After another hour of resting, I changed into my uniform and put on my jacket. The alarms stopped blaring a while after Miss Seiron and Amari left.
I stepped outside the room to see expansive, metallic, well-lit hallways. The "special medical care unit" I came out of was simply labelled [Infirmary-South}
'What's so special about this?' Needless to say, I was unimpressed.
Rushed footsteps caught my attention. "Ah!! Y-You're okay?!" a nervous voice shot out from behind me. "Mr Kansai, right?"
I turn around to see a purple-haired male nurse wearing a white coat with a plank in his hand. He seemed to be exhausted from running, his eyes filled with fear.
"Yeah. You are…?" I reply, making sure my expression is stoic.
"I'm an intern here. In the medical unit." He sighs. "I was told the South Feather was safe, but as soon as I descended the stairs, I was attacked by a Talos guard!" he straightened his posture.
"Is the sanctuary still under attack?" I raise my brow.
"I'm not very sure, but I think we're close to chasing the invaders away. For now, we must head to the Commander's Feather. Let me make sure your condition is alright before the evacuation guards come to escort us." The intern shook his head.
He proceeded to pull out a scalpel from his coat's pocket.
I stepped back as he reached out to stab me with it. "What're you doing?"
For a moment, the intern looked confused and then realised. "Oh! No, I wasn't trying to harm you. This here is a catalyst with healing abilities, not a harmful weapon!" He said, pointing to the scalpel.
"…?"
"It seems you aren't fully informed yet…No matter, I'll do the checkup without it." He tucks the scalpel into his coat again.
The hallway ahead of us suddenly lit up bright red, a wave of energy scorching everything in its path. The intern ducked instinctively and started running. "Follow me! The Talos Guard caught up. We'd better hide!"
I followed him as he manoeuvred through the maze-like hallways with experience. After a few more close calls with the laser beam, we take refuge in a storage room for a brief respite.
"We're not very safe here." I peek outside to see if anything has passed by.
The intern, named Yugo, was still huffing from exhaustion.
"No problem, I'm sure the evacuation team is nearby." Yugo wiped the sweat off his face.
"You said 'Commander's Feather', right? How far is it?"
Yugo hesitates. "If we take the next right and go straight for a while, we'll reach the staircase connecting to the Commander's Feather. But…"
"But?" I questioned.
"We'll probably have to cross paths with the Talos Guard." He sighs.
"…I could probably handle it."
"Huh?" Yugo's face contorted with confusion. "No, you're still a patient, I can't let you exert yourself. Let's wait for the guards to arrive."
Just then, we heard metallic whishing and clanking, both of us falling silent instantly. The robotic footsteps approached the storage room, then passed by, slowly fading away.
"T-That was the Talos Guard. We almost got caught." Yugo whispered.
I opened the door abruptly and jogged towards the next corner of the hallway.
Yugo followed me while panicking. "Mr Kansai! Please don't do anything reckless!"
"This is our chance. The Talos Guard passed by. Now, we just have to go straight." I glance at Yugo and then peek into the hallway to my right, making sure the coast is clear.
Truthfully, there's no reason to rush right now except for the fact that a killer machine might catch and kill us anytime. Aside from that, there's something about what's going on that's alerting my instincts of imminent danger.
Both of us dash toward the stairs at the end of the hallway.
But before we even made it halfway, I heard the familiar sound of energy charging.
"Dodge!" I pushed Yugo to the opposite wall while I stuck to the wall behind me.
A crimson beam of light scorched the hallway, missing Yugo and me by a hair's breadth.
The smoke dissipated, revealing a figure at the end of the hallway. Yugo looked terrified, his eyeballs almost popping out.
A mighty bronze-armoured robotic knight holding a bronze sword. Its hand stretched out, charging another beam in its palm.
I charged toward Yugo. "Discharge!" I drag him by the collar, slamming my fists into the wall behind him, launching us both into the room behind the wall. We narrowly escaped the beam.
Yugo struggled and stood up, "I knew it…It was reckless to follow you."
As I try to stand up, a horrific sound of static fills my ears.
'That's not good.' My heartbeat quickened. 'Did I exhaust myself already? But I gathered energy from a full-on lightning strike! A Gigajoule of energy! How would a gigajoule of energy be exhausted already?! Was it because Tsiene partially blocked the lightning?' I look around the room to see if there was anything that I could use to potentially electrocute myself with.
My eyes widened as Yugo pulled out his scalpel and stabbed his chest. I watched as his injuries healed with a green glow enveloping the wounds.
"H-Hey—" I get interrupted by a sudden beep. Yugo brings out a pager from his coat, his eyes widen at the contents of the message, and a wry smile forms on his face.
A familiar whirr caught my attention. I turned around and saw that the Talos Guard was standing right in front of us, his arm stretched out, signalling another laser beam.
"Humans. Be my guide, and I shall spare your life." A robotic voice projected out of the Talos.
Yugo finally stood up straight, although his legs were still shaking as he pocketed the scalpel and the pager. "C-can you defeat it? I just got the news that all the evacuation guards that were headed here have gone missing."
"Huh?" My poker face broke, forming one of confusion and annoyance.
We both turn back to Talos again.
"Lead me to the Electrical Room." Talos stated.
Feeling my energy exhausted, I step back, behind Yugo. "Your turn, Mr Guide."
Yugo's eyes widened beyond limits, jaw dropping at my audacity. "Y-Y-You—!"
-----