Thirty-one themes for thirty-one stories. A collection of short stories about characters from Cells at Work series.
(Stories written for Celltober, an initiative born on Twitter.)
(#Celltober2021 | artworks by saineko08, stories by Moriko_)
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14 | First meeting
J-1178 and DA4901 - Cells at Work! BLACK | Chapter 39
Darkness. J-1178's eyes saw only darkness, although they were wide open. The leucocyte's ears heard screams of pain, fast footsteps and soft sobs: she knew very well where she was, but her eyes could no longer see the world around her. A world filled with terror and despair. J-1178 refused to see that world that was falling apart. She was alone, of her group she was the only one left in that hospital, and although physically she was fine, she was still mentally beaten down. Her sword lay on the floor in front of her, but the leucocyte no longer had the courage to grab it, get up and continue fighting. Her effort wouldn't do much good. The way things were going, perhaps it would have contributed to making the situation worse, as had happened with the periodontitis incident.
«Any immune cells need oxygen?» Amidst the many voices that J-1178's ears could hear, that sentence had caught his attention: it was probably some red blood cell, the only cell that fulfilled the role of transporting oxygen to every corner of the body. «I need... some...» had replied J-1178 in a feeble voice. The young woman hadn't bothered to shout out that request: maybe no one would ever listen to her, that's why it wasn't necessary for her because that oxygen wouldn't give her back the strength to return to the fight, the meaning of her work that she was desperately seeking. Contrary to her expectations, J-1178 was wrong. The leukocyte had begun to understand that when that red blood cell had spoken to her, ready to listen to whatever she had to say. It had taken her only a few minutes to realize that she was wrong. A few moments, a few exchanges of words with that red blood cell to understand that in that damned organism there was still hope for the future. And when J-1178 had lifted her head from her knees, little by little her eyes came back to see: in front of her was a young red blood cell, with raven hair and a look full of compassion. The smile she had glimpsed on the young man's lips before he had turned away from her had been a guarantee that everything he had told her had not been said by chance or for convenience.
«You'll eventually be able to swing that sword again. When that time comes, put this oxygen to good use.»
