
"Oh yeah, the city net was blowing up over that," Croissant added. "Lots of people were wonderin' about it. But yeah, that makes sense. Not like anyone could use arts like that without being detected."
Evan was really curious about that word, arts. Considering he was in a fantasy world, he assumed it was magic of some kind. His gaze turned to Angelina's staff, his curiosity returned about the world he was in.
"By the way, what are arts?" he asked Angelina. She then immediately frowned and pouted, turning her head away.
"Rude, did you assume I'm an arts user because I have a staff? What if I just use this to walk?"
"Oh, sorry," Evan apologized sheepishly, but almost immediately she began laughing. "Don't play with my heart like that."
"I'm just kidding~" the teenage vulpo responded with a rather joyful smile. She then held her staff up for him to see. "I'm still learning, but think of arts as a method of harnessing the power of originium. With the originium in our blood, we can draw out energy from an originium source and use it. My staff has one such source in it, or a catalyst if you will. The rest of the staff itself helps me control my arts."
"So...kind of like how a laptop uses electricity from a battery to use its circuits. I see," Evan said with a nod. Angelina looked like she sort of followed, but not entirely.
"...Yeah," she responded. Then her attitude shifted, "Some people are more talented in arts than others, and some types of arts are easier to use depending on the person. I'm just an apprentice though. If you want to know more you could talk to someone like Miss Skyfire, she'll give you an earful all day."
"Duly noted," he replied before looking forward. That's when he saw something in the distance, kicking up a massive cloud of dust behind it. "What's that over there? Ahead of us."
"That would be Rhodes Island," Texas deadpanned. They were pretty far away from it, but he had to admit it was something else. The sheer size alone was something to behold, and the fact it was moving added to Evan's awe.
As they approached it, the dust cloud began getting smaller and smaller, and the size became even more astonishing. It wasn't merely a landship, it was a moving fortress. Once the dust cloud finally reached a certain height, a great moan was heard as the island slowly stopped which turned into a deafening roar and a puff of steam came from the top.
"First time seeing a landship?" Angelina asked as she stared at his awestruck face. Evan's response was to merely nod.
A massive door on the side of the ship opened and a ramp lowered for Texas to drive into what seemed to be a garage of some sorts which contained a large array of vehicles of various types. Some were armored company vehicles with the Rhodes Island insignia on them, and others seemed to be more personal. There were also others he couldn't identify the purpose of.
After Texas found a parking space, the group walked to a large elevator and both Angelina and Texas pressed different floors. Texas and Croissant got off earlier, so some brief farewells later, Angelina and Evan were riding the elevator up.
"So, where will you take me?" Evan asked casually. Soon after, the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
"First, I'll take you to see Dr. Kal'tsit. She's head of the Medical Department. She'll decide what to do with you then," Angelina explained as she led him through a series of corridors then to a large set of double doors with various signs on them that Evan couldn't understand around a much larger name. Angelina casually opened the door, and he was greeted to see what seemed like a hospital reception. Over at the counter, there was a white haired girl with owl-like feathers sleeping at the desk.
"Oh, she's asleep…" Angelina observed. She looked around, then quietly motioned for Evan to follow her. A few twists and turns later they arrived at the end of one with a very important looking plaque with two lines on it. Angelina gave two knocks on the door and shortly later, it swung open dramatically.
Author's Note:
So, this chapter may have been done for a while, but it has also had some heavy revisions. Anyways, this is the end of my first set of 4 chapters that were made well before I published this, so don't expect daily updates.
I said it before, but I'll say it again. Goofy scenes like Swire and Ch'en arguing are comedic only so far, and Hoshiguma's invitation has no extra meaning.
Also, I'd like to thank users Goqqi and ItzABlueWulf for adding a bit more to their reviews. As a writer, one of the most rewarding things about this hobby is seeing readers have thoughts about the work. For me, writing is a stimulating activity, so when I get other people thinking, I feel like I've done something right.
Finally, Chapter 5 is underway, but is still being written. About 1.2k Words done at the time of this chapter's publication. Hit a small slump and am honestly stuck on one minor thing, but once that minor thing is figured out, I'll be good to go. Finals and other things are coming for my semester, so I won't be able to dedicate much time to writing. I'll still try to do a little each day though.
Thank you all for your support even if said support is just enjoying my writing. Doctor may or may not appear in the next chapter, I don't know, but prepare to see a lot of Closure for a while.