Ultima Ratio

Chapter 59: Thank You for Your Service

It took about thirty-six hours for Danya to regain consciousness.

They were spending the day bunkered in a dark, dingy basement, the first "station" that they stopped at since Jack and Michael's ranch. Their situation was a first for the rebooted Railroad; unlike most "passengers," their squad couldn't afford to travel by day with all of the patrols on the lookout for them. Even with the locals' loaned camouflage gadgets and thermal cloaks, it wouldn't be enough to fool Concordia's sensors in broad daylight. Unfortunately, this meant avoiding sunlight at all costs, including boarding up windows that Concordian satellites could peer through.

As such, Danya only got worse before she got better.

Akira had been sitting on the ground with Danya's head on her lap, numbly fiddling with Danya's hair. She had been doing it just to keep herself awake; the last time she had closed her eyes the day before, nothing but explosions and screams were waiting for her. It was exhaustion that kept Akira from realizing when Danya's eyes fluttered open, or perhaps she thought it was a hallucination. Regardless, it wasn't until Danya spoke that Akira registered what was going on.

"Akira..." Danya whispered hoarsely before delving into a fit of ragged coughs.

"Danya!"

Akira fumbled to help Danya sit upright, only having her left arm to support Danya's back as the others gathered around. Navin knelt down with a bottle of water, helping Danya carefully drink it one sip at a time.

"Well..." Danya began once her coughing subsided, pausing once more to clear her rough voice. "I feel like shit."

"You look like shit too," Jivan said.

"Better than you, at least," Danya weakly replied, only turning her head slightly in Jivan's direction before likely deciding that it was too much effort. "What time is it? Can we open a window or something?"

Akira's fingers gently rubbed Danya's back as she felt it heave with each of her breaths. "I wish we could. But..."

"It's a long story," Quyen finished.

"I suggested we all take turns shooting you with lasers," Jivan said. "To help you regain energy, of course. Not to settle personal grudges or vendettas or anything like that."

"And I said that we shouldn't risk it," Akira said. "I figured even the weak shots could still injure you; you're just normally at full power or exposed to sunlight so you heal before anyone notices. Like the shots at the junkyard—they hurt you, didn't they?"

For a few seconds, Danya only stared at Akira with a blank expression. Before Akira could ask if something was wrong, Danya nodded, then winced.

"Yeah," she said, twisting her forearm as if to examine the injury, only to find Elodie's handiwork concealing her skin. "A little."

"And at those other times, the nanobots only needed a little energy to heal those injuries, and the amount they got to keep was significantly higher," Akira continued, rambling off the theory that had been stuck in her mind for a day and a half. "But now, who knows what could've happened? You said so yourself that Verus Rex prioritized how you heal. For all we knew, shooting you with lasers may have woken you up, but it would've left you even more hurt than before."

Danya stared at her with her brows furrowed and mouth ajar before turning to the others. "How long has she been like this?"

"About two minutes," Quyen said, even making a show of checking her watch. "That was probably the most she's said in the past day combined. Hell, maybe you can get her to finally go to sleep too."

Danya turned back to Akira, this time with an accusatory glare, though it didn't have as much heat as it normally did.

"Well..." Akira started to explain, then quickly gave up. "I'll try, okay? Just... Can we check your injuries first?"