404 was sitting at the drive rail, near the place where she had fallen to the ground and cried earlier that week.

She was still embarrassed that she had shown that side of herself to Hundred and all the captains. Especially now that she was back in control.

“Strange things like this can happen from time to time, but order will always prevail. Before you know it, everything will go back to normal.”

The sentiment was meant more for herself than for Hundred.

She sighed. 911 would be sending the checkup data soon. And before she went to sleep, she’d send a neatly organized observation file to Administration. They’d figure out what was going on; they’d take care of it. Something would be done about Ten. And then everything would be fine again.

Suddenly, 404 felt a change.

She closed her eyes and looked through the directory. The Medic Phaetons. Number 911. Status signal.

Offline.

The shock broke her concentration. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she closed them again.

There was something else…Personal Messages. Something from the infirmary. Subject: EMERGENCY. File…

She tried to open the file. It wouldn’t work. She couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to be.

She stored it in her memory, just in case. Then she opened her eyes and took off running.

+++

404 shoved open the infirmary door, breathless. “911!” she cried. “911, are you in here?! What happened?!”

“Hey! You almost hit me in the face.”

911 stepped out from behind the door. She looked at 404 curiously. “You sick or something?”

404 stood up slowly. “I…you…someone sent a message from here. Marked ‘emergency’ in all caps.”

“That doesn’t sound good. What did it say?”

“It didn’t say anything! There was a weird file, and— so you’re telling me YOU didn’t send it?”

“Why would I? There’re no emergencies here. Since this dry spell started up, I’ve had nothing but free time.” 911 yawned. “I was just about to call it a day…do you mind?”

404 backed out of the room. 911 shut the door and locked it.

“…Did you at least get the data?” 404 asked.

“Data…yeah, I did get some.”

“Well?? Why haven’t you sent it to me yet?”

“…I deleted it.”

“…What?”

“Ten’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with her.”

404 stood in front of 911, blocking her path. “I didn’t ask you to find out if anything was wrong with her! I simply asked you to give her a checkup and send me the data! Why would you delete it?! We’ll never be able to get her to do this again without looking suspicious!”

“That’s for sure.”

Ten appeared behind the pair. 911 waved.

404 looked through the directory again, this time with her eyes open, locked onto Ten. Medic Phaetons. Number 911. Status signal.

Offline.

“…What did you do?” she asked Ten.

Ten laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“What did you do to 911?! I know you did something!!”

“911 is standing right in front of you. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Why don’t you not,” 911 said, yawning again. “Look, I don’t know what kind of game you guys are playing, but I really don’t have the energy right now.” She brushed past 404. “See you jokers in the morning...”

404 was left alone in the hallway with Ten.

“I know you did something,” she repeated tearfully.

“I still don’t know what you mean. I did ask her what was bothering her,” Ten replied. “And after that, she seemed to be feeling much better.”

“Her signal is OFFLINE!!”

“404…you look stressed. Maybe I can help you, too. Just talk to me.” Ten stepped forward.

“It’s too late for all this noise.”

Fifteen stepped out from behind a corner. “You should both be asleep,” she added.

Ten stared at her strangely, with an expression that looked like a mixture of shame and annoyance. Then she walked away.

404 turned around. “Fifteen…” she began.

“Don’t. Just go to your pod.”

“But…you know what’s happening, right? You probably just saved my—!”

“I said don’t.”

She walked a few paces away from 404, then stopped. “Tomorrow. 10 AM. At the front gate.”

Fifteen resumed walking. 404 just stared after her.