doctor’s orders

“State your purpose,” the security guard said, cutting Orion off as he tried to step past the back door like Dr. Fuchisia had recommended. Go straight in, she had said. Confidence. Lab coat. Glare at anyone who acted like he wasn’t supposed to be here.

Though he nearly balked at the glare he received right back. Could the council guards see through his fake glasses and lab coat and the confidence that was rapidly wavering? There were three of them, and Orion wasn’t much of a fighter. There was nothing stopping them from throwing him out.

“Don’t falter here, Dr. Magnolia.”

Right. Deep breaths.

“Greetings,” Orion said stiffly, reading off the script that the Entity had helpfully pulled up in his head. “I’m a doctor from Fuchisia’s clinic. I heard one of my patients was detained this morning. She needs urgent medical treatment, so I would like to request access.”

The guard scowled, making no move to let him pass. “Who did you hear that from?”

“Sorry?”

“Who we got behind these bars is none of your business. Who did you hear it from?”

“Cyian.”

“Uh, Cyian,” he said, staring straight ahead.

“Damn that loudmouth,” the guard muttered. One of the other guards motioned for Orion to hand over the medical tablets. It took a moment to pry them from his clammy fingers, and the three guards rifled through them like they were looking for signs of forgery or something.

“Contamination rot,” one of them was saying in a low, urgent voice. “Looks like we have no choice.”

“Follow me,” the first guard said. “I’ll take you to the prisoner.”

-

With how shoddy the town hall was, it didn’t come as a surprise that the detainment quarters weren't much of a prison. They arrived at a boarded up room on the second floor, and for a moment he’d thought it was the entrance to the basement, or something.

“Why would the basement entrance be on the second floor?”

Shut up.

This made things easier though. It also made sense how the heroine was able to successfully rescue Leonis in the original version of these events, despite being useless in every other way. Orion relaxed just a little, but he was still careful not to let his facade slip as the guards unlocked the door and motioned for him to step inside.

“Five minutes,” the guard said, all but shoving him roughly through the door and shutting it in his face.

Orion glanced around, his eyes adjusting to the dim lighting. The room was pretty small, with low ceilings and peeling walls. It looked like the windows were blocked up with duct tape, and the light bulb on the ceiling flickered like he was in a horror movie. The air smelled a bit musty, like it had been marinating in dust and mildew.

At the edge of the wall, there was a ragged, tattered sofa, with all its upholstery overturned and strewn around the floor. Orion saw a tattered pink backpack with an embroidered strawberry hanging over the frame.

His breath caught in his throat when he spotted Halie sitting against the armrest, busy making something—wait, was she knitting?! A green, half-finished scarf (?) trailed over her knee and along the floor. Those were definitely not knitting needles though. Orion squinted, pretty sure they looked like those disposable bamboo chopsticks.

“Take my shit away from me, and I’ll stab you in the eye,” Halie said, without looking up. Her voice was achingly sweet, like hearing birdsong on the first day of spring after a long, bitter winter.

“Gross. Stop that.”

“Halie,” he whispered from where he was. If he took another step, he was pretty sure she’d make good on that threat of stabbing him in the eye without hesitation. “It’s me. Keep your voice down if you’re going to—”

“Holy shit.”

“Shhh—”

She was on her feet in a flash, chopsticks clattering to the ground, and she nearly tripped over the scarf as she ran toward him. Orion couldn’t help but flinch a little, which was a good call—because instead of throwing her arms around him like any sane person, she grabbed his shoulders and dug her nails in.

“Ow, ow, ow, I’m here to help you,” he hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Oh my god. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven for real,” Halie said, sounding dazed. “You’re in a lab coat. Glasses. Oh my god. My heart can only take so much at a time.”

“Stop fangirling for a second,” Orion said, trying to shrug off her iron grip. “I am here to save you. I only have five minutes. Are you there?”

“No,” she breathed. “I have already been saved. Just seeing your face is—”

He grabbed her wrist, trying and failing to peel her off of him. “I’m serious. I have no idea how we’re escaping, but that’s what I’m here for. We’re getting out of here.”

She looked at him—really, finally looked at him. Halie’s clothes and hair were somewhat disheveled, but she was as radiant as always. Orion resisted the urge to tuck in her collar. He silently asked the Entity for his current affection levels.

“High enough that it doesn’t matter,” said the Entity. “You have three minutes left.”

“Okay,” Orion said. He hadn’t actually planned this through, because the only idea he could come up with was to trick the guards into letting Halie out with him somehow and then make a run for it. His eyes scanned the tiny room, across the duct-taped windows, and then back to the door. Of course there was no other exit. Was he strong enough to smash through the window?

“How did you even get in here?” Halie asked, finally releasing her grip on his shoulders. She seemed mostly back to normal now that the initial shock had worn off. “Aries let you in, did he?”

“No, but I have something to ask you about him later,” Orion said, thinking about the affection levels that were so low that the dude didn’t even care about her anymore. She should probably raise them later, just a little, to be safe. “I’m pretending to be your doctor. Contamination rot, or something like that?”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “That worked?”

“I mean, I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That—” Halie looked troubled. “You got tricked. You have to leave. I’ll find some other way—you have to pretend you weren’t here to rescue me.”

That didn’t make sense at all. He came here for her, and now she was telling him to leave her behind?

“And why the hell should I do that? Come on, we’re getting out of here. Together.”

The Entity’s misgivings hit him then with the full force of a truck—ha—and it filled him with a sense of panic that wasn’t quite his own. Something had gone wrong again, but he was still left in the dark as for what it was. But between Halie’s anxious gaze and the uneasy feeling that settled in the pit of his stomach…

“Halie’s right. We’ve miscalculated.”

What did they miscalculate?! Could someone explain?

“It’ll take too long to explain, but they’re not going to open that door for you.”

Orion’s eyes darted back to the door. It was eerily quiet, as if the three guards standing outside had fallen silent to eavesdrop. But maybe because of his weird link to the Entity, he had an odd feeling that it wasn’t the case at all.

“Try knocking on the door. Say that you’re finished with the checkup.”

Orion walked up to the door, and knocked three times.

“Hello? I’m done with the checkup.”

His words were only met with silence, and he sensed Halie come up from behind to stand next to him.

“I’m afraid you’re locked in.”

“But why?” Orion said aloud.

“Because I couldn’t have gotten contamination rot,” Halie said quietly, and when he felt her head lean heavily against his arm, his brain short-circuited. “Anyone from the council would know that.”

The giddiness was short-lived, because the Entity flashed a horrible image of the patients with skin slowly turning into clay.

“The hell—”

“Stay focused. Halie can’t get contamination rot.”

“Heroine plot armour?” Orion asked wryly.

“I wish it were that simple. Like I said, it’d take too long to explain, but we’ve gotten too close to the council’s deepest, darkest secrets. You have to get out of here."

“And how do you expect me to do that?”

And just like always, everything went downhill in seconds.

“Hold up, who are you talking to?” Halie asked suspiciously, just as the Entity gave him another line of instructions just as he heard footsteps outside of the door and voices growing louder and more coherent, but Halie was repeating herself and so was the Entity, and then the door flung open—

“So it really was you.”

Abruptly, everything else went silent.

The new voice that rang out across the room belonged to Aries. Orion saw him in the doorway, with his long cloak and burgundy hair, and he was flanked by three security guards that may or may not have been the ones from earlier. All of them were armed with weird metal bats, because the council seemed to be stuck in the Bronze Age and their weaponry was no different.

“It really was you, Orion,” Aries repeated, and his piercing gaze was icy, like something about him had frozen over. “I’m disappointed.”

“Wait, I, uh…I can explain.”

“Explain what?!”

“What are you going to explain?” Halie hissed.

“There is nothing to explain,” said Aries, raising the metal bat above his head.

Why, Orion thought dully, did things always turn out like this, without ever giving him a chance to breathe?