The Restoration Protocol

15 || error.al1a5

They all turn to her expectantly. While she hasn't been responsive lately, they've managed to infer her general opinion on things through gestures. But this time there's nothing. And they wait, just in the off chance that Sebastian's simple question needed a moment to process in her brain before she could give her nod of approval. With her hood and mask up and her head tilted towards the ground, it's hard to glean anything from her expression right now. Mariko tries anyway. As she stares harder at Soleil's eyes, they seem to grow more and more distant. With something on the verge of creeping in. Uncertainty, perhaps, or a fear which for some reason she seems unable to voice.

Then, just as Sebastian opens his mouth to speak, he's stopped by the sight of Soleil's eyes starting to glow. It isn't the first time they've done so. Mariko and Boey have seen it twice now, first in the backstage area at the Marble Dome, and second back in Hollowmire, when they had first passed crossed the bridge and entered the city. But this is the first time they've both glowed red.

Her jaw at last unhinges.

"Internal threat detected. Now initiating: emergency shutdown."

Mere seconds after these words fall from her lips, Soleil's eyes flutter closed and her knees buckle, with just enough time in between that Sebastian can quickly extend his arms to catch her before she falls. She isn't heavy. Not to him, anyway, yet the shock alone lends to her weight as he struggles to carry her over to the nearest empty seat. Mariko and Boey hurry over as well — much less panicked, to Sebastian's surprise. And he notices the looks on their faces. Ones of familiarity. Concern, but not distress. As he carefully positions Soleil so that her head is resting on his shoulder, he squints at the two of them.

"Has this...uhh...happened before?"

"Once," Mariko replies. She bites the inside of her cheek for a moment as she scans Soleil's face. "Back at her concert the other day. After she was nearly attacked on stage."

"Oh. Okay." Sebastian's brow only becomes more furrowed. "Uhh...and how long did that take?"

"Not long. Right, Bo?"

"Yeah, i-it was like a minute at most."

"Right...awesome saucesome..."

So they wait. Little else they can do, after all. With a terminal full of curious travelers, trying to carry Soleil through the portal while she's still unconscious would do more than raise a few eyebrows. It shouldn't be long, anyway. Like Boey said. Mariko remembers it only taking a minute, if even that. A quick resetting process. Albeit not an entirely successful one, as she soon recalls Soleil mentioning at that time.

That thought suddenly sticks out in her mind. And the worries start to spin.

A minute passes. Then two. Maybe three.

Maybe her 'system operator' is just trying to do a more thorough job this time, Mariko thinks to herself optimistically. She doesn't know much about machines. Her technological knowledge extends to Googling the button combinations for a hard reset for her gaming consoles. And maybe reading a coffee maker manual to show her mom how to properly use the self-cleaning cycle function. But Soleil is no coffee maker. She can't even drink coffee.

The chattering of passersby starts to grow more and more nerve-wracking. How much longer until someone stops to see if everything is alright? It's not, but the concern of a fellow player is the last thing they need right now. Well, maybe not the last thing, but it's somewhere down the list...

"...maybe Julian would-"

"We're not takin' her back to Jules," Sebastian interrupts. Boey tenses.

"But-!"