She continued to eat her food in the cafeteria. It had been a long week.

The mission was simple. Transfer some goods from Lungmen back to Rhodes Island. Easy delivery stuff.

But that wasn't what she was waiting for. The mission before that, she wasn't the one in charge. She hadn't been able to do anything.

She had secretly wanted something to happen. A simple bandit attack. Anything. Something to prove to herself with.

But her expectations were betrayed. She hadn't gotten a chance to unsheathe her sword once. It sat there, on her waist, doing nothing.
Wasted time, wasted potential.

She took another spoonful of the vegetables and shoved them into her mouth.

It reminded her of some bad memories, bad days.

This train of thought was dangerous. If she didn't stop now she would remember Chernobog-

'If you are so hurt, just rest. You aren't supposed to be-'

'Shut up.'
She gruntled as she took another bite.

As if remembering those days weren't bad enough now, she had to deal with him.
Must be divine punishment.

She raised her head from the table and looked around.

Most tables were full. Many operators sat and ate with each other. Friends. Sometimes even family.

She wouldn't be as hurt if she was alone. That would be okay. But she couldn't escape him.

'How rude. I'll have you know I had good intentions in saying that.'

She sighed.

'I know what you truly want. Do you need it that much right now? Can't you wait longer?'

With that, his tone got agitated.

'It's been a week, woman! You know how this feels yourself. It's torture.'

She took another bite of her food, almost done.
The vegetables were extra salty today.

'And two things can be true at the same time. I was there with you. I know what happened. Just give it a rest. Move on.'

Tsk. As if I-

'As if I need pity from such a rotten man. If I could, I would beat you senseless where you stand.'

He laughed at that, well, as close as he could get in his state.

'Well, apparently you do!'

She bit down on the final scoop of her meal as he said that.

'Look at yourself, look at your hand. You are gripping that spoon so hard, it will snap.'

She looked down.

He was right. Her knuckles had gone white and the spoon had bent under her own grip.

She put down the spoon and grabbed her empty tray that was sitting on the green table instead.
Something to anchor herself to.

'You know nothing about me, PARASITE!'

This was it. She had finally had enough of him and his constant whining.

'This is MY body. I didn't ask for this!'

She tried to get up, but something was wrong.

The rest of her body obeyed. But her hand that had been gripping the tray refused to move. It was as if it was glued to the table now. It wouldn't respond to her commands.

Now, he was angry too.

And worse yet, her struggle with her own hand had attracted outside attention as some cafeteria goers turned around to watch the scene.

There were some familiar faces amongst them.
How embarrassing.

'You think I did? I wanted to be with, you, of all people?!'

The anger subsided as quickly as it came, replaced by something else. An ambition that he usually lacked.
She could feel it.

It was as if her insides were on fire.
A spark had been ignited, threatening to run wild once more as it once had.

She knew that feeling. She had felt it only once until now. On that day in Chernobog-

'I won't let you erase me. I refuse to die...Again.'

Those words... They reminded her of what she had seen.

A hospital bed, a lone man. Struggling into the machine, struggling until his bitter end.

She shook her head to dispel those images. She knew that she had to resist.

...

She tried her best. But it wasn't enough. It had never been-

Her other hand disobeyed her as it grabbed the metal tray before her.
She blinked a few times. Or was it him now?

The tray bent slightly under her touch, and before she could retort, her own hands smashed the tray to her face.

!

She lost her balance from the impact as the remains of her food splattered on her fur coat and white hair, ruining them both.

Her boot slipped on something and she fell down.

All the other Operators close by had already gotten up and rushed to her side to check on her but by then, it was already too late.

By the time they got there and a hand had reached out, he had gotten what he wanted.

''Someone, call the Medics and Kal'tsit! Hey! Why did you-''