(Remaster) The Ship of the Tempest

Lowest Point

It was...really soft...

...

Z73's eyes slowly cracked open, her first sight being a white ceiling above her while the quiet humming of fluorescent lights filled whatever room she was in. She eventually got her bearings back and looked around the room, trying to spot anything that she could identify.

The first thing? A familiar Nun. "V...Vestal...?"

The Nun looked up from her desk, her eyes lighting up as Z73 spoke to her. "Oh thank goodness you're awake! We though you'd be out for a while longer from the head trauma."

"Head...oh yeah..." She slowly sat up, gently feeling her head and at the bandage wrapped around it. "No wonder I'm all fogged..."

"Fogged is the least concerning thing that could have happened. Honestly, it's a miracle you didn't suffer at least a concussion, but it looks like your rigging is the cause for that."

Z73 blinked away the spots in her vision, looked to Vestal and gesturing if she could stand. Vestal shook her head, and Z73 resigned to it and sat there staring up into the ceiling.

"So...how is my Rigging?"

"Totaled. It'll be a miracle if they manage to even pick it apart to find salvage."

"...Fuck..." falling back into the comfort of the pillow, Z73 slowly let the softness cushion both herself, and her mind after learning the facts.

Without her rigging being repaired, she wouldn't be able to use her weapons and gear. While not the biggest downside, that does mean she probably can't even go on the water anymore either, if her rudders were totaled as well.

She's a cripple now, is the easiest way to say it.

Z73 looked down to her hands, the grip they had on the sheets so unbelievably tight that her knuckles were quickly paling. "How...am I gonna do this..."

"Do what?"

"...It's nothing, don't worry about it Vestal."

Vestal sighed and came to the bedside, sitting down before smiling at Z73. "You're a patient of mine, of course it's my duty to ask. Are you injured in any other place?"

"No, I'm fine. I don't got pain anywhere else."

"Alright, then a quick test, follow my finger." Vestal held her finger up and moved it in several different ways, watching as Z73's eyes tracked it perfectly. "Well, looks like you're fine then. You can head off on your way now, and do be careful okay?"

"Got it...and thanks Vestal." Z73 stood to her feet, slightly shaky after having just woken from her unconsciousness, but still stable. "Oh, and how long was I out?"

"About seven hours, it's sundown now."

"Got it..." Z73 slowly walked out of the room, keeping a hand on the wall as she walked down the empty white corridors that she had before, back when she was as originally walking through the place.

Back then, she waltzed through like she owned the place, and here she is again, only this time a shell of her former self. What's a Kansen without their rigging, besides a Human who could once touch water as if it was land?

'No...no time for that. Where are the others?' She made it to the lobby room, and a quick look around showed that no one else was in the building.

Either no one was injured, or they simple got out before she did. Either way, she did need to continue on, and she left the building behind as she continued down the hill towards the main building.

She saw lights on all over it, so that being her first destination was a solid idea. Of course, she wished she had help getting there considering how terrible she felt right now, but no one was around to offer a hand.