Chương 45: Chapter 7: Last Hope

With the elevator climbing upward I felt the gravity slowly getting lesser, my left ear starting to stand up a bit more as I watched the light on the side panel climbing upward as I went up through the structure toward the center of the ship. The woman in the broadcast, the melodian standing next to Nori. I knew her, she was the one that spoke in the black shard message. I felt like she'd be important to talk to. If I could find Nori, I could find her.

The elevator came to a stop as soon as it transitioned from the red section to the green section. I stepped back to let the next person come in, but I felt a slight sense of panic as the doors opened. Hundreds of Mechara were standing on the other side and quickly began filing into the elevator. I pressed my back to the wall, letting them all come in. The elevator went from the silent mechanical sound of the pulley system to a dull roar of voices coming from the Mechara who had filled the area almost immediately.

Several others tried to push their way in but the ones inside the elevator held them back.

"You'll get the next one! This one's full!" I heard a voice yell out to the crowd as the doors started to shut. I closed my eyes, not being used to being in such a crowded place. My head was only just above the average Mechara's hip height and with the elevator as densely packed as it was, I wasn't able to move. People pressed in on me from all sides as I pressed my back to the wall. The elevator stopped at the very next floor revealing the sound of another massive crowd.

I couldn't see through the people in front of me, but I could hear the sound of everyone on the other side wanting to get in. To their disappointment, our elevator was already full and nobody was able to board.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" I heard one person ask from above me.

"I hope so, but I mean, we all knew this day would come eventually" another person said. Several mechara turned and looked at her with a scold.

"What?!" she asked with an annoyed tone as everyone got wrapped up in conversation once more. The elevator stopped at the next floor up, revealing much the same thing. The crowd sounded frustrated, angry, I could hear people demanding others get off so others could get on but the people inside refused. Between each floor I caught small snippets of the conversations the Mechara were having with each other. They all sounded concerned about Lampro and what might happen to him.

I was surprised, when I'd originally met Nori and Lampro I didn't think much of them. Some people seemed to be asking Nori a lot of questions but I didn't realize how big of a deal they were to the ship. Then again, I didn't realize she was a survivor from Lifeboat Seven. Each floor took just as long as the last, with a massive crowd outside the doors between each stop with the elevators fully clogged up, unable to let any new people on.

I pushed past a few people to get a view of the panel and was disappointed to see we were still only halfway through the green section, not even close to getting to the blue levels. If I had to guess, it looked like there had to be at least forty levels to go until we got to the surface. When the door opened again I decided enough was enough. It looked like it would take ages to get to the surface and I didn't feel like waiting hours to get there.

"Excuse me! Can I get out here?!" I yelled over the crowd. The people immediately around me turned around, apparently surprised to see there was a Melodian on board. I reached my hand out, pushing my way through in the direction of the door. I heard it starting to close and pushed through the crowd a little faster before I finally made it to the door just before they closed. I burst out, finding myself in a similarly dense crowd but filled with a much more frustrated tone in the air.

Everyone was talking over each other, voicing their frustrations about how each elevator that passed was full and they didn't get a chance to get in. I pushed through, getting past the people that were crowding the elevators and getting out to the less densely populated area of the elevator landing. People were coming from all sides in the direction of the elevators but it wasn't so dense I couldn't make my way through.

I'd remembered where the stairs were that I chased Flint down so I made my way in that direction. Being a green floor, there was a mixture of Mechara and Melodians occupying the level I'd found myself on. The ceilings were higher, the design elements of the surface were present with all buildings and houses forming pathways between them with large common areas at their intersections.

The main difference was that the Mechara on the green floors appeared a lot younger than the ones I was used to seeing on the surface. I figured the older ones couldn't handle the higher amounts of gravity so only the young ones found themselves at the mixed levels of the ship. After turning a few corners I recognized the doorways that led to the stairwells. They were populated, but without the density of the elevators I'd just left.

There was a sense of urgency in the air as I heard everyone talking about what was happening on the surface. I got up to the doors and on the other side found a large crowd of Mechara slowly climbing up the stairs. They looked tired, breathing heavily as they climbed the stairs, presumably after seeing how crowded the elevators were. I made my way up the first flight but found myself stuck behind a crowd of Mechara that were moving far too slow for my taste.

With the lower gravity of the green section of the ship I felt a lot stronger, I felt like I could go faster if I just… I looked up to see the railing for the next landing above me. The stairs turned back on each other with each flight, but between every landing there was a railing that I realized I could probably jump up to. I stopped for a moment, crouched down and leapt up to the railing above me. A very surprised Mechara jumped back as I suddenly grabbed onto the railing, pulling myself up.

He said something about it but I didn't take the time to listen. Instead I turned around, saw the next railing above me and leapt up to the next one. By staying in the middle and leaping between each landing I found I could make progress a lot faster, despite the objections of the Mechara I'd inevitably surprise with each jump.

I felt my legs getting more tired, but at the same time each landing had slightly less gravity than the previous and I found the two canceled each other out just enough to let me continue jumping upward between each landing. I started slowing as I got near the top, the stairwell getting more filled as I climbed up until the point where the crowd was stuck, no longer making any progress as they filled the stairwell completely. Thankfully I'd reached the top just as I felt my legs couldn't take any more.

My final jump landing me at the exit doors leading me to the surface. The crowd pushed through alongside me as we all exited the doorways. I took a moment to look around, seeing more Mechara on the surface than I'd ever seen before, all moving toward the center ring.

"Do you think it's possible?" I heard one person say.

"I mean, it's bound to happen at some point right?" I heard another say in response. They were all talking about Lampro. I thought back to the time I first met him, how he looked at me, the way Nori talked about how surprised she was to see him react the way he did. I thought he was just some senile old man but the response I was seeing from the Mechara was as if their king was dying. As I made my way in the direction the crowd was moving I saw an enormously tall building near the central ring.

It was only a few buildings away from where Nori's apartment was and judging by the way the crowds were gathering around it, I assumed it had to be where Nori and Lampro would be. I pushed my way through the crowd, hearing a man yelling over everyone as best he could as I approached the building.

"Folks, we need you to disperse, we'll all be informed about any changes that happen over the communication network, there's no reason to be here in person, please, stay back!" he yelled to a crowd that didn't seem to care about anything he had to say. There were barricades set up along the entrance of the building to stop anyone from getting inside. As I looked at the people crowding around and the… Police officers? Security guards? Whomever they were, I noticed there weren't any Melodians in the crowd.

The only ones I saw were beyond the barricades, helping to move things in and out, all with their eyes glowing. Throughout my entire stay on Lifeboat 8, the Mechara always overlooked me, didn't seem to notice I was there. I figured I had to give it a shot. I moved along the barriers toward the entrance where the security guard was keeping everyone back. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to collect myself. Confidence. Pretend you're supposed to be here I thought to myself as I reached the guard.

He looked down for a second, then stepped to the side to let me past before he blocked the passage once more as soon as I slid past him. He didn't turn toward me, didn't say anything to me. Wow that was easy I thought as I made my way up into the hospital, leaving the crowd behind as the roar of the people faded behind me. It looked a lot like I expected a hospital to look like. Lots of rolling furniture like beds, moveable stands, large complex looking equipment on big swinging arms.

The floor was a solid flat plane with all the walls joining at ninety degree angles, a stark difference from what I'd seen of the Mechara's normal architecture. They likely wanted to keep places like hospital all about function over style. I had no idea where I needed to go, but I took a moment to simply listen to the people around me. There was a Mechara at a large desk in front of me talking to a few people, a Melodian to the side, his eyes glowing like I'd expected.

"Please just make sure this gets to her" the man in front of the counter asked, holding out a piece of paper.

"I'm not supposed to let anyone contact them right now, I'm sorry but I can't…" the woman behind the counter tried to say but the man cut her off.

"You don't understand it's important! Please, I'm just asking you to deliver something, I'm not trying to see them right now" he said.

"Sir, you and just about everyone else on this ship wants to say something to them but we have to let the doctors do what they need to do and we can't allow for these types of distractions" she said, sounding like she'd had that conversation with countless other people over the past few hours. As the man continued to plead with her I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the Melodian next to the desk was staring at me. His eyes locked on mine as if he was trying to get my attention.

As soon as my eyes locked with his, he spoke up, jumping into their conversation.

"I can take it. It's no problem" he said, his eyes not leaving mine. The two of them stopped, looking down at the Melodian who'd interrupted them.

"You're sure?" the woman asked. The Melodian didn't respond verbally, instead he reached his hand out toward the man in front of the counter.

"Thank you! Thank you Artemis you have no idea how much this means to me!" he said as he handed him the paper. Artemis I repeated in my head. I didn't think he was referring to the melodian themselves, I figured he was likely referring to him that way because his eyes were glowing. The Melodian turned and walked away, the man in front of the counter giving the woman behind the counter a smug look as though he'd just won. The Melodian turned back to me, his eyes still glowing.

As we locked eyes, he motioned for me to follow him. I didn't waste any time following him down the hallway, leaving the mechara behind and trailing the melodian that was carrying the paper in his hand.

"Hey um, thanks for…" I began to say before he reached his hand up to cut me off. He reached up, pressing a button on the side panel and turned to look at me. His eyes stared into mine, his ears laying flat against his head as a look of sadness spread across his face. It was the first time I'd been so close to a melodian with their eyes glowing and it felt strange to be looking at him so closely but the curiosity got the better of me.

His pupils were glowing white, as if there was a large white light behind it, his irises were glowing white as well but I could see hints of the orange color they'd have if he wasn't being controlled. His hand slowly started reaching up, I felt like he wanted to tell me something but for some reason he couldn't say it. His hand touched the side of my face, holding his palm to my cheek as I noticed his eyes starting to tear up.

"I…" he started to say just before the light in his eyes turned off. The melodian blinked, looking around for a moment before looking up at me. His irises were orange, his pupils black.

"Gah!" he yelped in surprise as he leapt back, landing against the wall of the elevator and nearly stumbling over. I stepped back but didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure if I should apologize or try to explain what had just happened, but the look of annoyance he shot in my direction told me I should probably do the first.

"I'm sorry" I started to say before he jumped in. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes looking up and down over me "are you even supposed to be here?" he asked.

"I… Uh…" I tried to find the words to say.

"Was Artemis bringing you here?" he asked, his hands on his hips as he glared at me. I didn't know what the correct answer was but in case my hunch from earlier was correct I figured I'd go with it.

"Y-yes uh…

'he' was bringing me here, he told me to follow him" I said, hoping it was the right answer. He crossed his arms.

"Fine, but whatever you were doing… Don't. I was in the middle of something and I don't want to be interrupted" he said.

"I'm sorry" I said quietly. He looked at me, seeming a little annoyed for a moment before his eyes suddenly started glowing again, his expression turning neutral as he looked forward as though I wasn't in the elevator with him. Then a second later he looked at me once more. I was afraid to say anything, not wanting to wake the melodian underneath up. Artemis sighed, moving to my side and looking at the elevator door as we continued the rest of the ride in silence.

When the elevator doors opened Artemis reached out, holding the paper in front of me so I could grab it. I reluctantly took it as he ushered me out of the elevator, staying behind as he pressed a button on the panel. I stepped out into the hallway, looking back at him as he stood in the center of the elevator, his hands behind his back as his eyes locked to mine. I could tell there was something he wanted to tell me, but it seemed like if he tried the melodian he was controlling would wake up.

"Thank you" I said quietly as the doors slowly shut. He nodded to me just before he went out of view. I was left in a hallway of a very sterile looking hospital. The design was about what I expected a hospital to be. Unlike the other buildings I'd seen, the hospital wasn't designed with organic shapes and off level floors with abnormal size doors and windows. Instead it was built for function.

Maximizing every space, all the walls were perfectly straight up and down, the floor made of tiles so it could be easily cleaned, there were large windows looking into each room, some with curtains drawn, some without. It didn't take long to figure out where I was supposed to go as I heard a large group of mechara from around the corner ahead of me. There were hospital staff all around, some were mechara, some were melodians with their eyes glowing.

They were all going about their work but I noticed the mechara were all looking in the direction of the group whenever they got a chance. I followed the sound of the voices to find a large group of mechara standing around a particular room. They were speaking quietly, all looking nervous. Some looked like hospital staff, others looked like they were wearing similar clothing that Nori had. I didn't see many of them with her style of clothing but it looked very official.

I couldn't tell if it was a uniform or if it was something about their wealth. As I approached one of the people near the back noticed me, he looked like a doctor, his eyes looking down to the paper in my hand.

"What's this then?" he asked as he broke away from the group.

"I have something for Nori" I said in the most confident voice I could muster.

"Artemis you know we're not supposed to be interrupted right… Now…" he said, trailing off as he looked up from the paper and into my eyes. He seemed to stop as he noticed my eyes weren't glowing.

"Sorry, I was just uh, told to bring this to her" I said, still trying my hardest to keep the confidence in my voice. He tapped his foot, sounding a little annoyed as he said "Can I speak to Artemis please?" I bit my lip, trying to think of something to say that would make sense to the mechara standing in front of me but I was drawing a blank. I took a step back, considering just leaving when I heard a woman's voice from behind me speak up.

"Apologies Rhomb her assembler is broken at the moment" she said. I turned around to see a melodian about the same size as me, apparently the same age based on her fur color. Her eyes were glowing just like all the other melodians I'd seen in the hospital. The mechara folded his arms, speaking to the woman behind me instead.

"Artemis you know we're not taking any interruptions right now, is this important?" The woman spoke up once more "We decided to mitigate an incident downstairs. It is not of importance, but you can pass this on at a convenient time. I apologize for the confusion." I reached up, holding the paper to him as he grabbed it and put it away in his pocket before turning back to the group. The woman turned around to walk away. I began to follow her"Hey I um, wanted to find Rosa…" I whispered to her.

She quickly reached out, grabbing me by the front of my shirt with an extraordinarily strong grip. She quickly pushed me back toward the group, making me catch myself before I flung into the crowd of mechara. Just before she turned around I saw her eyes quickly blink off, then on again. The person underneath waking up for a brief moment before being pulled back into the assembler.

I watched her leave for a moment to see if she tried to communicate any further but before I knew it she turned a corner and was out of sight. I was confused, but it was clear that Artemis wanted me to go inside. The other mechara didn't pay much attention to me as I moved through the crowd and made my way to the doorway.

The thing I noticed about the mechara is they always assumed any time there was a melodian nearby, they were there on some sort of official business, they never seemed to suspect anything or take much notice. As I walked through the doorway I saw him. Lampro was laying in a reclined bed, looking up at the ceiling with half lidded eyes, his mouth open with a tube sticking into it. He was surrounded by doctors who were all discussing what to do next.

I didn't understand most of the words they were saying but they sounded like they were discussing medical procedures of some sort. One mechara was sitting at his side and when she looked at me her eyes lit up.

"Tess?" she asked. I recognized her voice immediately.

"Nori, hey I um. I'm sorry to interrupt" I said softly as I made my way into the room. The doctors largely ignored my presence.

"Tess I'm so happy to see you! I was hoping you'd show up again in less… concerning times… He's… He's not looking great" she said, her voice getting quieter as she spoke. I made my way next to her, doing my best to stay out of everyone else's way.

"How's he holding up?" I asked. She shook her head "He hasn't been doing great. Ever since we saw you out by the windows he's been a lot more active than normal. When you left he started getting panicked, I tried to calm him down but he kept looking for you. Then while we were doing the broadcast he had an episode and…" she stopped as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. I wasn't sure what to say so I simply reached out and held her hand, hoping it wasn't seen as a rude gesture or something.

She squeezed my hand, her eyes remaining closed for a moment before she looked at me with a smile. Success I thought to myself.

"Tess, did you ever know him? Is there a reason he'd recognize you like this?" she asked. I shook my head "I… I don't think so…" I said. The doctors all made a low murmuring sound, turning to each other as they spoke about Lampro and what they'd want to do with him.

"One moment Tess" Nori said as she stood up and joined the doctors. I could hear her voice over the sound of the others.

"Are you sure you're not giving him too much?" she asked them. They all began to answer, each having an opinion of their own about the medication and whatever treatments they'd be giving him. I turned to look at Lampro and nearly jumped back. Instead of looking up at the ceiling he'd turned his head toward me, his eyes starring with an immense intensity. His mouth was held slightly open by the tube. Nori and the doctors weren't paying attention as they talked amongst themselves.

I was about to call out to them when Lampro slowly reached his hand up. Shaking, but clearly gesturing for me to get closer. I made my way over to the bed as I felt my hearts beating a bit faster. I wasn't sure what he wanted with me, or how he knew me. It only made sense that he recognized me from Lifeboat 7. As I reached the side of the bed he sat up a little further, his hand slowly reaching up to his mouth as he gripped the cloudy looking tube that was going into his mouth and began to pull it out.

I nearly called out to someone but he reached out, grabbing my hand. Instead I said nothing, letting him slowly pull the tube out with his shaking hand. A surprising amount came out as I saw how deep it reached into him. Lampro let it go, allowing it to fall to the side as he gripped my hand, pulling me closer to him. His eyes remained locked onto me, I could see so much intensity behind his eyes as it felt like he was staring into my soul.

I felt like I should have been afraid, or nervous, but instead I only felt an overwhelming feeling of curiosity. I wanted to know how he knew me, who he knew me as. I noticed his beak, the large section along the top looking as though it was replaced by some inorganic material. It looked like he'd been injured pretty badly at some point and I wondered if it had to do with Lifeboat 7. He wheezed, trying to get a word out but he couldn't quite get it out.

"It's okay take your time" I said softly. The others didn't seem to hear me as they were caught up in their own conversation. I felt like at any moment one of them would see what was happening and would interrupt whatever the small moment of clarity Lampro was going through. I was next to someone that had to have recognized me from Lifeboat 7 but I had no idea who he was. I didn't know if he hated me, if he loved me, if I was just someone he recognized from a long time ago.

I was prepared to pull away at any moment in case he was less friendly than he seemed. He gripped my hand a little harder as he leaned over to me as much as he could as he said in a extremely raspy, barely audible voice.

"I…" he said before taking a breath. He sounded like he was struggling against his body in order to speak.

"Never…" he croaked out. I could barely hear him through the roughness of his voice.

"Lost…" he said. His grip on my hand loosening a bit.

"Hope…" he got out before falling into a coughing fit. He let go of my hand as he reached up to his chest, trying to control himself as the coughing got more intense. I turned to see all the doctors suddenly turn around at the sound and going into full alert. I stepped back, letting them get to him. As the doctors surrounded him I heard him struggling to catch his breath, the coughing only getting worse. I felt like I needed to do something but I had no idea what.

Instead I just stood back and watched as the doctors tried to get control over the situation. Nori made her way over to me, her hands were grabbing over the top of her beak as she watched on. I felt like she had to feel more helpless than I was. She knew just as well that there wasn't anything she could do aside from standing by and hoping for the best.

As the coughing continued it got more violent, Lampro's groaning getting louder until it suddenly stopped, his head laying back on the pillow as his eyes looked up to the ceiling, not moving any longer. The doctors continued to try to help him but they didn't seem to be able to do anything. I looked up to see Nori was crying, her hands gripping hard into her beak as she tried to keep herself together. Her knees were shaking, looking like they were barely holding her up.

The look she had reminded me of myself as I remembered when I saw my house catching on fire, seeing the fire spreading, feeling helpless, alone, afraid. I remembered every moment of that night, permanently etched into my memory. In that moment I knew I had to do something, I wish I'd had someone by my side when I'd seen John die and although I couldn't do anything to change that, I could at least be there for Nori during her time of need. I reached up, grabbing her shirt to get her attention.

It took a moment, but she eventually turned to look down at me.

"Nori" I said in a quiet voice, just loud enough to be heard over the doctors "I think we should go. You shouldn't see this." She gasped, trying to keep herself together, closing her eyes for a moment as she let go of her beak, reaching her shaking hand down to me. I grabbed her hand and led her out of the room and making my way down to a small seating area I'd seen when I had first arrived. Nori was simply following where I led her.

She had her eyes closed, her hand was shaking, but she let me lead her away from the terrible scene we'd just witnessed. As we made it to the chairs she sat down, putting her hands up to her face as she cried, holding her beak like before. I wasn't entirely sure what to do but I decided the best I could do was to just be with her, so I got up on the seat next to her, standing on it so I'd be closer to her height as I reached an arm around her shoulder and held her.

With most things on the ship, I couldn't tell what cultural differences they had and I oftentimes seemed to screw things up, but hugging seemed like a universal way of comforting someone and Nori seemed to be okay with it so I simply stood there and held her as she cried. I wished I could do more, but I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do aside from being there for her. I thought back to when John died and the feeling of being alone with my thoughts.

I would have done anything to have someone by my side at that time so I at least had the ability to be there for her in a way that I didn't have. I leaned against her, closing my eyes as I held her to myself. I knew how helpless she was feeling, how overwhelmed with emotions she'd felt. I couldn't leave her while she was experiencing that, so I instead just remained silent as she cried into her hands. Time gently ticked by as what felt like hours rolled past as we sat on the chairs.

I had no idea how much time was actually passing, but eventually Nori began to calm down, her crying turning into slow, gentle breathing. I felt like neither of us knew what to say so we instead simply waited, until we eventually heard some footsteps approaching us.

"Nori?" a mechara said as she approached. We looked up to see several doctors standing in the hallway, all of them about thirty feet down the hall but they were all looking in our direction. One of them had broken from the group to speak to Nori. Nori wiped her eyes as I let her go for the first time since we'd sat down. She didn't say anything but simply looked up at her. The doctor took a deep breath before saying "I'm so sorry Nori but we weren't able to save him from this one."

I expected Nori to lean into me, start crying, possibly ask her some questions, but instead she simply remained still, turning her eyes in front of her and starring at nothing as she seemed to be trying to process the information she'd just been given. The doctor looked like she was about to say something else but she decided against it as she turned and rejoined her colleagues. With the doctor rejoining the group, they all seemed to take a moment, then collectively agree to leave the area, giving Nori some space.

I sat down on the seat next to her, laying my back against it, my tail hanging over the front of the chair as I just sat there next to her if she needed me. The silence continued for a long time as I got more accompanied to the sounds of the room. I could hear people speaking down the hallway but they were out of sight. The various rooms had machines that would occasionally chirp and I could hear wind coming from the ventilation system above us. I couldn't tell how much time had passed but it had to be a few hours.

We said nothing, we didn't acknowledge each other as Nori just sat still. I cleared my throat as softly as I could, trying not to startle her as I quietly asked "Do you want me to get some water for us?" For the first time since hearing the news, she turned to look at me, the whites of her eyes having turned a light yellow color.

"Are you sure you didn't know him?" she asked. I shook my head. He likely knew me from Lifeboat 7, but I could honestly say that I didn't know who he was or how he knew me. I wanted to tell her that I was from the same place they were and let her know she wasn't as alone as she thought but I couldn't. She sighed, looking down at the floor "I just… I haven't seen him light up the way that he did when we first saw you. I don't… I don't remember him before… You know.

Everything" she said as she sat back in her seat, turning her head up toward the ceiling. She took a deep breath before continuing "Everyone always asks me about Lifeboat 7 but they forget that I was just a little kid when all that happened. I don't remember much of anything aside from the fear I felt. I remember smoke, fire… death... I feel terrible about it but my earliest memories of my father are from after all that. I don't know what he was like, or what we used to do together. I only remember him as…

That" she said, motioning in the direction of where we'd come from. The room fell silent for a moment before she spoke up again.

"No… I remember one thing" she said as she sat up a little, her hands reaching up as she grabbed her beak "I remember him holding me here. I think he was holding an oxygen mask over my face… I remember that… I… I don't… Remember if he had one for himself…" She reached up, holding her hands over her eyes as she started crying again. I looked around and felt like more than anything, Nori needed to get out of the hospital setting and into something more familiar.

"Nori, let's get you out of here" I said as I reached out to hold her hand. She flinched for a moment as I took her hand but she quickly relaxed when she looked up at me with a soft, barely visible nod.