Work Text:
It’s ten minutes to midnight and Zhu Yuan swears her head is about to explode. If it did, she wouldn’t have to deal with this stupid migraine anymore, so maybe it would be a good thing. Sadly that would make for an extremely off-putting headline in tomorrow’s newspaper, so she silently takes back her wish and wills her head to remain in one piece.
Her idle hand absentmindedly reaches into her pocket to grab her phone and check the time, but she quickly decides against it. Even Sixth Street’s street lamps were quickly becoming too painful to look at. …I need to convince Qingyi to get us moved off night patrol duty before I become the force’s next spontaneous casualty.
Qingyi had presented the idea of working the night shift about a week ago, and Zhu Yuan had eagerly agreed. She thought it would be a nice, quiet change of pace from all the action lately. Fortunately, she was right! Nothing ever happened, save for some run-ins with stray cats. Unfortunately, she had very quickly overdrafted her sleep bank (who knew it was hard sleeping everyday at 2PM?), and in return for these mundane nighttime patrols, she received daily cluster headaches and exhaustion.
(The past few days she got through with painkillers and caffeine, but they weren’t cutting it anymore.)
Zhu Yuan feels her pain wane a bit as she glances through the convenience store’s glass doors and watches Qingyi hand some Dennies to the cashier. Two of the three Bangboo who usually stood in front all day were absent, and the remaining one (was it the one they had helped that one time?) was acting as the night worker. Poor guy.
Qingyi waves a polite goodbye as she exits the store, and promptly hands Zhu Yuan her coffee.
“Thanks, Qingyi.” I wonder what she got for herself this time ... probably tea? Or maybe just plain hot water … Qingyi really has strange taste.
After taking her first sip, Zhu Yuan isn’t surprised to find her midnight convenience store coffee just barely on the cold edge of lukewarm. It also just tastes like crap.
“Qingyi, please tell me you didn’t get me decaf by accident." Zhu Yuan was mostly joking, but she did have to admit she was looking for an excuse to stop working away at her dreadful drink.
“I don’t think I could have risked making such a mistake given how horrible those bags under your eyes look. I told you we didn’t have to agree to do this if you couldn’t handle it.” Qingyi’s voice is painted with annoyance at her superior.
Zhu Yuan takes a deep breath. “How was I supposed to know I couldn’t able to handle it if I had never tried it before?” Truth be told, she really thought she could. There were many nights that she had spent late at night in the office reading over case files and finishing paperwork, but clearly needing to string these nights together consecutively was something else entirely.
“Always so brave to try new things, aren’t you?” Qingyi lets out a small sigh then sternly turns to her partner. “If you’re going to be a detriment to the patrol tonight, I’ll be fine on my own.”
Zhu Yuan stares at her. Her head hurt too much to raise her eyebrows incredulously, but she hopes the vibe she was giving off portrayed her disdain properly. If something happens, especially a run-in with anyone violent, Zhu Yuan 100% needed to be there. She wouldn’t ever forgive herself if something happened to Qingyi because she was “tired”. “You think I can’t do my job because I’m a little sleepy?”
“You’re obviously not just a little sleepy.” Qingyi was narrowing her eyes in concern. “You think I haven’t seen you struggling to stay awake in the changing room? Then there’s the painkillers you’ve been taking when you think I’m not looking. You’ve been having headaches all week.”
“I don’t take painkillers very often. My liver will be fine! Anyway, I’ll be wide awake after I finish my coffee. I’ve gotten through the last few days - I can get through this one.” …It will just be quite painful.
“I can just call Seth and get him to cover your shift. He’s probably still awake anyway.”
“No need. I’ll be fine.” Zhu Yuan was starting to get annoyed now. Qingyi had been her partner for years now, but she couldn’t remember many times when she was this overbearing.
Qingyi lets out one last sigh, then wordlessly begins to walk towards their patrol location, the outskirts of Sixth Street.
After making their way through the gaps in the fencing, the pair made their way outside into one of New Eridu’s designated danger zones.
The area was by no means even close to being as dangerous as an actual Hollow, and it wasn’t really dangerous at all, actually. Zhu Yuan was sure citizens would explore the area sometimes if they were feeling adventurous.
In reality, it was merely fenced off as more of a deterrent if anything. The “primary danger” in the zone was its Ether instability, which meant that there was a very, very minuscule chance of the creation of a sub-hollow in the area.
The real problem was the lawlessness that the off-limits area bred. Zhu Yuan and Qingyi had been briefed on the zone’s Hollow raiders and gangs many times before. Luckily for them, however, they hadn’t encountered any of them over the past few days. The pair was pretty notorious, especially after the media attention recently, and Zhu Yuan thought they were probably giving them a wide berth because of this.
That was probably why these night patrols had been completely mundane, which was a good thing. The exhausted Zhu Yuan really didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Qingyi if they did get into any sort of altercation. She was more than content following behind her partner as she carefully paced out their route, letting the time tick away.
Unfortunately, tonight was not like all the others.
Half an hour into the patrol, Zhu Yuan’s partner comes to a sudden stop.
"Qingyi? Is something wrong?"
“I … hear something.”
Personally, Zhu Yuan couldn’t hear anything but the slow night breeze.
“Whatever you’re hearing must be quite far away, because I—”
Qingyi interrupts her as she takes off into a quick sprint. It takes a few seconds before her training kicks in and Zhu Yuan follows behind her, silently cursing her slow reaction speed. Her pain fades away as she forces herself to keep up with Qingyi, who seems dead set on taking as many confusing turns as possible.
“Qingyi, what’s going on? What the hell are you doing?!” Zhu Yuan shouts to ensure she’s heard as Qingyi rounds another corner. Their surroundings were now wholly unfamiliar, but Qingyi seemed dead set on going deeper and deeper into the abandoned city.
“I hear a child crying. Probably about six or seven blocks away now, somewhere in an alleyway judging by the echo.”
Zhu Yuan forces her muddled brain to process Qingyi’s sentences, and then she pulls out her radio and calls it in.
“This is Officer Zhu Yuan. Possible missing child found inside Sixth Street restricted area 7A.”
It takes a second for dispatch to respond. “The last missing child report was two weeks ago. Young boy, Kenneth Inoue.”
Two weeks was almost an impossibly long time frame to be missing, especially near a restricted zone, but the cries Qingyi are hearing seem to be countering that.
After about a minute, Zhu Yuan hears the crying for herself. And after another one, they finally arrive at the alleyway where it’s coming from.
“Hello? Kid, are you okay?” No response, just continued sobs. Where is he? Zhu Yuan’s eyes narrow as she watches Qingyi make her way into the dark alley.
“Qingyi, don’t scare him. His name is Kenneth, he’s been missing for two weeks now.” Two weeks - he’s extremely lucky to still be alive…
Suddenly, Zhu Yuan feels an uncomfortable chill run down her spine. The same chill she feels in a fight as she prepares to dodge a haymaker or the wild swings of a corrupted Ethereal.
She stops and listens to the crying as Qingyi inches her way down the claustrophobic alley.
There’s a few sniffles and sobs, then a small hiccup, sobbing for a few more seconds, then some quiet sniffles … and then…
Her blood runs cold.
There’s that same small hiccup again, and then the sobs.
She runs down the alleyway, almost tripping over broken bottles and garbage bags, then grabs Qingyi’s shoulder, shouting frantically. “Qingyi! We need to get out of here right now. That isn’t a real kid, the cries are a recording.”
Qingyi turns back at her wordlessly, then closes her eyes, reopening them a few seconds later. At first, Zhu Yuan is almost glad to see that all-too-familiar look on her face, the one she has before she rebukes her statement, or tells her she’s being silly. Then her expression shifts, and Zhu Yuan’s hand instinctively reaches for her holster.
“You’re right. It’s on a twenty-three-second loop.” Qingyi’s voice was calm, but her body language said otherwise. Her eyes were panning around the area now - trying to ascertain any sign of danger - but the duo was out of time.
Backlit by the moonlight, a dark figure steps out from the alley’s entrance in front of them, and Zhu Yuan can only watch as he tosses a sphere towards their feet.
Her body and brain are far too addled to react in time.
I can’t believe this is where it ends.
She gives one last glance at the object on the floor, then at the motionless Qingyi, who was … staring at her?
What is she doing?
A second later, she’s knocked to the ground and all goes black.
She can't move. But for some reason, she still feels everything - the garbage bag cushioning her head, the cold pavement underneath her, and this strange weight on her chest. There’s something on top of her, something barely big enough to reach her neck. Subconsciously, Zhu Yuan already knows what this weight is - but every cell in her body is pleading that she’s wrong.
Zhu Yuan forces herself off the ground and Qingyi’s lifeless body slides off of her.
“Qingyi?”
The dark alleyway is now dimly lit by blue electricity crackling out from the young girl’s body on the ground. There are even more dark figures standing in front of her now, some making their way towards her.
Zhu Yuan could feel her body a few seconds ago, but now everything is numb. She thinks she can vaguely make out the sound of someone talking.
“—Unfortunately, our employers wanted you both ali—”
Zhu Yuan starts to move but she can barely register what she’s doing. A passenger in her own body, she watches as she picks up Qingyi’s staff and throws it towards the closest thugs. They collapse, and her wrists reach for her Master Firearm.
There’s only enough time to load and fire one shot. She contemplates for a split second, then instead of aiming at the men running at her, she fires it to her direct right. The dilapidated building’s wall crumbles beside her, and she grabs Qingyi, narrowly making it into the new hole she’s created as bricks and concrete fall behind her.
Then she just does what she was doing a few minutes ago, before everything went to hell. She runs and runs, smashing through doors and windows and taking as many turns as she can to throw off her pursuers.
They probably know this area better than her. There are probably over a dozen of them running after her, and they’re probably getting ready to box her in. Zhu Yuan preferred to not think about that.
After what seems like an eternity her legs can’t last much longer. Darting into the nearest building, she leans on a wall and lightly drops Qingyi to the floor. Off in the distance, there are men shouting and windows breaking, but luckily they’re not too close.
It takes a few minutes, but her breathing and heart rate finally slow back down. The voices and noises quiet down too. The tension finally leaves Zhu Yuan’s body. She just needs to wait for her electronics to come back online and everything should be fine. Must have been an EMP, not an actual explosi—
The pain she thought she had left behind suddenly returns, but this time from somewhere much lower. Zhu Yuan collapses to the ground - she can’t support her body weight - something just pierced straight through her.
“Thought you could hide, officer?” A menacing voice echoes throughout the warehouse. Zhu Yuan winces as she registers the blood pooling around her right foot.
And the jagged blade sticking out of it.
The man steps closer to her. “Don’t even think about reaching for your weapon, or your arms are next. We need to keep you alive, but it doesn’t matter what condition you’re in.”
“.... co.….”
The man inches ever closer. “What’s that, officer? Begging for mercy? I told you already, you’ll be fine! For now, at least.”
“.... closer…”
He’s getting more and more infuriated by the second. “The hell are you saying?” He bends down towards her and reaches for her collar.
Zhu Yuan tears the knife out of her foot. “I said come closer you stupid fuck.” With one smooth motion, its tip is driven into the thug’s neck.
He gets out one pained scream before he falls to the ground. At least I got to take out a few of them. The voices from earlier suddenly get louder.
Crawling towards her partner, Zhu Yuan grabs onto her motionless arm and places her head on her chest. She can’t hear the ever-present hum of her power core, but she has faith in Qingyi. Any second now she’ll wake up and they’ll fight their way out of this together. Hopefully soon, because everything hurts and she can’t keep her eyes open much longer. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping her afloat, and it was quickly starting to ebb away.
We just need thirty seconds to deal with these guys, and then we’ll get out of here together.
Zhu Yuan lets out a rueful chuckle. Who am I kidding?
The voices are closing in.
She finds a small amount of solace as she looks into Qingyi's eyes. They’re still the same old green they always are, but the light behind them is gone.
Her vision is darkening, and her mind is fading. Zhu Yuan can’t think straight anymore.
transponder should have notified them
when it went offline
maybe they’ll get here
before they get here
…
i’d do anything for one more day
one more boring patrol
with her
i’d do anything for that.
Something in the air shifts. The ground beneath the pair’s bodies gives way, and then she's falling. It’s hard to breathe.
She smiles to herself one more time. What a terrible night.
Then she hits the ground and everything goes black.
Qingyi doesn’t regret what she did a single bit. She’s replaceable. Very replaceable. She knows it’s happened many times before. All the parts that they could salvage put into a new body, and then “she” would be back to business. Even if she wasn’t replaceable, there were so many possible replacements in the force for her. Seth and Jane had been outstanding recently, although they were better fit for combat than daily patrols. Even some of the higher-achieving Bangboos wouldn’t be such a bad fit for Zhu Yuan.
That’s why Qingyi jumped on top of her when she saw the grenade.
But she didn’t expect to wake up so soon, nor in the same old body she had been in for a few years now.
Her logs report a total shutdown just a little over an hour ago: a system-wide short circuit. An EMP… like the one that thief had a couple weeks ago, but this time, a grenade, and far stronger.
How the hell did Zhu Yuan get out of there?
The only thing she needs to do now is ping her location and they would be out of here in less than an hour. They were in some sort of abandoned park, and she could see a nearby suburb, so they weren’t going to be hard to find.
As her system finishes whirring to life, Qingyi finally realizes that their situation is much worse than she had expected. Her staff is missing, along with her canister of hot water (darn). She’s also getting error readings everywhere, on top of the ones telling her to run a full course of system diagnostics.
And for some reason, the Ether concentration in this area is much higher than baseline.
Impossible.
They were inside a Hollow, but there weren’t any within miles of the restricted zone.
There’s only one explanation, so she doesn’t spend any more time dwelling on it. Instead, she turns her attention to her partner. Zhu Yuan is lying limp on the concrete with a small amount of blood pooling near her foot. Her face is ghostly pale.
Qingyi makes her way over to Zhu Yuan and finds a shallow knife wound that had pierced through the thin armour on her foot. It’s not too bad, but I should still tourniquet it.
It might wake her up, too. That would be a nice bonus.
Qingyi carefully props Zhu Yuan up onto a nearby wall and pulls a combat tourniquet out of her belt, then runs her hands along her partner’s ankle. Here should work. Placing the tourniquet right above Zhu Yuan's tibia, she carefully ties the knot and tightens the windlass. Perhaps a bit too tight, because Zhu Yuan suddenly jolts awake.
“Qingyi. You’re okay.” Zhu Yuan’s voice was almost impossibly weak. She had lost a lot of blood and had probably hit her head on the ground when they fell into the Hollow. That wasn’t factoring in the sleep deprivation and the half-marathon they had run only an hour ago.
“Thanks to you, Captain,” Qingyi replies with a small smile. “Now sit still and let me check you for injuries.”
Zhu Yuan doesn't have nearly enough energy to resist, and just weakly nods in reply.
Qingyi carefully peels off Zhu Yuan’s armoured vest and undoes her green tie, placing them on top of a nearby bench.
“Lift your arms for me, please.” There’s noticeable pain on Zhu Yuan’s face as she does so, but she complies.
Lifting up her dress shirt, Qingyi pauses. She had a full view of her partner’s upper body and chest. She’s never been this … intimate with her Captain before (why would she?), and for some reason it’s causing her to hesitate.
“Is something wrong?” Zhu Yuan’s voice is almost impossibly faint and breathless.
“N-no, everything looks fine on the front. I’ll check your back now.”
Making her way behind her, Qingyi lifts up the shirt again. Before, everything seemed fine, but now she noticed serious swelling and bruising around Zhu Yuan’s right shoulder. Looks like she was slamming into things…
“Alright, it doesn’t look so bad up top apart from your right shoulder. You’re really going to need to refrain from making that any worse.” Zhu Yuan responds with another feeble nod.
Now she needs to check her legs.
Qingyi decides she needs a distraction as she slides off Zhu Yuan’s belt and pushes down her armoured leggings, and begins to examine her system logs as she lets her autopilot take over. Everything seems to be fine on Qingyi's end, but she hadn’t been hit by an EMP directly before. There could be something being obfuscated or missed, but time was of the essence so she decided to ignore her worries for now.
The autopilot completes its careful examination of Zhu Yuan’s calves and thighs a few seconds later, and reports only superficial injuries. It's a much better outcome than Qingyi could have reasonably expected; the police force’s Captain was truly deserving of her title.
She lightly touches the tourniquet, examining it to make sure it was still taut. Zhu Yuan twitches a bit as she does so.
“The bleeding is almost completely stopped. We’re going to need to find something to patch you up somewhere around here, though.”
Unfortunately, while Qingyi did carry around tourniquets, a full trauma kit was not in her everyday wear. They needed to disinfect and cover the knife wound, and hopefully find some anti-inflammatories for the shoulder. After that, she needed to somehow find food and water for her partner. Only after that could she start to figure out how they were going to get out of here. Much easier said than done.
Her planning only takes twenty seconds or so, but when she zones back in, Zhu Yuan’s eyes are closed again. As much as she wanted to let her rest, she couldn’t. First, she had no idea when Ethereals could show up. Second, after checking her records for Zhu Yuan’s Ether aptitude, without proper protective gear they only had two to three days before her body started to break down inside of the Hollow.
Qingyi preferred not to think about what would happen then.
Lightly grabbing her limp hand, Qingyi calmly but firmly spoke to her. “Captain. You can’t rest now, not until we do a few things. Stay with me.” In any other situation, she would be perfectly content letting Zhu Yuan sleep while doing everything herself, but she couldn’t risk getting split up inside here. All of her fancy pathfinding capabilities meant nothing in a non-Euclidean space as volatile as the Hollow.
One mistake and she would never see her partner ever again. So they needed to do this together.
Zhu Yuan, whose face was finally starting to regain some colour, strains a bit as she opens her red eyes. Something inside of Qingyi hurts horribly as she stares into them.
If only I had been more careful tonight.
None of this would have happened.
Extending her hand, she delicately helps Zhu Yuan to her feet, then lets her put her left arm around her neck. Even with Qingyi providing support, for a second, she can barely keep her head up. Then the officer takes a deep breath and her eyes regain focus.
“What first, Qingyi?” It was typical of the Captain. Leaving all the planning and thinking to her senior.
“Hopefully we find a pharmacy or hospital near here. Worst case scenario we’ll need to find a First Aid kit inside a convenience store or something.”
“And some water, please…”
Without further exchange, the two begin their journey into the Hollow.
Zhu Yuan lets out a breath of relief as she spots an abandoned New Eridu drug mart come into view. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, but the pair had managed to make their way into a shopping district near the suburb quite quickly, and the pharmacy was hard to miss. Well, it was more of a strip mall than a shopping district.
The deserted city streets contained some cars, most with their windows broken and trunks popped open. Broken glass and litter lay strewn about the sidewalk. Naturally, Zhu Yuan didn’t recognize the area. They had probably been sent somewhere deep into another Hollow, one far away from Sixth Street.
“Qingyi, have you been able to figure out where we are?” Zhu Yuan was still surprised at how weak her voice was, but her body was beginning to feel slightly better as they continued to walk. It was a bit uncomfortable letting Qingyi support her for this long, especially given their height difference, but she didn’t have much choice.
“From what I can tell, we’re probably somewhere near the Solove Hollow. I can’t find anything in my databases matching this area, though. We’re in the dark for this one.”
The pair make their way into the pharmacy and Zhu Yuan lets herself slump down onto an old chair next to the pharmacy’s counter.
Qingyi knows what to look for, so she just sits and waits, slowly sweeping her eyes across the abandoned store interior. Thank god I can always leave things to her.
Luckily, they were in an area where citizens had evacuated and left almost everything behind before the Hollow had expanded. The shelves were still almost fully stocked with everyday medicine, although she did see that some locked display cases had been smashed open.
It doesn't take long before Qingyi strolls over to her carrying a trauma kit and a bottle of pills, placing them down on the counter beside her.
“Wait here.” It’s not like Zhu Yuan has much choice.
It takes longer this time, but Qingyi comes back carrying a bottle of water.
“My sensors show that this should be safe to drink, so don’t worry. Most things here are relatively untouched by Ether corruption anyway.”
Zhu Yuan had forgotten about Ether and its effect on food. Thank goodness Qingyi was with her.
“Take two of the pills first to help with your shoulder. Then I'll deal with your wound.”
Qingyi doesn’t need to tell her twice. Zhu Yuan eagerly begins to drink the water, and only stops when interrupted by a forceful “slow down”. She then pops two of the pills into her mouth, swallowing them with another sip of the bottle.
Afterwards, Zhu Yuan watches nervously as her companion pulls a disinfectant wipe out of the red First Aid kit. She can smell the rubbing alcohol.
“This is going to hurt, so promise me you won’t scream or anything.” Qingyi is warily examining her face.
She can only respond with a tense nod. “Just make it quick.”
Qingyi presses the pad into the wound, and the blinding, stinging pain is instant. Zhu Yuan barely manages to hold back an ugly scream, stifling it by biting into her tongue hard enough to feel a metallic taste fill her mouth.
After a few seconds, Qingyi hurriedly pulls away, then takes out the bandages and gets to work. After a minute or so, she undoes the tourniquet on her ankle too.
Zhu Yuan wants to stammer out a “thank you”, but the pain is still throbbing throughout her entire leg; her eyes are squeezed shut in agony and her face is matted with sweat.
Then she feels something warm press against her. Opening her eyes, she finds herself staring back into Qingyi’s green irises. For some reason, her partner has decided to press her forehead against Zhu Yuan’s.
It helps. Her breathing slows back down, and seeing the pain fade from her face, Qingyi steps back.
“I can’t have you passing out again. Twice in one day is too much,” Qingyi jokingly chides.
“My apologies, officer. I’ll do better next time.” Zhu Yuan lets out a shaky laugh.
"I'll give you a few minutes." Qingyi jumps up onto the counter, turning her eyes towards the street. It takes some time before Zhu Yuan can feel pills kicking in, the pain in her shoulder, legs, and foot fading away. But the lethargy coating her whole body still remains.
“Qingyi, I'm feeling better now ... but I really need to sleep.” It’s almost pitiful, needing to beg her partner for a bit of rest. It’s stupid. Zhu Yuan expects much better from herself.
Turning to her, Qingyi hops off the counter. “I just need to grab a few things and then we can go find somewhere to rest.” She steps away into the pharmacy for the third time now. Qingyi’s usually more efficient with things like this…
Finally, she returns carrying two of those 50 Dennie reusable bags. “There’s enough food and water in here to last us a few days. Let’s get going.”
The sun is rising by the time they manage to make their way back into a neighbourhood. This isn’t the one they were near before, even though they retraced their steps exactly. At least this time Qingyi didn’t need to support Zhu Yuan the whole way.
Turning her gaze to the brightening orange sky, Qingyi prays for her partner’s Circadian rhythm. If we make it out of this, it’s going to be weeks before she can sleep normally again.
As soon as she spots a house without a broken window, she forces her way through the front door, gesturing the captain inside. Zhu Yuan stumbles her way in, and Qingyi closes the door behind them and places a nearby chair behind it. Not like it would stop anyone or anything who wanted to get inside, but better something than nothing.
The house isn’t overly messy, but it certainly isn’t clean either. Whoever used to live here was clearly in quite a rush to leave. Drawers are left ajar, the cupboard under the kitchen sink is hanging open, and furniture is strewn haphazardly about the living room.
“The bedroom is probably upstairs. I’ll take you up then I’m going to check out the rest of the house.” Her exhausted partner answers back with a barely audible “mhm.”
Stepping over the toys and clothing on the stairs, the pair find the bedroom to their left. Qingyi heads in first, scanning the closet and under the bed, then tears the comforter off and shakes it free of dust, then does the same with the pillows and bedsheets, remaking the bed afterwards.
Qingyi points at Zhu Yuan and then at the newly made bed. “Sleep.”
Zhu Yuan takes off her shoes and vest and leaves her three firearms on the bedside table. The largest can barely fit. I sure hope she doesn’t sleep like this normally.
Qingyi watches as she lies down and closes her eyes, then turns to leave. There's probably nothing in here, but better safe than sorry. Then she hears a pitiful moan coming from her partner and stops in her tracks.
“When will you be back?” Zhu Yuan stammers out, eyes still closed. Her voice is still lacking in its usual energy, but she sounds less pained than she did a few hours ago. An agonizing feeling inside of Qingyi intensifies as she turns back to look at the officer.
Qingyi considers her words for a moment, then replies. “I just need to check out the rest of the house. It will only be a few minutes… then I’ll join you. I need to conserve my energy, spending time in the Hollow is extremely draining on my power bank. I can’t be wasting it while you’re asleep.” Zhu Yuan doesn’t reply, but Qingyi thinks she can see her face become slightly more relaxed.
“Be right back,” she whispers, then steps out the door.
It only takes a few minutes for her to clear out upstairs and the main floor, all the while looking for anything that may be of use. It’s just the basement that’s left.
She is worried about what might be lurking down there. There’s a 90% chance that it’s nothing, but there could be a dormant Ethereal.
In reality, her worries are unfounded. The unfinished basement’s concrete floor is completely barren, save for a pile of miscellaneous construction materials lying on the ground. Guess they never got around to renovating.
After pacing around the pile for a few moments, Qingyi finds what she’s looking for and picks up a metre-long steel pipe off the ground. She doesn’t know what happened to her staff, but this was going to need to act as a substitute for now.
Zhu Yuan is fast asleep when Qingyi makes her way back upstairs. After carefully taking off her shoes and silently leaning the pipe against the wall, she joins her in bed.
Setting her scheduled wakeup for a few hours from now, she closes her eyes and lets her systems shut down as she listens to Zhu Yuan’s peaceful breathing. Good night.
Zhu Yuan wakes up feeling much better than she did yesterday. Judging from how bright it is outside, it’s probably shortly after noon.
It takes a few seconds for her to register Qingyi sleeping beside her.
I've never seen her actually sleep. She only goes into a temporary shutdown whenever she needs to charge.
Her hand unconsciously reaches to push one of Qingyi’s stray bangs off of her eye, and she flinches when Qingyi suddenly jumps up, fully awake.
“... Good morning, Captain.”
“It’s a bit late for that, but good morning Qingyi.”
It almost feels like they’re back at the office.
Zhu Yuan gingerly steps off the bed, easing her body weight onto her left foot. Her right one is still filled with dull pain.
Reaching into the bags beside the bed, she’s surprised to find a toothbrush and toothpaste on top of the cans of food and bottled water. She glances back at the ever-meticulous Qingyi, who is running her eyes over her body.
“Feeling better now, Captain?”
“Yes, Qingyi. Thanks to you.”
Zhu Yuan grabs the toothbrush, toothpaste, and yesterday's half-empty water bottle, then heads to the washroom to brush her teeth.
Qingyi also hops off of the bed, and begins to organize the remaining contents of the bags, all the while explaining her plan to her superior officer. “Zhu Yuan, we have two options. Option one is to stay put - this area should be fine. We have enough food and water to last for a few days, and if we stay put we have higher chances of being found by any rescue squad sent to find us. The problem with this…”
She takes a short pause as Zhu Yuan takes a sip of the water and swishes it around her mouth.
“You can only last a few days in this Hollow. We’re lucky its Ether levels are relatively tame, because otherwise, you would probably already be … done. If we stay here and wait, we would simply be putting our lives in the hands of our rescuers.”
Zhu Yuan is done brushing now, and stares into the mirror in front of her. She wishes she could wash her face, covered with blood and dirt, but doesn’t want to waste water. Unfortunately, the faucet certainly wasn’t going to work either.
“What’s the other option, Qingyi?” she says, lost in thought.
“Option two is to explore as much of the area as possible. I’m equipped with an experimental Carrot function, so if I’m able to map out a significant portion of the Hollow and record which areas connect to one another, I may be able to calculate exit locations.”
Zhu Yuan doesn’t need her to explain the risk of option two. Exploring would almost certainly mean running into Ethereals, and their chances weren’t great. They could take care of a small group, but running into a large group of common ones or even a single Elite would probably end very poorly.
“I didn’t know you could do that. What are the chances that it works?” Regardless of the risks, it certainly sounded like the more reasonable option.
Qingyi turns away from her, refusing to make eye contact.
“It’s…”
She doesn’t finish her sentence, but Zhu Yuan gets the jist of what she wants to say.
It doesn’t matter. Anything’s better than staying put and hoping someone finds us.
“Qingyi. If we don’t make it out after a few days, what happens to you?” Qingyi is refusing to turn around, and her head is downcast.
“I… will probably last a few days longer than you.” Her typical inflection is nowhere to be found. Qingyi’s voice is shaky and distraught. “But I don’t want to think about what I’m going to have to do if that happens.”
It’s always a danger when humans go into Hollows. Too much exposure to the Ether and you turn into an Ethereal yourself. And there’s no cure, you simply lose your mind forever, turning into just another thrall of the Hollow.
It makes Zhu Yuan feel sick to her stomach, thinking about that.
“You won’t have to. I trust you, Qingyi. You’ll be able to find our way out of here.” Zhu Yuan’s voice is firm, but inside she's shaken. The last time she felt like this was ages ago, back when she was facing down a Dullahan. The disgusting, nervous fear in her chest, rippling throughout her entire body and threatening to break her whole psyche down.
“Option two, then?” Qingyi's voice is shaky. Zhu Yuan dislikes seeing her usual dependable partner like this. Not because she’s disappointed in her, but because seeing her out of character makes her feel strange; like the person she’s spent so much time with has disappeared and been replaced with someone else.
“Yeah. Let’s do it, Qingyi.”
The two gather their supplies and Zhu Yuan pries the chair away from the front door. Then they step back outside into the Hollow.
They’ve been strolling through the Hollow’s empty streets for a while now, and Qingyi feels like she’s back on patrol again. When she first joined the force, this was basically all she and Zhu Yuan did. Before the pair were deemed to be sufficiently experienced with their weapons and worked well within the confines of the police force’s limitations, they had nothing to do with combat. The most they did was practice in the firing range, or watch tape of the force taking down Ethereals in the office.
The function she’s running is taking up significantly more power than expected, however. She can’t even comprehend half the calculations her systems are running, and she can feel her body temperature rising as her internal fans are pushed to their limits. This is why the technician told me it was experimental, I guess.
Zhu Yuan is silently walking alongside her, scanning around them every few seconds. She was glad to see the Captain back to her usual self, capable as ever.
After just a few hours, her systems had the program at an estimated 24% completion, which was fine. Qingyi was pushing for 40% or 50% a day, and it seemed like her goal was within reach.
She still couldn’t find the courage to tell Zhu Yuan that the program refused to report back its chance of success. At best it was their ticket to safety, at worst it was going to end up completely wasting their energy and time.
“I’m looking forward to getting back home. I have some ingredients in the fridge about to expire,” says Zhu Yuan as she continues to walk beside her. “I was planning on making some cheesecake and bringing it to the office to share.”
Qingyi had forgotten that Zhu Yuan was getting into baking lately, alongside gardening. She had the unfortunate fate of being Zhu Yuan's initial taste tester, but after some criticism (and a month or two), her confections ended up being quite good. “I would prefer some black forest, personally.”
“Well, I have the ingredients for cheesecake. And I haven’t been able to find any sweet cherries at the store lately, so no chance of black forest.” Zhu Yuan almost seemed insulted at her preference.
“It’s not like you need the cherries for the black forest cake,” Qingyi responded, kicking an empty can out from the sidewalk. “It’s the layering and cream that matters.”
“It wouldn’t be a black forest cake without them. It would be so boring to bring in a plain brown cake without the red highlights on top.”
Zhu Yuan was truly a stickler for the rules. This was why Qingyi was confused when she refused to follow recipes initially at the start, instead deciding to put in more flour, or more sugar (“isn’t more better?”), or adding in extraneous things like breadcrumbs and vanilla extract. Her partner was boneheaded sometimes, but thinking of her silliness made Qingyi smile.
Qingyi is glad that they’re still capable of making small talk in a situation like this. It helps make this gut-wrenching feeling inside of her disappear for a bit. It’s not a physical pain, but something else entirely. It’s a confusing mess of emotions and hurt, and it’s not something that she’s used to.
They continue like this for a while more, Qingyi making the turns while Zhu Yuan follows close behind. Her route has been planned out carefully, making sure they don’t backtrack unless they absolutely have to. Unfortunately, in the Hollow planning doesn’t really work so well, because every time they step through an invisible rift things are thrown completely out of order.
If only Phaethon was here. The automaton can’t help but recall the one time she placed her life in the hands of a “criminal”. They were a world-renowned Proxy for a reason, and they managed to find a perfect escape route out of a dangerous Hollow within a few minutes, even while the pair had been getting chased by a bunch of thugs.
Unfortunately, she highly doubted they would come to the rescue this time.
It’s around 5 PM when a warning flashes across her screen, and Qingyi’s non-existent heart drops.
DANGER: POWER RESERVES RUNNING LOW
She was completely lost in thought, so focused on accelerating the calculations she was running, and hadn’t been paying attention to her power levels. She had expected to last at least a week on her current charge - but this unoptimized program was truly disgustingly power-hungry. There were even more warnings now, likely brought on by the heavy power usage coupled with the shutdown only twelve or so hours ago.
Shit. There was no chance of finding a specialised automaton charging station here. Her power would be long dead before any of that happened. She was finding it hard to focus now.
“Zhu Yuan. Option 2 is no longer a possibility. We need to stay put and wait for rescue.” Qingyi isn’t surprised to find her voice tinged with panic. Her hands begin to move restlessly as she fruitlessly tries to calm herself down.
As her partner turns to her, Qingyi braces herself for the expression on Zhu Yuan's face. But it’s not full of the disappointment she expects - her partner is still nonchalant.
“You’re running low on power, aren’t you?”
Qingyi can’t mask her surprise at the officer’s words. “How did you know?”
Zhu Yuan is rummaging through the bags now, and after a few seconds, she finds what she’s looking for. “You always do that with your hands whenever you’re running low. Don’t worry, I found one of these in the house before we left.” She was holding a dark household power cable. It looked like one built for computers or televisions.
It was true - she did have a backup power delivery system that involved an everyday cable. But instead of the typical seconds it would take on an actual charging station, it would take hours. The rest of the day would be lost.
“There’s a house behind us with a generator beside it and some jerry cans. I think I should be able to get it running,” Zhu Yuan continued.
Qingyi couldn’t do much other than comply with her suggestion, and the two walked back to the house. She watched mindlessly as her partner struggled with the generator, and then it sputtered to life.
Her inner turmoil was overwhelming now. Qingyi's vision was being completely flooded by dozens of warning pop-ups: internal temperature, power levels, confusing updates on calculations she understood less and less by the second. It was all only making this harrowing feeling inside her so much worse.
“Zhu Yuan, the noise could attract Ethereals. I-I don’t think we should take the risk. I can conserve enough energy for a few more days.” I’m just causing more trouble for her, again. She shouldn't have to deal with this. Not with all the pain she's in.
After some poking and prodding, Zhu Yuan plugs one end into one of the generator’s functioning outlets, then takes a second to reply. “We haven’t seen any all day. Don’t worry about it.” Then she leans over to Qingyi and pushes open a panel on her lower back. How did she know where it was?
Zhu Yuan plugs the cable in and Qingyi feels electricity start to surge into her body. Some of the warnings begin to subside.
CHARGING PROGRESS: 2%
APPROXIMATE TIME TO COMPLETION: 3 HOURS 56 MINUTES
The sun would be down by then, but given they woke up at noon, they could probably fit in a few more hours of walking. And this charge should be enough to last the remaining days here.
Qingyi slumps down on the concrete walk beside the generator and closes her eyes. She could hear Zhu Yuan examining her gun, carefully checking its barrel and chambers. Then she hears her dig through the bags and pop the bottle of pills open. I can’t imagine how much pain she’s in right now. But she’s still putting on that same face she always does.
Is she doing that for her sake, or for mine?
This feeling was too much to bear now.
She needs to keep her eyes closed for this. She doesn’t want to see Zhu Yuan’s face.
“Captain.” Qingyi hears her partner stop and turn her gaze towards her. She was trying hard to raise her voice to ensure she was heard over the cacophony of the generator.
The lack of response implored her to continue.
“I’m sorry ... for everything.”
Zhu Yuan breathes in and begins to formulate a response, but Qingyi can’t hold it back any longer. She takes a deep breath, then lets it all out.
“It’s my fault we’re stuck here. I should have been more careful last night ... I’m always messing up and doing things wrong. You always tell me to be careful. To stop doing things my way … but I never listen. I’m stupid. I’m just a stupid robot.” Qingyi had naively thought doing this would make the anguish go away, but it was getting worse now. “If you had a better partner, someone that wasn’t me, someone human, this would have never happened! You wouldn’t have gotten hurt, you wouldn’t have had to carry me, you would have never been stuck in here in the first place … that EMP would have done nothing to someone like Seth. You two would have been out of there in twenty seconds. And even if you two were in the Hollow together, you wouldn’t have to sit here and do nothing for hours, watching my useless body recharge. Someone like you should have a real partner, not an automaton like me.”
Then she laughs. “Do you remember? It was my idea in the first place to go on night patrol. I thought it would be fun, actually. Spending some time with you at night sounded peaceful. We wouldn’t have to deal with all the things we've had to recently ... I wanted things to be like they were before.”
Her voice is beginning to get hoarse. She didn’t even know that was a limitation of her body.
“Anyone else would have been better. Anyone but me. I don’t deserve to be a part of this police force - I don't deserve to be your partner.”
Qingyi’s voice breaks for a second. The churning feeling inside of her is making it impossible to speak now, and something inside of her feels broken, shattered beyond repair.
There's something wrong with her, something that no one else can fix.
“It’s not just my fault we’re stuck here. It’s my fault we’re going to die here!” She’s shouting now, angry at everything. Angry at this stupid Hollow, angry at those assholes that attacked them, and angry at herself.
She bends her head down and nestles it inside of her bent arms. She can’t have the Captain looking at her right now. I don’t deserve to have her even acknowledge me.
If her body could cry, she would be right now. But at least most of that internal torture she’s been feeling lately has stopped. She’ll get angry at me now. As she should have from the start.
She hated feeling like the Captain was just being nice to her, just being considerate. She hated all this regret and all this pain.
Then she feels a gentle hand on her head. “Qingyi.” Zhu Yuan’s voice is trembling.
Qingyi worriedly opens her eyes and lifts her head, her partner’s hand still resting lightly on her hair.
Zhu Yuan’s eyes are tinged with red, and tears are streaming down her face.
“You’re wrong. It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
The painful catharsis she felt after her outburst suddenly disappears and is replaced by something different. Qingyi can’t believe what she’s hearing, because her partner couldn’t be a single bit more wrong.
Zhu Yuan is wrong. It’s not her fault. She’s perfect. Qingyi doesn’t deserve to stand beside her.
And I hate seeing her cry.
“If I had been more careful last night, less panicked, I would have made my way out of the restricted area … or maybe I would have recognized the EMP, and jumped on top of you, instead. But I was tired. It’s stupid, but I was tired. That’s no excuse. It’s my job as your superior to make the right decisions, and I made the wrong ones.” Zhu Yuan’s tearful voice is almost lost under the rumble of the generator, but its gentle tone stands in sharp contrast to it.
“No,” Qingyi responds, voice stained with anger. “NO, it’s not your fault. If anything, you should have left me there. You should have left me and run away! I wish it was me, alone here … and you, safe.”
Qingyi wishes she hadn’t said that, but it's too late now.
Zhu Yuan’s tears won’t stop. Why did I make it worse?
“Why would you say that?” Zhu Yuan’s hand lifts off of Qingyi’s head.
Then she wraps her warm arms around her synthetic body.
“Qingyi. We’re partners. We do things together.”
It reminds her of the day they met, when they promised to always have each other's back.
She’s right.
Zhu Yuan lets out a pained laugh, half melancholic, half guilty. “If anything, we’re both equally at fault.”
Qingyi feels a strange sense of relief within her partner's arms. Her system cools down, and the pain inside of her begins to subside.
“I don’t want to ever hear you say those things about yourself again.” Zhu Yuan takes a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down too. “You’re not a 'robot'. You’re as human to me as everyone else, and most importantly, you’re my partner.”
Zhu Yuan lightly cups Qingyi’s face with her hand, then stands up. “We’re going to let you recharge, go out and map out the area for a few hours, then get to sleep. Then we’ll do the same thing tomorrow.”
Her voice is firm and convincing. But Qingyi still has some last doubts, a few remaining aching pains.
“Wasn’t I trouble, Zhu Yuan? Didn’t I always end up doing something strange, or mess up in ways no human ever would?” I did. I definitely did.
“You mess up sometimes … but you’ll never be trouble. Not to me." Zhu Yuan gives her a reassuring smile.
Qingyi feels a small smile begin to bloom on her face. For a mere second, she feels whole again. Maybe, just maybe, they could make it out of here.
Together...
Then she hears it. Something far louder than the generator, only a few hundred metres away, making its way towards them. I knew we shouldn’t have turned this stupid generator on.
And I shouldn’t have shouted at her.
It’s time to do what she couldn’t do last night.
“Captain, run away. Run and don't look back.” Zhu Yuan's face is confused, then the realization dawns on her.
Despite her pleas, Zhu Yuan is just standing there, motionless. It's like they're back in that alley again. It feels like it's been an eternity.
“Captain! What are you doing? We’re in no shape to fight! You need to ensure that at least one of us survives.” Qingyi finds it hard to bury her fear, but she knows she’ll be back one day.
It might be a different body or a different mind, but I'll be buried somewhere underneath all that scattered data.
Maybe a part of me can be there for you again.
The footsteps are getting closer now. The ground is shaking, and she hears the Ethereal roaring. She closes her eyes. Even though she's begging her to run, she can't bear to watch Zhu Yuan comply.
“Please. Zhu Yuan. Run, now.” She accepts it then. Accepts her fate, accepts that all the time the two had spent together was rapidly approaching its end.
But instead of hearing her leave, Qingyi feels Zhu Yuan's kind hand on her shoulder.
“I told you, Qingyi. We’re partners.” Zhu Yuan’s voice is still full of that classic conviction. “It’s just one Ethereal. We’ve done this a thousand times before.”
One thing her programs could never predict properly was human nature, but somehow she knows she won’t be able to convince her partner to run away. I always admired that part of her.
Qingyi squeezes her eyes shut and starts the simulations in her head. Zhu Yuan’s right shoulder can’t take any more punishment, let alone the recoil of her guns, and her foot is still barely functioning.
Qingyi is without her usual weapon, and her charge is only at 9%.
But it’s possible.
“Alright. Let’s do it, Zhu Yuan.”
Zhu Yuan smiles as she watches Qingyi pick up the steel pipe off of the ground and unplug the power cable from her back panel.
The Ethereal is sprinting towards them now.
Then suddenly it disappears, and a split second later, it’s standing in front of Qingyi, whose eyes widen in uncharacteristic sudden fear.
Thanatos.
Zhu Yuan once again lets instinct take over. This was going to hurt, but there was no way she was beating this thing alone. She needed Qingyi to keep it still for a few seconds.
She sprints towards her partner and kicks her out of the way, then braces herself for impact. The Ethereal’s blade pierces through her right arm, right above the elbow, but she still manages to turn her gun and fire a round of buckshot right through its chest.
The pain shoots through her body instantly but she’s done significant damage to it. It reels back in pain and rage, then disappears again.
Zhu Yuan can’t feel her right arm. It’s only her left hand that’s hanging on to her gun now. She can barely register the sensation of blood dripping out of her shoulder and her arm dangling limply beside her.
She can feel the Ether in the air. It’s on her left, no, on her right. She readies herself to dodge the oncoming swing.
It’s behind her. She pushes off with her right leg, but instead of rolling forward as she’s used to, she feels her body collapse underneath her. Shit.
Death’s blade falls upon her.
Then she hears its blade contact metal, and she slowly turns her head. Qingyi is fiercely looking up at the Ethereal, shaking as she fights against its superhuman strength with her own. The steel pipe she’s holding is crackling with electricity, and Thanatos is struggling to move, its body rippling with static.
Qingyi doesn’t need to tell her what to do.
“Sorry. This is going to hurt, Qingyi.” Grabbing her Master Firearm off the ground, in one instant, Zhu Yuan rests her gun on Qingyi’s right shoulder and aims it upwards at Thanatos’ head. She pulls the trigger.
The recoil from the blast knocks the two officers backwards, but Thanatos falls to the ground, lifeless.
“Wasn’t so bad, was it?” Zhu Yuan lets out a mirthful laugh. “What were you so worried about? We’re the best duo in the force.”
They’re lying on a dead lawn. It’s not the worst feeling in the world.
Qingyi turns to look at her, a pained expression painted across her face.
“Zhu Yuan. That’s not what I was worried about.”
Of course.
Her heart almost stops beating when she stands up and sees a horde of Ethereals walking down the road towards them.
If the generator attracted one, obviously her stupidly loud gun would attract even more.
Maybe I should have listened.
No. I could have never done that to her.
Even if I lived, even if I had made it out of here...
Zhu Yuan takes a few laboured steps forward up onto the front porch of the house they were fighting next to. Why were they here, anyway?
I turned that generator on because I didn’t want to lose her, not even for a moment.
I didn’t want to be alone in here.
I knew I didn't want to go on without her.
She thinks back to just a few minutes ago when Qingyi tried to convince her that it was her fault. When she finally revealed to her just how much torment she was going through.
I guess we’re the same.
Qingyi joins her a few seconds later and they both lean forward onto the porch railings. Qingyi places her remaining left arm around Zhu Yuan’s waist and leans her head against her.
The Ethereals don’t seem to be in a hurry, so they have a bit of time.
“This is what I wanted, Qingyi. A nice house like this. Far away from the Hollows, though. It would have probably taken me another decade or two of service to save up enough. That’s why I didn’t want an injury forcing me into retirement…” Zhu Yuan doesn’t really know why she’s saying this, but she feels like talking, so she continues.
“What did you want to do after all of this, Qingyi?” Usually, Zhu Yuan talked about herself. She didn’t have many questions for her partner. Qingyi was a good listener, after all. But now seemed as good of a time as ever.
Qingyi is silent for a second, contemplating.
“I wanted to keep spending time with everyone. Everyone in the force. Those two siblings from Sixth Street. Seth and Jane. Those construction workers from Belobog we met, the people that came to the seminars… and, I guess… I wanted to spend time with you, Zhu Yuan, most of all.” Qingyi’s voice was solemn now. “I think you’re a fascinating person, Zhu Yuan.”
“It’s silly, isn’t it? It’s not what I was made for, after all. Wasting my abilities on something so monotonous.” Qingyi can’t help but laugh.
The Ethereals are close now.
“It’s not silly, Qingyi. I wanted to spend more time with you, too. But I always put our work first. I’m… far more silly than you.” I regret it all, now.
Qingyi drops her arm from Zhu Yuan’s waist, and then wordlessly squeezes Zhu Yuan’s right hand. I can barely feel it.
Zhu Yuan wants to say one more thing but decides against it. It will only make what’s about to come hurt more.
It’s all so loud now, the weak pounding of her heart in her ears, her blood dripping on the wooden porch. The screams of the approaching corrupted creatures.
She takes one last look at Qingyi's face.
Then she closes her eyes and waits for the end.
But it never comes.
The screams of the Ethereals are replaced by the sounds of gunfire and rapid movement followed by silence. Someone faintly sheathes two small blades.
Zhu Yuan’s eyes shoot open, and dozens of Ethereals are lying on the ground. What?
“Proxy~ you won’t believe what the Cunning Hares just found…” A young woman’s voice suddenly rings throughout the Hollow. I recognize that voice… the woman on television. The one involved with that scandal…
The girl and her companions are coming towards them now. She recognizes some from the time she’s spent at Random Play. So they sent them.
She can't keep her eyes open anymore. Her body's lost too much blood. She can hear Qingyi screaming at the group to hurry... then it all fades away.
A day later, Qingyi receives the report when she wakes up from her maintenance. Their bodies were left in front of a hospital at 6:43 PM by an anonymous group who screamed at the nurses on duty to get them care as soon as possible, then ran away.
They had been investigating all night to try to figure out who did this, and more importantly, how they were able to maneuver their way around (and into) the unmapped Hollow so easily, but without a lead, they quickly dropped it and continued focusing their efforts on figuring out who ordered the attack on Qingyi and the NEPS Captain.
The police force had also been looking for the two officers, of course, but couldn’t find a way into the sub-hollow that had trapped them. Apparently, its entrance had closed merely minutes after the pair fell in. They were very lucky their guardian angels came to save them.
Qingyi’s maintenance hadn’t taken very long. Her right arm was significantly damaged, and she did need a replacement staff, but for the most part, she had come out of the ordeal unscathed.
Unfortunately, her more fragile counterpart hadn’t.
She was sitting beside her bed now. Qingyi felt a strange sense of déjà vu because she was once the one being waited for. She remembers that day quite well.
Now she just hopes Zhu Yuan wakes up, like she did.
Qingyi is on a full charge of battery. The officers who came to visit kept telling her to take a break, but she refused. Those siblings came, too, and left some snacks and tea for her, and some cake “for when the Captain wakes up”, but they didn’t tell her what to do.
She can wait days if that’s what it takes. There’s no way she’s letting Zhu Yuan go, not now, not after all of what they went through.
Not after the things they said to each other.
Zhu Yuan looks peaceful now, so much different from how she usually looks. Without all the stress of being the pride and joy of the NEPS.
It’s 4 AM now.
Come on. You’re really keeping me waiting here, stupid.
Wake up.
Qingyi feels warmth spread through her as Zhu Yuan’s eyes flutter open.
“Qingyi?” Her voice is groggy, but far more pleasant sounding than it was back in the Hollow. Not that it was unpleasant back then, but the tiredness and pain in her voice was.
“I’m here.”
Qingyi lightly squeezes Zhu Yuan’s left hand. The other one ... well, the doctors had said that Zhu Yuan was lucky she hadn’t lost all function permanently.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first, Captain?”
“Bad, I guess.”
“You’re not going to be going to work for a couple of months.”
Zhu Yuan sighs. “And the good?”
Qingyi’s mouth twists into a playful smile. “You’re not going to be going to work for a couple of months.”
Zhu Yuan looks back at her for a second, then leans forward and presses her forehead against Qingyi’s.
“Do you remember what you said, back on that porch?” Her eyes were so close now.
“It wasn’t even a day ago. Of course I remember.” In fact, that moment was specifically emblazoned deeply in multiple hard drives and filed away to be kept safe forever.
“I hope you’ll understand, then… what I’m about to say … I mean—” The moonlight in the hospital window begins to fade away as Qingyi finds herself lost in Zhu Yuan’s eyes. Her partner had stopped mid-sentence to weakly clear her throat.
Then her usual confidence returns.
“I want to grant your wish of spending more time with me, outside of work, obviously. And everyone else you mentioned, of course… I’m not selfish or anything.” The officer was rambling now, unsure of where she was going next. “But you did say you wanted to spend more time with me in particular, so that's going to come first, and—”
“Zhu Yuan. Take a deep breath.”
Their foreheads were still pressed together. It was honestly starting to get a bit uncomfortable, so Qingyi needs her to get to the point.
“I love you, Qingyi … so maybe I do want to be a little selfish.” Zhu Yuan’s voice tapers away a bit near the end, but the important part, those four words, were spoken with almost all of her usual bravado.
There were so many things still unknown to her, but the echoes from Qingyi’s past were somehow filling her with a sense of recognition.
So this is what it feels like.
“I love you too.”
Then their lips meet, and Qingyi feels so warm and happy, and content, and complete.
Zhu Yuan gets a better rest than she has in what seems like an eternity and wakes up to Qingyi asleep beside her, head resting on the left side of her bed. She reaches out her left arm and absentmindedly begins to run her hand through Qingyi’s hair.
Zhu Yuan’s been so unsure lately. But all that didn’t matter anymore.
Qingyi was safe. Zhu Yuan wasn’t tired anymore. Her migraine was gone, and the pain throughout her body had disappeared. All that remained was a fleeting warmth in her chest, a sense of reassurance that everything was going to be okay.
All because of her partner. That word feels much different now.
Black forest cake. That’s what she wanted.
Maybe this time, when she comes over, she can help instead of just taste testing. It was going to be hard doing things with one arm, after all.
It’ll be okay. As long as we’re together.
Zhu Yuan places a gentle kiss on her partner’s forehead, then closes her eyes and lets herself drift back to sleep.