Behind His Weary Eyes (Novella) ✔️

3 ✙ First Day Blues

Empty.

The word explained both the necklace she held and the feeling inside of her chest. Asa rubbed her thumb over the hole, which Zienna had previously placed the white gem. The metal chain felt much colder than before.

She lost the gem in her run-in with the Celest yesterday because her day couldn't have gotten any worse. Then it nearly did, Ludis almost caught her, but she slipped into a nook in time.

The medic didn't understand what those nooks were for, having no real purpose except, perhaps, for aesthetics. The Celests did love a strange, minimal architecture. Yet their placement seemed too sporadic for something planned. One would be right outside of one of the many medical divisions, another in an off hallway, and yet two facing ones a few meters from a set of doors.

At least they helped her escape Ludis. Asa took a deep breath, smelling the sharp scent of sanitizing chemicals. After clenching her hand around it for a brief moment, she continued her search for a patient's file. The Celests, though advancing at otherworldly rates, still had a terrible mixture of paper and digital, or chip, files.

"Nyke, lower-class Soul Reformer in the Graci system on planet Freyeon," the medic said to herself, rereading the note. A priest for the lower castes such as the Fallen and Sharders, she reminded herself.

So far, only the higher castes and some workers here had digital medical files such as the Arisen, which made it easier to find. Only two Arisen and seven Ryu ruled currently because no Ascendant had been chosen by the Two. They had stopped visiting this Core Center on Concordia since around a year back, according to the records. It made her search simpler, at least.

"Find it yet, Asa?" a female Celest asked.

The Wikev's nail fell on the file: Nyke, low-class Soul Reformer. She grabbed it and exited the room to the front desk area.

"Yes, here," Asa said, handing her the group of miscellaneous papers. The Celest's thick, orange claws landed with a tap as they took it from the medic. A shiver ran down her spine. She knew the female had no desire to fight her, but, if she did, those things would shred her in seconds.

"Thank you. Now I need Ezio's. Refiner in the Fracti System, planet Serkis," she said with more pep than Asa had waking up on a typical day. It didn't help that she had another nightmare last night, either.

"Is this my only task today?" the Wikev grumbled. She'd worked three Celestial hours, and this was all she'd been told to do. The azure-tinted ebony female looked down at the medic. Her matching blue eyes and grin felt sincere despite the height difference.

"It will be until you can find them faster. Then you will get a new assignment."

"Alright, I'll work on that." Asa forced a smile. She worked four months just to be treated as a new hire that didn't know the difference between their head and their butt. When the Celest turned around, the Wikev slid out her forked tongue with a series of quiet clicks.

I have more medical training than you'll have your entire life. The medic thought as though she were saying it directly to the Celest.

You know I can hear you when you do that. The other female hummed telepathically. The Wikev grimaced as the voice entered her mind.

She cursed internally, careful not to project her thoughts again, then headed back into the windowless room.

Refiner...they are a higher caste, right? Refiner and Reformer-each were such different jobs yet easy to mix up due to the names. Heaving a sigh, the medic read and reread the signs until she was certain of the row she wanted.