Chapter 8: Forbidden Fruit

He rushed headlong toward two large silver doors and slammed through them. He felt encrusted salt scratching his back. Little flakes of white glistened on his arms. He was exhausted, his eyes itched from flash blindness, his fingers were cold. His mouth felt dry and parched. His mind was inside out and upside down like a roller coaster he couldn't step off of. His arms were jelly and his legs hurt to move. He ran after the gurney as the doctors crashed Victor through one door after another. Yells of protest erupted from behind him.

"Royce, let him go! They'll take care of him! Stop!"

At last they arrived at a set of large doors labeled "OPERATING ROOM" and a large man dressed in green scrubs held him back.

"You can't go in there." His blue gloves gripped his chest.

He wheezed out words, half truncated, half complete: "The hell I- I-"

He stopped struggling and his body finally gave in to exhaustion. He collapsed in the doctor's arms.

Darkness crept over his mind.

…

Soft voices echoed over him in the darkness.

"He wasn't ready for that."

"Apparently he wasn't ready to die either."

"EMP blasted both their helmets. He took a big hit."

"He wasn't wearing a transceiver. That probably saved him."

"So you're saying he's got optos after all?"

There was a sound like paper rustling.

"Gray matter scans are showing localized optogentic activity. It's low level, but it's there. And it's deep. Must have taken a decade to reach this level of integration."

"How is that possible? He's never received-"

"It must have been from the girl. If we're not careful, she might realize the truth. Also- there's something else." More papers flipping. "We got his bloodwork back. Look at this."

A man gasped.

"Somehow his body's developed a natural resistance to-"

"I must alert Elder Ikuno immediately. She'll want to know a U.N.F. pilot-."

"Balman- be careful how much you tell the U.N.F. Your first priority is getting Stylet on that shuttle."

Green and white flickers danced in front of his eyes on a curtain of velvety black.

He opened his eyes to a white tiled ceiling. A set of small delicate hands rested on his shoulders. He looked up to see Ria's big green eyes staring down at him with an expression of utter concern.

"Ria." He was relieved to see a friendly face after his nightmare of voices speaking terrifying words which he could scarcely comprehend.

"Royce! You're awake! Are you feeling alright?" she smiled and leaned in to hug him. Her short hair got in his mouth and he raised his arm to embrace the back of her head.

He peered around the room while she embraced him tightly and buried her face next to his.

He lay inside a sea-green hospital room with a bright light above and no windows. They were alone in the room. A long green curtain hung from the ceiling. He figured there was another patient on the other side.

"What happened to Victor? Is he okay?"

She stood up. "Victor's- well. You can see him once you feel better."

"Oh no," he choked on his own spit and tried to sit up but she pushed him back down.

"Rest, just get some rest, Royce. He's alive. He's okay," she reassured him. But he wasn't convinced. She reached into a slim blue bag and pulled out an apple.

"I brought you an apple. Want some?" she asked him with beaming eyes.

"Sure."

She placed it in his hand and he took a bite. It tasted sour and unusually ripe.

"We've got a big mission coming up, you know?" she said as she grabbed his hand with the apple then took a bite out of the other side. He recoiled in disgust. "Oh come on- we can share, can't we?" she teased him.

"Ha, I guess so," he smiled back at her. "So what's this big mission?"

"We're going to fly to Ash Cloud, just you and me. Like we planned- before the recon."

"You heard from Ishigami?"

She nodded. Then he remembered the old man's face and the promise he made. He felt ashamed thinking about another girl with Ria by his side. But despite his better judgment, he was still captivated by the abyss, the demon from his dreams, Pandora's box incarnate. Ria suspected nothing. She continued to beam at him.

His eyes hid the shame deep inside his heart.

Her tone changed to one of sadness, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing I- there's something I have to tell you."

"It's her, isn't it? You still think about her, don't you?"

"What?" he turned back to her.

"That was her, wasn't it? The girl on the crane?"

The Valor Crane?

"No, that was my co-pilot, I only flew-"

"You flew with- her?"

"What?" He recoiled. The apple dropped by his arm and he struggled to understand, "No- she saved my life. I never even saw her face."

"I saw her, Royce! The girl from your childhood drawings, the one you're obsessed with, she was standing on that crane in the construction yard watching you! The one with the pink hair. She had horns, Royce! Horns! Do you even know what she is? Have they not told you about Project Torikago?! I can't believe you'd throw yourself away to become some guinea pig!"

"Wait, slow down! Project Torikago? What are you talking about? I just wanted to thank her for saving me-"

"You can't!" she wailed then threw herself on top of him again. "You can't- I won't let you. If you see her you'll never be the same again. The others are worried too. Ishigami, Kristoff and Cho. They're all worried. We nearly lost Victor, we can't afford to lose you. Please, Royce. Everyone she flies with, everyone she gets close to- ends up dead. I don't care if you hate me-"

"I'm sorry Ria, I guess just can't help it." He said with his hand on her head. "Maybe I just have a habit of poking my nose into trouble. The call of the void, you know?" He noticed the half-eaten apple rolling around on the bed next to her arm, leaving a trail of wet marks on his blue hospital blanket. Then he smiled at her. Her nose was buried next to his shoulder.

"She's probably not even who you think she is." She said.

"I've never even seen her," he tried desperately to comfort her. "But still, I have to know," he said quietly, and regretted it immediately.

She got up and ran out the door holding her face in her hands. Then he was alone in the sterile room.

"Anybody else here," he called toward the curtain. A cheerful voice responded.

"You sure pissed her off, Roy!"

"Kristoff! What are you doing here." He peeled his covers off, then walked to the curtain and tore it away.

Kristoff was sitting upright on his bed with one arm wrapped in thick white bandages.

"The hell happened?"

"Deturium fluoride exposure. From the laser. Took a couple hours to show up. Cho got exposed too, he got burned bad on his back – way worse than me. Went into cardiac arrest. He barely survived. My arm's a little messed up, but I'll be okay."

"Holy hell. So if you're here, what happened to Victor?"

"I don't know for sure. Just the stuff I overheard. I heard you guys flew really close to that discharge. He wanted to get you the best chance at that picture. You took a direct hit from the lightning. It flashed over and fried both your helmets. I don't think they're designed for that kind of thing. The docs said nearly every one of the optos in his prefrontal cortex fired at once. Said he seized for twenty minutes. He's in the neuro ward ever since..."

"No. That's not- How long have I- how long has Ria been here?"

"About eight hours. Ria's been waiting by your side pretty much the whole time. Are you sure you want to keep chasing after that pink haired girl, man? Seems like you and Ria got a pretty good thing."

"I don't know any more." He sat down on the railing of Kristoff's bed and held his co-pilot's bandaged hand. "I'm just glad you're okay, buddy. I'm glad we're all-" then he remembered the cadets. Victor. Ria. So much pain. "wait- what about the-"

"I see you're awake Lieutenant Verbius," came a voice from the doorway. He turned around to see the wrinkled face of Ishigami and by his side a tall mysterious woman. The girl from his drawings. The girl from his dreams.

Her pink hair dangled over her shoulders and intermingled with the bright red scarf she wore around her neck. Her arms crossed a gray uniform jacket and her elbows were lightly powdered with dry brown dust like she'd fallen on a baseball field. Every one of her features spelled out an effortless display of mystery. She was everything he remembered, everything he could have hoped for. But when their eyes met, she frowned at him.

"You don't look familiar," she said.

"What?"

Ishigami added, "you wanted to meet the pilot who rescued you. This is Diana Zhen, former pilot of the former Sunbird- Zero Two." Then Ishigami turned around, and walked through the open door.

"You wanted to see me?" her frown disappeared. She shot him a curious sideways glance. "That was you? With the parachute?"

"I- just wanted to thank you."

She approached him wearing a curious grin.

He leaned on Kristoff's bed as she approached him. Soon her face was within inches of his own.

"Well, do I get a reward for saving your life?" she asked him slyly.

"I- uh- what?"

His heart was racing, beating faster than during the lightning strike or the air combat.

All he could see was her captivating green eyes and he was lost in them. He was hopelessly lost and he couldn't move an inch. "I'm curious," she smiled. "Let me get a taste of you." She stuck out her tongue and licked his face.

He lost his grip on the bed and stumbled a foot away.

He saw Kristoff sit up straight.

She stood there unfazed, licking her lips. Then she contemplated for a moment, twirling her long red scarf between her fingers.

"You taste so familiar- Darling- like a forbidden fruit. Maybe you're my reward after all." She smiled at him. Her long canine teeth exposed a wide toothy grin.

What's that supposed to mean? I don't look like- her Darling? Doesn't she remember me? Why did I have drawings of her? What have I done?

Behind Diana, a blurry shape appeared in the doorway: a girl with midnight blue hair and green eyes with black streaks running down her cheeks.

Diana reached a hand out to him, but he scrambled to his feet, "Wait! Ria! It's not what it looks like-" but she turned away and her sobs only intensified. He heard footsteps running away and sobs in the distance.

What have I done?

He ran to the doorway, then froze there, clutching the steel frame of the door. Forever at the threshold, but afraid to move.

Long arms grasped around his chest and he felt the soft embrace of his wildest dreams behind him. Long soft tendrils of cotton candy dangled over his shoulder as a head appeared beside his own. She was so close to him. Too close. Her hair smelled like cherry blossoms.

"Don't worry, I won't persuade you- much." The smell of maple syrup on her breath mixed with the soft fragrance of her hair.

He couldn't move. Every fiber of his being told him to turn his head, to stare into those captivating eyes – to let himself go and let her obliterate his thoughts in a haze of excitement. But he couldn't. His heart was still pounding. He still gripped the door frame like a raft in a churning sea.

Eventually, she released him. "You're afraid of me, aren't you?" she said. "I should have known you'd be just like the others."

"No!" he turned to her. She looked down at the floor. He couldn't bear to see her cry, he was helpless and she was far too beautiful. He knew he'd do anything to stop her crying if he remained one moment longer.

He ran.