Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 4.25: Vanora

"It's too early to judge anything. We don't know what caused its condition. If it's related to its host, we would only be sending another system to its demise. If there are more signs that indicate going towards a negative ending, it'll never be too late to end BaoBao. Give it a system upgrade immediately but quarantine its connections. The only ones it should be able to contact is us."

No one argued and everyone went to work. Some continued operations as per normal while others attended to BaoBao's situation. This was how they were. No fuss, efficient, and effective. When they were done, they reported BaoBao's vitality signs and current condition to the one who gave the command.

"How quickly it recovers now is up to it. Its host should be able to tide over by herself in the meantime. Our systems wouldn't keep themselves bounded with weak hosts."

Vanora woke up the next morning to find that BaoBao was still unresponsive. She sat on the bed with a troubled expression. BaoBao? BaoBao! ... ... ...I wonder what happened...

She calmed her emotions and walked towards the black curtain to leave the room only to stop in front of the curtain. 

She was suddenly very aware of how vulnerable and uncertain she felt. She did not notice it before but part of the reason why she had been coping fine with transmigrating into one strange world after another was partly thanks to BaoBao's surveillance. She would usually know what's beyond this curtain. She would know what's going on in places she cannot see. 

The power of knowledge was a huge advantage to have. She won't be caught off guard. She won't be surprised. She would have time to plan and react. Now, she had no idea of what lies beyond until she reveals it herself. 

Now that she was relying on herself again as it had been in her original world. Her observations, her calculations, her deductions. Would her fate repeat? 

She felt frozen. She gulped and took a deep breath. It's alright. I'm just getting emotional again. Because I am in this world. Because I have to be emotional in this world. I've practiced this so many times. I can just regain control. Regain control. 

She reached out for the curtain confidently but her hand ended up freezing an inch before it. Her fingers trembled slightly. She clenched her hand to stop the trembling but now her hand shook. She held her hand against her chest. Now her whole body was trembling. 

She could not help it. She could not control it. She could not find it in herself to believe that she could somehow make it by herself. Even though they may have started out roughly, she did work together with BaoBao from the first world. 

Even with his powers, I was barely making it through each world. Now that he's not here, how can it be the same? I'll just fail like I did back home. I'll fail to change anything. I'll die. BaoBao, where are you..? What am I supposed to do now? You're the one that brought me here with a mission to fulfill. If you're not here, then what am I doing here in a world where I don't belong? What's going to happen to me? Am I the cause for your disappearance? Is this you abandoning me as a host? So I've really been abandoned? Do I live and die here for the final time? 

Suddenly, the curtain was drawn open from the other side. It surprised Vanora so much that her legs gave way. 

Vlad had found it weird that Vanora was sleeping longer than usual. When it reached 8 hours and she was still not out, he began to worry and decided to go in to check on her.

He jumped when he found someone just behind the curtain. Immediately after the jump scare, he felt his heart wrench as he took in the sight of Vanora on the floor, hands to her chest, with wide eyes filled with fear and anxiety and tears threatening to fall. She looked so small and fragile, like she would fall apart any moment now.