Infection
"Ok, ok." Kaito said. He could feel his heart rate rising. "Stay calm."
"I am calm. You're the one freaking out." Rantaro said slowly. He seemed to be in shock.
"Ok, good point. Uh, ok, we can handle this." Kaito looked around worriedly. "Yeah, it's all gonna be ok, don't worry."
"I'm not." Rantaro said. "Hey, take a breath. I feel normal. That thing got me pretty good, could just be residue from that, ya know?"
"Yeah, maybe." Kaito said slowly. He didn't really believe it. "Ok, um, let's go somewhere else, and um, do something."
"Kaito." Rantaro said. "Calm down. Even if something is wrong, panicking isn't gonna do anything for us."
"Could you just worry about yourself for a change?!" Kaito snapped, before he could stop himself.
Rantaro fixed him with a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're always looking after everyone else! You never worry about yourself!" Kaito exclaimed. "Never mind, we can talk about that later. Right now we have to do...something."
"Ok. I'll follow your lead."
Kaito had no idea what to do, or even where to begin. That didn't matter though. External forces had their own plans. A siren began blaring and the hallways became bathed in a flashing red light.
"Oh come on!" Kaito yelled. Could the universe slow down for a minute and let him figure out one problem at a time?"
"Well, I'm guessing that's not good." Rantaro said.
"Probably not." Kaito said. He started walking towards the cockpit. "You stay here!"
"Not a chance." Rantaro said, easily keeping pace with him. "What am I supposed to do, stand here and wait?"
"No! I don't know! I'm trying to keep you out of danger!"
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't think we're gonna be out of danger any time soon." Rantaro said, as they rounded the corner into the cockpit, where most of the crew had already assembled.
"Make it stop!" Miu yelled, hands pressed over her ears. "Jesus just make it stop!"
"No one's tried to figure out what triggered it?" Kaito asked.
"Like any of us have any idea how this works." Kokichi said.
"Ok, fair." Kaito made his way to the panel, pressing buttons quickly. "Uh oh."
"What?" Rantaro asked, leaning over.
"Uh, good news, I know how to turn off the siren." Kaito said. "Bad news is we've been seen, and there's an assault ship coming for us."
"Well shit." Rantaro said, summing up Kaito's thoughts.
"Ok." Kaito said, settling into the pilot's seat. "Rantaro, gather everyone up, make sure everyone's accounted for. Miu, weapons."
"Hey, what if I wanna do weapons?" Kokichi asked.
"I wouldn't trust you with that if we were the last two people on earth. And we'd probably be the last two people because of something you did with the weapons."
"Spoilsport." Kokichi sighed.
"What do you want me to do once I've found everyone?" Rantaro asked.
"Tell them to hold on." Kaito warmed the engines. "Things are gonna get a little wild.
The assault ship was visible through the cockpit window only a few moments later. It was thin and sharp, and almost resembled a pencil with wings. Kaito would have laughed if said pencil with wings wasn't firing at them.
Kaito jerked the controls, sending his own ship into a tight turn, gaining speed as it went. "Miu! I need some return fire!"
"On it!" she called back, sending a return volley at the assault ship.
Kaito increased the speed as quickly as he could without overworking the engines. "We gotta take out that ship and find a new place to hide without attracting too much attention.
"Easier said than done!" Miu yelled back.
"I know, I know." Kaito said. "Dammit, they're more agile than we are."
"So we're more fucked than a discount pocket pussy?"
"Yeah...I mean no...what?" Kaito said, turning to look at Miu who shrugged. "No, we still have a chance. I need someone to man the rear weapons."
"Well I'm here, and you're here, so who's gonna do that?" Miu asked.
"Maki." Kaito said suddenly. "Those controls are more like handheld weapons, and she's a beast with those.
"Great, wonderful. I'd go get her, but I'm a little busy!" Miu snapped, firing at the assault ship.
Kaito fumbled with a side panel, pressing the comm button. "THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!"
"Technically this is our captain yelling." Kokichi replied from a different comm outlet. "Need something?"
"Yes! Can you find Maki and tell her to get on the rear weapons?"
"Why?" Kokichi asked innocently.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Kaito yelled. "WE'RE MORE FUCKED THEN A DISCOUNT POCKET PUSSY IF SHE DOESN'T!"
"You want me to use those exact words? Or-"
"JUST DO IT!"
To Kaito's great relief, Maki's voice echoed over the comms a few moments later. "Hey, I'm here."
"Thank god. Ok, you know what you're doing?"
"No, I have no idea." Maki said. "But I think I can figure it out."
"Well figure out quick." Kaito said, veering into another tight turn. "I think we've isolated him away from any other ships, so we gotta take him out now then disappear."
"Ok." was all Maki said. Kaito hoped she was getting ready.
"Miu, try and drive it into Maki's line of fire. I'm gonna flip the ship around."
"Ok." Miu said. "We're all totally gonna die."
"Maki, you're up. Turning...now!" Kaito said, yanking on the controls. He heard several crashes from the depths of the ship. He was guessing not everyone had held onto something. Kaito gritted his teeth. He couldn't see the ship now, it was behind him. It was up to Maki now. "Maki, are you ready?"
"As ready as I can be."
"Ok." Kaito said. He had forced the ship to follow them behind a series of smaller rock chunks, hidden from the view of the hive. "I'd give you a countdown but-FIRE NOW! FIRE NOW!"
Almost as if by magic, a single shot fired from the back weapons, striking the ship dead on, destroying it. Kaito cheered.
"Did I get it?" Maki asked. "I don't know if I actually fired it-"
"THAT WAS PERFECT!" Kaito yelled. "You got it! You definitely got it! We're home free, Maki Roll!"
"Maki roll?" Miu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uhh...I'm gonna find us a new spot to hunker down." Kaito said, knowing Maki wouldn't forget about that. "Everyone ok?"
"I'll check." Maki said.
"Cool beans. Now let's see." Kaito scanned the terrain, before spotting a cavelike outcropping in one of the rock chunks. It was perfectly hidden and secure. "Ok, got a spot. I'm going in." Kaito didn't relax until he felt the ship touch down. He powered down the engines and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Nice flying captain." Miu said, standing up and stretching.
"Thanks." Kaito said, pushing himself out of his seat. All he really wanted to do was collapse into it, but he had to check on his team.
The majority of the crew had been gathered in the lounge area. Himiko was clinging to a couch, looking terrified. "Everyone ok?" Kaito asked.
"For now." Shuichi said. "How about you guys?"
"We're ok for now." Kaito said, doing a quick headcount. Three missing. "Where's Kokichi? And Maki? And Rantaro?"
"Rantaro went to look for Kokichi." Kirumi said. "I have not seen Maki since she departed for the back weapons."
"Ok." Kaito said. "Shuichi, you're up bro! I need my super awesome sidekick to see where Maki went. Can you do that?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Shuichi said, looking as flustered as always after being given any form of attention.
"Good man!" Kaito said. "I'm going to go find everyone's least favorite hacker, and Rantaro. Everyone else stay put ok? Kaede, you're in charge again." With that, Kaito trekked off in search of his missing crew mates.
"About time." Kokichi said, when Kaito finally entered his room. "I've been waiting for you."
"You could have come and gotten me." Kaito said, slightly annoyed.
"Where's the fun in that!?" Kokichi said brightly. "C'mere, I gotta show you this."
Kokichi had his datapad set up on a desk like a laptop. Kaito knelt down to get a closer look. "What the hell is this?"
"I started digging around in their systems. It's a link to something, a direct communication line. I don't know where it goes to, but it sure as hell comes from the earth bastards." Kokichi said.
"Is that how they're talking to the spy?" Kaito asked.
"I think so." Kokichi said. "But hey, don't worry! I've been working on this!"
"Uh...numbers?" Kaito asked, squinting at the screen.
"No! It's a program. Every time that line is used, it'll tell me, and I'll tell you." Kokichi wheeled around in his chair to face Kaito. "Tadaaa" he sang, giving Kaito jazz hands.
"Ok, that's pretty good." Kaito said. "Really good. It almost makes me forget how annoying you are."
"Aw, you love me." Kokichi laughed.
"The jury's still out on that one." Kaito said. "You're sarcastic, whiny, mean-" Kaito's foot knocked into a wastebasket. "And messy. Jesus! Ever heard of cleaning?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Kokichi said, rolling his eyes. "Get outta here. I'm done with you for now."
"Thaaaanks." Kaito said, shoving him playfully. "I'm gonna find Rantaro. If anything happens, tell me."
"Ok. By the way, if you made the mess bigger, you clean it up." Kokichi said, turning back to his datapad.
"No way. There's probably all kinds of gross crap in there." Kaito said, squinting. It mainly appeared to be tissues. Suddenly Kaito's stomach went cold. Tissues covered in ink.
Kaito nearly slammed into a wall as he rounded a corner as fast as he could. It could be a coincidence, maybe Kokichi had just broken a pen or something, but he was more hell bent on finding Rantaro than before.
Suddenly Kaito really did slam into something, sending him toppling back.
"Ow!" Shuichi yelped, falling back as well.
"Shit, my bad." Kaito said. "You good?"
"No running in the halls." Maki said, stepping into view.
"Oh hey, you found Maki! Good job!" Kaito said, before turning to Maki. "Where the hell were you?"
"I got lost. It's a big ship."
It was the kind of answer that Kokichi would jump on as proof of a spy. Kaito however, decided to brush it off. "Yeah, someone should make a map." he laughed. "You guys didn't happen to see Rantaro, did you?"
"No. You still didn't find him?" Shuichi asked, looking worried.
"No, but with three of us looking, we have a better chance. Come on." Kaito said, getting to his feet. "If you guys didn't see him, that rules out the back of the ship, and I came from the front left."
"But if he was looking for me, why didn't we see him?" Maki asked.
"I don't know." There were too many questions Kaito couldn't answer. "I don't know, let's just try our best to find him."
Two minutes later, Kaito got his wish. The adventurer was sprawled out in a hallway, back to Kaito.
"Shit!" Kaito sprinted over, kneeling down beside Rantaro. "Shit, shit!"
"Are there any wounds?" Maki asked, kneeling down beside him. "Entrance wounds, exit wounds?"
"What the-you think he was shot?!" Kaito asked, panic increasing. "I don't think I see any!"
"Wha' goin on." Rantaro mumbled, stirring slightly.
"He wasn't shot." Kaito exhaled. "I think."
"Hey, hey." Shuichi said, gently, kneeling by Rantaro's head. "Can you hear us?"
Rantaro groaned, squeezing his eyes shut before opening them. "Yeah, loud and clear."
"What happened? Were you attacked?" Maki asked.
"Why would he be attacked?!" Kaito yelled. "Why was your first instinct to ask about bullet wounds?!" Maki looked away quickly.
"Bullet wounds? Nah." Rantaro said, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Jesus, I don't actually know what happened. "I was just..." he shook his head, as if to clear it. "I was going to the server room to try and mask our signal, just in case. And I turned the corner and...well next thing I know I'm waking up to you guys."
"Ok." Kaito said. "So you could have been attacked?"
"I wasn't attacked-" Rantaro's voice broke before he sneezed harshly into his hands.
"Woah." Shuichi said. "A-are you ok?"
"Getting a little harder to make it look like I am." Rantaro said. "Oh god, I feel disgusting." his hands were coated in the strange ink.
"Do you feel any pain?" Maki asked.
"Not really." Rantaro said. "A little achy but that could be from face planting onto a metal floor."
"Shuichi, can you run back and grab Kirumi?" Kaito asked. "I'm scared to move him."
"Hey, I'm fine!"
"Shush." Kaito said, patting Rantaro's head. "On the double, sidekick!"
"Is that...the same stuff that creature had?" Maki asked.
"I think so." Kaito said. "Hey! Absolutely not! I'll sit on your legs or something!" Kaito yelled as Rantaro tried to stand.
"What kinda threat is that?"
"Oh, so you want me to? Ok, Maki, you go for the chest-"
Rantaro burst out laughing. "I'm so damn lucky to have met you all. Seriously."
"Hey! No laughing either!" Kaito said.
"Are you sure you aren't the ultimate doctor?" Maki asked. Kaito nudged her.
Thankfully, Shuichi returned with Kirumi quickly.
"Hey there." Kaito said. "Do you know medical stuff?"
"Yes, if you want me to act as a doctor, I can fulfill that request." Kirumi said, kneeling beside Rantaro, examining him.
"Hey, not to be picky or anything, but I'd really appreciate a tissue or something." Rantaro said, laying back. He sighed, and Kaito winced at how strained his breathing suddenly sounded.
"Can I do anything?" Kaito asked, turning to Kirumi.
"I don't believe so." she mused. "Actually, could you fetch the lab work I started earlier?"
"On it!" Kaito said, dashing off towards the lab. In his rush he nearly bowled over Kokichi.
"Jesus! Easy on the hit and run!" Kokichi snapped.
"Woah, my bad." Kaito said, surprised at the angry response. "You good?"
"Who even knows. I'm gonna lay down." Kokichi grumbled.
"What's wrong?" Kaito asked.
"I don't know." Kokichi whined. "And I don't feel like talking."
Well, that was a first. Kaito looked at him, squinting his eyes.
"What are you doing?" Kokichi asked, snapping his fingers in front of Kaito's face. "You're somehow being weirder than normal."
"Are you feeling sick?" Kaito asked slowly, anxiety mounting in his chest.
"No, I'm tired, so shut up and leave me alone." Kokichi said, looking irritated. "Go annoy someone else. I wanna sleep." Kaito decided to let him go. He had lab work to pick up.
Upon snatching up the vials, Kaito prepared to dash back to Kirumi, when he decided to check on the others. Just to be safe, just in case.
Everyone was mainly where he had left them, much to Kaito's great relief. Gonta proudly showed off Blinky wrapped in a new blanket. Kaito gave him a thumbs up before continuing on.
"Here." he said, giving the vials to Kirumi. She accepted them without a word. Kaito turned back to Rantaro and gritted his teeth.
Rantaro's eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling shallowly. In the minutes since Kaito had last seen him he had gotten paler and he generally appeared sicker.
"What's wrong with him?" Kaito asked. Shuichi returned his worried look and shrugged.
"I've never seen anything like this." Kirumi said. "He's developed a fever within a span of minutes."
"So he's sick?" Kaito asked.
Kirumi nodded. "It appears to be a virus of some kind. However I'm not entirely sure. I'd need to investigate more, but for now, I'd like to move Rantaro to somewhere more comfortable."
"Ok." Kaito said. "So, how are we doing this? I get the legs and you get the arms?"
"I'm fine...." Rantaro mumbled, eyes opening slightly. They were glassy and unfocused. "Seriously, m'fine..."
"You can't even argue that now." Kaito said. "Screw it, I got him." Carefully Kaito scooped Rantaro into his arms. "Where to?"
Faster than what Kaito thought was possible, Kirumi prepped an unoccupied room, transforming it into a sickbay of some kind. She was quickly stepping around them, working nonstop.
Kaito stood awkwardly near the exit. He felt helpless. He just wanted to do something, anything to help.
"Kaito." Kirumi said suddenly. "If this is a virus, we have to consider the possibility that it's contagious. Can you recall anyone else displaying symptoms?"
"Shit." Kaito said, preparing to run out the door.
"Wait, wash your hands first. And wear this." Kirumi said, handing him a face mask. "Please take the proper precautions."
Kaito practically broke the world for hand washing before ducking out the door and running to Kokichi's room. Upon arriving at his destination, Kaito pounded on the metal door. "KOKICHI! OPEN UP!"
"Go away" Kaito heard Kokichi snap. Kaito turned his attention to the keypad and started typing in random numbers. "Stop! You're gonna jam it!" he heard Kokichi protest. Thankfully, the door slid open, revealing Kokichi.
"Oh no." Kaito said out loud. Kokichi was several shades paler than normal, his eyes glassy. In his hand was a crumpled up tissue, stained with black ink.
"Where's the fucking emergency?" Kokichi said woozily, before pitching forward, unconscious. Kaito rushed him back to the sickbay as fast as he could.
"We got a problem!" he yelled.
"I was afraid of that." Kirumi said. "Check everyone else for symptoms. This makes four."
"Four?" Kaito asked. He nearly dropped Kokichi in surprise. Next to Rantaro, Maki and Shuichi were laying down on makeshift cots. "Holy shit!"
"It's fast acting. If I had to guess, we all contracted it around the same time." Kirumi said. "That, or upon coming in contact with those who were on the ground."
"Then we probably all have it, don't we." Kaito said.
"Potentially, however it is best to check. See if anyone else is showing symptoms." Kirumi said. "I'm working to see if we can combat the symptoms."
"Ok." Kaito said, yanking the mask down into a better position. As he ran through the ship, he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't been feeling sick. His immune system had been shot to hell for years, and he should have been the first to go down. Hopefully he could hold on just long enough to help everyone else...
He came upon the group in the comms room first, all of which looked worse for wear. Himiko was slumped over, breathing heavily. Angie was just laying flat across the floor, and Kaito saw Kiyo carefully press a tissue under his mask, then withdraw it, stained with ink.
"I believe we have a rather pressing issue." his tone was as calm as always, but Kaito could see the panic in his eyes.
"Yeah." Kaito said slowly. "Can you walk? We need to get you and everyone else to the sickbay."
Before anything could be accomplished, Kiibo burst in, Miu slung over his shoulder. "Something's wrong! She just keeled over! Ryoma too, but I couldn't carry them both-"
Kaito's blood ran cold. Shit, shit, how many were sick. No, he had to calm down. He had to help everyone. He was going to help everyone. That's what a good captain would do.
However, as he started moving everyone, he couldn't help but wonder if it was already too late. By this point it had become clear that they were dealing with a shipwide pandemic.
At the final count, Kirumi, Kaito, Tsmugi and Kiibo were the only ones not showing symptoms, the latter for obvious reasons.
Kirumi was moving at a million miles an hour, simultaneously caring for everyone and studying the virus as best she could.
"As far as I can see now, it doesn't appear to be deadly." Kirumi said. "At least not with the proper care. The majority of the symptoms are flu-like. Coughing, sneezing, fevers, chills, aches, dizziness. However the ink is concerning. It appears to be...but it's not entirely possible..."
"What is it?" Kaito asked.
"Well, it appears to be blood, but not exactly." Kirumi said. "In its rawest form, the virus would cause patients to expel blood violently, however it's mixed with some sort of antibody in the dna of our crewmates. The best way I can explain it is that it is the virus itself."
"So as their bodies fight it, it just...leaks out?" Tsmugi asked.
"That's disgusting, I'm actually glad to not be human right now." Kiibo said. To Kaito's surprise, he appeared to be nauseous.
Kaito however, stayed quiet. He felt rooted in place with shock and horror. "I'll be right back." he said slowly, before exiting the sickbay, the sounds of coughing and sniffling fading with every step.
"Pick up! Pick up dammit!" Kaito said, waving his arms in the hallway again. He knew they could see him. So where were they?
Finally the woman's voice reached his ears once again. "Hello Mr. Momota."
"It's the plague." Kaito said hoarsely. "They all have the plague."
"That appears to be the case." the woman said. "This has shed a light on the very virus itself. It seems to originate from that creature who's body you brought back. It must infect the intelligent species, who thus infected humans. All along we've been killed off by what seems to be their common cold."
"I thought Ultimates were immune." Kaito said, voice still horse.
"They are." the woman said. "Their immune systems must have been overwhelmed by the virus in its purest form. However, I doubt any of them will die from it. You, Ms. Tojo and Ms. Shirogane are quite lucky. Your immune systems must be stronger than most.
No, Kaito had already figured out why he hadn't gotten sick. He was already infected. He had been for a long time now.
"It's just like the deadly version." Kaito said. "The body tries to expel the virus, but instead of killing it by expelling blood, they're actually clearing it out of their systems."
"Correct. You did not strike me as the biologically minded type." the woman said. "Do you need anything else?"
"Did you know?" Kaito asked. "That we were going to get sick."
"We had suspicions, but no real way of knowing."
"The you could have warned us!" Kaito snapped.
"We did not know about the existence of the carrier species." The woman continued. "Plus your crewmates are potentially creating a powerful vaccine ingredient in their bodies as we speak. This could be a good thing."
"When are you gonna stop treating us like expendable lab rats." Kaito spat.
"When our work is done." that was the last she said before the comms clicked off. Kaito debated punching a wall again, but thought better of it. He needed his hands. If he couldn't do anything else, he was going to at least try and make his crewmates as comfortable as possible.
"How's that for ultimate doctor?" Kaito said, handing Maki a cup of tea.
She nodded gratefully. "Not too bad." She coughed harshly, and Kaito reached out to steady her. It was like watching himself. The symptoms were nowhere near as painful or as deadly as his own, but he knew that everyone was still in some extreme discomfort.
Overall, most of his classmates weren't too much of a challenge to care for. With the exception of Kokichi and Miu, most were content to just lay still and rest.
"How are you guys doing?" Kaito asked. Angie, Himiko, Tenko, Kiyo and Gonta were placed in one section of the sickbay, as all of them were relatively low maintenance.
"This is a pain." Himiko muttered, coughing softly.
"It won't stop!" Tenko said frantically, swiping at her nose.
"Let it happen, it's a good thing." Kaito said, handing her a box of tissues. "Can I get you guys anything."
"By the will of Atua, I am certain we will be cured soon." Angie said, voice raspy. "But water would be nice." several others murmured in agreement.
"Got it. Anything else? Kiyo? Gonta?"
"Gonta just cold." Gonta said, looking miserable. Kiyo mumbled something incoherent and pulled a pillow over his head.
"Ok." Kaito said, rubbing Himiko's back as she coughed. "I'll be back in a bit."
"This is so scary." Kiibo said softly as Kaito carefully filled cups with water. "I had no idea humans could get so sick."
"Yeah." Kaito said grimly. "Everyone's holding stable right? No one's in any real danger?"
"No, they are feeling generally terrible, as the consensus states, but no one is in danger." Kirumi said.
"Shuichi's talking about eyes looking at him." Tsmugi reported. "It's a little scary really..."
"I'll sit with him." Kaito said. "Can someone drop these off over there?" he held out the tray of water. Kiibo nodded and took it.
"I do not have the tools or information to create a cure persay, but as their bodies are fighting the virus, the best we can do is wait." Kirumi said. "Afterwards perhaps, we may have something valuable."
Kaito nodded, so the woman had been right on that front, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He walked over to where Shuichi was laying at sat down beside him. "How you holdin' up sidekick?"
"Stop looking at me...I didn't know...I'm sorry...It was just the truth..." Shuichi said softly. Kaito guessed he was delirious.
"Hey, shhh , it's ok." Kaito said soothingly.
"...Truth comes at a price..." Shuichi managed.
That much was true. Kaito knew that all too well. The truth about the virus was coming out, and his crew was paying the price as others watched. One day he hoped he'd be able to make them pay too. They were going to have a hefty price to answer for.