Yvlen was only getting worse. No one knew what was happening to her, but if it hadn't been for the advanced medic bay in the gargantuan bunker, she probably would have been lost to the world weeks ago. The few times she was coherent enough to talk, she could barely focus on the conversation, and only once did the young girl answer Isaiah's question of what she knew about her condition.
"I…I don't know what's wrong with me…."
Those were her only words before she blacked out. When she woke up again a few days later, she couldn't even remember her name, let alone surmise her ailment.
"What about this one?" Frederic offered. "Uh, I think it's….hell, or…orsin…arsin…damn it, Norman!"
Hearing his name, Norman made his way over to Frederic, reading over the language that none of them knew but that they were all desperately trying to learn. Even if it was only due to the emergency of what might have brought this calamity down on a cadet barely out of adolescence.
The keyword to look for was water, as Norman believed she might be having an allergic reaction to something in the deeper groundwater the bunker provided. The composition of the air here was barely different from outside, while most of the food had been brought in from Arkasia. The origin of hydration was all that remained.
"Oh, no," Norman murmured as his eyes skimmed lines of text. "If this here is what I think it is, then she's just had an earlier reaction," he explains, looking up to the group. "Seems there's a chance our groundwater supply is tainted with arsenic."
Only two others seemed to know what that meant. Camille and Frederic exchanged worried glances. As for the others….
"What's that?" Velicity asked, an odd mixture of curiosity and worry in her multi-colored gaze.
"It's a toxin that primarily affects groundwater," Frederic answered.
Cheslin looked mildly confused. "But, our people have filters to combat—"
"Not the same kind of toxin," Camille interrupted. "It's far heavier than the ones we breathe in 782's atmosphere and those usually found in our water supply."
It was an odd thought that there were vapors and other elements out there that could kill Breathless, burning through their biological filters and reducing them to corpses. Of course, toxins like that did exist, but most of them in use generally led back to the domes, where they served as weapons against those in the Outer Boundary. Isaiah hadn't heard of one that occurred naturally while hiding within such an essential supply.
Norman nodded in agreement with the couple, returning his gaze to the lines of text in front of him. "Seems they may have something to treat it in the medic bay," he said.
Isaiah worked at arranging his thoughts. This was the third day they'd been seeking answers in an attempt to keep the young girl alive. Which meant three days of neglecting their other objectives. Norman was needed to read the records, but he might be the only one to find the antidote.
"Commander?" Cheslin questioned as they waited on his orders.
There was a pause. Then, Isaiah started, "Camille and Frederic will go to the medic bay and find whatever treatment Norman's found. Norman, please make a detailed note of what they should be looking for. You three can split up and search the pharmaceutical reserves. Hopefully, locate whatever is needed to improve Yvlen's condition."
"Of course."
"The rest of us are going to continue going over records until they've returned. Zubia, Velicity, you can continue tabbing where you left off earlier this week. After that, I'll probably dismiss this morning's session. We'll gather the cadets and visit Yvlen. I think she'll take treatment better if there are people around who care. We can reconvene here later this evening, hopefully following Yvlen's treatment. Any questions?"
When none came, Isaiah nodded. "Very well. Let's move."
As the small group began carrying out their tasks and arranging various areas for the work they'd be doing upon Norman's return, Zubia emerged from the darker, back corner of the room. In the scramble to find something, anything to help a dying comrade, Isaiah realized her presence for the first time this morning.
Only the sound of her muffled steps caught his attention as she moved forward to organize the files she was in charge of. The private had been abnormally quiet since entering the control room over two hours ago. Even now, Zubia silently took a seat, waiting for the work to begin, her amber eyes dim as she stared ahead at nothing.
Isaiah slowly made his way towards her. "Private?"
"Yes, sir?" She turned her dull gaze towards him, her answer seemingly given on autopilot. Like she was here and not here at the same time.
Isaiah pulled up a chair beside her, the pair wincing at the sound it made. Shaking his head to clear the annoyance, he refocused his attention on Zubia. "I feel like you're not with us today, private," he started, meeting her amber gaze. "Is Mateo okay? Did he have another one?"
Zubia nodded, confirming Isaiah's theory. However, she'd begun troubling her lower lip. It's more complicated than she's letting on. Her eyes dart to the remaining adults in the room. Cheslin and Velicity. It's only the four of them, now, yet Zubia remained reluctant.
Cheslin was busy fussing about the stack Isaiah and him had left off on while Velicity was reaching for a supply of tabs across the room. With those two distracted, Isaiah saw his chance.
"Perhaps you'd join Abigail and me in the arena tomorrow. Whatever has you on end is important. Whether you believe it is or not," he murmured, quiet and gentle. He took one of her petite hands in his. She flinched momentarily, but her hand soon relaxed as he moved his thumb over her whitened knuckles. "I've never distrusted your opinion. Never doubted your concerns nor second-guessed your hesitancy. I need to know if something's wrong. For all of us. Especially if this entails our safety."
Zubia nodded, letting out a breath she must have been keeping for a while. "It's…not that I don' trust you, sir," she started, removing one of her hands from Isaiah's to rub her arm. "I jus'….I don't want to cast blame on a youngen that don't deserve it. I can't jus' condemn 'im like that."
A cadet. She's talking about a cadet. Is it one of the ones in their group? If not, should they be worried? Why hasn't she—
Isaiah stops his thoughts from raging, his anxieties from speaking. He trusts Zubia. And if she hasn't vocalized a problem she's found, it means it's not an imminent threat.
"Zubia," he starts once more, setting his free hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "whatever it is that you feel needs to be brought to light should be. Your worries are valid. You are valid. I'll listen to whatever it is you want to say. Away from anyone who you feel uncomfortable disclosing your fears to."
Zubia smiles. The first genuine smile since yesterday. Amber eyes glimmer with the promise of tears, but they do not fall. Zubia's a soldier. She knows how to hold her own.
"Ya know," she started, a quiet sniffle escaping her, "when we was paired with that doctor of yours, 'e always chattered about how easy it was to talk to ya."
Isaiah's heart clenched at the mention of Tousen, his lips twitching up into a sad smile. He knew Tousen had been kind to him in private. He knew the young man stood up for his honor even when he had no real reason to. And, now, he knew that Tousen spoke fondly about him to his subordinates.
Norman…maybe he was right. There was more in the commander's heart for the Dome-Dweller than he wanted to admit, and he hated how much it hurt.
"How 'e couldn' believe people treated ya so god awful. Honest to the Gods, I thought 'e was bullshitin' 'cause I'm so close to ya. Maybe find a way in gettin' out of Arkasia," she continued, her eyes watching Velicity as she began walking back to the table. "Kid was kind of a brat and a lil bitch sometimes…."
Isaiah couldn't help but chuckle at her truthful remark. Tousen did have a tendency to be difficult.
"…but, fer what it's worth, he loved you, too, commander."
His laugh died out entirely as his gaze locked with hers in the stillness between them.
Maybe she knew he needed to hear those words. Maybe she was returning the feeling of validity. Or perhaps she just didn't want to be the only one on the brink of tears. No matter what the reason was, Isaiah pulled her in for an embrace, feeling her hands grip the fabric of his shirt.
"I step away for three seconds, and I miss something. Unbelievable," Velicity states, though her voice is light with humor.
"Last I check, you wasn't one fer emotions. Got too much of the devil in ya," Zubia retorted as she pulled away from Isaiah, though her voice was a little less sarcastic.
Velicity waved it off as Cheslin came to join them.
"I feel like Norman's notes will never end," he griped, handing Isaiah a thick stack. He seemed oblivious to the situation, and Isaiah wasn't about to let that distraction go to waste.
"And I feel like this stack is far larger than yours."
"Commander shoulders more responsibility."
"Technically, I don't hold the title of Commander anymore. And, if I did, that's not how that works," Isaiah chuckled.
Velicity cracked a smile, and Zubia seemed to somewhat return to normal as the two women began tagging their respective records. The air was light for a beautiful brief moment.
The shriek drew their attention instantly. But, the person that burst through the door wasn't who Isaiah was anticipating. Instead of Frederic or Norman or even Camille to match the high pitch of the scream, it was Judice that ran into the room hysterically weeping before crumpling to the floor.
Isaiah stood abruptly to his feet, taking swift strides towards the young cadet and kneeling before her just in time for Camille and Frederic to come in after her.
"What's going on?" Isaiah asked, bringing Judice into his warm embrace, hoping to shelter her from whatever sought her harm. "Camille, Frederic! I repeat, what's going on?!"
"It's Yvlen," Frederic whispered.
Camille's lower lip trembled, and Isaiah knew her words before they were even given a chance to shoot through him. "She's succumbed to the poison. She's gone."
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