The Mark of those who Care

Jack Pine

Active Member
YSS KAIYO

Robots and AI had been nearly perfected through the years, but this of course did not mean that all AI and SI were inherently perfect. Many had flaws, and that could only be expected, especially if they weren't Yamatai in origin. While Yamatai excelled in making things perfect, Care was not Yamatai, as much as her service and title would suggest otherwise. It took a single look at her to tell she was Freespacer, especially given her name that gave the almost pun of 'Trauma-Care.'

On the last mission Care had done as much as she typically did, accompanying those who specifically asked her to, and staying out of the way. It was clear she was not someone who wanted to bother people, which made the events that occured all the stranger. At first she only seemed distant, but as time went on the issues became visible, her actions and motions becoming uneven and jerky, reacting with increasingly poor response time and even less grace. As she was guided back to the ship, she seemed to have great trouble discerning what was occuring and what was being said. Traditional issues held no basis, she was purely synthetic, so somewhere between her software and hardware, and issue had occured.

It only made sense to have Mark figure out what it was.

Care was seated in the Medical Bay, for lack of more appropriate location. Her arms were folded and she was unusually quiet, even for her. As time passed she had gotten somewhat better, more responsive, but the issue had not passed completely, and without knowledge of what had happened, they could not gurantee that it would not happen again, possibly with more dire consequence. Her facial plates shifted uncomfortably, her eyes clicking softly as she simply observed the room.

Mark made his way down the hall, the nature of his summons a mystery so far. He figured if care was calling him, it had to be important, maybe even Geist related. Whatever was up, would be revealed upon arrival he assumed. He wore his black boots and jeans, a grey muscle shirt, and open hoodie. His right hand was covered by a ballistic glove, with the sleeve of the hoodie pulled all the way down to cover. The opposite sleeve was pulled up, and anyone closely observing would notice the oddity, but he figured in his head it would be enough. Mark entered in through the pneumatic door, the swish marking his entrance.

"Something wrong Care, not like you to call me? Or did you just want to talk?", Mark asked casually as he spotted her, the way she sat already giving off a well off vibe.

As he entered Care's gaze shifted, her lens-like eyes adjusting to him, and for a few seconds she didn't respond. She was never very good with social graces, but this felt off, like something hung in the air, an elephant in the room that she didn't want to mention. Closing those heavy seconds, her voice wavered as she spoke, the synthetic, radio-like hum that came with her voice sharply contrasting the otherwise uneasy way she spoke. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, Mark, if you're busy you can leave, it's just..." She shifted in her seat awkwardly as if the words didn't come to her naturally.

Care wasn't good at asking for help, that much had always been clear, but she deemed it important enough this time to force herself to ask. "You can meld with machines, right? Well I'm a... Machine, and there's something wrong with me." Each word was spoken slowly, as if she were unsure of every syllable. "Many AI and SI are just software, as opposed to organics which are hardware and software. I'm more akin to organics in this sense, and there's been issues between my systems. Incompatibilities."

She glanced away before she continued. "There's always been incompatibilities, that's not unusual nor is it new. What's new is the overclocking. My software was overloaded today, and I don't know why, it was like I could no longer differentiate what information my hardware was picking up. Do you... Think you could help me? I don't think I can do it on my own." The words were sincere, though they held tinges of fear, as if she was terrified of scaring him off or being refused.

Mark scratched his chin, "That does sound like a big issue, and it sounds like the root of it would be something buried deep. I can help, and am glad to, but it's going to be a deeper dive than I'm used to. I'm sure we can solve this, and I would remise not to try. This crew is like family to me, I can't say no when someone I care about is in need.", He said with a kind smile.

Care's facial plates shifted in relief, the weight that potentially bad results of her request lifted from her shoulders. Even then the problem still remained, and it still visibly troubled her, despite Mark's willingness to help. "Thank you, it means a lot." She admitted, and though it felt like her voice held relief, there was something missing. Like it was intended to be paired with an exhale of breath, but without breath to hold the small tinge of intent was missing, a hole in her speech.

"I... Haven't done this before." She admitted after a moment, her hands rubbing across her arms. "How do you meld with machines? Is there something I need to do?"

"Hmm,.well it's a almost intimate form of synchronization. Like when I wear my Mindy and connect to it, it just becomes another layer of me, like a second skin. Same with vehicles, I and it become one, it basically acts as host for me. Now those with sentience and their own mind are different. We synchronize like those mentioned, but we stay us. But at the same time our minds become linked. This deep of a dive will need to be done in a relaxed state, so we'll both lay on a bed, as our bodies go into a sort of standby mode. As I've said this will be the first time I've done a dive this deep.", Mark explained a slight nervousness at doing something not even he had done before was evident.

Care nodded as he explained, slowly standing as she began to respond. "Then it's best if we do this now, or else I might end up putting it off as long as possible out of fear." She admitted, gesturing over to the medical beds of the Medical Bay. "Assuming no emergencies fill all the beds between missions, I think we could simply use these." She spoke, beginning to walk over to them. Thoughts gnawed at her mind, worries and doubts, all interlaced with the mind eating fear.

"I know you haven't done this before, and neither have I. I don't know what to expect, and I don't know what you should expect. I'm not Yamatai tech, and I don't know what you'll experience." Moving over to one of the beds of the Bay, she began to lay down. "-Truth be told Mark, this terrifies me. Nothing is more terrifying for me than change."

Mark followed Care to a pair of beds before switching on a couple displays that were part of monitoring equipment situated between the beds in the wall. Pulling a couple screens on arms hanging above, he tapped in a few.commands before responding.

"I can understand that,. Sometimes I wonder just how much have I since waking up. Am I still me, who was I before, do I ever wanna go back. When I first came aboard these questions always sat heavy in my mind. Even now.that I remember, the first and last questions still hang in my mind somewhere in the back. Sometimes it's through change we truely find ourselves, or that their was something ever missing or needed. As for what it will be like, I imagine the representation of our own minds are unique for each person. Hmmm, I need to make a basic link, and that means we'll start out in one of our minds, then go deeper into yours. Jumping straight in is risky and jarring, so starting on a lower subconscious level where we need to start." Mark explained further as he set the system to monitor their condition while under, and to cut the connection if something went really wrong.

The idea that each persons was different wasn't very comforting for Care she shifted on the bed, even if she didn't show it. "I'm ready when you are." She responded, doing her best to settle her fears and to relax herself. She didn't know how he would make the connection or bridge the gap but he likely knew how to do it, she didn't want to delay it any furthur in case she ended up chickening out. Mark was here, and he was willing to help her, how would he view her if she ran away before they even tried?

Her eyes watched as he adjusted the screen, trying to make sense of how he was going to do this. Would it feel like taking in another file or batch of data? She didn't know, and the unknown fear of it boiled inside of her. 'Relaxed' did not describe her, but she knew that she had to carry on anyway, as she would never grow comfortable with this unless she enacted a bit of courage and went through with it.

"Alright, I'm going to touch your forehead for a second to start a link to which I will activate after laying down. Do you have a preference of who's mind we start in?" Mark said leaving the monitors to stand by Care's side as he moved to touch her forehead with his right hand, but stopped himself, switching to his uncovered hand.

Care's mouth felt unusually dry, which was particularly odd given it never held liquid in the first place. Her chest felt like it contained too much pressure, and her throat felt caught by some invisible barrier. "I... don't have a preference." In truth she wasn't sure who she would be more terrified to start within, even on a subconscious, shallow level. Would seeing someone elses mind scare her and drive her to not want to push into her own? Or would she look within and recoil at what she saw? It wasn't a question of what she wanted more, it was a question of what held the least risk.

Mark thought for a moment, "hmmm, I guess we'll do mine, it will be easier for me to navigate us out of. I just hope I don't have embarrassing childhood moment, or something while were in there the few moments we will be. But don't worry Care, I'll be with you every step of the way." He said the last part as he layed down on his own bed after touching her forehead gently establishing a link.

"Alright here we go.", Mark said before it felt as if he was plummeting.

It was dark but fluid as if underwater, and he'd been here before. He was vertical his head oriented to the depths below. He reoriented before landing on the seabed where it was very dark, and after a moment a large gap swirled open under him to fall again for a brief moment. Opening his eyes he was on a field pocked with.....blast craters?

"Oh hell, uh Care where are you? Caaaarrrreeeee!" He shouted as he looked around for her. He looked himself over briefly, his attire and look still the same, but that was subject to change as they went in further.

Care sat on the ground, though she felt uneasy about calling it 'ground.' The whole thing felt wrong, but it wasn't the 'world' around her that made her feel that way. To her side were craters, and she sat on an excess of dirt and rocks, her form bare of clothes, not that anything was revealed without them. Her synthetic form lacked anything that could even call for modesty, simply holding the shape with numerous silicon plates that mimicked human shape. It was by all accounts her, but when she looked at her own body and hands it felt wrong.

She watched as her hands seemed to glitch and warp under her gaze, correcting themselves as quickly as they broke. It unnerved her, a broken vision of a correct frame, as if she was supposed to be seeing something that wasn't there. She heard a voice nearby, calling her name, so she pushed herself to her feet, turning to where she heard it. "Mark?" She called out, but there was something wrong with her voice.

Her voice had always held a buzz, some form of background static that plastered a synthetic feel to anything she said, as if her voice was coming from a radio. It felt more intense now, more smothering, even if her voice still held its feminine and distinct tone.

Mark turned to see her a short distance away, before sprinting over, "Ah, there you are, we may wanna go ahead and continue on. Quickly if possible.", He said looking again for an exit. He spotted it as a APC with a closed hatch that sat unscarred, "over there, come on, this isn't a memory I like to remember."

As Care came into view an odd thing happened, a gash of static seemed to split her form, an odd buzz accompanying it, but a mere moment after it appeared it was gone, and Care seemed to either not react or was simply unaware of it. Her eyes went to the APC, and she quickly began to move to it, her actions uncertain. "Where will this go? Where are we?"

"Again, very bad memory, and I'd rather explain later. That APC is our connection to your mind." He said quickly throwing open a side panel and pulling an emergency release, causing the ramp to lower. He gestured her in quickly, following in to begin closing the hatch. The faint sound of artillery fire could be heard just before the hatch sealed leading to silence. The interior was replaced and deconstructed to reveal another dark void like space, the two now standing on a wide circular glass platform, a hazy half and half image displayed in it's surface. It felt like a elevated platform and the glass had a sort of cathedral like stain glass look.

Their appearance had changed as well, Mark's now that oh his jeans, boots like before, but now he had his undersuite on instead of his shirt and tank top. His hair was a random mix of snow white and jet black, one eye a deep blue and the other a crimson red. Both glowed, and the back of his neck did as well with traces of light running away in an almost diagram of his nervous system. What startled him somewhat was how his right arm looked as if it was dissolving, but not actually losing anything, the particles floating away like that of embers from a open fire.

"This Care, is where our two minds have partially converged, forming a unified space which is on a deeper level of subconscious. It's also the point where our mental images of ourselves superimpose themselves." Mark said rubbing his dissolving arm.

Care's eyes wandered outside the APC as it closed, curiosity getting the best of her as she tried to determine what this place was, and what had occured to make it a sour memory. Nothing came into few aside from distant flashes of artillery hitting the ground, and things turned to null once more. When things came to once more, becoming solid and formed into a hub of their interlinked thoughts, Care's body changed as well, but not for the better.

The jagged gash of static across her body became more common, lasting anywhere from mere moments to seconds, distorting her form with the odd tears that briefly seemed to extend into the air itself. Aspects of her form changing almost randomly before they reset back to her own physical appearance, lingering uncomfortably on broken and flawed designs, as well as simply different ones. There was static noise accompanying her, and it seemed to span across her body.

Her eyes glared down at herself, and as she began to speak, the feminine tone of her voice was minimal, replaced with more artificial, less organic rhythm. "I don't feel good." She didn't expand on the statement, instead moving towards an edge of the ground, staring to the void expectantly. "I don't know what will happen, but I feel like I know how to make it work." She admitted, motioning him closer. The void seemed infinite but flat, as if it stretched forever yet was compacted into a single wall. A white bar, like a cursor, flashed expectedly.

"Care, your not looking good, are you sure your okay to continue? We can rest for a moment if need be, this is a lot to take in and experience all at once." Mark said, a clear look of concern for her on his face.

"I'm fine." The words that came out of her were cold, a clear deflection of the issue. "You said it yourself, our mental images of ourselves superimpose themselves." She responded after a moment, her eyes going to him with a dull look. "Rest won't fix my image." She finally admitted after a few seconds.Rather than give him the opportunity of rebuttal, she pushed her hand out, interlinking her figers with the void-wall in front of them. Her hand seemed to sink into what was almost a thick gel of the inky blackness.

Upon the disturbance the wall flickered, and a vibrating, synthetic horn briefly harmonized from it, it was an odd, unnatural pitch, and from it followed soft static and hums, and a single word appeared on the screen, a distorted and thick font that, like the void itself, seemed to end all at once yet stretch on farther than it should. It was as if it held great weight yet looked so small, expanded across far too much distance.

<:: Care
<:: Welcome
<:: Error.


Each line appeared complete, one by one, but each one was accompanied by a dull, solid thunk that seemed to echo as if some scarcely hollow metal bar had been hit against something behind the wall, muffled yet still coming through as each line appeared. "There's more than this, I can tell. I just need a moment to..." Her facial plates shifted among the scars of static. "Translate."

"Okay? What are you trying to do here exactly? I mean, I'm kinda a tech guy, but never with this......aspect.", Mark said still concerned and even more so than before. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "Care.......well figure this out. Just please,...just don't shut me out. I only wanna help."

Care paused as his hand touched her, the silicon plates that made her carapace were cold, and even with the slight give that was a vague mimicry of flesh, it was far from convincing, especially there, among the gateway to her. "The static isn't a result of stress, Mark." Her voice carried the artificial tone, seeming to have lost more of the organic tones she once made. "Even if we relaxed here for hours, nothing would change. This isn't something new." She looked downwards, as more lines began to appear on the wall, rapidly pushing what existed upwards out of site as seemingly hundreds of lines began to appear in seconds, each one consisting almost entirely out of randomly spaced vertical lines, all of the same height. The dull rings of each one mixing together into a repetitive, almost anxiety inducing tone.

"Just because you can't see a problem doesn't mean it isn't there." It was a solemn sentence, but it said more than enough. This was how she saw herself, a dysmorphia linked to her physical body, an inability to accept it as her own yet unable to seperate herself from it. An eternal discomfort, stuck between a familiar hell and an unfamiliar one, terrified to leave the one she had known the longest.

The spanning lines came to an abrupt stop, and in the final lines an image had appeared created by the countless generated ones. It was a vague but clear image, a door, and above it was a single word, whole and bright. "I'm making the door in." She finally said, her arm pushing inside the wall, her body following it slowly.

'C R E A T I O N'

"I'm sorry care. I wish there was a way I could help you. I told you before I thought of the crew as family. I love my family. So it hurts when they suffer from something I have little way of helping with." Mark said doing likewise.

As they stepped through it felt as if thick heavy water covered them, lacking the wetness but holding every bit of invasive pressure of it. It was almost like total sensory deprivation, blinded by the silty feeling and deafened as it fill their ears. After moments, even as their movements slowed in it, it all faded as if it slowly lifted from them of it's own violation.

What came next wasn't clear at first, but as their vision returned the stage was revealed, a clean and proper laboratory, though from their angle things were missing. They stood on black ground, and a void sat all around them, save for the wall of the laboratory on the far side. It seemed as if parts of it weren't clearly remembered.

Several people in the room stood still, silently speaking, though they looked blurry, vague, unremembered. The shape of Care laid across a medical table, separate from the glitching version next to Mark. "I remember this." Care spoke as she stepped forward.

"This is the first thing I remember. They made me like this, Mark. They made many machines like me, so why did I go wrong? I never had the heart to ask them. This was my first memory, and it is my worst one." She paused and shuddered. "Please Mark, hold me. I can't be alone when it begins." The request was odd, but the sincerity rose with terror.

Mark brought her close to him, his arms wrapped around as if to shield her from some unseen danger, like a brother protecting a sister.

"I've got you, your not alone.", He said softly as things began to slowly unfold.

She almost collapsed into his arms, shielding her view against him as her visible distortions seem to fade. It was clear she did not want to experience what came next. Not again. The words became more clear from the memories of those present at the time.

"...Experiment... Medical application... Care, initiate upon your ready."

"Affirmative, activation proceeding to consciousness."

The memory of Care shifted, a hum of life striking the synthetic form. Her eyes gained their blue glow, and in the moment of conciousness they looked around, before her facial plates shifted seemingly at random. Her mouth opened, her limbs convulsed, and the memory devolved into horror.

The scream was inhuman, and not just by the fact that it was synthetic. It was heart wrenching, raising and losing pitch and focus, all while those present panicked and tried to retrain her. The focus of reality was lost, things becoming blurry and red, flashing with thousands of incomprehensible images flashing in the room.

The real Care shuddered, sobbing under his grip. Her real form held no tear ducts, but here she needed them, and so her mind relented it's dysmorphia. "The first moment of existence, flooded with every bit of information and knowledge they thought I would need. It was... Overload." The words were soft, but the scene seemed to quiet itself to allow her words.

"See what happens when you mortals play god? Trying to create new life, with no regard to the pain and suffering your actions cause for them.", Orias whispered in his ear.

"We organics take it for granted our limited ability to learn and understand data at birth, but it is to avoid the mistake we so foolishly make. Trying to force so much raw data at once on a new mind, not yet prepared for it. It is our ignorance that has caused you this pain, and for that I can never take back the harm we've done.", Mark said ignoring orias and pulling care even closer, his own tears falling with hers. It tore at him to watch this unfold, to see the pain, the lack of thought towards those created.

"I wish you were there. Someone like you, someone who would have kept it from happening." The words seemed more like she was begging for it to change, begging for something to fix what had happened.

The layout before them faded, the void and the black floor beyond them all that remained, soon to be replaced with an image in front of them that slowly came to light. It didn't feel like a memory, it felt too substantial to be, leading more to the idea that it was a representation of something rather than a direct memory like the last one. As the screams silenced themselves and the noises faded, Care's shivering stopped, but she did not pull herself from her arms. Even as it passed the memory haunted her, and it was likely it lingered more than she let on prior.

The new sight before them was a large mirror, seeming itself one-way as they stood on the hidden side. On the other side was another form of Care, still indistinguishable from how she looked in modern times. The grim look on her face was noticeable, and the right side of her face was deconstructed, missing several facial plates, and she seemed to be installing some extra device into a slot next to her eye. She struggled with it, but not from inserting it, the sight flashed red with more familiar yet indescripable images, a rise of anxiety and a sharp ring each time she did so, as if she was incapable of overcoming it.

"It was more than trauma, it started a fear." She finally spoke once more, not moving from his arms yet her eyes softly looked to the sight before them. "A fear of change, of taking in new forms of data. Even small changes induced anxiety and fear, and I would flee from it. The discomfort I knew always better than risking the discomfort of what I didn't." Her hands were folded against her, and she kept herself pressed against him. "Would you help me change, even if you had to make me? I don't think I could do it of my own violation. It was almost too much asking you to be here."

"If it was a change that needed to, or had to happen I guess I would, but I don't want to force you to change. Not every change will be our choice, and those that are hange on our choice. To decided who we are moving forward, who'd we would like to be.i would help if you wanted me to. It is not my place, or right to force you to, or make you feel like you have to. I have had a similar experiences myself as the first vision. Lately, I've begun to remember things, and one of them was the implantation. This device in my neck, now just another part of me. It was the worst agony I have ever felt, but I made the choice to do it. I chose to change, because I wanted to be able to help and protect the one I love better. Looking back, I would do it again." Mark answered, searching to show he cared and wanted to.help anyway he could, but only how much she wanted him to.

"I am here for you, and I will help you any way you want, or need me to.", He added embracing her in an attempt to comfort.

"This is something that needs to change, to be addressed." Lines of code appeared in a corner of the one way mirror, and given the angle of the mirror it was likely something that Care herself frequently saw. Numerous lines, all repeating a similar message.

ERROR
NUMEROUS INCAPABILITIES DETECTED
INCOMPATIBILITY OVERRIDED
ERROR

She stared at the words, their grim familiarity. "Incompatibilities slow me down. They lag my processes, stalling them. The source is emotions, they require outlets, and I don't have them. It burns without them. All the emotional outlets people have, I need, and I'm too terrified to add them. I've ignored it for years, and it's finally catching up to me." She sounded afraid, her voice still full of the synthetic hum.

"Don't worry, we'll work through it together. Even if it means taking baby steps, we'll get there. I won't let anything bad happen to you. And while we're working towards it, you can use me as a medium, express through me.", Mark said.

The world within Care's held fell away into void once more, the lull of sound and imagery fading with it. If they shifted or moved their feet, it would feel as if they stood on sand. Care slowly stood up, pulling away from Mark, his comfort clearly having done its job. "Through the years I questioned why I was made flawed. It seemed so cruel I couldn't comprehend why it would occur. I don't think I'll ever know." The synthetic tune to her voice seemed to fade, giving way to her own replication, her own organic voice.

"But that's not important anymore, I spent so much time trying to figure out why that I never asked for help on working around it. I've wasted so much time, and I can't change the past." She paused, her softly glowing eyes moving to him once more. "If I face my fears and break past my boundaries, will I rise and find new ones?" Her facial plates shifting into a smile, stained with drying tears. "That's a scary thought. But at least I won't be alone."

"We all fight our own internal wars of change, trying to decide who we are. I used to be very different than the man you know, even more so farther in the past you go.", Mark said giving her a smile.

With a wave of the hand a pair of large ornate wood doors appeared. Upon walking up to them, mark pulls the handles. As they open to reveal the glass plateu again. Stepping threw mark beckoned carer to follow, "You're never alone. I'd like to explain further if you don't mind. It would be wise to use the lack of a need to rush. Where it has been tense minutes in here, it's in actuality only been two outside. It would be nice to talk."

Care stepped forward from the void, her form shifting with another static glitch as she passed into the plateau once more. It seemed to settle, and she nodded slowly as Mark spoke, her metallic eyes glancing around with vague interest. "How do you get over it then?" She didn't specify what 'it' was but it was likely she just meant any large issue. "I'm tired of being afraid of things, of hiding from issues and letting it wear me down day after day. I don't get physically tired but... Mentally I get exhausted." She said. "I want to hear whatever you have to say on it, just... Don't leave me. Please, don't wait for me to come to you."

Her hands dropped to her side from their folded state on her waist. "I know me, and I won't. Even if you reassure me that I'm not a bother. I don't like interrupting peoples lives, I don't like pausing things they're doing. It terrifies me." She admitted softly.

Mark came back and gently took care by the hand, leading her the rest of the way.

With a wave of his hand again several images appeared, several versions of himself.

The first was mark as care new him, his usual get up, his sword at his side.

The second was him when he came aboard, rhe image blurry and missing pieces.

The third was him in Revenant a expression of utter seriousness and somethingsomething else on his face. His hhair was it's original white, his eyes red. He wore revenant armor and stood with a RKAR in one hand, with a flag in the other. There were several people behind him, people he knew.

The fourth was him from the past, at the worst point in his life. He sat on the ground leaning against a blasted stump, dawned in nepleslian combat armor marked with the leautenant rank, a M2 rifle he held onto at his side. His expression was sorrowful as a blonde man crouched talking to him, spent casings covering the grass around them.

The fifth was him at childhood, a 8 year old in ragged clothes and hair, his appearance unkempt. A pistol belt hung at his hip, a size too small. Another kid who resembled the blonde man by his side.

"That is an interesting question. I've faced changes all my life, and in a way, my amnesia was a blessing. All the ways I had changed, the reasons that lead to them, we're just wiped away. But at the same time it brought a fear that I now understand is why I was scared of those changes. Like you, we all fear change, and it's because of the unknowns that follow them."

"As a child I was packed with fear, as I had lost my parents at birth. And in a world where few show mercy, or care for others they don't know, I was utterly alone. I was put into an orphanage system that did not care.", Mark said gesturing to the kid, "But there was one who did. A boy named Zeke Rykiel, a energetic blonde who I was happy to call brother. I met him in the orphanage, and together we decided to leave. We spent our childhood in the streets and backalleys. It was a life full of dangers and uncertainties, but some of my happiest memories."

"Does the fear ever go away?" Care asked after a few seconds, her eyes scanning over the images, unfamiliar versions of a familiar man. "Or does it just change? Or is it always there?" She would have to find out, and it was uncertain if telling her would ease her thoughts. After a moment she shook her head. "And what will I do when this passes? Once I'm finished fighting myself, what then? I can hardly believe the idea that things will simply get better."

"Fear is an emotion, it never goes away. It's learning to work through it that is the key. We all fear different things. Each day I put on my gear, I fear, fear that I will not be enough to protect those I care and love. Both from enenies and dangers outside and within. Even now I'm fighting an enemy to protect.the crew. One that might claim whatever might count as my soul." Mark said thoughtful on the question. His arm which had been appearing to dissolve ignited with blue fire as he spoke about a soul, causing him to grunt in pain.

Her head snapped to the direction of his arm, her emotionless eyes glued to the sudden spark of flame. She shifted, her body stirred to act but her mind frozen with the realization that she didn't know how to help. If this were the real world she would put the fire out and treat the burns but this wasn't the real word, she didn't know if the flames could even be put out, much less if they left burns or what the burns meant. "Mark?" She spoke after a moment, her hands rising towards his arm. "What should... I do?"

"It's already too late for me. I'm no longer even human anymore. She's still trying to take me, but I won't let her.", Mark said pulling his arm closer.

"And it still baffles me how one can fight so long. No mortal has ever resisted me for this long. If it were not annoying, I might actually be impressed. So tell me, who is this that you help, because what you follow the foolish notion of caring for her?", Orias said strolling out from the dark, her ornate dress swaying as heels clicked on the glass floor.

"Damn right! That's what sets us apart. Your cold and heartless, and I actually care for others. The crew is my family now, and I will not let you make me like you.", Mark said defiantly.

The woman gave a short laugh before Mark's arm burned brighter, the suit now dissolved away to reveal the markings on his arm though distorted through the fire.

Care pulled her arms back, holding herself close as she visibly distanced herself from Mark as the second voice spoke, her facial plates shifting in worry as the static glitches seemed to increase in intensity, uncertainty, and then fear raising as her face directed its gaze to Orias, trying to determine who- And what she was. "Mark?" She raised her voice, the fear quite audible despite the archaic buzz.

She didn't speak further, and she would have to, to get the messages across. The questions she needed answered were obvious. Who? What? Why? How? Another question rose in Care's mind, sparking another anxious fear, though she did not speak it. Could this thing hurt me? Could it hurt Mark?

Mark grunted in pain, "Stay away from her Orias! You have me. Is my pain not enough for you. I will not become the monster you want me to be." Flames grew darker in hue, and he dropped to his knees, the pentagrams and archaic demonic designs glowing red through the flames.

Orias stepped closer to the pair, "This man is now my slave. He is being turned into one of my kind so that I can use him as my vessel. But what is this? I see a doll with a spark of intelligence and no soul. What is this dog to you?" She said fixing care with a devilish stare.

"Care stay away from her. She can't touch you as long as I'm here. There was an anomaly in the nearby forest. When we investigated, we were witness to visions of our pasts, but when it ended she attacked me. I was dragged off and killed. My armor revived me, but she had already rooted in. She's a demon, a supernatural creatures of this world, and she's trying to take me over.", Mark said before standing again and moving between care and Orias.

A doll. A spark of intelligence with no soul. The words stung, but it dulled with the words Mark spoke, and simple thoughts came to surface, a series of them that sparked ambition. Mark's troubles come before mine, it is my job to protect others. I've made it this far under pressure, therefore I can make it further. She stepped forward, her face solidying, facial plates going still. I can interact, as she cannot touch me if he is here. "Who are you?" she pushed the question forward, her eyes scanning the being, trying to understand what she was.

"What are you? Where have you come from?" Pointed questions, but they held purpose. If she held a name she could research it, if she knew where she came from, she could trace it. If she knew what she was, she could study it. It may not be easy but this thing was a parasite. The first step to getting rid of a parasite was understanding it, in how it functioned and how it tied itself to its host. Her eyes went to mark, a brief organic look of pleading, which faded back into her artificial gaze.

"I am ORIAS. A lord of the shadows and dark, weaver of deceptions, and the slaver of wills. I am a demon, and I am from Hell. You think me a parasite, that's cute. Oh I am so much more insidious.",Orias said with a laugh. She was 50 feet away now.

"Stay back! You've given me these powers, and I will use them against you. You have no power here.", Mark said defiantly standing tall, forming a wall between Care and her still.

Orias laughed as half the glass platform began to faintly glow red, cracks forming across that half. She disappeared then reappeared within inches of Mark's face her eyes now changed. The schelera black with crimson reptile like irises.

"Wah?!", Mark got out before a unnaturally strong hand seized his throat and he found himself actually lifted off his feet struggling to breath. "VEXATIOUS DOG! I am your master, and you are the slave.", She roared.

Care did not know the extent of the demons powers, and that was a hurdle that could not be crossed easily. If she charged, attacked with what little strength she had, she would clearly be outmatched. If the demon could subdue Mark so easily, a trained soldier who saw combat regularly, then she held no faith in her own limited abilities. She stuttured, and took a step back, the courage she briefly had fading into nothing. She looked down, reaching her mind out, trying to cut the simulation. She didn't know if it would work, but it may spare him from this, at least for a time.

She thought he could help her. How selfish. He had bigger problems, things she didn't need to distract him from. She doubted that he'd just accept this, so she'd have to convince him, either by talking or by helping him first. She didn't want to think about the idea of another person she confessed to leaving.

Mark kicked out, connecting with her chest, causing her to stumble back.

"I said you have no power here. It's mine to command now.", He said as shadow enveloped him.

"That shouldn't be possible?! How dare you steal it from me!", Orias shouted but even the fear was clear in her instead voice and her eyes.

What came forth was not the man who had entered, at least not in body. What lumbered forth was a beast from the dark. 9 feet tall, with a chitin covered exterior, it's body lanky, but muscled. A deep roar belowed from the fanged maw of it's horned, skeletal head, as a pointed spinal column like tail whipped to either side. Quickly it set upon Orias pinning her to the floor, what power she had now sapped.

Chains sprung up from the floor to drag her down protesting through the floor as if it was water to disappear. The monster before care would dissolve, leaving Mark standing in it's place. His expression held nothing but shame, and sadness. Not wanting to see her reaction, the appalled expression he knew probably waited, he spoke.

"Now you've seen the monster she's made me into. This is why I have been avoiding everyone lately. I don't want to be this thing anymore, I never asked for this.", He said his last words tinged with the tears that followed.

Care would be lying if she said she knew what to do. This was not a medical procedure, this was not something that could be covered under one. There were no procedures for demonic possession and influence, and she did not have the local information, assuming there was any at all. This was unfamiliar territory, and she felt useless. Furthermore she felt selfish, horrible, anguished, too many words, too many definitions that only partly fit and never covered the whole. How convoluted.

She only held her arms close as she watched him from a distance, slowly shaking her head. She wanted to hold him close and comfort him but she did not know what to say. "I want to apologize but I don't have the words. It feels like any condolences I have would feel shallow because I don't understand or even know what it feels like." She softly replied. "I shouldn't have bothered you Mark, I shouldn't have distracted you from this.' She continued to shake her head. Her own fingers felt alien against her arms.

"I should be the one going out of my way to help you, and instead all I could was watch after you did all you could for me." The words were choked out, and tears flowed from her eyes, dripping to the ground with alarming frequency. "I'm sorry."

"It is my burden to bare. My job is to give everything for my family, so that where I may fail, all of you shall succeed.", Mark said seeing the effect he was causing.

"And I'm the medic. It's my job to make sure everyone is healthy and isn't sick and..." She paused, shaking her head. "...That includes whatever that is. I don't know how to fix that. What's even the point of it?" The suddenness of the statement was odd, as if the final mention wasn't related to her mention of him.

"I thought I could make a difference when I joined Yamatai. When I got there I underestimated how advanced everything was and by the time I realized that there wasn't an issue Yamatai could outfight, I was already in." She shook her head. "I'm not saying I regret joining, I'm saying every other manufactored medic would be a million times better at this job than I am. I'm replaceable." She began to step away, the connection between them severing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be this weak. I'm so sorry."

"This isn't your fault Care, its mine, and I will still do everything to help you. I've said it before, this crew is family to me. Please don't, just don't leave me alone. Your the only person so far to not turn me away as a pariah.", Mark hastily replied a sinking feeling as she started to disappear, a growing fear at her keeping him at distance. He could fight this battle himself, but he needed to know that he wasn't alone, that he had someone to turn to, to stay strong. For all Mark's combat prowess, and physical capabilities, he was broken and alone inside.

Care sighed, her shoulders awkwardly and unnaturally slumping. She didn't turn to face him, but she shook her head, holding the connection just a bit longer. "I'm not going to leave you alone Mark." She admitted after a moment. "I just don't want you to waste time helping me when you have more important issues to handle. I couldn't bear it." She explained slowly. "I can't let someone help me and use their time on me when it's detrimental to them." She didn't want to continue this, and the connection was severed.
 
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