Глава 13

I don't know when things are going to get out of hand for this place, but... putting a disintegrating Infected in there is definitely not a good idea.

No good, move, move!

What are you doing?! Why is the body—

There's too much Originium in here. How many Infected have been processed in this room?

I... Well... it was years they were being processed in there!

There's Originium dust in the air, the place won't survive a violent disintegration!

Get everyone out, now!

Wh-What?

Don't you get it? The Originium environment here is extremely unstable. The place could blow at any minute!

So we leave? And go where?

Everything out there is—

There's no time!

We're talking about Reunion here! They have an entire bloody nomadic city!

Run, get them all moving!

I've contacted some of our teams on the outskirts, they'll take some of you in!

Ugh, there's still some booze left in the distillery. If there's an explosion, the whole place is going with it!

And that—

Hey, Mays, where are you going?

The woman dressed in a Reunion uniform is struggling with the machinery in the deepest depths of the workshop.

What are you doing here?

I'm... Hngh... Help me pull that lever...

Did you work here before? But you're not Infected!

Thanks for not exposing me! Hngh... pull harder!

Where did you get that Reunion outfit?

This used to be a Reunion base, and so many died here... Don't test my patience!

I... I didn't do anything!

That's what they all say.

I was... a worker here. That Reunion lot took over the distillery, and they needed hands to run the machines for them.

I... it's just, the mercenaries hired by the lord attacked, and I ran... I'm not Infected, why should I die here with those Reunion?!

So why did you come back?

Why?

Because I had nowhere else to go, dammit! What other reason would I end up trading my life for a secret distillery?!

I'm not Infected, but sometimes I feel like I'd rather be with Reunion! At least they have something to fight against, they have a purpose!

Pull harder! It's stuck!

First, open the switch for this unloading port. Reunion left behind a whole lot of material!

The doctor said this was the cheapest painkiller formula, they were working on it for a long time. It only relieves pain, but that's enough, right?

With this... can I be a genuine part of Reunion?

That is... I might be allowed a home in your nomadic city?

A nomadic city...

I take a deep breath and throw out a kick. It makes me sore.

The lever finally loosens.

The machine comes to life. The giant hopper tilts to one side and what falls out of it is countless... petals.

She hurriedly picks up the herbs scattered across the ground and carefully piles them in her arms.

If I don't consider where exactly I am, I feel like this could be... a beautiful sight.

Just like that city.

We don't have a city.

But, those Reunion guys all said—

But, you... but...

...Ahah... well...

I mean... a nomadic city... a city, you know, we...

People without a home, people with nowhere to go, the Infected across the world are growing more and more numerous.

It's not that the disease is becoming more virulent, it's just that the world is becoming more cruel.

The great worthies have so much to say about the 'modern' era we live in, an unprecedented era of high-speed battleships, nomadic cities, of industry—

How enlightened our era is—

How tragic our era is.

'Stand together.'

Can the Infected really stand together, naturally?

Who do we stand with? Is it just the Infected?

That... nomadic city we're dreaming of, does it have a place for them?

Is a city enough to accommodate everything?

Take the herbs, we need to leave.

There is no application to join Reunion. If you're willing to fight side-by-side with us, you're already Reunion.

But... I'm not Infected.

It's not only the Infected who want to resist.

And besides, I need you to help me figure out who killed that Sarkaz man.

They need to be punished.

Now come on, let's go!

We make our way quickly through the gigantic tanks, some places have already started collapsing. The air is full of the pungent scent of alcohol, with smoke floating in from somewhere.

This workshop, where the Victorian Reunion began, is about to go up in flames.

We're almost there, quickly now.

The waves of intense heat hit, Mays struggles to stay standing, the herbs in her arms are lifted by the hot air.

Agh! My—

Above our heads roars the sound of buckling metal.

Well, alright, I push her away.

Then, I jump up with all my strength, and gather up the petals.

A collapse.

It's hot.

The sun is burning. I'm burning.

Is that the exit?

A few steps further.

But they're watching behind me. Those eyes... are they judging me? Or just judging my insignificant death?

What did they expect of me?

I can't think about it... I can't.

Maybe I let them down with their deaths. They should hope for a more meaningful end for me.

Like, I don't know, dying on the steps of the palace in Deity Grypherburg? Anyway, not here, not dying for an uninfected woman I just met, holding some broken petals in my arms.

How could I face them here?

But I still need to face them.

Take them... and go.

The exit is right ahead, don't lose them this time, I might've... crushed some of the petals, give them to a woman named Nine, she knows what to do.

Don't dawdle, move.

It's hot. It burns.

I remember the afternoon when I first learned I had Oripathy.

What was it exactly that caused my infection? I still don't actually know.

Maybe it was the time I fell in the river and something scratched my leg. Might've been an active Originium crystal instead of a rock.

Maybe it was the dust I inhaled in the mines.

Maybe it was industrial waste from the factories. Maybe.

But when I got home, the smell of smoke in the room hadn't dissipated. My luggage was packed and placed on the table where we usually ate together.

I found a salt lake, but I wasn't lucky. Maybe I chose the wrong place, there was no boat at the time.

I owe a lot to the Rhodes Island operator who came over and talked to me when I was sitting by the lake.

Nine, Red, Percival, Talulah, guh...