Irin Fragments Part 1

My name is Irin, and I live at Broken Homes Orphanage with Miss Aiko, and a boy named Crimzon. We are eight years old, and Miss Aiko takes very good care of us. Today some of the other children were able to leave because they were adopted. Crimzon stays in bed all day wincing in pain from his head. I asked Miss Aiko if he was my brother, but sadly she said she does not think we are related. Miss Aiko explained to me that there are no records of who our parents are. Crimzon has headaches and is very forgetful, no matter how many times I tell him my name he can’t remember.

“Good morning Crimzon, my name is Irin! Time to wake up and eat, breakfast is ready!”

But he wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t get out of bed. Every morning I’d go to wake him up like Miss Aiko told me to. Every morning, he would just lay down in bed until later in the day he could sit up, and Miss Aiko would feed him.

“Miss Aiko, what is wrong with Crimzon, is he sick? Why doesn’t he get out of bed?”

Prepping in the kitchen smiles at Irin, “I guess he’s been really sick. Tomorrow, I have a local doctor coming to have a look at him. Hopefully we can find out something.”

The next day, the doctor came to check up on Crimzon and as he was leaving he spoke to Miss Aiko, “Well, the young boy may be suffering from ‘memory sickness’. Poor fellow.”

“’Memory Sickness’, what is that this is the first time I’ve heard of this. Is it bad?”

“’Memory Sickness’ leaves the individual almost in a vegetable state of being awake. They can hear, and some can speak. Most motor functions work fine, it’s just ‘lights on but no one’s home’. So far, the cases we come across aren’t as severe, the individual takes time before they’re back to their normal selves with memory intact. Hopefully his memory sickness passes soon.”

“Okay, thank you doctor.”

Crimzon did not get any better. For months he would be the same, and no doctor could help Miss Aiko. Crimzon would walk around on his own almost in a daze looking for something, and every time I would talk to him and greet him in the morning, but it was like I was invisible. Miss Aiko would have nurses come by and help with his hygiene as she would go to the kingdom of Aurora to seek help from her friends.

Then, one morning.

“Good morning Crimzon! Time to wake up, breakfast is ready!”

“Excuse me, where am I?”

“!?!, Eh you talked!?”

“Yes, who are you and where am I?” Crimzon looks in the mirror on the wall, “And what are these things under my eyes and what do they do?”

I ran to call Miss Aiko and take her to see Crimzon. Over time Crimzon would know my name and remember Miss Aiko, he would also remember the Iris+1 under his eyes and how they worked. Everything looked like it was improving then all of a sudden…

“Miss Aiko! Crimzon is laying down flat on the ground!”

“Is he okay Irin?”

We would find him randomly lying on the floor throughout the orphanage. Sometimes he would remember us when he came out of it, other times he would be in that vegetative state then suddenly it was like he wasn’t there; his mind was blank again. Then we’d start all over again like meeting someone new.

As the years went by it seemed like memory sickness was subsiding and not happening as much, but when it did, he lost all his memories again. The cycle became unpredictable and duration between incidents was sporadic, but Miss Aiko and I learned to cope with it. Then as we were getting closer in age to participate in the Rite, Crimzon appeared to stabilize from the memory sickness.

Time passed and Miss Aiko began teaching us how to use the sword and whatever fighting techniques she learned herself. Miss Aiko’s sword technique is one that I can’t imagine anyone could beat. She is quick, agile and strong enough to obliterate anything with her sword. Her hand-to-hand fighting techniques were a mix of strikes, grabs, throws, and submissions.

Miss Aiko on occasion had some people from the kingdom come and train with her and they showed us how to use different weapons from blades, batons, and light firearms. Light firearms were safe for us to handle as they mostly stunned the target, but in the Rite, it could be adjusted accordingly in the Arck. The technology was smart enough to not allow lethal force from the Light Firearms when in use, the Arck arena would dial back just before impact the threshold to not kill anyone.

In our teens Crimzon and I were able to develop our skills and abilities using Iris+1. Iris+1 tracks our vitals as we train and the more intense, we trained the more our innate ability began to awaken. The only thing no one really knows what they’re abilities will be, it just happens, all unique to the individual and those that develop skills become highly coveted. There are many people who do not gain these skills, and recently Atlas would term these unique skills as Gifts or called people Gifted.

Miss Aiko keeps up with all of the current events in order to teach me and Crimzon about the world around us. She often describes herself as someone that is not always serious about these matters, but feels a great responsibility for us. The days would go by, then the weeks, the months, and eventually the years.

Over time, Crimzon seemed to always change with his memory sickness like he was another person entirely. He had forgotten his training and didn’t develop any Gifts. I on the other hand was able to develop some Gifts but it seemed unusual. One day I was sparring with Crimzon and Miss Aiko noticed my strikes were getting faster and through IRL she saw three gifts unlocked.

The first we named Transmission. Transmission gave me the ability to constantly speed up my body to a certain point. We theorize that Transmission could be limited to the condition of my body’s health because as I got tired, the less I could utilize it properly. The second we named Inferno; due to the effects it gave when my strikes landed. When I landed strikes on Crimzon that day we had to give him an ice bath. The areas that I landed the hardest left the bigger burn marks, and he described it like a small explosion. When we reviewed our sparring, we theorized that the duration of the sparring lead to a more intense effect of Inferno.

Finally, we named the third Gift the Grid. Crimzon was able to land his strikes and then suddenly I couldn’t feel them. I was blocking his strikes and noticed a subtle flash of an image like a grid flash at impact where I was blocking, and where he landed a direct hit was like an invisible padding. There was still pain from the strike but it was significantly lessened. Miss Aiko observed that when engaged in combat this Gift might activate or when I could be in danger and am aware of it. To prove this, she threw a pillow at me and no Grid appeared, then she threw weight at me and the Grid appeared lessening the impact.

Miss Aiko was amazed that I obtained three Gifts, usually most obtain just one Gift and later had the possibility to obtain another when one later. Those who obtained two Gifts was rare, but notable people achieved two. Miss Aiko grew concerned because when someone develops their Gift, the IRL will detect an anomaly is about to trigger, and as we train, fight, study, the Gift reveals itself to the individual and the IRL displays it with a generic name. The individual can name their Gifts through the IRL within thirty days and every biometric, vital reading are recorded and uploaded to the Arck database owned by Atlas. During the Rite, everyone has full access to the database for recruiting purposes and by law the Arck database should be accessible for all bodies of entities. She anticipates that I could be heavily observed in the Rite.

“Miss Aiko what will happen to Crimzon if he has no skills or Gifts to develop. Will we be separated?”

“It is a possibility. Though I wouldn’t worry, you have to do what you can for yourself going into the Rite. You’ve done all that you can for Crimzon and until he recovers fully from the memory sickness, we can’t be sure what will happen to him.”

Irin pouts, “You and Crimzon are all I have. I don’t remember anything before being here in this orphanage with you. You’re both my family.”

Miss Aiko comforts Irin by putting her arm around her and pulling her in closer as they sit in the back field of the orphanage.

“I want you to have a future as well Irin. Whatever you decide to do don’t have any regrets. If you want to see the world then go ahead, you have to live your life and ‘live’.”

“Who will take care of Crimzon, I can’t let you take care of him all by yourself. That wouldn’t be fair to you. What about you ‘living’ for yourself and doing what you want?”

“After the Rite I will take him to see some people I know and see if they can help. I know a couple friends in the kingdom of Aurora that may be able to help with him if he doesn’t get any better. I’ll inquire if they can come before so we can discuss our options. Does that sound like a good plan?”

“We still have two more years before we can participate, do you think he’ll get better?”

“Can’t say. But I have this feeling like he’ll be better soon.”

A year later from our discussion, Crimzon’s memory sickness still persisted and was just a sporadic as usual. It seemed like he was stable for almost three months and then another incident. Miss Aiko still trained us both with the sword and by this time she started to teach me more advanced hand-to-hand techniques. She was able to have some people from the kingdom of Aurora come and train all of us in other techniques. Sometimes it was learning technology, medical, and science just to help us grow more knowledgeable as a person.

Then one day we went outside to train and as we came back to the orphanage we found a young girl under the tree. Her clothes look worn and tethered. Miss Aiko kneels down and assesses the girl noticing that she is wet and cold. Our Iris+1 shows her vitals are stable but her body temperature is running a high fever.

“Quick Crimzon, give me your jacket so I can cover her. Irin, please call the soldiers that came to train us. They should have something to help with the fever.”

I run off to get the two soldiers who came from the kingdom of Aurora. They quickly assist Miss Aiko and one of them calls for someone from the kingdom named Shiori to come and look at the young girl. Crimzon carries the young girl and she begins to fade in and out as Miss Aiko asks her for her name, Mirai.

Shortly after Mirai is settled in one of the rooms, as Shiori examines her with Miss Aiko. Mirai seems confused of her whereabouts and calmly answers all questions she’s asked. What a strong little girl, I think if it were me, I would be a little scared waking up not knowing where I am. Crimzon was sent to fetch some snacks for the Mirai to have and as he walks in, Mirai’s facial expression lights up with joy. Shiori exits the room and Miss Aiko introduces me to Mirai.

“Nice to meet all of you, my name is Mirai.”

“Mirai what happened to you exactly? Can you remember anything?” I inquire.

“I remember I was almost drowning and then I was pulled up by someone,” she points to Crimzon, “and then I think he pulled me out. Then I remember waking up here.”

I look to Miss Aiko as she exits the room and she motions for me to come outside. She introduces me to Shiori a medical doctor and a healer by her Gift. It’s impressive to see someone young be a medical doctor and a healer from the kingdom of Aurora.

“Shiori this is Irin, and Irin this is Shiori. Shiori is the younger sister of one of my friends from the kingdom of Aurora, Kana.”

“Nice to meet you Shiori.”

“Pleasure is all mine Irin, Aiko has told me about your Gifts. Very impressive.”

“Irin, Shiori was able to examine the young girl we found, Mirai. She thinks the girl will be okay. I also explained to her about Crimzon and his memory sickness. She’s had some experience with it back at the kingdom and will take a look at Crimzon before she leaves.”

“Really!? Thank you Shiori! Anything that could help us, we greatly appreciate it!”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to get a blood sample from him as well and head back to conduct some research.”

“Miss Aiko, can Shiori help Crimzon?”

“I’m not sure if she can immediately, but I think long term she may be able to do so. Memory sickness according to her is not that prevalent among the population. But she will investigate it.”

Shiori walks out, “Mirai seems to be doing better. Seems like she just needs rest. I had a look at Crimzon and he appears to be ok. We were able to get the samples we needed and initially looks like all brainwaves look good compared to the few people I encountered with similar symptoms of memory sickness. I’ll see if there are any other cases around the world. We’ll be in touch Aiko, and nice to meet you, Irin.”

“Do you think Shiori can really help Crimzon, Miss Aiko?”

“She may be able to help, but I don’t think as easy as it sounds. After speaking with her, we think it’s something more than just his memory. We’ll know as time goes on.”

Miss Aiko explained that she believed that with Crimzon, his memory sickness could very well be related to his consciousness. She reminded me of how whenever he experienced memory sickness he acted like he was meeting us for the first time. I asked if it will ever stop and was something like that even possible for someone to go through. Was it possible for someone to leave their body if they’re not dead? How could that happen and how could someone else enter their body and take over their consciousness.

“Try not to worry Irin, this is all new to us and we just have to do what we can. Maybe one day Crimzon will be whole.”

Miss Aiko although not that much older than us has always been protective of us since we’ve been with her. I can only lay my trust in her. Maybe one day like she says, Crimzon will be whole. Maybe together we can be whole and remember who we are.