Chapter Text
Candlelight hissed at the pain in her hand as she tried to catch her breathing. Landing on it after the device exploded harshly enough that she was thrown back wasn’t the ideal but, then again, the fact she can still stand despite the ringing in her ears is a win in her book. Her lack of incapacitation was probably due to her paranoia of accidentally blowing her ears out, leading to her wearing ear protection. Her good hand removed the protection so she can hear what other dangers still remain and hopefully take those who are incapacitated to safety.
Her handkerchief was soon wrapped around her fingers as she tried to stop her tears from falling due to the pain. This incident will be covered up, no questions asked. And besides, not like anyone would want to talk about this—Zoraxis either chose the people who wouldn’t or actively broke people who would.
The makeshift split doesn’t help much but there is help. She was straining her non-dominant hand to get up, barely getting into a kneeling position when a familiar redhead entered the area. Amber eyes met her grey ones and there was a foreboding sense of dread that rose up her throat.
“Candlelight. Report. What happened to the facility under your care? Because I need to report this to Daniel Sans.” Weaved came close to her, bending down slightly to meet her in the eyes like there was nothing wrong.
“I can file my own incident report, Weaved. I’m the one in-charge and I don’t think it’s right to leave that to someone else. Let me gather the facts and—”
“I’m surprised you’re still standing, operative.” A familiar voice caused her to look up, only for fear to take over even more. The Fabricator arrived, the clicks of her heels announcing her foreboding arrival. She was still wearing her usual hat that Candlelight can’t name due to her lack of background in fashion.
“Ma’am.” Candlelight lowered her head, trying to get up further but wincing when she tripped over and fell on her injured hand even more. Deep breaths soon escaped her lips as she tried to dry her tears.
“Do you have any idea what happened? That was one of my inventions. I demand answers, Operative.”
“I suspect an internal error. I was careful to do a preliminary inspection on the external parts and there was a loose wire. I looked at the prints and I managed to put it back. However, I should’ve noticed that there was a deeper problem. I sent a notice but there wasn’t a timely response and we were already running late.” Despite the neutral tone, there was a side glance at Weaved that managed to slip away from her own facial control. “I apologize for not being able to give you a proper welcome but I have to make sure no one else is in the danger zone.”
Thankfully, there wasn’t any fire but the loud bang managed to incapacitate the 3 other operatives that were in the testing chamber with her.
A hand managed to pause her attempt at getting up. “We have other teams here for a reason. I expect an answer and a proper report after you get yourself checked. Anyone who managed to notice the sabotage and attempted to do something about it despite other factors should be looked into further.”
The rest was a blur from the pain and Candlelight found herself in a medical cot with a few broken fingers in her left hand. Her eyes were glazed over when she saw the cast on her hand, covering her fingers.
“Sold my soul, broke my bones.” She muttered under her breath as she looked at the ceiling and wondered how they cleaned it. Her eyes soon closed as the painkillers did their thing. It’s best not to think about it at the moment. Better sleep while the painkillers can do their thing.
The room was bare, yet it felt crowded as multiple operatives were crammed into the room. So many others had it worse than her, only her own paranoia protected her. That explosion only caused so much trouble and she’ll be liable for the damages if she can’t prove that she did everything she could.
No one will stick their head out for her. After all, it’s pretty much a dog eat dog world. Pretty sure this shouldn’t be normal in the real world. No one is that awful in real life, right? Then again, Zoraxis has a chokehold on a lot of things outside.
She clenched her right fist as she tried to stifle the scream that had been attempting to slip out for a long, long time. Just how deep is she in this place? How much of her fragile mind now belongs to this awful company?
She doesn’t know and she’d rather not find that out.