Windfall

Chapter 7 "Flirt with death"

Half a week following the incident in the prison cells, Quincy can be found laying on a cot in the medical area of the Monolith, watching the news. He watched as the Soviets were dragging an unconscious beetle-like alien into a ship, with the headline saying that another superpowered criminal had been arrested after evading capture for nearly 6 months.

Quincy himself was missing feathers on his right side, though the plume on top of his head remained intact. His right eye had developed cataracts, turning it alabaster white. He chuckles a little as the suspect is tossed into the ship much the same way a careless mailman would toss a package, and glanced towards the door with his good eye as he heard a knock. His voice was hoarse as he called out.

Quincy; "... Anchor? There-there's someone at the door..."

Anchor wanders out from a back room, cleaning off a glass vial with gold trim and decals on it. She stopped a moment to adjust the ankle monitor around her left leg.

Anchor; "Hope it's Pearl, I need her to loosen the strap on this thing."

She goes up to the door and slides it open with her free hand, revealing Kai standing there with her hands clasped in front of her abdomen. Anchor backs up from the door in fright, Kai holding up her hands to show she's unarmed, keeping her right hand rotated to show that her gauntlet had no gem in it.

Kai; "Don't worry, I'm unarmed."

Anchor; "... It'd still hurt to get punched by it."

Kai; "It'd hurt regardless, but I'm not here to punch anyone."

Anchor; "Then... Why are you here?"

Kai; "I'm here to check on Quincy. I want to see how his recovery is going."

Anchor; "Flint already checked, though..."

Kai; "I want to apologize to him myself."

Anchor; "I don't think-"

Quincy; "I-it's ok, Anchor, she can come in."

Anchor nods and awkwardly walks back to the back room. Kai slowly entered, returning to her former position of holding her hands in front of her stomach. Quincy slowly turned his head so his good eye was looking at her.

Kai; "... How are you feeling?"

Quincy; "Well-well, I, uh... For a-a 3 year old quail that-that wouldn't n-normally make it past a year, I-I'm doing pretty good."

Kai chuckles a little, daring to come a little closer and kneeling at his bedside, though she still loomed over him with a sigh.

Kai; "... I'm sorry for what happened. I was trained to get results, not to be gentle."

Quincy; "I-I mean, I understand. They really-really drill that s-stuff into your head, don't they?"

Kai nodded, looking forward at no one in particular.

Kai; "All Lorinthians have mandatory service from the age of 15, and tour of duty lasts for 10 years... After that, you can choose what division you can serve in."

Quincy nodded a little, looking back at the TV.

Quincy; "W-what division were-were you in?"

Kai; "The Paracausal division... Oft referred to as Division 11. I was genetically modified to be a V'lech... What your, Humans would call a "super soldier". I was trained to fight Iskellians, Alchemists, Jev'moli-"

Quincy; "W-what's a Jev'moli?"

Kai; "Oh, uh... That would be Drekar. Like Lekse."

Quincy quickly turned to Kai, wincing a little and holding a wing to the back of his neck.