[ COMPLETED ]
German Translations Provided By @vanessanats
BOOK 1 of the ORPHIC series
ZEITGEIST
/ˈtsītˌɡīst,ˈzītˌɡīst/
the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.
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"A mind wants to forget but a heart will always remember."
???, Russia. December, 1991
KARPOV'S EXPRESSION WAS INEXPLICABLY BLANK as Verfall stared upwards at the blinding ceiling light above her. Her hands were cuffed to the familiar metal she was always placed on after cryostasis. Her hair was dry and she was barely aware of the needles poking under her skin. If she focused enough, she could see her blood being taken through a long narrow tube, attached to several blood bags. She vaguely wondered what they would do with it, not that they'd ever tell her.
She stiffened when she heard earth-shattering screams coming from the large room next door, which stored the mind-wiping Chair.
Winter was awake.
Her eyes moved warily back to Karpov, who'd aged to somewhere in his forties, as he stepped past the scientists carrying filled blood bags out of the way. He exited the room with a crimson red book in his hand, a black star printed perfectly atop it.
She barely felt the needle being pulled out from her arm as they replaced it with another needle connected to an IV drip. She knew it was a concoction of amphetamine and adrenaline-inducing drugs. She didn't need it as much as Winter did, but she had no choice in the matter.
Five minutes had passed before Karpov reappeared, shutting the steel door behind him.
He tossed the red book on one of the unoccupied tables, rubbing his temples as if he had a migraine.
The cuffs around her hands clicked open and she sat up at the wave of Karpov's hand. She felt light-headed and almost tipped over on the table.
How much blood had they taken?
She'd let her mind drift and hadn't kept herself here, in the infirmary. She'd floated off, somewhere, and lost time.
How much time had passed?
Karpov caught her before she could tumble to the ground. He placed her back onto the table. Verfall gripped onto him with one hand, still unbalanced and unable to remain seated without his help. A small sigh escaped his lips but he didn't move away.
The steel doors to the room slammed open and winter was dragged forwards, his feet still locked and not completely thawed. He was dragged onto the metal table besides hers, looking disoriented as they locked his arms down with cuffs.
A technician inserted an IV drip into his right arm as Winter breathed softly.
His eyes moved across the ceiling before landing on Verfall and his handler. He looked relieved as he returned his gaze back to the gray steel above.
