Where the Heart is

I look down at my phone, checking the map one more time. “It should be around here somewhere…” I mutter to myself.

I readjust my running pants once more, reaching back to run my fingers through my tail gently. Hopefully they have someone here who’s better at modifying clothes than I am. Dresses are nice, but I’d love to have something I can move easily in that fits well around my tail. A couple weeks and dresses are so far the only thing that seem able to accommodate my tail well. Thankfully, I don’t feel as awkward wearing dresses anymore.

As I keep running, I slow as I approach a small side road. A large metal sign has been staked into the ground with a very familiar image painted onto it. Rhodes Island.

I smile, turning down the road and picking up the pace slightly. I’ve been on the road for the better part of a week now and I’ll be happy to finally be able to stop traveling for a while. Even before that I was traveling semi-regularly thanks to my situation.

Slipping my phone into my bag, I stare ahead of me at the large building barely visible at the end of the road. It approaches quickly and I can feel some trepidation mixing with my excitement.

The road opens up, the trees clearing away to grant me an unfettered view of the large building. The brickwork on the outside is painted white with hints of teal-ish blue here and there. Rhodes Island’s logo is even painted on the side of the building too, just to drive home that this is the building. Slowing my run, I approach what I assume to be the entrance and walk in.

The inside looks even more impressive than the outside. The painted walls trigger intense memories of what the interior of the Landship looked like on Terra. The memories send a pleasant chill through my body. For the first time in weeks, surprisingly I feel at home.

“Oh my gosh, Fang?!” Turning my head away from the walls of the building, I glance down the hall. An infected girl carrying a box very nearly drops the box she’s carrying as she attempts to rush towards me. “Fang, is that really you? Oh my gosh, it’s you, isn’t it!”

Looking the girl over, I can tell that she’s infected thanks to some Originium growths along her arm, but I don’t see any animal traits that would tell me what race she might be. “Uh, yeah, sort of. Sorry, I don’t recognize you.”

She chuckles, shifting the box in her hands. “Oh, yeah, sorry, you wouldn’t. I’m not, um, a Terran? I don’t have any memories or anything, I just recognize you from the game and stuff.” I nod, thinking to myself. I had heard a little about something like that, but I had no way to confirm if it was true. She frowns, cringing inwards slightly. “Sorry, that’s weird isn’t it? Sorry.” She shakes her head vigorously, not letting a little awkwardness deter her. “Still, you’re here! Have you come to join Rhodes Island?”

I nod, shifting my bag on my shoulder nervously. “Yeah, if you’ll have me. I… don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Her smile dips slightly at that and she looks chastened. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear…” She shifts the box in her arms and reaches out to lay a hand on my shoulder gently. “I’m sure Amiya will be glad to have you.” Readjusting her grip on the box once more, she glances behind me, watching the door. Glancing back at me, she looks like she has more to say, but she just bites her lip for a few moments. I gesture for her to say whatever it is and she glances at the door one more time. “Are… Beagle and Kroos with you?”

I feel a small piece of myself break a little as I hear that. My face falls gently, but I try not to let it show too much. “So they’re not here…?” I ask quietly. She winces, shaking her head. “Well… I’m sure they’re around.” I tell her. I still miss those two, even if I know that logically I’ve never met either of them in this life… It’s such a silly feeling to have, but I can’t help it. “What about Hibiscus or Lava?” The woman shakes her head sadly again. I sigh forlornly, trying not to let it get to me. Shaking my head clear of those thoughts, I try to focus on what I can do now. “Well, where is Amiya, I should probably talk with her.”

Another voice speaks up from down the hall, causing both of us to turn and look at her. “She’s busy at the moment with training, so I hope that I can suffice.” I smile as I see Kal’tsit walking towards the two of us. Her smile is faint, but it’s very familiar. “It’s good to see you, Fang.”

“You too, Dr. Kal’tsit.” Glancing behind her I can see a floating crystalline shape that I can identify as Mon3tr. “I’m sorry that I don’t think I can recall you as well as I might some others.”

She waves a hand dismissively, still smiling. “It’s no matter. They will come to you in time. Until then, you can get to know me as I am now. I look forward to doing the same with you.” Even if I don’t remember her that well, there’s familiarity in talking to her. It feels nice. In this place, talking to these people, I feel like I’m where I need to be.

“Um… Dr. Kal’tsit, ma’am?” The woman who greeted me first speaks up, glancing between the two of us. “Did you know that Fang was coming?” Her voice is mystified and she looks at Kal’tsit with wonder as if she can see the future.

She just shakes her head. “Not until moments ago, no. Scene informed me of her arrival when she showed up on the camera’s.”

I startle at that, looking around us. "Cameras? I didn't even see any outside."

"They're hidden all around, all the way out to the sign by the road. Thankfully, nothing's happened that's necessitated them, but it's nice to have a little heads up about any unexpected guests." I nod in agreement, seeing the practicality in it. Even in this world you can't underestimate Rhodes Island. "Aside from that, Potts, don't you have a delivery to complete?"

The girl nearly drops the box when she jumps suddenly. "Yes ma'am, sorry Kal'tsit ma'am!" She rushes past me, giving me a nervous smile as she pushes the door open and slips out of it. It closes behind her, leaving me alone with Kal'tsit.

"Come, let's go to the medical wing. We can chat on the way." I nod, following after her obediently. I glance this way and that as we walk, trying to read the signage on all of the doors that we pass. "First things first I suppose, do you have any desire to join Rhodes Island?"

I blink, turning back to Kal'tsit. She just watches me as we walk, awaiting my answer. I shrug, gesturing around us. "Of course, I'm here aren't I?"

"If I heard you correctly, you also said you have nowhere else to go." She sighs, looking at me pointedly. "We're not so cruel as to turn away someone in need, Fang. If all you need is somewhere to figure things out, we'll help as best we can. If you want to stay, though… well, we could use the help."

I nod, meeting her eyes. "I want to stay. I want to help people." She smiles at that, nodding once in affirmation.

"In that case, the next question is one of your role. Rhodes is currently in need of many different kinds of talents at the moment. On Terra, you were an Operator who fulfilled a variety of tasks, many of them martial. But this isn't Terra. There's room for all sorts at Rhodes Island and if you would rather just be a cook or handle paperwork, I won't stop you. In fact, I encourage you to make the choice that's right for you, whoever that may be now."

I shake my head, smiling earnestly at Kal'tsit. "I appreciate you asking, but… I think I want to be an Operator again. Most of my memories of Terra are of being an Operator there." I grip the straps on my bag tightly, looking down at the ground. "I miss my old team. It's weird because I've never met them, but… I'd love to be on a team with them again if that's ever possible."

Kal'tsit smiles knowingly, nodding her head. "I understand how you feel. And I would be happy to respect that wish should the rest of your team join us. Your experience together is an invaluable asset to us too and we'd be fools to overlook something so valuable." She turns, pushing a door open, revealing a room filled with medical beds and equipment. "Well then, Operator Fang. Welcome back to Rhodes Island. The first step in your onboarding is a preliminary health check."

My eyes wander around the room while Dr. Kal'tsit looks over the information on several screens. Lifting my hand, I look at my new Infection Monitor. The image of a similar band overlaps with this one, reminding me that this is all familiar to me in a sense.

Looking around the medical wing at some of the other people working here, a few are glancing over at me occasionally. A few share some hushed whispers that I can't quite make out. There's recognition in their eyes, among both the former Terrans who are visibly changed and the still entirely human infected.

"Dr. Kal'tsit," I say, catching her attention. She looks at me expectantly and I glance at the people around us. "People recognize me, right? Well, they recognize me as Fang. Does everyone? It seems like everyone knows who I am."

Kal'tsit let's out a breath, leaning back into her chair. She glances at the other Medical personnel around us, which causes the room to go quiet. They all avert their eyes, turning back to whatever else they're working one. She sighs, turning back to me. "Have you looked into who you are at all?" I open my mouth, but she raises a hand. "Not just your memories, but who you are with regards to Terra's cultural relevance on Earth." I close my mouth, shaking my head simply. I figured having the memories was enough, I never considered looking deeper into it.

"Fang was a member of Reserve Operations team A1," she looks at me pointedly, "your team. You were a member as long as it was around. It was a team of novice, but capable operators that served as your basic rarity of operators in game. Everyone who played the game will know who you are." I frown at that, replaying her words in my head.

"Does something happen to it?" I ask, feeling strangely bereft of familiarity for once.

She nods, watching my reactions carefully. "There isn't much information on the specifics, but it's assumed that something happened that causes you all to break up."

I listen carefully, prodding my feelings on the matter. I frown as nothing is forthcoming. "I don't remember that at all."

She shakes her head. "I don't suppose you would, yet. It might come in time. It might not. It's hard to say." Turning back to her screen, she continues talking. "I wouldn't worry too much about it right now. We only know so much about what's happening to you right now." She turns the screen towards me, directing my attention to it. "Speaking of, you're stabilized at the moment, which is good. As far as I can tell, you're in about the same shape as when you first joined Rhodes Island on Terra. It's about what I expected of your health."

I nod, looking at the rows of numbers on the screen. They don't mean anything to me, but it's nice to know that they're normal. "What do we know about what's happening to us?" This whole situation has been too much for me to really wrap my head around. At some point it just made more sense to just understand that it was happening, rather than ask how or why. "Why am I Fang? I mean… I haven't stopped being who I was exactly, I still remember my Earth life, but… Well, I've already accepted that I am Fang at this point, but I still want to know why."

Kal'tsit nods, leaning back in her chair. She taps away at the keyboard, pulling up an image before turning the screen my way once more. "You know what Originium is at this point, yes?"

I nod, looking at the black and red Crystal on the screen. It's one of the memories from Terra that's consumed my life ever since the change. The understanding that a single substance can change the lives of millions of people around the world. It's capable of both incredible and terrible things. Things such as giving me this new body, as well as inevitably consuming me when the body it's given me can't fight it anymore.

"There's a lot we don't know about it currently, we haven't remembered. Here at Rhodes we've managed to remember how to make Arts devices to assist Operators such as Amiya with Casting, but they're still crude and not as efficient as we could make back on Terra. But that begs the question of where the memories come from." She gestures at the crystal on the screen. "The Originium remembers. The memories come from the Originium Crystals in your blood reacting to your neural pathways in the same way that they would your Arts. It's also presumably how you changed. The Originium is somehow communicating that memory to your cells slowly, causing a rippling change to the rest of the uninfected cells when the production center's memories get confused." She sighs, turning the screen back away from me. "Or that's our best guess. It's a little ridiculous from a medical point of view, but so is turning into a part animal hybrid."

I gulp slowly, looking down at my hands. "So… I'm Fang, just by chance? It could have been anyone?" I look back up to her, searching her face for the answer.

She shakes her head, "Not by chance at all, no. The Originium is reacting to your neural pathways. Memories are caused by something that activates them usually. The only reason the Originium remembered Fang when it came into contact with you is because something inside of you reminded it of her." She smiles, reassuring me with just that small gesture. "You're Fang because you're you. Not in spite of." I sigh, letting out a shaky breath. That's a bit of a relief. I really didn't want to have to deal with the potential reality that I might have died at some point to become Fang. "What this means with regards to finding a cure, however… I'm not entirely sure. Unfortunately we have a lot of catching up to do in that regard while we collect more memories and perform more studies."

“Huh…” I say, letting my thoughts drift. “So, you said I’m in about the same shape as when I joined Rhodes Island? I guess that makes sense from what I remember. That’s not long after I got infected. Err, on Terra, that is.” There’s a twinge of urgency in that thought, one that sticks with me.

I kneel next to the small bed in the apartment that we were able to get. The funds that we had saved from our work at the police department are starting to dwindle and soon we won’t even be able to afford this bed for much longer. I smooth out the blanket on top of Beagle, watching her breaths as she pants in her sleep.

She winces, shifting in her sleep as another surge of pain goes through her. I grip the blanket tightly for a moment before smoothing it out once more. If only I could take just a bit of her pain away. “Beagle…” I say, keeping my eyes trained on her to make sure that she’s still okay.

The door clicks open and I lift my head up eagerly. Kroos walks into the room looking downcast. No one is behind her. “How’d it go?” I ask gently. I already know the answer by her expression.

She shakes her head, “I couldn’t get any medicine… I looked everywhere I could, but no one is willing to help the Infected. Even the people that knew me before won’t help out.” Her shoulders droop a little more as she turns to look at Beagle. “I guess I’ve finally experienced it,” she remarks blandly, “what the Infected people have always faced.” I turn back to Beagle, watching her while I try to think. She continues talking, “We’ll be forcibly evicted from Tkaronto early tomorrow morning. Then we’ll really have nowhere to go.”

I grit my teeth, gripping the blanket tightly in my hands. “Beagle’s condition makes it impossible for her to travel with us…” I let go of the blanket, smoothing it out once more. I don’t say anything as Kroos leaves the room, just focusing my attention on Beagle.

My hand grips tight, balling up the fabric of my running pants as I look around the room for Beagle. Where is she? She needs us! “Beagle!” I say, standing up abruptly. Kal’tsit stands up in front of me, stepping to the side to catch my eyes. I look at her, glancing around at the rest of the medical wing. That’s right, I’m at Rhodes Island now. “Kal’tsit, Beagle’s in trouble. She needs our help.” I say, desperation leaking into my voice.

She nods, resting her hands on my shoulders. “Calm down, Fang.” She pushes me gently back into my chair. I resist for a moment before allowing myself to be pushed down slowly. “Beagle’s not around right now, we’re doing all we can currently. If we find out where she might be, rest assured that we’ll do everything in our power to help her out, but right now we don’t even know that whoever she might be has been infected yet.”

Sitting in the chair, I stare Kal’tsit in the eyes for several seconds. She holds my gaze carefully, her gaze still just as impassive as ever. “If the Originium remembers what we were like when we were infected, Beagle wasn’t doing well soon after she was infected. She’s the reason we ended up at Rhodes Island in the first place…”

Kal’tsit sits down, rolling her chair closer. “I understand, Fang. There’s nothing we can do about it right now, though. Unfortunately, you can only trust in Beagle's own ability to take care of herself. She’s a strong girl and a capable operator in her own right.” Folding her arms, she lets out a sigh. “Besides, it’s unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately in this case, not that simple. The point at which the memory seems to target isn’t specific. Amiya was much younger when she was first infected. Even during the time that the game covers, she’s fourteen. Before Amiya changed here on Earth, she was about twenty. After her change her body seems to have split the difference, landing somewhere in between the two ages. It’s hard to say whether that’s because the memory is from further along the timeline, or if it’s just a strange side effect of how the change happens.”

“So, it’s possible that Beagle might be okay?” I ask hopefully.

She nods, “The circumstances are different enough that her Oripathy might not be as acute as it once was. It’s really hard to say anything with certainty, though. I hope you understand.” Her phone rings, tearing her attention away from what we were talking about. I do feel better after hearing what she has to say. Apologizing to me, she gets back up from her chair, putting the phone to her ear as she steps a couple of feet away.

I fiddle with my Infection Monitor as I think about my squadmates once more. Thinking about whether they’re okay or not fills me with anxiety, but… Kal’tsit is right. They’re capable operators themselves. I have hope that they’ll make it here okay someday.

Kal’tsit walks back to me a few moments later, putting her phone away. “That was Amiya. I let her know that you’re here. She wants to see you.”

I sit up, looking askance at the room around me. “Oh, right.” Shaking my head to try and clear it, I stand up straight. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that.”

She nods once, smiling once more. “Have you eaten?”

Walking into the cafeteria, I look around the large open room. It’s styled just like the rest of Rhodes Island and reminds me of two things at once. The cafeteria on the Landship, as well as my Academy’s cafeteria on Earth, strangely enough. Looking around at all of the people around, I try to look for any familiar faces, but only one sticks out.

Amiya sees me as I see her and she waves me over. Several heads start to turn my way as more and more people start to recognize me. The cafeteria grows quiet as everyone watches me.

I take a nervous step forward, trying to focus on Amiya. Right, I had been so distracted by everything else that I had nearly forgotten that apparently everybody will know who I am. As I walk towards Amiya, I see a large plume of flame fly into the air from another end of the room. I startle and everyone stops looking at me to turn and look at whatever that was.

A single very embarrassed man is sitting hunched over something lying on the table. I hear Kal’tsit click her tongue from behind me. “Crudeoil, what have I told you about tinkering with projects in the communal areas!” She turns back to me briefly. “Go on ahead, I need to go take care of some things.” She strides towards the man who caused all the commotion.

He starts to scoop several parts together, waving his hands. “I wasn’t tinkering! I’m just troubleshooting now!” He exclaims, waving his hands in front of him. Glancing around the room, everyone’s attention is no longer on me, but on this apparent troublemaker. I smile, walking briskly towards Amiya. Purposeful or not, I’ll have to thank this Crudeoil fellow when I next see him.

She chuckles as I approach, offering me a kind smile. Her gaze wanders towards the ongoing commotion between Kal’tsit and Crudeoil. “Never a dull day in Rhodes Island it seems.” Turning towards me properly as I sit down across from her, she pushes a plate of food over to me. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Fang. Welcome to Rhodes Island.”

Looking down at the plate, I realize that it smells really good. “Lasagna?” I ask, picking up a knife and fork. There’s a small side salad to go along with it.

Amiya nods happily, taking her own bite out of the food. “Easy to make in large batches and not too difficult to make. The cooks have been doing a great job lately. We’ve been working on securing some funding for more robust facilities, but it’s really incredible what they’ve been able to make with what we can secure so far!”

I nod, turning to look at where the kitchen is. There’s a glass case filled with food and behind it a few cooks stand at the ready, serving plates of lasagna to anyone who approaches. I take a bite, turning to look at more of the people around us. A few people around the Cafeteria are glancing my way, but a large amount of the chatter has returned to normal. “It’s so weird to be back here…” I say gently. Turning back to Amiya, I wave a hand gently. “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m happy to be back, I just—”

She lays a hand down on my own, showing me the Originium growth on the back of it. I look up to meet her eyes and she smiles gently. “I know what you mean, don’t worry. It’s weird for me too.” She gestures towards the rest of the cafeteria. “I think you’ll find plenty of people here who can relate. A lot of the former Terrans worked for Rhodes Island at some point. Some didn’t but played the game and it’s a different kind of weird.” She shrugs, taking another bite of lasagna. I nod slowly, digesting her words. I don’t recognize most of these faces very well, but maybe I just have yet to remember any of them. At some point in an alternate past, some of these people were my coworkers.

“That won’t exactly make it feel less weird,” A voice says from behind me. I turn to watch as another woman I don’t recognize approaches the table. My eyes flick towards her horns and tail. Is she a… were they called Voiuvre’s? She waves gently, taking a seat beside Amiya. “Hey there. You must be the new Operator Amiya mentioned.”

Amiya chuckles, “New is kind of relative, though.”

The newer woman rolls her eyes, picking at her salad with a fork. “I’m talking about on Earth obviously.” She holds a hand out for me to shake and I take it. Her grip is firm. “Name’s Kay. Or Operator Dowse, if you’re so inclined.” She shrugs, “I don’t care either way.”

I nod, happy that someone seems to be treating me normally. “Operator Fang. Just Fang, I think. Too much of a hassle to think about the old name.”

Kay shrugs, smiling teethily at me. “Hey, I hear that. Especially considering that everyone seems to know you as Fang already. I imagine that makes it easier.” She shrugs.

I wince at that, “Yeah, apparently.”

Amiya offers a small apologetic smile. “Sorry, let me know if I can do anything to help regarding that. I don’t want any of the others to give you a hard time around here cause of who you are.”

I wave a hand dismissively. “I just need to get to know them I think, I think I’ll be alright. I can sort of understand how they feel.” I let out a sigh, twirling my fork idly in thought. “There are some people I don’t exactly know that I want to see too.”

Kay nods, looking solemn as she hums gently. “Me too.”

“I think we all can relate,” Amiya says with a smile. “It hasn’t been that long since this all began, I’m sure they’ll show up somewhere.”

We all lapse into silence and I spend a few moments just enjoying the meal. It’s been a while since I ate something home-cooked… as much as this counts as home-cooked. Setting my fork down, I look around the cafeteria once more. “So… What will I be doing?”

“Well… At the moment we’re mostly busy figuring things out admittedly.” Amiya looks away nervously, dipping her head apologetically. Her ears dip low, bobbing in front of her face as she glances up through them. “Sorry, that’s probably not the most exciting thing to hear at the moment.”

I shrug. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine doing whatever needs doing. I’m just happy to be here.”

Kay nods, gesturing towards me with the pointy end of her fork. “What were you doing before? On Earth, not on Terra.”

I wince, gulping down a small lump in my throat. “I was a police officer. The more I see, though, the more I feel like we don’t need cops around here…”

Kay sighs, nodding slowly in agreement. “You got that right.” I nod once, trying not to wince at hearing that.

“We might not need cops, but… our security force could use some more help. It would give some of our operators such as Dowse here more time to work on their other projects, rather than having to take shifts keeping the Originium slugs in check. Plus, if you’re up for it, I’m sure Miss Dobermann would love to have someone else around to help with training the newbies.”

I freeze, having started reaching for my fork. Looking Amiya in the face, I can see that she looks confused as I stare at her. “Instructor Dobermann is here?” I ask gently.

Her eyes light up. “Oh, yes! Sorry, it completely slipped my mind with everything else going on. Do you want to meet her?”

I nod, picking my fork up and starting to shovel lasagna into my mouth.

I clench my fists idly, looking at the doors before me. Glancing over at Amiya, she gestures for me to go ahead and open it. Her smile is kind and patient, so I turn back to the door. I push the door open slowly, stepping into the room.

It opens into a large room filled with a variety of training machines. The crack of a whip rings through the large open space, a few more cracks are followed by a few grunts of exertion and the sounds of limbs smacking against wood.

In the middle of the room, Dobermann stands with a whip, facing a large upright standing pillar of wood. She winds her hand back, letting loose a vicious crack of the whip. The whip digs into the wood, putting a dent in the side and threatening to carve out a small chunk of the wood. She follows it up by closing the distance and battering the side of the wood with a variety of pulled punches and kicks.

There’s a half of me that knows that she’s pulling her punches, focusing more on technique. Just enough force to get the form right, but not enough that she could hurt herself practicing. I watch her for a moment, watching her reposition and practice from a different stance for a moment.

As she adjusts one more time, her gaze strays towards me and Amiya. Her gaze freezes and I see her breath go still as she straightens back up. She drops the whip to her side, quickly turning towards the two of us and stepping closer. I feel my head flickering between various memories of Dobermann, a surge of emotion coming from somewhere inside me. I smile wide, waving to her nervously. “Instructor Dobermann, it’s good to see you.”

She closes the distance, pulling me into a quick hug. I’m shocked briefly by the strength of the hug, but she quickly pulls me away from her by the shoulders. Looking me up and down I can see the wide smile on her face. “Fang! It’s good to see you too.” She glances over my shoulder at Amiya, glancing around briefly. “No Kroos or Beagle?” I wince at the mention of the two of them, shaking my head. “Huh… I would have imagined you three would be together when you changed.” Shaking her head, she lets go of my shoulders. “They’ll show up. Still, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s nice to see another familiar face.” I rub the back of my head nervously, looking her over once more. “And also to get to know someone that I feel like I know well.”

Nodding seriously, she smiles at me while folds her arms. “There will be plenty of time getting to know each other during training.” I wince at that, a mixed feeling of comfort and dread at the thought of the kinds of training I can recall going through on Terra.

Chuckling gently, I let out a gentle sigh at the thought. The comfort of familiarity is worth a little bit of a workout. “Well, I can tell you’re the same Instructor as always.”

“You’ve always been a capable Vanguard, Fang. I remember that much at least.” She rests squeezing my shoulder gently before letting go of my shoulders. “As long as you’re able and willing, having you around to help with training the more inexperienced newbies would be a huge help.”

“You know I can.” Stepping back, I stand up straighter and raise my hand in a salute. “Operator Fang reporting for duty, Instructor!”

“Oh!” Amiya says, turning around in a rush. “I knew I was forgetting something! Wait one second.” She rushes out of the training room, leaving us alone.

Dobermann chuckles, putting her hand with her whip on her hip. “I’m not the only one that hasn’t changed. That girl’s as lively as ever.”

“She’s not exactly the same. She’s older.” I smile.

Dobermann hums, folding her arms. “In some senses, I suppose.” I pause as she says that, puzzling over what she’s just said. Kal’tsit said that she’s older now.

Before I can ask what she means by that, the door to the training room opens. Amiya returns and my eyes go wide as I see what she’s carrying. Approaching hurriedly, she holds a spear carefully out to me. “This might not be the same as the one you’re familiar with, but Dowse and some of the others helping her have been manufacturing a variety of weapons just in case an Operator comes by that can use them. I knew she had a spear laying around somewhere.”

I take the spear, holding it gingerly in my grip as I look it over. It doesn’t look the same, but gripping it tightly I can tell that it feels right in my hands. Glancing back up at Amiya, I feel a surge of emotions welling up inside me for not the first time. I brush away a tear, nodding thankfully to her.

“Well, why don’t we spar a little and make sure you haven’t gotten rusty at all?” Turning back to Dobermann, I see her walking over to a wall. Pushing a button, the wall slides open to reveal a variety of training weapons. I gawk at the selection, already sufficiently impressed by the wall opening. “Training weapons of course. We don’t need to give the Medic Operators any more work just yet.”

Amiya chuckles, waving as she turns around. “Stay safe you two. I already got some training earlier and I still have a few meetings to attend. I’d appreciate it if you could show Fang to the Dormitory after you two are done training for the day, Miss Dobermann.”

Dobermann nods in acknowledgement. “You got it, Amiya.” We both wave her goodbye as she leaves and we’re alone once again.

Wandering over to the selection of training weapons, I set my new spear down gently beside them. Picking up a long plastic feeling pole, I feel its weight in my hands. “Alright, let’s do this.”

SylkWeaver

And this concludes Fangs Operator Record! Wanted to put something out for my birthday, so glad to have this out! Also, I'd love to hear from those of you that know arknights, who would you like to see? I'm curious about your favorite operators and any thoughts or interesting directions you'd want to take them! There are plenty of operators that I have ideas about and plans for, but I'm always looking for more inspiration!

Thanks for tuning in! See you closer to halloween for an original short story!