12 Lost Texts

3rd POV

"Argh…, " Awoken, the woman moans in pain. Rubbing her temples with both of her hands. Parting her eyelids as she gazes upon the unfamiliar ceiling. 

"Vida, you're finally awake, " A female voice calls out to her. Subtle but audible, like a small cherry with explosive flavour. 

The woman, Vida, lifts her own upper body from the bed and turns her head to the left.  

"Firewatch?" Vida shockingly asks before checking herself. Touching on the large bandages wrapped on her whole body, with several wires connected between her and a patient monitor. 

The other woman named Firewatch met Vida's gaze. Swiftly storing away her harmonica into her waist pocket before faking a few coughs. 

"You saw nothing, and yes, who else?" Firewatch replied without a change in her facial expression. 

'Composed and unwavering as always' Vida's thoughts of Firewatch. Sighing, she remembers something.

"Hold on— How come I'm still alive?" The Sarkaz woman mutters while frowning. 

"So far, the medic rescue team could only deduce that some substances were keeping you alive. No more than that, " Firewatch explains while ruffling through her bag. 

"Just that? Surely, Babel's medical team could provide more than one deduction. "

"I believe so too, but that, only when the Doctor is involved in checking up the patients. I also thought you were dead when I found you, no one could have survived a sharp fall with critical blood lost. "

"Legit… but above all, I think I'll appreciate the fact that I'm still alive and kicking, " Vida said before trying to kick the air but fails as she hisses in pain. 

"Maybe this could be the answer, " Firewatch added before handing over a photo to Vida. 

Vida narrows her eyes onto the object in the picture. Taking a few seconds to recollect her thoughts before a memory clicks in her mind. 

"This is the syringe I took from Company Realistic before passing out, " The Sarkaz woman (Vida) recalled, earning a subtle nod from Firewatch. 

"And so you did. I asked to confirm if you used it, or not, it would be a different case, " The Elafia woman (Firewatch) before asking for the photo back and Vida complied.

A few seconds later, a group of three people in the same outfit enters the room. The photo was passed over to them.

"The Babel medical team? Thank you for saving me, " Vida clasped her hands together and expressed her gratitude with vigour.

One of the members gave her a thumbs up before heading back outside while Firewatch sighs. Which Vida frowns upon. 

"There's no need to be disappointed, Firewatch. I was about to thank you too, or… are you being jealous?" Vida grins with her eyes narrowed. 

Firewatch's eyebrows twitched at Vida. She gazes into the woman's eyes intensely before slowly loading a bolt into her large crossbow. 

"Sorry but, I'm straight, " Firewatch replies with her usual harmless demeanour, but the sight of her weapon suggests otherwise. 

Vida panics as she flails her arms around with her eyes widened before shielding herself.

"It's a joke! Just a joke! I'm straight too, but no homo though!" Vida chuckles from being able to enact Firewatch's reaction while shielding herself with a blanket. 

The large crossbow was settled against the wall after Firewatch narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Vida. Sighing once again before taking out a book titled 'The Riposte'. 

"Had your fill of fun now?" Firewatch questions before breaking their eye contact and focuses on the book. 

Vida lowers the blanket with shaky arms while peeking from the edges, making sure it was truly safe. 

"A-ah, yes, I had enough of it now. But, I do hope that you can be a bit more— friendly-. "

Firewatch coughs loudly, enough to interrupt Vida's sentence. She flips over a page before taking a glance at the Sarkaz woman. 

"Do you have any questions regarding our current situation? Excluding personal stuff, " Firewatch said, ignoring the previous words of the pouting Sarkaz. 

Vida rolls her eyes before lying back in her bed. Crossing her arms as she turns her back on Firewatch. 

"Where are we right now?" 

"We're still in Victoria, but, far away from the capital city Kazdel. Specifically, we're in one of Babel's branches at a town called Thare, " Firewatch solemnly answers. 

"In that way, we could keep an eye out on Company Realistic? Splendid but, why is the mission solely focuses on this man from the Spectra race?" 

"I don't know, " Firewatch shrugs slightly. 

"Excuse me?"

"Only the doctor and the higher up knows of the enclosed reason, other than saving an endangered species. A hidden agenda " The Elafia woman emphasises before throwing her book towards Vida's head. 

"Ow!"

"Pay attention with your eyes too. Now, pass the book back. "

"Fine. " Vida hands over the book before whispering, "Tree twigs for antlers. "

"I heard that. Other than that, we could only wait until the Doctor decides to inform us-. "

"Exactly, " A cold voice laces the tension in the room. The monotone which is only recognisable by the elite operators of Babel, along with Firewatch and Vida.

Firewatch closes her book and stores it away quickly. 

While Vida wanted to stand straight but she could not so, she made it up by lying straight on the bed. 

"Morning, Doctor, " Firewatch greets with a nod. 

The woman, the Doctor, who wore a long dark blue trench coat with a hood, nods back before closing the door. 

Vida could not tell the Doctor's complexion, because that woman's face is covered with a full black mask. 

"Vida, at ease, " Doctor slightly waves her hand. 

"Phew… wait, I'm not even a Babel member!" Vida protests with her fist raised. 

"But you are an associate. Full stop, enough with this farce. So, there is another reason behind all this, care to listen?" The Doctor took out a few aged yellow papers. 

Vida sat against the bed while hugging her pillow. 

Firewatch glances from the edges of her eyes before gazing at the Doctor. Standing up from the chair as she tidies her hair. 

"The ancient texts on these pages signifies the anatomy and biology of the Spectra race along with other extinct species. Along with descriptive events of depicting the savage wars and conflicts among them, " The Doctor said as she put the pages down on the edge of Vida's bed. 

Vida took a closer look at it and knitted her eyebrows. 'I don't understand this language' She thought.

"Doctor, that doesn't sound like it relates to our mission, to be honest, " Firewatch commented. 

"It does. The last ancient war, the largest one known as 'Final Reach' between the Spectra and Sarkaz, is also where the largest pandemic of Oripathy started. Some kind of catalyst is involved in the spread of the disease by that time, until now. The Spectra man, Elos, might know something. "