Chapter One
The sky darkened. It took but a single moment, the blink of an eye, and the once clear blue sky became an abyss of nothingness. Light flickered like stars in motion. They streaked by and granted the creatures of the land a glimpse of the void beyond.
Marley watched all of this unfold while panic gripped her heart. The trainer's legs froze as the world fell apart around her. She tried to get them to move, but her leaden limbs would not respond. Even the sound of a flock of starly could not provoke her into action. She saw the panic in their dark eyes. The flock of starling pokémon were just as frightened as she was. Only they lashed out instead of becoming a statue like herself.
Her own companions must have felt the call to action too because suddenly her world flashed red and an arcanine, weavile, and ninjask descended upon the maddened birds.
The air became a dense mist when her weavile struck. His claws, glinting with razor sharp ice shards, cut down the first few starly while her ninjask intercepted the rest. The bug pokémon's speed allowed it to slash away at their flanks safely with aerial ace. While they rushed the flock, the arcanine stood close to his trainer and watched.
He felt the same as his teammates, but knew their trainer was not a battler. She was too kind and worried even for her opponents. The three of them joined Marley on her journey after they realized this. She needed to be protected so that she could help others heal. That was why he stood guard for what would be next. The sounds of the forest told of many fights near and far. Everything was at odds with reality. Space assaulted time, and everything broke.
It could not last. The arcanine, ninjask, and weavile hoped it would not last. The madness that beckoned them ate away at their desire to protect Marley. Only her frozen form and quiet mumbling held them together. Her faint, repeated, questions of "Why are they fighting?" and "What happened to the world?" ate away at all of them.
Then Marley snapped to attention. Her eyes burned with determination only one trainer inspired in her so far. "Flame, can you get us somewhere clear of the fighting? Flight, cover us and make sure we aren't harassed. Shadow, I need you to find me berries. I don't know what kind, but you do. You can get me what will help those suffering."
The three pokémon exchanged glances. They trusted Marley and each other, but was this the correct action? Did they listen to her order to help save as many as possible, or did they save the one they considered their family? As one the trio agreed to listen. This was why they were with her. This was why they stood guard. It was to let her heal. It was to let her share the warmth of her heart with others.
Marley watched her companions decide to obey her. It felt odd, but reinforced the feeling in her stomach. This was not natural. Nothing would listen to reason. The best she could do was also defy reality then. She would help the wild pokémon even as they attacked her. Shadow would find berries, the natural medicine of the world. She would do as she had done before, follow his lead and use them.
The fainted bodies of torn up wormadam and broken starly would not shake her. Marley focused on bandaging their wounds. She would splint their wings and other limbs as her ninjask, Flight, brought her more wounded. He even brought her the less injured pokémon, those he had to confront to protect her.
It didn't matter that the starly woke with rage in their eyes. It didn't matter that an abra threw her across the glade she worked in. Even hurt as she was, Marley kept working. No matter the inconvenience, she continued to fight in her own way. The world was upside down and violence was expected. She would not stand for that, and little by little she would reintroduce peace.
Marley continued to push until her body broke. Her partners would make sure she lived. She knew that for certain. Just as they knew she would never stop healing those around her. They would fight this madness until it was fixed. Until Flame, her arcanine, howled. His cry warned of other pokémon approaching them. As she turned to look at her partner the sky split again with an ear shattering crash of thunder and lightning.
Marley rolled over to look at her clock, it was only two in the morning. "Why do I keep reliving all of that?" The storm outside her window raged, but it was still nothing compared to the storm that ravaged the whole region the year prior. The fact was, the Sinnoh region was still recovering from it in many areas. "I'd better get back to sleep, Cheryl's gonna nag if I nod off during her lessons." The young trainer had chosen her apprenticeship shortly after, what people now called, the Distortion Event tore through the Sinnoh region. Her training only really just started, but it was under one of the most stubborn teachers imaginable.
"Hhmm, one pecha berry and one oran berry. That should do for a mild antidote without any unwanted side effects." Cheryl mused. She surveyed the berries on the table before her in the small workshop attached to her cabin. "What do you think, Marley?" She asked her apprentice who she could tell at a glance was not all there. Marley's short black hair was not combed in its usual sideswipe with a white ribbon on the opposite end, instead it was still a cowlicked and tousled mess. On top of that, her monochrome dress and vest looked to be yesterday's instead of a clean pair. The only clean part of the girl this morning looked to be the fresh pair of leggings.
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah that should be enough." The raven haired pokémon trainer mumbled incoherently. She still felt off after her nightmare, but there was another thought that no distraction could alleviate. Her fitful return to sleep had come with a dream of its own. It brought up her mood, but left her feeling just as stressed as the nightmare itself.
The emerald haired woman arched an eyebrow as she turned to fully observe her sixteen year-old apprentice. At nineteen, Cheryl was the youngest certified healer in the area around Mount Coronet and the Eterna Forest. After learning she wanted to help heal people and pokémon who had been hurt, she took Marley under her wing. Their similar ages meant little to the teacher and student. They respected each other. Marley because Cheryl was knowledgeable and didn't push for formality or structure, and Cheryl respected her student after finding her in the clearing after the Distortion Event. A frightened girl still determined to patch up the even more frightened wild pokemon around her.
Since then they partnered up to help in healing the region they called home. It had been hectic for some months, and Cheryl had to wonder if that was the problem here. Until now they had never rested. They were never given a moment to stop and really think. An action that Cheryl knew Marley still tried to put off.
With an exasperated sigh, Cheryl accepted the conversation for what it was; the end of the day's lesson. "How much should be enough?"
All of their pokemon seemed to pick up on her mood. Flame and Shadow especially seemed too quiet, their eyes locked upon the humans. Cheryl couldn't help but internally smile at the sheer loyalty those two had for their trainer.
"How much what?" Marley asked. Her eyes still clouded from wayward thoughts. The apprentice did not seem to notice the change in her attitude.
"How much of each ingredient for a mild antidote?" Cheryl wanted to pry into Marley's thoughts, but the girl was skittish. It was better like this. She needed to ease Marley out of her shell, not force her.
"Um, I'm, uh, I can't remember?" Marley now looked completely lost. Cheryl wasn't surprised, but she felt disheartened nonetheless. Marley usually was a fantastic student up until moments like now, when her thoughts became too much to ignore.
"One pecha and one oran berry. What's on your mind, Marley? You're not normally this distracted." Cheryl asked with concern in her dark green eyes.
"I, um, I had that dream again last night." Marley apologized. Her distracted gaze began to wander over the table and the various ingredients that Cheryl prepared for the lesson.
The healer doubted that was everything. The girl's body language spoke far more than her words on any subject. That and her pokemon also showed doubt at her words. "I had hoped we'd seen the last of those nightmares. Do you want anything for tonight? I know they're not pleasant."
Marley waved off the offer with a stiff shake of her head. "No. No, it wasn't nearly as bad."
"Then what's bothering you? I can't help you if I don't know." She asked, smoothing a few wrinkles in her green skirts. Idly she wondered if she would need to pull out her thicker green and brown winter dresses for the fall and winter seasons. She already wore her green half-coat and her mid-calf leather boots even though summer just ended. By Arceus she hated being cold. Marley had already claimed the worktable to busy her hands by the time she finished asking the question.
"There was more to it than just the nightmare. I could tell her about the other dream. It wasn't anything too awkward, but… Do I really want to bring up my worries about the future?" Marley thought as she looked at her teacher. "I.."
Cheryl could see where this was going. A year with the girl gave her enough insight to make it clear what she would say and do next.
The outburst came as expected, if a bit higher pitched than usual. What was said however was not what she'd expected. "Thank you!" Marley squeaked, then ran for the door. Her arcanine followed quickly after. Her face looked nearly as red tinged as his fur. Cheryl was certain the girl was incredibly embarrassed.
"What do you think is troubling her, huh, Shadow?" Cheryl asked. She picked up an oran berry and tossed it to the sharp claw pokémon. Marley's weavile answered the green-haired healer's confused look with a shrug.
He delicately caught the berry to snack on while he thought over the question. Shadow had noticed how Marley looked at other humans before, and while he didn't question it too much, each passing interaction seemed to leave her a bit more stressed. Once he had a clear enough idea of how to portray those thoughts, he pierced the berry with his free claw. Now messy, he drew to the best of his abilities two stick figures holding hands before he ran out of juice to draw with.
It took a few moments to understand what her berry eating friend drew to sink in. "What? Oh, so that's what's on her mind." Cheryl mused, she knew that it had to happen eventually. "Sometimes I still get like that myself. Makes me wonder if I need to keep helping people or settle down. Always food for thought, eh, Shadow?" At the pokémon's slight nod she sighed with a shake of her head before she turned back to the berries. There was still work she needed to do for the day, still people who would need her help. "When you're ready to talk, I'll be here to listen, Marley. I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't do at least that much."
Marley rushed mindlessly through the trees. She kept close to the path, but not on it. She did not want to have to deal with a stranger while lost in her own thoughts. "Flame, how should I tell Cheryl?" Marley knew her arcanine followed her. He always did when things were bad. "She's not my parents. I shouldn't need to remind myself of that."
Flame gave his partner an exasperated look. Marley knew she was being ridiculous. She couldn't help it though. There was only her and Cheryl right now and until the next notification from the League's Reconstruction Union it would stay that way. Her erratic mind could not see a way around things being awkward if they had to talk about relationships.
"I know Flame. I know I'm just running away again. I-" Marley abruptly stopped her tangent when her arcanine's ear twitched. She heard nothing, but something caught his attention. The arcanine did not ready himself for battle though which suggested it was a human that was nearby.
Her observation held merit once the footsteps, and quick ones at that, reached her ears too. That was definitely a human's shoes on dirt. "Per, Lia, Sol, do you see anyone?" Marley distantly recognized the voice. It was a ranger who joined the reconstruction effort around Lake Valor. Beyond that she had no clue.
Flame recognized her too though and gave a loud bark. He then forced Marley back towards the road and the ranger. Marley for her part did not resist, but rather ran along.
"An arcanine? Who's there?" The ranger's voice definitely sounded stressed in her response to Flame and Marley's rush to intercept her. "Sol, Lia, Per, come on back!"
Marley heard the three pokemon clearly regroup at their trainer's side by the time the trees cleared to the mildly trodden trail. "I'm Marley, a healer in training."
"Healer in training? Oh good, I found you two. Good. I need help. There was a landslide near Floaroma where a Reconstruction worker had been digging. He's stuck while his team digs him out." Marley marvelled at how quickly the ranger's behavior changed. She appeared suddenly and lost, her shoulder length butchered blonde hair was a windblown mess from her sprint. Her ranger's uniform, a red vest and form fitting black shorts and tee, was in disarray from it for sure. Yet, she carried herself with the professionalism of somebody who worked through the Distortion Event Reconstruction early days.
Marley put her own thoughts aside, and let Flight out of his pokeball. "Flight, go get Cheryl and lead her to us. I'll be there with…?"
"Shannon." The ranger said with a nod at Marley's motion for a name.
"With Ranger Shannon. It sounds like we'll need salves and bandages for breaks, bruises and lacerations." Marley sagged when Flight bobbed along in midair and took off. Her willpower and ability to lead her team left with him. So instead the raven haired girl turned to the confidently standing ranger beside her.
Shannon nodded again. "Great, let's get moving."
Shannon made sure to be aware of the route she ran, and in no time they spotted the rubble and worker. He was dressed in the clay-brown, white, and red of the Reconstruction Union. The badge of the union, a pair of laurels encircling a pick and shovel, visible on the shoulder of his brown and red blazer. He did his best to remain calm while a sandslash and rhydon dug carefully into the rubble to free their trainer's leg. A silver and blue furred ninetails shielded his head and chest from the raining dust and smaller debris as the pair of pokémon worked.
The ninetales' ears perked up at the sound of the new arrivals, at the same time her tails wreathed themselves in purple flames, prepared to defend her team should the newcomers be a threat. A small stone tapped against the side of her head stealing her attention. The sandslash shook his head, silently telling her to calm down as the healer and ranger approached.
"We're here to help, just hang on and we'll get you out of there." Marley said, She reassuringly placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Even under the dust that coated his half-moon glasses, she could see the pain in his amber and black-flecked eyes.
"Didn't realize how close we were to the surface." He grimaced. He carefully gripped the fur of the silver and blue pokémon that crouched over him. "I should've been paying more attention."
"Everyone makes mistakes. What's your name, and how long have you been with the union?" The apprentice healer asked in an effort to distract him while his pokémon worked. She motioned for Flame to start digging as well once she assessed the situation.
"Darek. I started the day after the Distortion Event." The trainer replied with a wince when the weight shifted onto his leg a little. "Technically I've been doing things like this all of my life, but who's counting?"
As they talked, a loud droning sound echoed off the cliff face. It announced Flight's arrival with Cheryl and the other pokémon. The healer, followed closely by her chansey, her mothim, and Marley's weavile. The green eyed healer started her questions almost immediately, "Can you feel everything, even if it's painful?"
"Yes. And before you ask, I can move my toes. Though they're facing in a way they shouldn't. Pretty sure my leg is twisted." Darek growled out through gritted teeth.
"Marley, grab an arm. Ranger Shannon, correct?" At the pokémon ranger's nod Cheryl continued, "Grab hold of him, as soon as we get a little more weight off his leg the two of you are dragging him out of there."
"What about his leg? If it is really broken like that-" Marley started, only for Cheryl to cut her off.
"Then we'll have to reset it. But, you'll leave that to me." The healer was usually upbeat and friendly but when she needed to, Cheryl's demeanor flipped to serious and borderline cold. "What's your name?" She asked the trainer. She knelt down next to him. She spoke softer than when she gave her orders.
"Darek." Throughout the ordeal he had not once taken his eyes off of his ninetails' fur. The sight of her helped keep him calm. He finally took his eyes off of his pokemon as Cheryl's voice convinced him that he would be fine if he focused on her.
Darek met the green haired healer's gaze right when she jabbed an iapapa berry juice syringe into his arm. The effect was almost instantaneous. His mind fogged over and the pain started to leave him. "You're going to be alright, Darek. We've got you. You'll be back up before you know it." She continued to speak softly, and gave him her most confident smile. Consciousness left him at that exact moment.
A few minutes later Darek's sandslash and rhydon, with the help of Marley's arcanine, had the trainer's leg free of the rubble and carried him over to a small patch of grass. Shannon sucked in a sharp breath when she saw the state of Darek's leg. She didn't have to roll up his pant leg to see it had twisted in the rubble just as the reconstruction worker suspected. "Fire blast… that's gotta hurt. Whatever you gave him, think it'll keep him out long enough to set it?" The ranger asked.
The healer started to pull out bandages and a splint. "It was iapapa juice, and no it won't keep him under. As soon as I twist it back into place he'll likely wake up from the pain alone. Good news is that it doesn't seem to be a crushing fracture; most of the damage will be around his knee where his leg twisted. Crushing fractures can have far worse complications." Cheryl's focused gaze hadn't left her medicine bag.
"When do you want to start?" Marley asked. She mentally ticked off a list of the supplies they had on hand in case she needed to run back to the cabin.
Cheryl placed the items she would need for a splint next to her patient before she looked at her student and spoke. "I want to get his leg set now. It'll make getting him back to the cabin a lot easier."
"I'll hold his arms. Marley, hold his free leg. Don't need him kicking us when Cheryl twists that leg back into place." Shannon prepared herself and the others for the upcoming screams and flailing.
Cheryl rolled up his pant leg and placed a hand on his knee to keep it in place. "Ok, now, three...two...one." She placed her other hand just above his ankle.
With a single movement she pulled hard against his leg. She twisted it as she did so. With a nauseating crack she felt the bones of his lower leg pop back into place at the knee. Darek's amber eyes shot open wide in a silent scream of agony and thrashed once, before Shannon forced him back down.
"Seismic toss, he's stronger than he looks! That can't just be the adrenaline!" The ranger exclaimed. A shocked look travelling from healer to apprentice.
"Probably. Carving tunnels and clearing passes is hard work, even with a team of pokémon." Marley shook her head. She and Cheryl tended to a few reconstruction workers over the last year. Every last one, man and woman, rivaled a machoke in strength. "But adrenaline is also a very strong drug in its own right, so who knows?"
"I'm sorry I couldn't give you anything stronger, Darek, but I am impressed. The last time I did that the screaming was a lot louder. Marley, could you apply a sitrus salve to his leg please?" Cheryl asked. She took Darek's hand in her own and let him squeeze it once the adrenaline from the pain faded.
"Yeah, I can manage that." The apprentice acted fast. She applied the orange paste to a clean bandage before she wrapped it firmly around the leg. Finished with the task she then started to wrap Darek's limb in the splint with thicker cloth before she tied it off even tighter with the bit of prepared cord.
"Good work, both of you. Now for the hard part, getting you somewhere to rest comfortably, Reconstructor Darek." The healer sighed before she shared a relieved look with her helpers and patient
All of the pokémon seemed to understand this and the rhydon crouched down to carefully pick up his trainer. The sandslash moved ahead of the drill pokémon testing the ground to make sure it wouldn't lose its footing and drop their friend. They worked to clear the worst of the rubble earlier and no doubt intended to be back to clear the rest of it later after Darek was settled. The reconstructor's ninetails trod alongside the rhydon, and occasionally nuzzled her trainer's hand to let him know she was there. The ninjask zipped through the air ahead of them in order to guide the way back to the cabin. Shannon, Marley, and Cheryl kept pace with the slower rhydon with the rest of their pokémon fanned out around them in case they disturbed a wild group.
Cheryl glanced at the pain-clouded eyes of Darek's barely conscious form and contemplated using another round of iapapa juice to knock him back out. But the healer was afraid of what that might do. Instead she grabbed a milder oran berry syringe. While the sitrus bandage worked slowly to keep the pain at bay over a long period; an oran injection would act faster and make the pain tolerable.
But before she could inject him, his hand gently clasped around her wrist, "I don't need another one. Besides, as much as it hurts, it helps me know I'm not dreaming. Who'd have thought I'd be found by a green haired angel?" Darek chuckled. His hand slipped from her wrist and he slipped further into the stupor.
"Was that the medicine talking or…?" Cheryl almost tripped while she thought about what just happened, only for her chansey to catch her. The Pokémon looked at her questioningly. "I'm fine, Lum, just confused about something. It's been a strange day hasn't it?" Lum nodded in agreement and they continued walking.
"Ugh...my head is killing me...wait where am I?" Darek wondered when he finally regained consciousness in a dimly lit room. The last thing he remembered clearly was a pair of deep green eyes and a beautiful face framed by equally green locks. He tried to sit up, but a silvery-blue paw pressed down on him in an effort to keep him still. "Hey there, Morgan, been here the whole time?" The ninetails narrowed her eyes slightly, before she ran her rough tongue across his cheek and pressed down on him again.
"I was just coming to check in on you." A voice said from the doorway. It grabbed both Morgan and Darek's attention. "Your ninetails has not wanted to leave the room since we brought you here, she's been by the bedside the whole time. I tried to get her to at least move around and get some food with our other pokémon, but she wouldn't budge. How are you feeling, Reconstructor Darek?"
"Like I had part of a cliff fall on me." The reconstruction worker replied with a smirk. Then immediately winced when he ran a hand along his injured leg. "I don't think I got your name, Ms?"
"Cheryl, I'm a healer. And you couldn't have picked a better area to have an accident. I was certified by the mother of Eterna City's gym leader two years ago. And my apprentice, Marley, is a very quick learner." Cheryl replied with a small hint of pride in her voice. "You'll be up and able to move unaided in a day or so. Though I'm not letting you get back to work for at least a week, you need to let that sitrus paste help your leg first."
"Heh, orders are orders." Darek said, as he took Morgan's paw off of his chest and sat up. "Morgan, can you go and get Lancelot and Galahad? I know they're probably back at the rockslide site. Those two will have made enough space already to keep it from being a problem. We can finish clearing it up tomorrow." Without a sound the fox pokémon padded lightly from the room, before she bounded out of the cabin and ran off to retrieve her trainer's other pokémon.
"I've never seen a ninetails like her. Only ever pictures of one with her fur color, you've got a beautiful partner, Darek." Cheryl said before she caught one last glimpse of Morgan when she passed by the window in the small room.
"We've been together for a long time. I wouldn't have made it through the Distortion Event without Morgan, or Galahad and Lancelot for that matter." Darek said with an appreciative smile.
"The same can be said about my pokémon as well." Cheryl nodded and returned the smile. "Now what do you say we get you out of this room and outside? A breath of fresh air will do you some good."
"Sounds like a fine idea." The injured worker said. He let her throw one of his arms over her shoulder. "Say...um...did I say anything while I was out cold?" Darek asked. He did his best to not lean too much on Cheryl as she helped him stand and hobble to the front porch of the cabin.
"N-No, why?" The healer asked. She hoped he didn't notice the slight blush that started to burn on her cheeks. Once they arrived at the porch, she carefully lowered him into a chair that looked out over the meadow in front of her small home. Lum adjusted a stool to elevate Darek's leg. "Was there something I should have been looking out for?"
"No, no. Nothing like that, it's just I don't really have a filter if I've been drinking or heavily medicated." Darek replied. He subconsciously ran a hand through his short kept slate-gray hair, embarrassed at the idea of having made a fool of himself. "Made one too many bad impressions because of it."
"Ah, I see." Cheryl said, pulling up a chair of her own. "You mentioned Galahad and Lancelot, your sandslash and rhydon, right?"
"Yeah, Lancelot is my sandslash and Galahad is my rhydon. The heavy lifters of our little family." The reconstruction worker answered. "They're more than competent in their work. Galahad handles the main digging and clearing of stone while Lancelot clears the lighter sand, clay, and hard packed soil."
"And Morgan, where does she fit in?" The green-eyed woman asked, curious as to the role a fire-type pokémon could play in a team meant for digging tunnels and clearing rubble.
"You know, that was the same question the union heads asked when I joined up." The short, yet amused laugh that accompanied Darek's answer echoed off the porch awning. "Morgan is our foreman. She's always making sure we're rested enough for a job and not pushing too hard. She even triggers the returns on Galahad and Lancelot's poké balls whenever they don't want to take a break."
"I think I understand. Lum, my chansey, has been with me since my days as a treasure hunter before I decided to become a healer." Cheryl said with a gesture towards Lum as she pulled a large blade of grass from a pocket within her dress, along with a poké ball. With one hand she tossed the poké ball, and with the other, blew into the grass blade filling the porch with a bright flash of light and a piercing buzzing noise. As the light quickly faded into the form of a plant-cloak wormadam, a fluttering of wings announced the arrival of a mothim. "And these other friends of mine are Rawst, my wormadam, and Mago, my mothim. They joined me near the end of my days as a treasure hunter. All three of them kept me out of trouble too."
"It's a pleasure to meet the three of you." Darek said. He gave the three pokémon a warm smile, and pulled his own whistle from a pocket in his blazer. "You may want to cover your ears. Those three should be close enough to hear this and will pick up the pace a little. At the very least Morgan will hear this and move Galahad and Lancelot along quicker." He blew two short blasts into the whistle and then one long blast. A few moments later a flash of silver and blue darted out of the woods around the meadow, followed by the slower forms of Lancelot and Galahad. At the same moment Cheryl and Darek saw Marley and Shannon walk back toward the cabin.
When the crowd approached, Cheryl let out a light chuckle and noticed something hanging from Morgan's mouth. "Hhmm, looks like Morgan has your pack in her mouth, Reconstructor Darek."
"Looks that way, Galahad and Lancelot must've found it and put it to the side." A teasing smirk curled the man's face and he relaxed further into his chair. "And, just Darek is fine, Healer Cheryl."
The healer's chuckle grew into a laugh. "Well, if that's the way you want to go about it, Cheryl will do."
The pair sat in silence after that. They enjoyed the breeze that started to blow, and waited for the other two trainers to reach the porch. Once comfortable, Shannon turned towards the only injured one of the group. "So how is the leg, Reconstructor?"
"Aching, but I'll manage. Ranger...?" Darek trailed, still smiling after the good natured banter.
"Shannon," She replied. She pulled three poké balls from her belt and began to juggle them a little before she activated them. The three beams of light coalesced into her pelipper, rosalia, and her absol. "And for proper introductions, this is my team, Per, Lia, and Sol."
"I'm Marley." Cheryl's apprentice said, before she took out a poké ball and tossed it. The light gathered into the form of her ninjask. "And I guess you've already met Flame, my arcanine. This is Flight and this is Shadow." She said, gesturing to her weavile.
"I'm Darek. It's nice to properly meet you all." He said. He sat up a little straighter to gesture at his own pokemon once they reached the group. "Let me introduce you to Morgan, Galahad, and Lancelot. The best reconstruction team I could ask for."
"It's nice to meet you three." Cheryl said. She smiled at Darek's team while Shannon and Marley nodded in agreement. Of course, at that moment the xtransceiver on Darek's wrist began to chime.
"I should probably answer that. I missed my check-in with my union contact, that could be them calling now." The reconstruction worker winced from the ache in his leg. Once he double checked the contact he accepted the incoming call.
AN
After 5 years, our lives calmed down enough to remember this existed and renew it. Our stubborn minds had to redo chapter 1 too of course, but now it is smooth sailing forward. Note our primary inspirations here are the games, then the manga for any deeper world building. Headacnon first, facts not even third. We are writing this for fun after all.