New Elysium: Weapons of War (Book 2)

Band Aids Won't Fix This Part 7

They found Null sobbing outside the med bay door on the floor.

It was so out of character for her that Red stopped in place shocked.  Not even Lars taking over the body changed what had happened. He was as deeply affected by whatever had just happened as Null was.

"What happened?" He asked loudly but she didn't respond, her shoulders heaving with her sobs.  

Ember elbowed him out of the way moving to Null, by reflex she put her around her and drew her close. Amy stiffened in Ember's embrace but then she relaxed and leaned into the smaller woman. 

She shot a glare at Red over Amy's shoulder. 

Red could only shrug and put his hands up. Ember motioned with her eyes for him to move, and then mentally, get your ass on the other side of them!

He sat down next to Null and put an arm around both of them, letting Null, and by extension Lars, cry themselves out. He was no good at this

Lars?  He tried tentatively.  

It happened again, right in front of us. Came the response. I wasn't even aware of the depth of feelings a human could have for someone... I mean I thought I was... and then...this...

What happened?

A seizure. Lars sounded just as miserable as Amy did. 

Red said nothing, but his grip tightened on Ember's shoulder. He glanced at her over Amy's head and her eyes met his, brimming with unshed tears. He understood their anxiety, knew he'd be completely undone without Ember. If anything happened to her... He pushed the thought away... His other hand went to Null's other shoulder. 

They stayed that way until Amy Larsson stopped crying.

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Thank you, Captain, Lars spoke into Red's mind.

For what?

For coming. Null is... I don't really know how to deal with this situation, Lars explained.

From the look on Amy Larsson's face, Red knew that it was Null who was in control of the body. And Lars seemed to talk to him without her noticing – she seemed too distracted.

She stood on one side of the bed with Ember and Red behind her, tears down one side of her face.

"Cyril, can you fix him?" Null asked. She stared down at Nova, Red couldn't help but notice the way her shoulders slumped. She really does care about him...

"I can certainly try," Cyril said flatly, and Red couldn't help but notice the look of dismay on his face as he watched her squeeze the unconscious man's hand. But Null never looked up at him, her eyes remained on the unconcious man beneath their gazes.

"The problem occurs when an Augur link is incomplete or interrupted," Cyril explained, "Augurs work with a primitive AI that resides in a processor chip in their brain. When the link is disrupted, traces of that AI can remain 'stuck' in the target's systems. We need to wipe him to get rid of these traces."

"Wipe him?" Null asked, furrowing her brow. "What does that mean?"

"A hard reset of all augments, and a cocktail of neurochemicals and drugs to... basically reset the brain, too," Cyril said. "It's not without risk. These drugs, in combination with how widespread the neurological damage already is... he will probably lose some of his memory."

"What?!" Null called out in distress, "How... how much of it?"

"Hard to say in advance. But it's all I can do," Cyril said and shrugged.