Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 13: The Seven Rings

Returning to their little hideout was less comfortable than the journey to the Command Station had been. At least, for Akikta, it was. The pain he felt during the walk back grew from terrible to nigh-unbearable.

It got so bad that Eight and Frye had to carry him the rest of the way because it became far too difficult for him to walk.

On the way back, Eight had updated everyone on what happened through their headset, so when they made it back to base, it surprised no one to see Akikta in his poor condition. Of course, Nakji was the first to run to his side.

Marina was nice enough to use her modified laptop to examine what was wrong with Akikta's internals—which, if he had known she could do that from the start, he would've had her do it much earlier.

To say Marina was mortified at whatever she saw was an understatement, as her skin tone nearly matched Pearl's with how pale she turned.

It was an octarian's guess as to what accurate human anatomy looked like. But whatever Marina saw, she instinctively knew it was wrong. The only good thing to come out of the examination was the confirmation that Akikta really was afflicted by parasites, so the Rejuvenation Center should be able to heal him right up.

Marina did not go into detail on what was wrong with his body, at least not with him. She didn't even show him the X-ray images her laptop was able to get, probably because she didn't want to scare him. Little did Marina know, her not showing her findings did exactly that.

No... She didn't need to show him how bad it was. Akikta, now that he knew it was parasites, had a pretty good idea of just how fucked he was.

From what he learned from those encyclopedias, certain parasites were already hazardous to humans. Until now, the most detrimental thing Akikta had ever been afflicted with was the occasional fever, which could easily be eased with medicine. But parasites weren't a cold. They were living organisms. What's worse? The new world's parasites were probably far more dangerous than anything Akikta researched for his school studies.

Parasites evolved incredibly fast, and Akikta was a simple human from over twelve thousand years ago. The fact that he could still breathe was nothing short of a miracle.

Luckily, the pain those parasites caused would be a thing of the past after Rick brewed up yet another concoction, this one more potent than the last. Akikta was relatively quick to take the bitter drink this time—anything to stop his terrible aches. However, Rick made it clear that this was the last lifeline he could give. Considering how things were progressing, the salmonid predicted that Akikta would be dead half an hour after the pain-numbing effects of the drink wore off.

Only a frown encompassed Akikta's face. He was not happy Rick gave him an idea of the time of his death.

To help ease some of his worries, Marina proudly presented him with the handheld tape recorder he had given her before leaving for the Command Station. Surprisingly, she managed to fully restore it!

She'd go on about how tricky it was, but considering her word choice on the matter, she had fun fixing the device.

Akikta was happy that the little side project was enjoyable for the octoling, but he couldn't find any comfort in it after what Rick told him. He slipped the recorder into his jacket pocket for the time being.

Afterward, the agents and Nakji huddled together to discuss their next plan of action. Saving Marie and Inka was still a priority, but it was clear that at the rate they were moving in, Akikta would perish before they actually saved anyone.

During the agents' discussion, Akikta spotted Rick and Biggie out on the office balcony and decided to join them for some fresh air.

They didn't react to his presence. Well, Rick didn't. Biggie acknowledged Akikta by giving him a small but friendly glare.