"Do you have to be so mean to him? Mhm?"
Ikade teased, pulling her wrist free from Sienna's grasp before lacing their fingers together. She stepped closer to the Librei, bumping their shoulders together with a soft thud, her tail brushing Sienna's hip before flicking away.
"Mhm? Yeah—It's in my blood to see it that he suffers an aneurysm."
"Gasp!—Sierra! You cant say that!"
Ikade looked up at her, shock written all over her face while her feline ears perked up, her tail pausing mid-swing in horror. They locked eyes for a second, and Sienna could practically read the stunned look on the well-dressed man beside them, his brows lifting while he blinked a couple of times. The kind of reaction that said, 'Did she really just say that?'
They pushed the door open together, slipping into the bar as the warm scent of fried food washed over them while ignoring the spectacle off to their left—someone yelling over a spilled drink, music drifting through the room.
"Why not?"
Sienna quipped back, the corners of her mouth tugging up. "—I'd be doing the community a service. You're welcome."
Ikade paused mid-step, their interlocked hands keeping them connected. Sienna took a couple more steps before glancing back at her feline friend, the lazy tail drifting in small circles behind Ikade's form.
"That doesn't mean you get to do emotional murder, y'know."
Nearby, a waitress wiped down a table with practiced swipes, clearing away the trash. Her hair fell over one purple eye, she wore a green button-up cardigan.
Its four brown buttons held it against her body, though the short length hardly mattered with the white dress underneath.
"But I just did."
A sudden flare burst from a small mountain of cut onions at the counter—someone had tossed something in before flambéing something they definitely should not have.
For a moment, the fire surged upward, cutting between Sienna and Ikade. Their eyes caught the reflection of its golden brilliance, the steel wires holding the light bars and the subtle shimmer of bottles stacked in the corner.
"What if—"
Ikade pointed at the flame with her finger curving upwards, squinting dramatically.
"You suddenly, I don't know, burst into flames? Who's gonna help you then?"
Sunlight cut across Ikade's cheek from the window on her right. Sienna's face was swallowed by the shadow of a supporting column, making her eyes look even sharper—two different moods pressed into a single frame.
Sienna rolled her eyes. "If I burst into flames, that's your fault. You jinxed it."
"Me? No, no, I'm innocent."
Ikade's ears twitched in a little dance, her tail curling around her leg while she looked away.
"Such loyalty you have. Truly the peak of friendship."
The bickering carried them out of the bar and into the now-dark lounge, where only a handful of lights glowed along the second level. The stairs on their right groaned under someone's steps, and the curtains to their left—where the windows should have been—hung shut.
In the center, a movie played on the TV.
A man in a lazily put-together outfit descended the wooden stairs and gave her a nod, which she returned. His short Caprinae horns curled inward along his head. She guided Ikade through the quiet space, their footsteps tapping against the floor until they reached the elevator, and she pressed the button at its side.
Their hushed murmurs echoed off the elevator doors before they slid open with a ding.
The two found a little solace in the ride down, boring music playing overhead. The walls were cluttered with both worn and freshly pinned posters held up by mismatched magnets.
Different signatures dotted the surface, stickers stuck in misshapen clusters—the marks of those who had come and gone, some still with them and some no longer here.
Once on the ground floor, they walked through the lobby, swinging their joined hands back and forth with dramatic flair. The sun blessed their spirits the moment they crossed through the front doors and stepped onto the crowded sidewalk, weaving between slow pedestrians and loud citizens.
Soon, Sienna found her vehicle exactly where she had left it.
She unlocked the door with a quick twist of her hand before sliding in and leaning over to open the passenger side. Once they were both inside, the car rumbled to life and eased onto the street, Ikade clicking her seatbelt into place at the last second.
Sienna lifted her bracelet and a screen flickered into view—nothing blue or glowing like a cheap movie, just a simple opaque background.
"Just...hold on."
Her fingers moved in a scrolling motion, her eyes tracking a long message sent a week ago, back when her bracelet had still been on 'Do Not Disturb'. The wall of text was the last thing she wanted to read.
"Huh...so he moved shop...uh."
Ikade peeked over but didn't bother reading, more interested in her show playing out loud. Sienna let the screen fade, grabbed the steering wheel and turned it just before she clipped a car.
"We'll stop by his place, I have to get more medicine since we're almost out."
Ikade flashed her an okay sign before slouching against the seat. The brutal stop-and-go had worn both their patience thin. Lunch rush meant half the city was out running errands or grabbing food, clogging the roads like they were doing it out of spite.
Sienna used her extensive knowledge to come up with a way to cut traffic all together, her eyes scanning all around her for something.
The car eased onto an entrance ramp that sloped downward, finally letting them use a service far more convenient. Ikade leaned forward over her phone while Sienna turned the wheel left and leaned closer to the door to make sure it did not scrape the curb.
She pulled up beside a slim unmanned booth. Sienna reached for her wallet and pulled out a card printed with an aerial image of the city, an orange bar running down one side with information on it.
She tapped it against the screen, and the arm in front of her lifted.
They descended into the underground tunnel, the city's screams fading as they were drowned out by giant fans pushing fresh air through. Smooth concrete walls stretched in both directions, lights washing over her car and the toll booths beside her, her map feeding her a steady stream of changing information.
Twenty minutes of gentle curves followed, cars shifting around them as the once five lanes became four. The rightmost lane broke away, taking another lane with it altogether.
Then the leftmost lane merged into theirs, and a few minutes later flashing lights began populating the ceiling above the two-lane stretch—something she paid no mind to. Sienna downshifted from fifth into fourth with a clean double clutch.
Its pops and bangs rolled through the tunnel, echoing until sunlight appeared in the distance. She steered the car right and downshifted again, the vehicles behind her slowing in turn while the ramp pulled them upward and the sky came back into view.
The tunnel merged into a highway, and she accelerated immediately, not even waiting for anyone to make room.
The car behind her honked like slowing down was impossible. Sienna cut across and took the off-ramp the moment she spotted her exit.
They took a few turns before parking in front of a rather impressive building, pulling in a few feet off the curb and parallel to the street.
Sienna took the lead while Ikade held onto her arm for support. They spotted a set of stairs leading up to the ground floor of the building.
The two climbed up and took in the structure of concrete, steel, and glass. The building had a wide footprint as they walked through one of its entrances. Large white steel beams arched up and behind them like modern flying buttresses, with smaller panes of glass fitted beneath them.
The floors doubled as practically everything—community spaces, small venues, study corners, lounges, pop-up shops of every kind. If it could fit inside a hollow square of architecture, someone had tried it. There were too many rooms, too many shortcuts, and too many half-floors for Sierra to bother mapping out.
The place had only recently been finished, with people coming and going, their voices mixing into a single sound like background noise.
They started moving through the interior, following the curve of the hallways while taking their time to look at anything interesting. They took escalator after escalator, used an elevator after spotting something on the floor below, only to go back up again once they had their fill.
"So many damn turns just to reach him."
Sienna muttered, dropping her head forward while her feathers sagged in sadness, all while Ikade rubber her arm in small circles.
"Why'd he have to plop himself here?"
A few minutes later, after one hallway, a left turn and then a right, they found themselves standing before a steel door.
It was a sleek matte grey, with three white lines running across its surface. The people around them had thinned out enough that only a few cleaners remained, washing the tiles free of whatever had happened yesterday. The steady drone of the fans pushed the stale air elsewhere through the building.
She breathed through her nose, pulled out a different card, and hesitantly tapped it against the reader beside the door. It unlocked with a soft click almost immediately.
What greeted them was a short hallway made from the same material as the walls outside, except for the wooden floor, which looked like it had been installed at the last minute.
To their right sat two potted plants with a bench between them, and to the left stood a simple kiosk with the cartoonish face of a coney, a small pallet rack beside it for deliveries filling the rest of the space.
"Should we wait?"
"He's probably eating?"
Ikade tilted her head and tapped the kiosk—once, twice, then several more times until the screen finally switched to a countdown with a cute cat head munching on a fish stick.
Ikade didn't hear a respond, and instead.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ikade's ears snapped up and she whipped her head toward Sienna, who was already going to town on the door with the side of her fist like she was trying to punch a hole through it.
The Librei glanced back at her once, then knocked even faster.
"THEN WHAT'S THE POINT OF ASKING IF YOU'RE GONNA KNOCK ANYWAY?!"
Ikade exploded, her words tumbling out in a single breath—one hand clutching her skirt while her tail carved frantic circles just as quickly.
Ding~!
They quickly turned around to face the kiosk, an angry cat now in the middle.
「Largate de aqui pendijo, no peudes leer! Ando comiendo so shoo.」
The two stared at the screen, nearly snapping their necks in the process. Someone bit into something on the other end with almost disrespectful intent, the moment dragging out uncomfortably while Sienna stepped closer to the kiosk.
The air around Sienna starting to warm up.
「The fuck are you waitin for? You cant understand Fiestain so let me put in a way you can understand gringo.」
The voice rose in hostility. Ikade could not make out the earlier words, but she understood the aggression pouring from it, the accent creeping in more and more.
「Get the fuck out—」
The voice swallowed something before continuing. By then, Sienna's eyes had turned cold and lifeless, the kind of look that felt like it could kill.
The fool at the other side would have died twice over.
「...」
The spit was practically flying from out the screen, the two of them swearing the kiosk jumped with each response.
"Con quién andas hablando pinche imbécil!?—"
Ikade took a few steps back, her tail tucking between her legs on instinct. She could not even follow how fast Sienna went off, the Librei already flying into hand gestures like it was second nature.
"Si no me abres las puerta!—"
Her tongue rolled out through the latter half of the sentence, taking a very short breath to get more more.
"Te voy a a lavar la boca con jabón! Vas a ver!"
The kiosk stayed silent.
Sienna crossed her arms and tapped her shoe against the wooden floor, her irritation mounting by the second. The screen went dark and the short hallway filled with the sound of the door unlocking before it slid open to the left.
A metal gate separated her from the darkness beyond. A single light flicked on overhead.
"Open the gate."
Her tone stayed flat, her tufts still pressed down while her eyes bored straight into his spirit.
"I—" Sienna cut him off before he could even say a word. "Think before you answer."
The man's apple bobbed while he grabbed the gate and slid it open to her right. Sienna uncrossed her arms, stepped toward him, and forced the man to retreat.
"Wait! I can explain!"
He almost stumbled backward, glancing over his shoulder—only to nearly jump out of his skin when Sienna clamped onto his ear and yanked it sideways. She twisted the soft flesh, forcing him to bend down to her waist level while she dragged him along.
He flailed while she marched forward like a woman with a mission. He tried prying her hand off—an awful idea, really—they turned the corner, their voices fading while the sound of running water sent a chill down Ikade's spine.
"Ow—OW—WAIT—"
Ikade stood at the doorway, one hand holding the frame while she leaned in. She swallowed nothing and stepped inside, waiting in the lit doorway for them to return.
Sometime later, the three of them stood in the middle of a well lit room.
"So what are you doing here?"
The man chugged down a bottle of water, only to recoil. He tossed the empty bottle aside while sinking into a plush sofa.
The place felt like a lounge and waiting room merged into one. The man had mid-length purplish-red hair brushing his neck, with short black-and-brown feathered tufts sprouting from the sides of his head. His eyes held a flushed yellow hue, and he wore a somewhat loose dark blue jacket, slightly faded with hints of white that might have just been the fabric.
The sleeves ran a little big before tapering at the hems, with two large pockets at the front and a brown inner collar.
Underneath, he wore a vanilla-colored shirt with thin black stripes running down past his waist, every button done except the topmost one. His pants were a muted blend of brown and tan, soft-looking and comfortable.
"You done looking? Damn pervert."
His eyes turned questioning and she only shrugged. Ikade sat beside her with a black metal table between the two parties.
"I'm here to get a checkup."
The man sighed and groaned at the simple request, relaxing his shoulders but the soapy taste clearly wasn't helping his mood.
"I was just on lunch break though..."
He stood up, and the two of them followed while he flipped a switch before leading them through the door. They took two quick right turns, the few lights doing their best to brighten the dark space. Thick cables snaked toward a room straight ahead, which they ignored completely as they took a left.
Sienna raised an eyebrow and stepped over the remaining cables, counting three that ran from the earlier room to a panel near the front door. The floor was a glossy metallic grey, with numerous drain-like slits running through the center beneath a low display that showed nothing.
Two gunmetal trash bins stood spaced apart along a glass wall. The large room was full of supplies, with medical tools resting in sterile packages on trays and trolleys, a washing station off to the side, and a handful of medical machines standing at attention.
She looked to the other side and spotted three more cables running from a panel near the entrance.
That side held two rooms with an open space in the middle. In the room closer to the door stood a larger machine with a couple of arms and other parts she could not quite make sense of.
The open space to the left looked like a normal doctor's office, complete with a desk, an examination table, and a couple of trinkets. A dark blue curtain along the back wall hid something behind it.
Ikade glanced up and noticed the few wooden blocks scattered across the ceiling, the room lit only by two LED bars and a larger panel glowing directly above them. Metal support beams cut across the ceiling, with a few loose cables hanging untucked.
His head popped up from the office.
"Like the new place? I just bought it."
Pride bled through his voice as he beckoned them into his office, his accomplishment almost palpable.
"just...wash my hands first..."
He looked confused for a moment before a light of realization seemed to shine above his head. He pulled a seat out of nowhere and patted the cushion.
"A seat for you. Go ahead."
Sienna hopped up onto the table while Ikade took the chair offered to her, her tail settling neatly across her lap. The man walked off toward the glassed-in room on the other side, the sound of running water and excessive hand scrubbing filling the space.
"So what..." Sienna asked, curiosity slipping into her voice. "you still with them?"
"No, we parted ways and came here...now I can finally do what I've wanted to do for a long time."
"You say that like you're fifty."
It was not a very interesting answer, but Manuel came back anyway, the sleeves rolled high enough not to get in the way with latex gloves on and a tablet in hand.
A doctor's stool rolled toward him on its own before he sat at exactly the right moment—something he had clearly done too many times to count.
"Any dizziness?" Manual asked, already leaning forward. "Blurred vision. Ringing."
She answered with a shake of her head, then a nod, then another shake.
The next fifteen minutes dragged through the same old routine—nothing dramatic, just plain boring.
Then Manuel snapped his fingers.
Something flew past her at speed before he caught it without even looking up from the screen.
"All right. You're the fifth person I've done this with... so try not to let these old hands ruin everything."
Sienna glared at him.
He set the tablet down beside him and uncapped a matte black chip, holding it up between two fingers before setting down the cap.
"You know how to use this, right? You got it, what, seven months ago?" His eyes flicked over her. "Though honestly, most of the people who get these are rich. Why'd you even bother? It's not like you need it. You're not quadruple."
Sienna scoffed. "Wow. Look at you, throwing insults now."
He only waved the chip in front of his face, whatever lightness had been there a moment ago shifting under the surface.
"Something like that."
She reached out, and it flew straight into her hand, putting up a bit of resistance when she ripped it from his grip. She stared at it without focus until Manuel spoke again, their eyes meeting.
"Don't worry—I keep it in pristine condition."
"Uh huh."
She wrapped her right hand around the side of her head and pressed in.
It was instantaneous, the loading time barely there at all. Lines of information popped into her vision before compressing and sliding off to the side, the tab becoming almost unnoticeable.
"Where's your recorder at?"
Ikade's ears perked up and she set her bag onto her lap, placing her phone aside on the armrest. She pulled out an object—stripped of its accessories, though the recorder itself remained.
Its exterior blended glossy black with dark amber, smooth and sleek, with a single continuous LED bar running along its length. Set directly in the middle was a circle resembling a TV power button with a dividing line on one side.
"You really chose this model."
Manuel said while taking it gently from her hands and settling it on his lap.
"Most people get something inconspicuous."
Part of the inside was padded with visible sensors. The whole device was about three-sixteenths of an inch thick and nearly a full inch wide.
"It's not like anyone can see it. I keep it covered when I'm out...besides, I had it before we even met."
Sienna shrugged.
Manuel glanced at her without a hint of change in his expression. He grabbed the cable connected to his tablet, flipped the recorder around, searched for a narrow gap, and finally plugged it in.
"I'm gonna check a few things, okay?...though it's not like you'd understand any of it anyway."
He reached under the desk and pulled out a keyboard, connecting it directly to the tablet until it might as well have become a laptop.
Manuel let out a sigh as he spent the next couple of minutes moving through, doing whatever it was.
He shook his head every time he kept reading deeper, none of his gestures or expressions especially hopeful nor alarming.
"What is it?"
Sienna added it quietly, uncertain what she was supposed to feel at the moment. Her hand tightened around the edge of the bed while she waited for an answer.
"It's still a little finicky, but nothing out of the ordinary...still reads just fine."
"Nothing's wrong on either side either, so all things considered, I'd say you're pretty healthy. If it weren't for the fact that there was a spike here...and here...over just a couple of days."
He glanced at her.
"What the hell have you been doing?"
Sienna smiled.
It was the only answer she had for the current dilemma.
"Like you know—it spreads through bodily fluids, deep cuts, living in cities, or using a stave without pause."
His head moved animatedly, his tone rising in some parts and dropping in others.
"If you keep doing whatever the hell it is you're doing, you'll end up a vegetable. Or with your bones poking out of your body. So slow down."
He spun the recorder again around his finger, still looking through endless files.
Manuel leaned back, exhaling before seemingly swallowing the dryness in his throat. He gave them a moment to sit with what he had said, letting the atmosphere settle on its own while he stared up at the ceiling.
A few seconds passed when a soft chime came from his laptop.
Sienna felt someone move loose against her neck and reached for it before tossing it to him. He caught it one-handed and set it aside.
"Here, try it out."
Manuel tossed it back to her, and she caught it before pressing the open side to her neck. She pushed it in with one motion, the clip at the back snapping shut around her skin. She flinched at the sting.
"It lit up! Alright!"
He spoke up, his eyes reading the two numbers side by side—six percent and point twenty-seven.
Those same two numbers appeared at the very top of her vision, alongside a red line pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Is there anything else?" He added, closing his laptop and stretching his arms up into the air.
"uhh....my eyesight remember. Its worse in the morning."
Once Sienna finished, she passed her recorder to Ikade, who quietly tucked it away in her bag.
"Ah, wait here then."
Manuel stood and headed for the glass room, rummaging through a few cabinets before pulling down a bag and filling it with medicine, double-checking each label as he went.
When he returned, he set it on the table and sat back down.
"They're both in there. Dosages are six-fifty this time, not two-fifty like before. Plus the drops."
Sienna glanced at the bag on her right, confusion settling over her face.
"…why so much?"
"Can you hold onto her?"
Ikade blinked, just as lost, but stood anyway and wrapped both arms around Sienna, hugging her tight like she expected the Librei to crumble into dust.
Manuel looked at her for a second before speaking.
"You already have a few in your head."
"What are you talking about?"
"A░░ir▒▒▒sis."
The word broke apart before it fully landed, distorted enough to mean nothing and everything at once.
It hit like an explosion rippling through water. Ikade's face twisted into instant horror before she could even suck in a full breath.
"What the hell?!" Sienna snapped, her voice rising without warning, she tried to wrench herself loose. "You're telling me this now?! Why not first?!"
Ikade held on harder, not daring to let go while Sienna's body tensed under her grip.
Manuel only closed his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line.
"If you stay on the treatment for the rest of your life and stop screwing around, you'll live past a hundred. Probably. Maybe."
He opened one eye at her.
"And I did tell you."
"When."
"Last time. Five months ago." He gestured vaguely with one hand. "I sent a file. You never replied."
Ikade's shoulders dropped. Her feline ears trembled, and when she turned toward Sienna, the look on her face was the kind someone reserved for a half-dead animal still trying to stand.
"If you don't listen." He continued "Then you're fucked either way, so."
"...Just give me more...and some supplies too."
She pushed Ikade's face away with one hand, just gently enough to peel her off her sleeve, which was already starting to go damp. Relief moved through her faster than fear at the thought that she would live longer than she had expected.
"O' santo...did you even listen to anything I said?"
Manuel's voice was flat as he stared disapprovingly towards Sienna who began to bicker with Ikade.
"Yeah…gimme a minute to process it...I just need to stop being stressed right?"
She said it like she was talking about an annoying grocery list. Ikade sniffed again, wiped at the corner of one eye with the back of her hand, then turned and glared at her.
"Stress? Stress?! That's what you got from that?!"
Sienna nudged Ikade's side with her hand.
"Please stop leaking on me."
Ikade smacked her arm weakly, her tail puffing out in pure offense.
Manuel pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long drawn out breath.
"Hahh—just...stay alive will you."
His tone stayed flat and blunt, he got up and headed back into the supply room. He grabbed another small box and started filling it with different items, checking the labels as he worked.
"I'll even throw in a little something extra. Can't keep it here anyway, so it's yours. Been sitting around since before I bought the place."
"I've been tryna get rid of it but, anyway."
Both Sienna and Ikade went quiet when he pulled a black case from beneath the wash station and unlocked it.
"I don't need fucking marranos in my clinic."
The crate rose off the ground like it weighed nothing, while the smaller box of supplies stayed tucked under his other arm. He set the medical box down on the desk.
Sienna's eyes caught the item resting in the foam, Manuel, meanwhile, looked like he was trying not to grin too hard and failing.
He grabbed his laptop, removed the keyboard and turned the screen toward her to show the bill.
"I'm taking an arm, its one hundred twenty-two thousand, five hundred thirty Pesitos."
"You really do sleep well at night."
Still, she paid in full.
"Send it to my address." Sienna paused, then lifted her wrist. "Oh."
A picture appeared above the bracelet—a bright blood-red pill floating in the center, flavor text running along the top.
"Do you have any of these? I might need more."
Manuel squinted at it.
"T...hengyuan. Yeah, I've got a few." His eyes flicked back up at her. "You liked the ones from Yuuye, right?"
Sienna blinked once.
And then, somehow, they were already back at the entrance to his clinic, the hallway lights buzzing faintly overhead while Manuel leaned against the doorframe, slurping cheap noodles like none of this had happened.
"Now, go away. Shoo. By the way, if you ever pull that stunt again, I will find a way to make your life miserable."
"You charge like a king and eat like like a peasant. Worry about your own life first."
He said nothing back, though his expression darkened. He stepped away from the frame while the lights inside shut off one by one.
Then the metal gate slammed shut right in her face.