Memento Mori, Chapter 18
Jan. 9th, 2012 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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memento_mori_11 Blink’s journey down the hillside and into the suburbs took a more tortuous route, now she knew she was being followed, trying every trick she could think of to break her scent trail and make herself difficult to follow, but she knew her pursuers couldn’t be far behind. Every time the wind changed directions, she could hear them talking, snapping at each other. They didn’t seem to be getting any closer, reassuringly, but equally, she hadn’t completely lost them. It probably didn’t help that they knew exactly where she was going, aiming for the safety of the Library, and they knew that provided they moved in roughly the right direction, they stood a good chance of eventually coming across her.
As soon as she got through the suburbs, her ability to climb began to work more strongly in Blink’s favour. The blights probably could climb, to a degree, but their blunt fingers and hunched posture made it hard to reach and grab. Once she was out of reach, she could move along in comparative safety, making herself a little thinking space to plan her next move.
...her mind kept going back to Halli, alone and possibly hurt on the headland. Although still struggling to come to terms with her shock at seeing her friend so horribly deformed, the idea of abandoning her, to crawl the rest of the way back to the Library all on her own? It left a sour taste in her mouth. She couldn’t do that to her...!
It’s just a, a-... refit, Blink reassured herself, uneasily, climbing in through a first-floor shop window to look for a knife or something to defend herself. A strange, biological refit. We can do the same-... that is to say, when I was a machine, I could change myself at will, who is to say that organic creatures can’t, under specific conditions? She picked up a carving knife, still sharp and securely wrapped in a soft piece of protective plastic; perfect. ...I wonder if she can turn herself back?
Looking out of the window, Blink quickly recognised that she was running out of time, shadows cast by the sinking sun creeping further and further out across the street. She climbed gingerly out of the window and down onto the broken roof that had once shielded the entrance from the rain, but was now little more than a meshwork of rusted, overgrown wire, sloping almost all the way down to the ground on one corner. It creaked ominously beneath her feet, but stayed obediently in place while she scrambled across it.
Some higher power must have taken her under its wing, because Blink got down from the window just in time; climbing awkwardly off the far side of the broken mesh, her feet wound into the climbing vegetation for support, she glanced up just in time to see two mobile blobs appear at the head of the street. She sucked back a gasp of surprise and flattened herself into the underside of the roof, where the shadows could have hidden absolutely any sort of hideous monster. Thorns scratched at her arms, but thankfully no sharp teeth joined in. She peeked out between the leaves and watched the pair approach-
Blink’s heart leaped into her throat; Brindle had a rust-coloured rag draped over one big shoulder, and at this distance she couldn’t tell how badly the “rag” was hurt. She watched them cast uselessly about for her scent, wondering how she’d ever manage to rescue her friend now? Her plans to wait until they’d passed, and then go back for her friend, were not so much ruined as impossible. Sneaking around in the streets was a whole different animal to a full-frontal attach of two big, hungry, aggressive blights – her knife would help, but only so far. She held her breath, and watched, and waited, as silent as she could possibly manage.
“No problems catching her, he said,” Tun groused, loping along on all fours. His sharp voice echoed off the artificial cliffs and broken windows. “Shy, scaredy little thing, he said. Weak as a baby. Pah! Should have come for her hisself!”
Brindle responded by giving him a cuff around the side of the head. “Hush yer yap. Told to fetch, not talk. You think he’ll be happy she’s not caught?”
Tun skipped backwards, out of the way. “Pssh, not like you’re helping matters! S’already vanished again.”
Blink watched as they approached, wriggling tighter against the wire mesh. Don’t look up, don’t look up.
“Can’t have vanished,” Brindle growled, frustrated, passing mere inches beneath Blink’s hiding place. “Laima are sneaks, they dun’ disappear.”
Blink held her breath and concentrated on keeping her grip, her trembling hands losing strength. Had the blight glanced up, it’d have been in perfect grabbing distance – fortunately they seemed too interested in their squabble.
“Well, can you see her?”
“Doesn’t mean she’s vanished, means yer nose is useless!”
“Oh, right, an’ yours is so much better. Only took you chasin’ Tiny all around the park while she jumped on me.”
Brindle snarled a threat and pinned Tun with a forepaw. “Just you watch it. Boss isn’t only one who can bite.”
Tun cringed down, ears flattening, and whined angrily, but didn’t fight back.
“Less she finds place to sleep, won’t last long in the dark anyway.” Brindle took its giant paw off Tun and allowed him to get up. “Find her tomorrow, when she’s cold and stiff and tired.”
Tun scurried hastily out of reach, carrying himself low to the ground.
You’re going to have to do it soon, a little voice reminded, in the back of Blink’s head, as she watched them move off down the street. You have no idea what they plan to do to Halli.
As soon as they’d put a few body-lengths of space between them, Blink lowered herself from her hiding place, and slunk after them, carefully, keeping to the shadows as much as she could, desperately trying to formulate a plan while she walked.
Her master plan refused to reveal itself. In fact, no plan at all came forwards, except taking the initiative and the element of surprise, and attacking them, head on, before they could spot her. If she did the unexpected, maybe she could startle them into enough of a retreat to rescue her friend, and get back to the Library. They weren’t that many streets away, now.
Fate made up her mind for her; she caught her toes against a perfectly-sized bit of wood to use as a weapon, broken out of the frame of a shop window and still studded with tiny bits of jagged glass on one end. This is your one and only chance, Blink. She turned the weapon end over end, weighing it in her hands. Make the most of it.
Blink set her jaw and measured her aim-
Neither blight had been expecting the blood-curdling scream that came out of nowhere. Even as they staggered around in circles, wildly searching the shadows for what was being murdered so horribly, Blink flew out of nowhere and brought her warclub down on the middle of Brindle’s back. He went down with a startled yelp of pain. Tun gave a yowl of alarm, and proved that bravery wasn’t one of his assets by putting Brindle between him and their assailant.
Blink found herself a good, somewhat defensive position, just out of reach. “Put her down,” she instructed, shakily, pointing with the knife. “Or, or-...”
“What?” Tun curled his lip in a sneer. “You’ll use that knife y’can barely lift-”
“Just put her down!”
Brindle gave a grunt, and pushed itself back to its feet, before Tun could argue further. “All right.” It let its shoulder drop, and Halli tumbled to the floor with a small grunt of pain.
Blink bit her lip; at least she’d got confirmation the zaar was still alive.
“What you gonna do now, eh?” Brindle approached, slowly, head down and teeth bared – and limping. “Wave the toothpick some more?”
Blink fought the urge to back off, hands trembling. “Come one step closer and I’ll show you-”
Hoping to catch her off guard, Brindle did exactly as challenged – lunged for her, mouth gaping, teeth gleaming like an array of knives.
Startled, Blink moved without really thinking about it; swung her makeshift club, and landed a good, solid, and lucky blow on the side of the face. It yelped in alarm and staggered away, blood mixing rapidly with its drool.
“Just leave us be! Go find something better to eat!”
Dazed, Brindle seemed to have lost its appetite. It stumbled away, bleeding and muttering, and after a second of weighing up his choices, Tun hastily followed.
Making a slow but determined strike for the Library, Halli had crawled away from where she’d been dropped, mostly on her stomach. The going looked tough – she limped on her left hind-leg, and dragged the right one. Blood from a wound high on her right hip darkened her rusty pelt to a murky chocolate colour.
Blink approached her, warily, putting herself just in her way. “Halli?”
The blight puffed out her crest and opened her beak just enough that Blink could see her teeth, and limped painfully past. “Notouch,” she snapped.
“Let me help you-”
“I bite.” Halli looked like a limping bottle brush, all her stiff fur puffing out around her. “No touch!”
“Fine, then you bite. I’m immune, remember?” Blink delicately gathered her up off the pavement, being careful of touching the injured right leg. Oof. She’s heavier than she looks. “We need to get home.”
Halli stiffened and growled, trembling. “Put down,” she whispered, shakily. “I bite.”
Blink ignored her, rearranging her until she was able to support her friend against her chest, Halli’s head on her shoulder and legs dangling. “There.” She began to hum, softly, hoping it would reassure her – and thankfully, the soft grumbling perpetual growl began to fade out.
Halli was worryingly placid, by the time they got back to the Library, just as dusk was falling; Blink hoped it just meant she was tired, not badly hurt. Aspazija let them in, then hustled them straight to the bathroom, before Odati could see what was going on.
“What happened?” she demanded, the instant the door was securely locked and no prying eyes could ‘accidentally’ see what was going on.
Blink knelt on the floor and let Halli sink untidily to the tiles. “We were attacked.”
Aspazija gave her a horrified glance. “Attacked? Who by?”
“I don’t know. A couple of hungry blights?” Blink shook her head, and gave Halli’s shoulder a little stroke. “Halli saved me.”
The zaar didn’t challenge the fib. She sprawled out over the cool bathroom floor and groaned as her body began to reshape itself. She covered her face with her hands as the protruding muzzle retreated and flattened, the fingers themselves shortening and dividing. Her thick pelt came loose in great clumps, falling from her body and turning into an untidy mass of fibres in various shades of brown on the bathroom tiles. The stiff little tail retreated altogether, disappearing back into her spine, leaving only a selection of long hairs on the floor to show it had ever existed.
Shape-shifting did nothing to heal her wounds, though, or to wash away the blood. With no hair to hide them, any more, bruises had blossomed on her flanks and thighs, and swarmed like hungry parasites around the injury on her right hip.
At last, the real Halli was back, laying flat on the floor, breathing hard and trembling. “...uugh.”
“Welcome back, Hal! You’re just in time for your bath,” Aspazija said, in her most no-nonsense voice, and scooped the exhausted smaller woman up off the floor. “I’ll fetch the good doctor to come take a look at that bite.”
“Ow, ow!” Halli tensed as the fessine lowered her into the warm water, and hissed at the sting in her hip. “Could you be a little more careless-?”
“Probably. Make the most of it while it’s still warm!” Aspazija loitered briefly in the doorway. “Could you let me back in, Bee?”
“Of course...”
As soon as Aspazija had gone, Blink pushed the bolt across on the door, and smiled; after being chased hither and yon all afternoon, there was something strangely satisfying about that one tiny action, in spite of the rattly lock. Using a towel, she began to sweep up the mass of shed fur into it. “Um. Would you like a hand?”
“Hn?” Halli peered over the side of the bath, with difficulty. “What?”
Blink concentrated on cleaning the tiles, politely. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Oh.” Halli went awkwardly silent for several seconds. “...I don’t have any clothes on.”
“I won’t look.”
That produced a strained chuckle, at least. “You’ll help me, blindfolded?”
“Sorry.” Blink felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “That was a stupid thing to say, wasn’t it?”
Halli smiled, and slumped back against the cool bath. “...I’d appreciate the help,” she agreed, quietly. “Thank you.” She wiped her face with her hand. “...I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I assumed you knew.”
“Warn me?” Blink squirted a little soap onto the cloth.
“About the-... the shape-shifting thing. I realised as soon as I saw your face that you didn’t know about it. It’s another part of what heff does to you,” the little zaar explained, finally managing to sit forward on her own so Blink could get to her back. The water had taken on an ominous purplish grey hue from her blood. “Deforms your body. Why do you think it killed so many, so quickly? If you don’t change cleanly, you can pop an artery, sever your spine...”
Blink gently scrubbed the soapy cloth over the dark back. “Is that what happened to your hand?”
Halli nodded, and made a soft noise of pleasure as the warm cloth moved up over her shoulders. “A long time ago,” she confirmed. “When you’ve lived with it for twenty years, you learn to control it, though. You get less... deformities. The virus is more of a symbiote, now, not an invading pathogen.” She forced a smile and a disappointed sigh. “Never really learn to control the aching stupidity though. I know who you are, I know you’re a friend, and I know you’re not going to hurt me, and my inflamed nerves and hyped-up instincts still want me to bite you.”
“But you didn’t bite me. So you can’t be anywhere near as stupid as you want to call yourself.” Blink smiled, and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. “If you were, you’d have just obeyed your instincts, and hang the consequences.”
Aspazija deliberately hung back from returning until she thought Halli would have finished her bath, and the zaar was clean, dry and bundled in towel when she finally tapped at the door, with Sadie in tow.
Sadie quickly took charge. She peeled back the edges of the towel to reveal the injury – a deep, painful gouge through the skin and into the muscle. She clicked her tongue. “Gonna need to glue this, Hal. What have you been playing at?” She turned to rummage through her box for the tiny tube of adhesive that always escaped to the bottom of the mass of medical supplied.
Halli snuggled down in her towel as best as she could without getting in Sadie’s way, trying not to shiver in the bathroom’s chill air. “Had a visit from Breg and Tun. We bumped into them on the headland on our way back from the Institute.”
Sadie grunted. “Should have known. Never known anyone so prone to biting as that boneheaded pair.”
Blink sat on her hands and watched as Sadie quietly squeezed the sides of the cut together, and applied a couple of spots of glue to the surface. “How do you know them?” She wasn’t sure if it made her more or less depressed, the idea that they weren’t just two random blights who thought they’d make a good meal.
Emotionally exhausted, Halli winced, and had to concentrate on not whimpering at the sting of the glue.
“They’re Tevak’s. They might be uneducated brutes, but they’re strong, and usually pretty reliable.” Sadie gave Blink a cool stare. “Lucky you’re not quite the defenceless little slip of innocent nothing you look like, or they’d have hauled you off to Tevak long ago.” She patted Halli gently on the arm. “There you go, Hal. Try not to over-exert yourself until it starts to heal, eh?”
Blink sighed, and let her gaze drop back to the tiles. “I’m sorry.”
Halli watched her. “Why are you sorry?”
“They were after me. If not for me being out there, they wouldn’t have attacked you.”
“That’s just it,” Sadie interrupted, quietly. “They shouldn’t have been out there at all. When does Tevak ever go out to the Institute? He’s already gloated that there’s nothing out there he wants.”
“Unless it’s a trick, to throw us off the trail. If he acts uninterested, we’ll never suspect him.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean...” Sadie studied the lid of her box, staring intently on the clasp as she snapped it shut. “They were after you, Blink. Which means, someone told them you were out there.”
“Oh, no.” Halli shook her head. “Sadie, no...”
“We have a traitor amongst us.”
* * * * *
Dark had well and truly fallen by the time Halli emerged, limping, from the bathroom, swamped in a baggy jumper several sizes too big for her that looked more like a lumpy, motheaten dress. Blink helped her hobble down to the landing, where they flopped down together on the mossy ground, leaning against the library wall to gaze up at the incredible, twinkling vista of stars.
“I’m sorry things didn’t really go as planned,” Halli said, tiredly. “I didn’t expect anything more complicated than walk out there, have lunch, walk back.”
Blink glanced down at her. “Well, I wouldn’t say it wasn’t a success. I got a good look at the Institute, and began to see what I could focus on to break my way in.” She developed a spontaneous fit of giggles, and clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said, then admitted, guiltily, around her fingers; “It was sort of exciting, too.”
Halli looked sidelong at her, and couldn’t help chuckling along. “Odati’s going to be spitting hairballs when she finds out, you know.”
“Oh, let her.” Blink felt something like a flush of rebelliousness rush through her veins. “We’re both adults, don’t need an old busybody making decisions for us.” She let her head bump against her friend’s. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” After a beat, she added; “Next time, we’ll have to sneak out. If no-one knows we’ve gone, no-one can follow us.”
Halli laughed, more openly. “Troublemaker.”
“Maayybe.” Blink touched her hands to her chest, and put on her best, most innoffensive face. “I can be sneaky when I want.”
“Hey, ladies.” Both glanced around to see Rae shadowed in the hall doorway, a tray in his hands; he lifted it a fraction, by way of explanation. “You weren’t there for supper, so I saved you some, just in case. Hungry?”
“Oh! Famished,” Halli agreed, firmly. She fell on her bowl as though she hadn’t eaten in weeks, finishing her supper before Blink was even halfway through hers, and rapidly polished off the rest of the bread.
Blink giggled at her, tiredly. “You must have hollow legs.”
“Shifting uses a lot of energy,” Halli explained, defensively, continuing to wipe her already-clean bowl with a crust. “Growing all that hair, remodelling your whole skeleton? Why do you think blights are always hungry?”
Blink offered her the rest of her bowl.
Halli eyed it, suspiciously. “Don’t be silly.”
“I mean it. I’m full.” Blink relinquished her bowl into the smaller hands. “Rae always gets me portions that are too big for me to finish.”
Rae mumbled something about her always looking like she needed some meat on her bones and looked away; Blink gave him a gentle elbow in the ribs. Halli ignored both of them, shovelling down the remains of Blink’s supper with the same gusto with which she’d eaten her own.
“I know one thing for sure,” the zaar commented, with a yawn, putting her bowl down and flopping against Blink. “I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.”
“I think I might, too.” Blink chuckled, and let her arms drift around her two friends. “What a day.”
Rae bumped cheeks. “Really shoulda told me you were going,” he scolded, affectionately. “I’d have come with you, helped look after you.”
Except sometimes, I want to prove I can still do things myself. Rather than make excuses, Blink just agreed. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it, at the time. We were only supposed to be going for a walk.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘only’ a walk, in this place. There could be blights anywhere, you’re lucky you only bumped into those two, and lucky there weren’t too hungry-”
“Woo, wait. Rae, Rae...” Blink cut in. She waited until his words had dribbled away into silence before continuing. “The only reason we met them was because someone told them we were out there. They were working for Tevak.”
He was quiet for a moment, digesting the information. “You’re telling me it wasn’t a coincidence?”
“They said they’d been told to come and get me. Sadie confirmed they’re part of Tevak’s group.” She inhaled a long, steadying breath. “I think someone wants to get rid of me.”
“What? Aw, no, come on. That’s silly. There’s got to be some other explanation for it.” Rae laughed, uneasily. “Maybe... maybe they were just... sneaking around the Library, and just happened to hear something, while you were planning your walk.” He smiled, hopefully. “That’ll be all it is. Nothing more sinister. Right?”
Blink forced a smile, keeping the rest of her concerns to herself – just in case. “I hope so.”
* * * * *
Once she’d passed out, Halli slept very deeply, exactly as she’d predicted – so deeply, in fact, that no amount of prodding could produce more than a dismissive grunt from her, and Rae had to carry her to her room. She slept all the way through until some time past noon the next day, and spent the rest of the afternoon distractedly trying to help Aron prepare the evening meal, although she got in the way, mostly. Her drowsy mind wasn’t really up to helping Blink, who had buried herself among the library shelves to look for schematics.
Dusk had just began to fall when Aron decided everything was ready; Odati took charge of dishing out supper while he went to fetch the bread from the oven. A little cheer went up when Jak – the grey vul Blink hadn’t really met properly, yet, who’d had his ears zapped on the Institute fence – emerged from around the side of the Library with a box full of bottles in his arms.
“Where did you find all that lot?” Odati challenged, suspiciously, as he tottered unsteadily past.
“Out foraging, obviously.” Jak grinned up at her, tail beating from side to side. “We finally got through the security door in the old supermarket in the south suburb.”
“I should have known you’d bring back the alcohol, and not anything useful.” Odati returned to her ladle, filling the next bowl.
“Hey, there’s not much left down there, after we brought all the last cans of fruit back last time. And alcohol is plenty useful – right, you lot?” He unscrewed the lid of some kind of fruit liqueur with a flourish, to laughter and scattered applause. “Now let’s get this lot distributed, eh?...”
With her disastrous introduction to alcohol still fresh in her mind, Blink waved the bottles of spirit past, each time they came her direction, concentrating on eating. Not only did she not really want a repeat of what had happened with the bérz, the other evening, she wasn’t feeling particularly special, right now. She didn’t think adding alcohol to the mix would help her twitchy stomach, which didn’t hurt so much feel as though tiny winged creatures were scurrying around inside it, leaving her nauseous – and frustrated! She’d finally begun to get used to the way food often soothed stomach discomfort, and now the complete opposite seemed to be happening.
She sighed and pushed a lump of meat around with the back of her spoon. The bright red sauce had a sweet, but slightly vinegary taste to it that contrasted nicely with the pale white flaky meat of the fish and the big, bright chunks of sweet fruit and fresh vegetable... but the aftertaste ruined it. A weird, bitter aftertaste, which lingered in the back of her mouth for some time after she’d finished eating. Maybe I should try a little of the drink, after all. It might wash the bitter taste away.
If only she didn’t feel so groggy. It felt as though her arms weighed twice as much as normal. She curled up on the corner of the sofa, propping her head on one hand, listening to the conversation swirling in waves around her with only a very small part of her consciousness. Not like it was very important conversation – just who was fooling around with who, who’d been spotted near the perimeter, and how the new livestock was settling in, in the Library garden.
Livestock? I feel like livestock, she mused, distractedly. Slow and stupid. Running on minimal processing power. A clockwork toy running down.
Although increasingly tipsy, Rae could tell Blink wasn’t herself. “You okay, Bee?” He leaned forward so he could meet her gaze.
She forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
He stroked her arm. “Ain’t surprised. That was a long old hike, and you were up late yesterday.”
“Maybe she just needs a drink,” Sadie suggested, waving the bottle clutched in the coils of her tail. “C’mon, lemme get you something to drink. You’ll either feel better for it, or you won’t care, haha!”
Blink studied the bottle, and shook her head. “No alcohol for me, thanks. I’m not-... I don’t-... just, no.”
“Sound like you had enough already!” someone trying to be funny pointed out, although Blink couldn’t tell who it was to glare at them. A flurry of little laughs responded.
The raft of giggling grated against her exhausted nerves. Shouldn’t be so tired. She tried to glare at them, but only managed to squint awkwardly. “I might just go and take a nap.” Her head felt so exhaustingly heavy, she was having trouble keeping it up. “I really don’t feel too good.”
Odati perched on the chair next to her; she looked like the only one that hadn’t completely succumbed to the alcohol. “You do look a little peaky,” she agreed. “Could you describe your symptoms a little better, dear?”
“Nauseous, stomach cramps. My head hurts. The world seems to be swaying around in front of me.” Blink pinched the brow of her nose. “And I feel exhausted, like I haven’t recharged in days.”
Odati gave her a quick examination – checked her eyes and listened to her chest.
“I wonder if maybe you’re sensitive to histamine?” the older female suggested, warily. “There’s a lot of it in that fish, and it would explain your symptoms.”
“Histawhat?” Blink stared beseechingly at the Library’s healer.
“Histamine. It’s a chemical in your body, which is meant to regulate inflammation but is probably responsible for allergies.”
“Careful there, Deets; you’re starting to sound like a proper doctor!” Sadie called out, from somewhere in the distance, accompanied by another ripple of laughter.
The vulline studiously ignored her heckler. “Some people react badly if there’s a lot of histamine in their diet,” she went on. “Normally, your body would just process it, but if for some reason it can’t, it fools your body into thinking you’re allergic to something.”
“Is this a bad sign?” Blink wondered, faintly. I escaped the virus, so now I’m going to die of allergic shock. “Will it go away on its own?”
Odati smiled, reassuringly. “Of course it will. You only have mild symptoms, it’ll all sort itself out and you’ll be fine in the morning. We’ll just have to try and avoid seafood for you, from now on, eh.” She patted her arm, gently. “How about go and get some rest? You look like you’re almost asleep as it is.”
“That sounds like a good idea...” Blink struggled to her feet, wobbled, and almost immediately fell straight back down, with a small startled noise.
“Let me call someone to give you a hand...”
Blink waved her hands. “No, no, it’s all right. I just... stood up too quickly.” She pushed herself carefully back to her feet, and somehow managed to remain standing. She forced a hazy smile. “I’ll see you all in the morning...”
Halli caught her hand as she passed, being careful not to accidentally tug the unsteady fessine off her feet again. “Are you all right?”
Blink forced a smile. “I will be. Just need to recharge. Defragment. Whatever.”
Halli glanced back at the rest of the Library residents, uneasily; they were happily sniggering together, presumably about a dirty joke someone had told. “Can I help-?”
“No, no.” Blink extracted her fingers from Halli’s worried grasp, and tottered away a step or two backwards. “I’m just tired. I’ll see you in the morning...?”
Halli bit her lip. “All right. Sleep well.”
Blink managed to get to the main steps before her knees wobbled and refused to support her any more. It felt rather like it had while she’d been adapting to these new gyroscopes, she mused, crawling up the stairs and pulling herself upright using the door-handle, although the simple act of thinking was getting increasingly difficult.
She tottered along the corridor to her room, propping herself up on the wall. The floor lurched nauseatingly beneath her – or was that just gravity, trying to suck her down? It felt almost as though her shoulders were full of lead, and her pathetic little straw legs didn’t stand a chance of keeping her upright.
She found her bedroom just in the nick of time, and collapsed on her mattress with a little grunt of pain. Her head was swimming, nauseatingly; it felt almost as though her brain had come was loose in her skull, and rotating slowly behind her eyes. Her eyelids felt ridiculously heavy.
Exhausted, she let her eyes drift closed-
* * * * *
Sleeping late always messed up Halli’s circadian rhythm, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise to her when she woke at the very crack of dawn the next morning. She lost track of how long she lay and stared at her ceiling, struggling to get back to sleep (and failing miserably).
At last, she gave it up as a lost cause, and rolled out of bed. Blink’s room was only a few doors down the corridor; she could go and check on how her friend was, see if she was feeling any better. After that, she could go and see if she could find those schematics that she knew were tucked away among the library shelves, somewhere. They could browse through them, together.
“Hey, Blink? How are you feeling?” She poked her head around the door. “I think I know where to find those schem-... at-... ics.”
Halli’s voice tailed off at finding that the fessine was not in her room. Blink’s bed was rumpled, but empty. And the big window at the end of the corridor stood open.
(Temporary count) 77999 ♥ 100000
As soon as she got through the suburbs, her ability to climb began to work more strongly in Blink’s favour. The blights probably could climb, to a degree, but their blunt fingers and hunched posture made it hard to reach and grab. Once she was out of reach, she could move along in comparative safety, making herself a little thinking space to plan her next move.
...her mind kept going back to Halli, alone and possibly hurt on the headland. Although still struggling to come to terms with her shock at seeing her friend so horribly deformed, the idea of abandoning her, to crawl the rest of the way back to the Library all on her own? It left a sour taste in her mouth. She couldn’t do that to her...!
It’s just a, a-... refit, Blink reassured herself, uneasily, climbing in through a first-floor shop window to look for a knife or something to defend herself. A strange, biological refit. We can do the same-... that is to say, when I was a machine, I could change myself at will, who is to say that organic creatures can’t, under specific conditions? She picked up a carving knife, still sharp and securely wrapped in a soft piece of protective plastic; perfect. ...I wonder if she can turn herself back?
Looking out of the window, Blink quickly recognised that she was running out of time, shadows cast by the sinking sun creeping further and further out across the street. She climbed gingerly out of the window and down onto the broken roof that had once shielded the entrance from the rain, but was now little more than a meshwork of rusted, overgrown wire, sloping almost all the way down to the ground on one corner. It creaked ominously beneath her feet, but stayed obediently in place while she scrambled across it.
Some higher power must have taken her under its wing, because Blink got down from the window just in time; climbing awkwardly off the far side of the broken mesh, her feet wound into the climbing vegetation for support, she glanced up just in time to see two mobile blobs appear at the head of the street. She sucked back a gasp of surprise and flattened herself into the underside of the roof, where the shadows could have hidden absolutely any sort of hideous monster. Thorns scratched at her arms, but thankfully no sharp teeth joined in. She peeked out between the leaves and watched the pair approach-
Blink’s heart leaped into her throat; Brindle had a rust-coloured rag draped over one big shoulder, and at this distance she couldn’t tell how badly the “rag” was hurt. She watched them cast uselessly about for her scent, wondering how she’d ever manage to rescue her friend now? Her plans to wait until they’d passed, and then go back for her friend, were not so much ruined as impossible. Sneaking around in the streets was a whole different animal to a full-frontal attach of two big, hungry, aggressive blights – her knife would help, but only so far. She held her breath, and watched, and waited, as silent as she could possibly manage.
“No problems catching her, he said,” Tun groused, loping along on all fours. His sharp voice echoed off the artificial cliffs and broken windows. “Shy, scaredy little thing, he said. Weak as a baby. Pah! Should have come for her hisself!”
Brindle responded by giving him a cuff around the side of the head. “Hush yer yap. Told to fetch, not talk. You think he’ll be happy she’s not caught?”
Tun skipped backwards, out of the way. “Pssh, not like you’re helping matters! S’already vanished again.”
Blink watched as they approached, wriggling tighter against the wire mesh. Don’t look up, don’t look up.
“Can’t have vanished,” Brindle growled, frustrated, passing mere inches beneath Blink’s hiding place. “Laima are sneaks, they dun’ disappear.”
Blink held her breath and concentrated on keeping her grip, her trembling hands losing strength. Had the blight glanced up, it’d have been in perfect grabbing distance – fortunately they seemed too interested in their squabble.
“Well, can you see her?”
“Doesn’t mean she’s vanished, means yer nose is useless!”
“Oh, right, an’ yours is so much better. Only took you chasin’ Tiny all around the park while she jumped on me.”
Brindle snarled a threat and pinned Tun with a forepaw. “Just you watch it. Boss isn’t only one who can bite.”
Tun cringed down, ears flattening, and whined angrily, but didn’t fight back.
“Less she finds place to sleep, won’t last long in the dark anyway.” Brindle took its giant paw off Tun and allowed him to get up. “Find her tomorrow, when she’s cold and stiff and tired.”
Tun scurried hastily out of reach, carrying himself low to the ground.
You’re going to have to do it soon, a little voice reminded, in the back of Blink’s head, as she watched them move off down the street. You have no idea what they plan to do to Halli.
As soon as they’d put a few body-lengths of space between them, Blink lowered herself from her hiding place, and slunk after them, carefully, keeping to the shadows as much as she could, desperately trying to formulate a plan while she walked.
Her master plan refused to reveal itself. In fact, no plan at all came forwards, except taking the initiative and the element of surprise, and attacking them, head on, before they could spot her. If she did the unexpected, maybe she could startle them into enough of a retreat to rescue her friend, and get back to the Library. They weren’t that many streets away, now.
Fate made up her mind for her; she caught her toes against a perfectly-sized bit of wood to use as a weapon, broken out of the frame of a shop window and still studded with tiny bits of jagged glass on one end. This is your one and only chance, Blink. She turned the weapon end over end, weighing it in her hands. Make the most of it.
Blink set her jaw and measured her aim-
Neither blight had been expecting the blood-curdling scream that came out of nowhere. Even as they staggered around in circles, wildly searching the shadows for what was being murdered so horribly, Blink flew out of nowhere and brought her warclub down on the middle of Brindle’s back. He went down with a startled yelp of pain. Tun gave a yowl of alarm, and proved that bravery wasn’t one of his assets by putting Brindle between him and their assailant.
Blink found herself a good, somewhat defensive position, just out of reach. “Put her down,” she instructed, shakily, pointing with the knife. “Or, or-...”
“What?” Tun curled his lip in a sneer. “You’ll use that knife y’can barely lift-”
“Just put her down!”
Brindle gave a grunt, and pushed itself back to its feet, before Tun could argue further. “All right.” It let its shoulder drop, and Halli tumbled to the floor with a small grunt of pain.
Blink bit her lip; at least she’d got confirmation the zaar was still alive.
“What you gonna do now, eh?” Brindle approached, slowly, head down and teeth bared – and limping. “Wave the toothpick some more?”
Blink fought the urge to back off, hands trembling. “Come one step closer and I’ll show you-”
Hoping to catch her off guard, Brindle did exactly as challenged – lunged for her, mouth gaping, teeth gleaming like an array of knives.
Startled, Blink moved without really thinking about it; swung her makeshift club, and landed a good, solid, and lucky blow on the side of the face. It yelped in alarm and staggered away, blood mixing rapidly with its drool.
“Just leave us be! Go find something better to eat!”
Dazed, Brindle seemed to have lost its appetite. It stumbled away, bleeding and muttering, and after a second of weighing up his choices, Tun hastily followed.
Making a slow but determined strike for the Library, Halli had crawled away from where she’d been dropped, mostly on her stomach. The going looked tough – she limped on her left hind-leg, and dragged the right one. Blood from a wound high on her right hip darkened her rusty pelt to a murky chocolate colour.
Blink approached her, warily, putting herself just in her way. “Halli?”
The blight puffed out her crest and opened her beak just enough that Blink could see her teeth, and limped painfully past. “Notouch,” she snapped.
“Let me help you-”
“I bite.” Halli looked like a limping bottle brush, all her stiff fur puffing out around her. “No touch!”
“Fine, then you bite. I’m immune, remember?” Blink delicately gathered her up off the pavement, being careful of touching the injured right leg. Oof. She’s heavier than she looks. “We need to get home.”
Halli stiffened and growled, trembling. “Put down,” she whispered, shakily. “I bite.”
Blink ignored her, rearranging her until she was able to support her friend against her chest, Halli’s head on her shoulder and legs dangling. “There.” She began to hum, softly, hoping it would reassure her – and thankfully, the soft grumbling perpetual growl began to fade out.
Halli was worryingly placid, by the time they got back to the Library, just as dusk was falling; Blink hoped it just meant she was tired, not badly hurt. Aspazija let them in, then hustled them straight to the bathroom, before Odati could see what was going on.
“What happened?” she demanded, the instant the door was securely locked and no prying eyes could ‘accidentally’ see what was going on.
Blink knelt on the floor and let Halli sink untidily to the tiles. “We were attacked.”
Aspazija gave her a horrified glance. “Attacked? Who by?”
“I don’t know. A couple of hungry blights?” Blink shook her head, and gave Halli’s shoulder a little stroke. “Halli saved me.”
The zaar didn’t challenge the fib. She sprawled out over the cool bathroom floor and groaned as her body began to reshape itself. She covered her face with her hands as the protruding muzzle retreated and flattened, the fingers themselves shortening and dividing. Her thick pelt came loose in great clumps, falling from her body and turning into an untidy mass of fibres in various shades of brown on the bathroom tiles. The stiff little tail retreated altogether, disappearing back into her spine, leaving only a selection of long hairs on the floor to show it had ever existed.
Shape-shifting did nothing to heal her wounds, though, or to wash away the blood. With no hair to hide them, any more, bruises had blossomed on her flanks and thighs, and swarmed like hungry parasites around the injury on her right hip.
At last, the real Halli was back, laying flat on the floor, breathing hard and trembling. “...uugh.”
“Welcome back, Hal! You’re just in time for your bath,” Aspazija said, in her most no-nonsense voice, and scooped the exhausted smaller woman up off the floor. “I’ll fetch the good doctor to come take a look at that bite.”
“Ow, ow!” Halli tensed as the fessine lowered her into the warm water, and hissed at the sting in her hip. “Could you be a little more careless-?”
“Probably. Make the most of it while it’s still warm!” Aspazija loitered briefly in the doorway. “Could you let me back in, Bee?”
“Of course...”
As soon as Aspazija had gone, Blink pushed the bolt across on the door, and smiled; after being chased hither and yon all afternoon, there was something strangely satisfying about that one tiny action, in spite of the rattly lock. Using a towel, she began to sweep up the mass of shed fur into it. “Um. Would you like a hand?”
“Hn?” Halli peered over the side of the bath, with difficulty. “What?”
Blink concentrated on cleaning the tiles, politely. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Oh.” Halli went awkwardly silent for several seconds. “...I don’t have any clothes on.”
“I won’t look.”
That produced a strained chuckle, at least. “You’ll help me, blindfolded?”
“Sorry.” Blink felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “That was a stupid thing to say, wasn’t it?”
Halli smiled, and slumped back against the cool bath. “...I’d appreciate the help,” she agreed, quietly. “Thank you.” She wiped her face with her hand. “...I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I assumed you knew.”
“Warn me?” Blink squirted a little soap onto the cloth.
“About the-... the shape-shifting thing. I realised as soon as I saw your face that you didn’t know about it. It’s another part of what heff does to you,” the little zaar explained, finally managing to sit forward on her own so Blink could get to her back. The water had taken on an ominous purplish grey hue from her blood. “Deforms your body. Why do you think it killed so many, so quickly? If you don’t change cleanly, you can pop an artery, sever your spine...”
Blink gently scrubbed the soapy cloth over the dark back. “Is that what happened to your hand?”
Halli nodded, and made a soft noise of pleasure as the warm cloth moved up over her shoulders. “A long time ago,” she confirmed. “When you’ve lived with it for twenty years, you learn to control it, though. You get less... deformities. The virus is more of a symbiote, now, not an invading pathogen.” She forced a smile and a disappointed sigh. “Never really learn to control the aching stupidity though. I know who you are, I know you’re a friend, and I know you’re not going to hurt me, and my inflamed nerves and hyped-up instincts still want me to bite you.”
“But you didn’t bite me. So you can’t be anywhere near as stupid as you want to call yourself.” Blink smiled, and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. “If you were, you’d have just obeyed your instincts, and hang the consequences.”
Aspazija deliberately hung back from returning until she thought Halli would have finished her bath, and the zaar was clean, dry and bundled in towel when she finally tapped at the door, with Sadie in tow.
Sadie quickly took charge. She peeled back the edges of the towel to reveal the injury – a deep, painful gouge through the skin and into the muscle. She clicked her tongue. “Gonna need to glue this, Hal. What have you been playing at?” She turned to rummage through her box for the tiny tube of adhesive that always escaped to the bottom of the mass of medical supplied.
Halli snuggled down in her towel as best as she could without getting in Sadie’s way, trying not to shiver in the bathroom’s chill air. “Had a visit from Breg and Tun. We bumped into them on the headland on our way back from the Institute.”
Sadie grunted. “Should have known. Never known anyone so prone to biting as that boneheaded pair.”
Blink sat on her hands and watched as Sadie quietly squeezed the sides of the cut together, and applied a couple of spots of glue to the surface. “How do you know them?” She wasn’t sure if it made her more or less depressed, the idea that they weren’t just two random blights who thought they’d make a good meal.
Emotionally exhausted, Halli winced, and had to concentrate on not whimpering at the sting of the glue.
“They’re Tevak’s. They might be uneducated brutes, but they’re strong, and usually pretty reliable.” Sadie gave Blink a cool stare. “Lucky you’re not quite the defenceless little slip of innocent nothing you look like, or they’d have hauled you off to Tevak long ago.” She patted Halli gently on the arm. “There you go, Hal. Try not to over-exert yourself until it starts to heal, eh?”
Blink sighed, and let her gaze drop back to the tiles. “I’m sorry.”
Halli watched her. “Why are you sorry?”
“They were after me. If not for me being out there, they wouldn’t have attacked you.”
“That’s just it,” Sadie interrupted, quietly. “They shouldn’t have been out there at all. When does Tevak ever go out to the Institute? He’s already gloated that there’s nothing out there he wants.”
“Unless it’s a trick, to throw us off the trail. If he acts uninterested, we’ll never suspect him.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean...” Sadie studied the lid of her box, staring intently on the clasp as she snapped it shut. “They were after you, Blink. Which means, someone told them you were out there.”
“Oh, no.” Halli shook her head. “Sadie, no...”
“We have a traitor amongst us.”
Dark had well and truly fallen by the time Halli emerged, limping, from the bathroom, swamped in a baggy jumper several sizes too big for her that looked more like a lumpy, motheaten dress. Blink helped her hobble down to the landing, where they flopped down together on the mossy ground, leaning against the library wall to gaze up at the incredible, twinkling vista of stars.
“I’m sorry things didn’t really go as planned,” Halli said, tiredly. “I didn’t expect anything more complicated than walk out there, have lunch, walk back.”
Blink glanced down at her. “Well, I wouldn’t say it wasn’t a success. I got a good look at the Institute, and began to see what I could focus on to break my way in.” She developed a spontaneous fit of giggles, and clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said, then admitted, guiltily, around her fingers; “It was sort of exciting, too.”
Halli looked sidelong at her, and couldn’t help chuckling along. “Odati’s going to be spitting hairballs when she finds out, you know.”
“Oh, let her.” Blink felt something like a flush of rebelliousness rush through her veins. “We’re both adults, don’t need an old busybody making decisions for us.” She let her head bump against her friend’s. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” After a beat, she added; “Next time, we’ll have to sneak out. If no-one knows we’ve gone, no-one can follow us.”
Halli laughed, more openly. “Troublemaker.”
“Maayybe.” Blink touched her hands to her chest, and put on her best, most innoffensive face. “I can be sneaky when I want.”
“Hey, ladies.” Both glanced around to see Rae shadowed in the hall doorway, a tray in his hands; he lifted it a fraction, by way of explanation. “You weren’t there for supper, so I saved you some, just in case. Hungry?”
“Oh! Famished,” Halli agreed, firmly. She fell on her bowl as though she hadn’t eaten in weeks, finishing her supper before Blink was even halfway through hers, and rapidly polished off the rest of the bread.
Blink giggled at her, tiredly. “You must have hollow legs.”
“Shifting uses a lot of energy,” Halli explained, defensively, continuing to wipe her already-clean bowl with a crust. “Growing all that hair, remodelling your whole skeleton? Why do you think blights are always hungry?”
Blink offered her the rest of her bowl.
Halli eyed it, suspiciously. “Don’t be silly.”
“I mean it. I’m full.” Blink relinquished her bowl into the smaller hands. “Rae always gets me portions that are too big for me to finish.”
Rae mumbled something about her always looking like she needed some meat on her bones and looked away; Blink gave him a gentle elbow in the ribs. Halli ignored both of them, shovelling down the remains of Blink’s supper with the same gusto with which she’d eaten her own.
“I know one thing for sure,” the zaar commented, with a yawn, putting her bowl down and flopping against Blink. “I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.”
“I think I might, too.” Blink chuckled, and let her arms drift around her two friends. “What a day.”
Rae bumped cheeks. “Really shoulda told me you were going,” he scolded, affectionately. “I’d have come with you, helped look after you.”
Except sometimes, I want to prove I can still do things myself. Rather than make excuses, Blink just agreed. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it, at the time. We were only supposed to be going for a walk.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘only’ a walk, in this place. There could be blights anywhere, you’re lucky you only bumped into those two, and lucky there weren’t too hungry-”
“Woo, wait. Rae, Rae...” Blink cut in. She waited until his words had dribbled away into silence before continuing. “The only reason we met them was because someone told them we were out there. They were working for Tevak.”
He was quiet for a moment, digesting the information. “You’re telling me it wasn’t a coincidence?”
“They said they’d been told to come and get me. Sadie confirmed they’re part of Tevak’s group.” She inhaled a long, steadying breath. “I think someone wants to get rid of me.”
“What? Aw, no, come on. That’s silly. There’s got to be some other explanation for it.” Rae laughed, uneasily. “Maybe... maybe they were just... sneaking around the Library, and just happened to hear something, while you were planning your walk.” He smiled, hopefully. “That’ll be all it is. Nothing more sinister. Right?”
Blink forced a smile, keeping the rest of her concerns to herself – just in case. “I hope so.”
Once she’d passed out, Halli slept very deeply, exactly as she’d predicted – so deeply, in fact, that no amount of prodding could produce more than a dismissive grunt from her, and Rae had to carry her to her room. She slept all the way through until some time past noon the next day, and spent the rest of the afternoon distractedly trying to help Aron prepare the evening meal, although she got in the way, mostly. Her drowsy mind wasn’t really up to helping Blink, who had buried herself among the library shelves to look for schematics.
Dusk had just began to fall when Aron decided everything was ready; Odati took charge of dishing out supper while he went to fetch the bread from the oven. A little cheer went up when Jak – the grey vul Blink hadn’t really met properly, yet, who’d had his ears zapped on the Institute fence – emerged from around the side of the Library with a box full of bottles in his arms.
“Where did you find all that lot?” Odati challenged, suspiciously, as he tottered unsteadily past.
“Out foraging, obviously.” Jak grinned up at her, tail beating from side to side. “We finally got through the security door in the old supermarket in the south suburb.”
“I should have known you’d bring back the alcohol, and not anything useful.” Odati returned to her ladle, filling the next bowl.
“Hey, there’s not much left down there, after we brought all the last cans of fruit back last time. And alcohol is plenty useful – right, you lot?” He unscrewed the lid of some kind of fruit liqueur with a flourish, to laughter and scattered applause. “Now let’s get this lot distributed, eh?...”
With her disastrous introduction to alcohol still fresh in her mind, Blink waved the bottles of spirit past, each time they came her direction, concentrating on eating. Not only did she not really want a repeat of what had happened with the bérz, the other evening, she wasn’t feeling particularly special, right now. She didn’t think adding alcohol to the mix would help her twitchy stomach, which didn’t hurt so much feel as though tiny winged creatures were scurrying around inside it, leaving her nauseous – and frustrated! She’d finally begun to get used to the way food often soothed stomach discomfort, and now the complete opposite seemed to be happening.
She sighed and pushed a lump of meat around with the back of her spoon. The bright red sauce had a sweet, but slightly vinegary taste to it that contrasted nicely with the pale white flaky meat of the fish and the big, bright chunks of sweet fruit and fresh vegetable... but the aftertaste ruined it. A weird, bitter aftertaste, which lingered in the back of her mouth for some time after she’d finished eating. Maybe I should try a little of the drink, after all. It might wash the bitter taste away.
If only she didn’t feel so groggy. It felt as though her arms weighed twice as much as normal. She curled up on the corner of the sofa, propping her head on one hand, listening to the conversation swirling in waves around her with only a very small part of her consciousness. Not like it was very important conversation – just who was fooling around with who, who’d been spotted near the perimeter, and how the new livestock was settling in, in the Library garden.
Livestock? I feel like livestock, she mused, distractedly. Slow and stupid. Running on minimal processing power. A clockwork toy running down.
Although increasingly tipsy, Rae could tell Blink wasn’t herself. “You okay, Bee?” He leaned forward so he could meet her gaze.
She forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
He stroked her arm. “Ain’t surprised. That was a long old hike, and you were up late yesterday.”
“Maybe she just needs a drink,” Sadie suggested, waving the bottle clutched in the coils of her tail. “C’mon, lemme get you something to drink. You’ll either feel better for it, or you won’t care, haha!”
Blink studied the bottle, and shook her head. “No alcohol for me, thanks. I’m not-... I don’t-... just, no.”
“Sound like you had enough already!” someone trying to be funny pointed out, although Blink couldn’t tell who it was to glare at them. A flurry of little laughs responded.
The raft of giggling grated against her exhausted nerves. Shouldn’t be so tired. She tried to glare at them, but only managed to squint awkwardly. “I might just go and take a nap.” Her head felt so exhaustingly heavy, she was having trouble keeping it up. “I really don’t feel too good.”
Odati perched on the chair next to her; she looked like the only one that hadn’t completely succumbed to the alcohol. “You do look a little peaky,” she agreed. “Could you describe your symptoms a little better, dear?”
“Nauseous, stomach cramps. My head hurts. The world seems to be swaying around in front of me.” Blink pinched the brow of her nose. “And I feel exhausted, like I haven’t recharged in days.”
Odati gave her a quick examination – checked her eyes and listened to her chest.
“I wonder if maybe you’re sensitive to histamine?” the older female suggested, warily. “There’s a lot of it in that fish, and it would explain your symptoms.”
“Histawhat?” Blink stared beseechingly at the Library’s healer.
“Histamine. It’s a chemical in your body, which is meant to regulate inflammation but is probably responsible for allergies.”
“Careful there, Deets; you’re starting to sound like a proper doctor!” Sadie called out, from somewhere in the distance, accompanied by another ripple of laughter.
The vulline studiously ignored her heckler. “Some people react badly if there’s a lot of histamine in their diet,” she went on. “Normally, your body would just process it, but if for some reason it can’t, it fools your body into thinking you’re allergic to something.”
“Is this a bad sign?” Blink wondered, faintly. I escaped the virus, so now I’m going to die of allergic shock. “Will it go away on its own?”
Odati smiled, reassuringly. “Of course it will. You only have mild symptoms, it’ll all sort itself out and you’ll be fine in the morning. We’ll just have to try and avoid seafood for you, from now on, eh.” She patted her arm, gently. “How about go and get some rest? You look like you’re almost asleep as it is.”
“That sounds like a good idea...” Blink struggled to her feet, wobbled, and almost immediately fell straight back down, with a small startled noise.
“Let me call someone to give you a hand...”
Blink waved her hands. “No, no, it’s all right. I just... stood up too quickly.” She pushed herself carefully back to her feet, and somehow managed to remain standing. She forced a hazy smile. “I’ll see you all in the morning...”
Halli caught her hand as she passed, being careful not to accidentally tug the unsteady fessine off her feet again. “Are you all right?”
Blink forced a smile. “I will be. Just need to recharge. Defragment. Whatever.”
Halli glanced back at the rest of the Library residents, uneasily; they were happily sniggering together, presumably about a dirty joke someone had told. “Can I help-?”
“No, no.” Blink extracted her fingers from Halli’s worried grasp, and tottered away a step or two backwards. “I’m just tired. I’ll see you in the morning...?”
Halli bit her lip. “All right. Sleep well.”
Blink managed to get to the main steps before her knees wobbled and refused to support her any more. It felt rather like it had while she’d been adapting to these new gyroscopes, she mused, crawling up the stairs and pulling herself upright using the door-handle, although the simple act of thinking was getting increasingly difficult.
She tottered along the corridor to her room, propping herself up on the wall. The floor lurched nauseatingly beneath her – or was that just gravity, trying to suck her down? It felt almost as though her shoulders were full of lead, and her pathetic little straw legs didn’t stand a chance of keeping her upright.
She found her bedroom just in the nick of time, and collapsed on her mattress with a little grunt of pain. Her head was swimming, nauseatingly; it felt almost as though her brain had come was loose in her skull, and rotating slowly behind her eyes. Her eyelids felt ridiculously heavy.
Exhausted, she let her eyes drift closed-
Sleeping late always messed up Halli’s circadian rhythm, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise to her when she woke at the very crack of dawn the next morning. She lost track of how long she lay and stared at her ceiling, struggling to get back to sleep (and failing miserably).
At last, she gave it up as a lost cause, and rolled out of bed. Blink’s room was only a few doors down the corridor; she could go and check on how her friend was, see if she was feeling any better. After that, she could go and see if she could find those schematics that she knew were tucked away among the library shelves, somewhere. They could browse through them, together.
“Hey, Blink? How are you feeling?” She poked her head around the door. “I think I know where to find those schem-... at-... ics.”
Halli’s voice tailed off at finding that the fessine was not in her room. Blink’s bed was rumpled, but empty. And the big window at the end of the corridor stood open.