[Blue Archive] Substitute

Ode to Abydos III (The Hyena and The Lost Soul)

I kneel next to Serika's corpse; once I'm closer to her face, I gently close her eyes with my hand. Her clothes are torn all over. She probably put up a fight before getting captured by her kidnappers. An odor seems to come from her; she has been dead long enough to decompose. Yet her body shows no signs of decomposition. It can't be insects, though; she's been inside a steel box under the sand, meaning insects haven't gotten to her either.

"Happens to the best of us." They could've at least let her use the bathroom before killing her. I'll have to remove her undergarments; I can't have her body wallow. I'll also have to fix up all the tears on her uniform. The blue text box from before appeared, hovering near me as I removed her soiled shorts. Huh, she went commando

[We have to do something!]

I ignore the box while attending to her. Luckily, she only urinated upon death, so that's good. I whip out my water bottle and hanky. I soak my hanky and clean her privates, hoping she can forgive me while she watches me from the afterlife. I changed my attention to her right hand, which didn't have a glove. But her left hand did; the best guess is the torturer took the right off. I look at her mangled right-hand fingers and straighten them back in place. Then, bind them together with adhesive medical tape to keep them straight. Her index also had a screw inside it which I fished out carefully. I set both her hands on her chest gently. I looked toward the box as it began to glow brighter.

[She could...]

"No, she isn't. She most likely died of Cerebral Hypoxia."

[What?]

"Brain death. No bringing her back."

[No! There has to be some way!]

"She is dead. Once your brain goes out, it's over."

[There has to be something!]

"There isn't. Wait, why am I even speaking to a hallucination caused by sleep deprivation?" What the hell is wrong with me? I have more important things to do!

I gently move her legs to a natural position. Then, I press the broken knee bones back into place within the muscle and skin. Her right leg had some band with a knee pad, which I had to remove. Her left is entirely barren. I take a spare hanky, makeshift splints, and triangular bandages from my inner pockets. I clean the legs as gently as possible with my water. Drying them slowly, I watch my poor hanky turn scarlet. After drying them, I put the splints in place to keep the legs locked. I finish by wrapping them in bandages.

It's a shame I can't clean the grime and blood off her body thoroughly. But it's probably safer to let a diener handle all of that. I have to make sure she gets to one intact. I look her over. I've ensured the broken bits stay intact, I've gotten off the soiled undergarments, and now I only have to put her into the jeep. Before I could, I was interrupted by the damn hallucination again.

[The card!] What the hell?

"No, I'm not hearing it." I try to pick her body up again, only for the box to brighten and get in my way by blinding me nearly.

[Ask Pandora about the Adult Card!] Ugh, of course, it knows about Pandora.

"Fine, I'll ask. After I do, I don't want to see you again." I sound like a lunatic right now.

[.....ok] Geez, I never thought I'd feel slightly bad telling a hallucination to leave me be.

Pandora, you there? I feel a clawing from the depths of my mind. 'Yes, what do you require?'
What do you know about an Adult Card? 'What brings this up? One such as you wouldn't usually concern themselves with such things.' I'm curious, Pandora; humor me.