New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



Alexander woke up feeling dizzy, his head pounding rhythmically at the sound of his heartbeat. He slowly opened his eyes, expecting complete darkness, but the sight of neon lights greeted him instead.

The beeping of a heart monitor, steady next to him, caught his attention.

Turning his head, he saw the monitor, along with tubes running from his arm to an IV pouch. He understood he was in a hospital.

But when he tried moving, a sharp pain traversed his entire body, making him groan loudly. That's when Kary's voice next to him spoke up.

"You're awake! The doctors didn't know when you would wake up."

"Which hospital are we at? And how did we get here?" Alex asked, confused.

Last he remembered, he was charging at the rat queen, at the speed mach fuck you, and then everything went black.

David, on the other side of the bed, was the one to answer.

"The cop that you saved called in backup. It's a good thing he did since you were half buried under a concrete cave-in. But it also means they brought everything to light, monsters included."

Alex frowned at the news. And as he did, the door to his room opened, drowning the quiet room in the buzz of voices.

Alex couldn't see very well, with the position he was in, but he caught sight of many reporters behind a large familiar back separating them from the room. Then Mr. Guo entered the room.

"Mr. Magnus, Ms. Deveille, you're up. Oh? Mr. Leduc, you're awake. What great news."

Alex looked at Jack's assistant, wondering why they were there.

"In any case," Guo said, "Let's not tell the press he is awake. I think rest is better for him, right now, than being swarmed by those vultures."

David nodded his head in approval, while Kary smiled at his consideration.

"But you are awaited outside, the two of you. Keep things short, and concise, and try not to make any alarming revelations," he added.

Guo said those last words while eyeing David, the words distinctly aimed at him. David only chuckled.

"Do we even have a choice at this point? The entire SPVM is down in the service tunnels, checking everything with a fine-toothed comb. In a few hours, they'll know a good part of what happened, and swarm us with questions of why."

Guo nodded once in understanding.

"Mr. Boudreau already acknowledges this. He only wants us to hold on to the revelations until we have the home-ground advantage. We can't push the reporters away in this hospital. But we certainly can at the private facility."

David's eyes squinted. He caught on quickly to what Guo meant.

If the public and the reporters didn't like what he had to say, they couldn't cause a scene over there. It was a whole other case, here.

"Alright. I'll keep it as vague as possible for now. But the public needs to know. Things are moving at a much faster pace than in my last life, and I don't know how much time we have anymore. Everyone needs to prepare."

David stood up, followed by Kary, who leaned in to kiss Alex's cheek.

"I'll be right back. You should sleep as much as you can, for now," she whispered to him, caressing his face.

Alex nodded, agreeing with her. He had just woken up, but already, he could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him again.

But as the trio left the room, to go fight their own battle against the press, a doctor squeezed into the room. Alex recognized the man since it was the same doctor who had treated him the last time he was here.

"Ahh! Mr. Leduc. How glad I am to see you awake. How are you feeling, aside from the pain and tiredness?"

Alex eyed him with a frown.

"Why is it that every time I'm here, it's you that treats me?"

The doctor chuckled.

"Why, that is a simple answer to give. I work for Mr. Boudreau. When interesting cases come through, it's usually my job to send them to his private care center. But enough about me. Answer my question, please."

Alex sighed.

'Jack has a hand in every pie in this damned city, doesn't he?' he thought.

"I feel fine, pain and sleepiness aside."

He used this time to contact Genie through their mental bond.

'Genie, are you ok? Are you still in the tunnels?'

'I am ok, Master. I traversed your body to go back to Bastion City's outskirts when you passed out.'

'Good. Great call. I'm not sure an eight-foot-tall wolf is what the citizens here need to see right now. I'll come to find you when I cross over.'

'Very well,' Genie responded.

"Mr. Leduc?" the doctor called out, snapping Alex's attention back to him.

"Hmm? What? Sorry, I got lost in thought."

"I asked you how much pain you are in, on a scale of one to ten."

"Ah. When I stay immobile, I'd say a two. But if I try moving, it shoots up to a nine."

The doctor whistled, looking impressed.

"Just a two? You are one resilient kid. Anyone in your situation normally cries out in pain, even if with light sedation. I see your morphine has run out, and yet you still seem fine. Interesting."

Alex looked at him with a curious look.

"And what condition is that, doctor?"

"Ahh, right! No one has told you yet. Then let me ask you a question, Mr. Leduc."

Alex nodded his head.

"Do you remember in the early two-thousands, when a woman's parachute failed to open, and she crashed into the planet and survived?"

Alex frowned.

"Yes, vaguely. But what does this have to do with me?"

The doctor pulled out a sheet of paper with a copy of an X-ray on it.

"This was her skeleton when she entered the ER. I had to make many calls to get a photocopy of this."

"That still doesn't tell me anything, doctor," Alex said, his frown deepening.

"Yes, I'm getting there. An impatient one, aren't you, Mr. Leduc?"

Alex groaned in response. Who wouldn't be impatient with a person beating around the bush like this?"

Seeing the doctor pull out another sheet, this time black, and putting it on a lighted screen, Alex could barely see a chest on it. But then the doctor pulled out another one, this one of legs.

The doctor pulled out sheet after sheet, forming a full skeleton on his screen. A skeleton, albeit in terrible shape, from what Alex could garner from this distance. But then the doctor pulled the screen closer.

"This, Mr. Leduc, is your skeleton when you arrived in the ER."