KISMET ─ vento aureo.

▹ THIRTY-FOUR ;

Mista scoffed. "What's there to worry about? If we're all paired up, there's no one Polnareff could have switched with. He didn't switch with the Captain or Bruno. He should be fine."

"Yeah, and he was already unconscious," Narancia added.

You realized a beat too late that as Bruno, you had to be the most concerned about Polnareff.

"We don't know what this Stand is capable of. Dr. Polnareff might have experienced different effects because he was already unconscious." You shrugged. "I can go by myself. I just want to check on him."

"Don't be ridiculous," Trish said. "You said it yourself: we don't know what this Stand is capable of. We should all stick together before anything else happens."

And so, everyone made the trek to the med bay. Even though you shouldn't have been, you felt a twinge of apprehension. Most likely Polnareff was fine. Most likely nothing had happened to him.

You made sure to push inside the med bay first. The silence inside struck you hard. The usual blur of beeping and low tones was completely gone.

Polnareff's healing pod was dark.

"What's wrong with the pod?" you said, immediately going to check on the console. It seemed to be working fine, except that all of the vital information and internal tracking displayed zero. That didn't happen unless no one was in the pod or—

Well.

You pressed the button to open the pod's lid, leaning over to peer at Polnareff. Even though the monitors couldn't lie, you brought your fingers below Polnareff's jaw, trying to find a pulse.

It was there. Or else your mind was desperate enough to imagine there was one.

"What's wrong with him?" Bruno asked. He was just managing to keep the panic out of his mind, pretending to be distantly concerned instead of terribly so.

"His pulse is weak," you said. "I'm going to try to wake him up. The tranquilizer should have worn off by now, right, Fugo?"

He nodded.

You struggled to prop Polnareff up in a sitting position, gratefully thanking Mista when he came up on the pod's other side and helped you out. You could see Polnareff's eyes flickering beneath his eyelids. He was still alive.

You looked back at the rest of the crew. "Should I..."

Bruno grit his teeth. "You might as well."

Firmly, but still gently, you took Polnareff's shoulder and shook him. "Dr. Polnareff. Dr. Polnareff, wake up."

You were just about to slap him when a voice made you turn around.

"Don't waste your time. I'm over here."

You glanced at the crew, all of them looking as confused as you did.

"Dr. Polnareff, where are you?" you said, looking around. The voice hadn't come from his body, which scared you. If Polnareff's soul had been switched, who had he switched with?

Or maybe, what?

"Look down."

You looked down at the ground. Near Narancia's feet, something was moving.

Your stomach sank. From the tight look on Bruno's face, he seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

"Narancia, pick up Coco Jumbo," he said woodenly.

"Huh? Uh, okay." Narancia stooped to pick up the turtle, tucking it under his arm. "How'd you get down there, buddy? Did you fall or something?"

"Yes, I did fall, actually."