My mind was workin' overtime while I was stuck in the medical center on Al Raqis. Maybe I needed to get outa there. Needed to do somethin'..... "All's I can say is this here virus ain't your normal kind like a cold or somethin'. Doc had me a mite worried on what they could do to help... and what all they couldn't. She said she was still searchin' for Lily and AuroraBlue. Not sure where all they're holed up. For now just gotta set 'round a place that smells of cleanin' chemicals and such 'til I could find a way outa here."
"When the doc showed up to check on me, I asked if I could go somewhere instead of bein' stuck in the medical center. She checked me out then said she could take me to a quarantine house. Hell that was better then bein' where I was." Someone was comin' 'round again. Wasn't sure who all it was. Maybe it was Lily again. "After gettin' dressed, Went to the landin' deck level in a mask. The doc had a shuttle waitin' for me. She said folks there at the house were all infected too. All that was goin' through my mind was bein' in a leper colony...."
"We got into that shuttle and headed out into the deep desert. Was thinkin' of all the folks that were sick.... Maybe cause of me. Not sure. A lot of folks been travellin' of late and any one of em coulda got through too. Then there's Lily and AuroraBlue sneakin' back and forth from place to place. I know Lily can't get sick. But AuroraBlue? Her I ain't sure of. That's whats got me a lot worried. Just hope she ain't sick." Pariah came walkin' into the shoppin' plaza to say hi. Hadn't seen her in a while. Mostly she worked at Firefly's. Guess she was feelin' a need to come and just hang out. Was ok with me.
"Once we got out to the 'house', the doc showed me 'round. I was free to wander 'round the compound and house, but not outside. Seems they had automated weapons and 'bots guardin' us.... So we couldn't leave. No weapons, and no freedom. Like bein' under house arrest. Only way I could leave was if somethin' happened. Which didn't take more'n a few days. First Lily shows up and bites me bad on the forearm. I figured she had a reason for it. She said she had to. Was real important to her to do it. After she left someone else showed up and tried to shoot me, then was tryin' to burn the place to the ground."
Pariah sat by the fire pit near the mall. She was just wantin' to have a little company cause it was over quiet of late..... No wonder. It was that time of year when folks were gettin' ready for the scare day... Halloween. "After the attackers left, found a protective mask and headed across the desert and back to the center. Had to find someone to tell what all happened. The others fled from the burnin' buildin'... Not sure what all happened to em. Lily was there in town when I got there. She led me to some big old place in Wadi Emit. She said it was Krakken's house. Feller had some serious money by the look. Stayed there and sent word to the doc from the comm in the house. She came a few days later and gave me some injection. Said it was the cure. Instead of four shots..... Only needed one. I knew Lily'd cured me and my system was burnin' off the dose the doc gave me."
"Later that day, she took me someplace. She slipped past the cruisers and heavy ships guardin' against anyone leavin' without permissions. Took me to some small moon. She was talkin' 'bout some strange common past. About where all she lived. How we all had some common ancestry. Hell, don't much on the whole genetics stuff so I shrugged it off." Pariah was sayin' she was lookin' 'round the area and liked some of the stuff we set up for Halloween. At least this time we had a real corn maze. One that was grown from the soil of Dragon's Egg. "Doc showed me a bunch of stuff. Most of it I couldn't figure out. Was still feelin' the effects of the cure bein' burned outa myself. Didn't r'member most of it. A few things I r'member. A tree in a covered little open shed."
"Then there was that pyramid. Gorram thing opened up and was shinin' a bright light on me. Wasn't sure why all that happened. But then again, Ain't sure why a lot of stuff happens to me that can't be explained..... Like that time I was in the Necronom data stream.. and survived. Not sure what all this means... Then again if I asked Blue, he won't say. He knows a hell of a lot more'n he's sayin'. Same with Lily. They know stuff but make you work to figure what all they're hidin." We watched the cats chasin' a few mice near the corn maze. It was like bein' at home watchin' the barn cats goin' after the mice there. pouncin' on em and playin' with em. Some even lettin' the mice go then chasin' em down again.
"After the tour, the doc brought me back to Al Raqis, Not Krakken's place. That's ok. I was gonna hitch a ride back to Dragon's Egg as soon as I could. Needed to. Had a bunch of stuff still needin' to be shipped.... And to tell Xoxo what all happened. She won't be too happy... Lily finally showed up. She was not herself.... Seemed she was thinkin' on somethin'. Kept talkin' 'bout her cub. Had a feelin' it wasn't AuroraBlue. The weird thing was, any time I mentioned AuroraBlue, Lily'd say, 'she be the death of me.' Kinda set me t wonderin' why all she was sayin' that. Might need to go through some old notebooks from the old lab. Who knows, maybe I can solve a mystery b'fore it does any damage."
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