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I need to know for certain that you won't need treatment too, and I need to know as soon as possible. Please do this quickly.

. . . Okay . . . He's in his room now.

Thank you. Please hurry.

[going over to Chrys' room.]

* most of the flat has been cleaned up since Ceres came, though there's little to be done for the damaged furniture save pushing it aside, and the marks on the walls and doors remain. *

* there's a figure on the bed, facing the wall, a rumpled sheet pulled below the waist; curled on his side in a near fetal position, arms held stiff and bent in front of his face, as though shielding it from a blow. And as the door to his room clicks open the body jerks, breathing hoarse and uneven in the silence. *

. . .

Chrysos Kenni, it's Allen Feramis. Do you hear me?

* at the voice he flinches again and curls further, the cords of his neck muscles tight to the very limit under damp skin. *

...I won't-- ....go away, go....

[Swallows hard. He pulls close enough to see him clearly, and as he scans his physical state, he takes out a long stem and a vial from his belt, taking a deep breath and shifting as silently as he can]

I'm here to help you, Chrysos. Please look at me. Let me touch you. I want to help.

* he's thinner than you ever remember him being-- the outlines of his ribs easily visible even in the dim-- but not emaciated, not yet. Where the lines of light from the shuttered windows fall on his bare upper body you can see his skin flushed from constant exertion of the muscles beneath; the minute trembling that seizes him seems to subside now and again, more due to exhaustion than anything else. *

* he doesn't respond. But his fingers, held in stiff claws, close into fists, and his breathing grows shorter and quicker. *

Chrysos, I'm going to take your temperature. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here.

[presses the end of the stem to Chrysos' skin, and also spreads a cool, liquid salve from the vial against his arm. It is a fast-acting sedative, powerful enough to kill the adrenaline in a rampaging Orvi - though if this is what he fears... all it will do is calm Chrysos down.]

* like a switch flipped-- the moment stem and salve make contact-- *

---no!!

* --in a flash of movement his body twists the other way and one arm lashes out wildly at the voice. *

[jolts back and the vial and stem clatter to the floor, both spinning-- his breath catches and thanks Surgeon that he thought to press both quick and simultaneously. He lashes his vines at him in an attempt to secure him]

Chrysos please calm down.

* he's already lunging right off the bed--- but the vines lash against his hands just before they reach Allen's neck, and the cry that escapes him is more pain than rage. *

[for a second he's so shocked by the fact that he's caused him enough pain to scream just by touching him that he hesitates and unravels, despite the direct attack, stumbling backwards instead]

* --a thump and another choked cry as his chest slams onto Allen's knees-- and his hands grab at the front of the boy's clothes, pulling at them, body trembling violently with the effort. *

[Allen can feel the heat through his clothes-- that's the very first thought, how hot Chrysos' body is, but the rest of him is wide-eyed and terrified, freezing up as all of his careful training, knowledge, ability to understand -- symptoms of hysteria, delusions, violence, increased strength, tremors, pain, unbelievable heat -- the conclusion he's reaching is only causing his heart to pound too fast, his stomach in his throat. He weakly, slowly tries to escape from him as if tranquilized himself, unable to compose himself as Chrys claws at him.]

C-chrysos. Chrysos, please stop. You're hurting yourself.

* he pauses, still clutching Allen's collar-- and whether it's the words, or the sedatives kicking in, or just sheer exhaustion... *

* letting go, he collapses to one side, shivering and whimpering. *

[Frozen in place.

He turns his head to stare at him, then stares at where the temperature stick had clattered to the ground. It's just a line of red, half ash, like incense half-burned. That temperature and alive. Beyond human, this disease transforms the sick to something that accommodates great rage of the mind and body. But this is no Berserker state.]

* the trembling slowly, slowly subsides, though not entirely gone. *

* a slight movement... and bloodshot blue eyes looking up at him. *

...Feramis...?

[Bloodshot eyes... so bloodshot they are nearly red.

There is no mistake.]

Chrysos Kenni, how have you become so sick?

* eyelids close, and open, and it takes a moment. *

...hoped... you could tell me that.

[applying SOME MORE SEDATIVE]

You have a very rare illness. What has happened to you? Your home is the Core. You should not have this.

...

Where... from...?

[speaks low, even, and fast]

The last case for it was far north, in Lepus. It effected Berserkers, but it was realized that it could affect anyone. It induces a transformation in the body and freezes you there, permanently. The body changes into a constantly regenerative state to accommodate, until the victim is unrecognizable and entirely mad.

...north...?

* for a moment, his gaze shifts from Allen's face to the worktable behind him. *

...the sample...

. . .[follows his gaze]

What sample?