The golden light flickered and died with a sound like a headlight popping at the other end of a tunnel, reverberating inside my skull. A ring began to burn around my neck, pulsing and cold. Like a scalpel digging around for a bullet.

  //Warning: High Heartrate detected -- 147 bpm//

  The warning flickered, then smeared across the insides of my eyelids, a digital screech stabbing into my brain. It hammered and pulsed, warbling across every frequency I could hear. Arthur's voice bubbled underneath it, incomprehensible. Vsevolod's was a high-pitched whine, panicked and empty.

  Nothing moved. Not my tongue. Not my tail. Finally, whatever was cutting a ring around my neck stopped, flashing with a sudden heat. Distantly, I scented burnt flesh and charred scales. The smearing warning flickered and jumped back into the center of my view, reset. It only read 124 beats per minute, now. The screeching died out over the next several seconds.

  Finally, Arthur's voice broke through. "Vidr? Are you awake, Vidr?" he asked. My eyes managed to grind open, focusing on his simple face, plastered with his usual calm smile and the unassuming, yet stunningly well-made dagger in his hand, dark blood dripping from its blade.

  "What... the " I demanded, words slurring over my static-filled tongue.

  "It's... complicated. Have some water, please." Arthur pushed an ice-cold glass into my claws, sending a shock of pained lethargy through my body. It slipped from my grasp, shattering against the ground before my fingers could finish closing. My inner eyelids blinked, followed by my outer ones. With a heave, I slowly pushed to sit up. Pain bloomed around my neck when the scales stretched.

  "Warning, next time?" Vsevolod scolded, frowning. Sweat beaded against his scalp. "Here, Sawbones." He waved Arthur back. Something metal and warm was palmed into my open hand. He held it till my claws closed. The slow swig I took filled my maw with cheap whiskey. I swallowed it without complaint.

  "Apologies. I'm... unused to Saurids, admittedly," Arthur said almost mulishly. "There we are," he said, almost proud as I fully opened my eyes, tail flicking where it was pinned under me uncomfortably. I looked down at the flask in my claws before taking another swig. My neck burned more on the outside than on the inside. I ran a claw over it, pulling away with half-dried, ashy blood. New geometric lines ran across my neck like a throbbing collar.

  "What did you fucking do to me?" I snarled lowly, setting the flask down, letting my hand inch towards the front of my pants, and the grip of my pistol.

  "I put a warding mark on you." Arthur supplied helpfully.

  "You can't leave it at that, Arthur." Vsevolod sighed, rubbing his face. "The virus, Sawbones. It's something new. Something nasty. Nastier than sin." Vsevolod met my eyes evenly as he spoke.

  "Oh, wonderful." I hissed, secondary tongue slowly flicking out. The stench of burnt blood overpowered everything else.

  "Axiom Dynamics has invented a new magical language," Arthur added. "And they have made it something that can be cast with code, through The Grid." A disquiet glimmer flickered in his golden eyes.

  I sighed, falling back against the chair, twisting my hips to stop lying atop my tail, hand falling into my lap. "Fuck."

  "Fuck indeed, Vidr," Arthur said softly.

  "The virus does a couple things. Some of it's normal. Spreads like a wildfire through any connection it can get. Your IC has done a good job preventing that so far, thank god. But it also... well... it... what the hell did you say, Arthur?" Vsevolod looked over to the mage.

  "Well. When the code runs, which it does so recursively, first it creates a Triagonal-based casting of Vitae Drain. Drawing in Aethyr from the nearby surroundings to power the spell that comes next. It is unknown to me, but is a powerful hex. It then repeats the process, even in absence of the code, until there is no more Aethyr to drain. Hence your exhaustion." Arthur spoke with his hands tented thoughtfully, looking at a blackboard he had sketched arcane geometries across. "Luckily, it is a hex. A curse. So it is very . In this case, it can only affect a full-blooded human. So all it has done is cast the Vitae Drain... repeatedly."

  "Downside, can't stop it. Best I did was put a limit on how much RAM the program itself is taking up. But it's still casting. Doesn't bug me much, since I'm half steel anyways. And Arthur has this Aethyr shit to spare." Vsevolod explained, hands moving with each word.

  "So I had to put the warding mark directly on your body. It prevents the low-level Vitae Drain from... well. Killing you like it had been. I suppose I should make a necklace for Bella as well, since she is in such close contact with you. Regardless, since the spell is originating from inside you, I had to put the mark directly on you, hence the scarification."

  I fell back into the chair more with an exhausted groan. The adrenaline faded from my system sharply. "Good gods. I can't catch a damn break." I whined, letting the distress leak out for a brief moment, before digging in my jacket for a cigarette. Arthur winced as I lit it, but didn't protest.

  "Nope. I'll let The Selector know what we found out. Arthur, you get that necklace for Bella ready. She'll probably wanna help. Boss'll probably get you out of a few shifts at work. Just get some rest, Vidr. I'll take ya home when Arthur is done." Vsevolod promised. Arthur blinked, then nodded, quickly turning back to his desk.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  My head was still pounding. The whiskey only made it worse. While Arthur's back was turned, I mimed drinking to Vsevolod. He blinked, then nodded and stepped away. He came back with water quickly, putting the lukewarm glass in my hand. Drinking was a bliss like no other.

  I swung my legs over the edge of the reclined chair, the world spinning as my head tried to make sense of my surroundings as they moved. My claws dug into my thighs sharply, the pain bringing everything into focus again. The runes around my neck burned hotter for a moment as blood rushed through my head.

  "Easy there, Sawbones. Easy." Vsevolod put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from standing. "I'm sure I don't gotta tell ya to be careful but... be careful, scaly," he chuckled. "I was tracking your biomon. Went all sorts of fucked when we started trying to cut the thing out. You feel like shit from some sort of backlash. Arthur said it was a failsafe he hadn't accounted for. Something to keep the curse going."

  "I... remember something like that, when we pulled... Watson." I huffed, tail lashing.

  "That so?" Vsevolod asked. Arthur turned around as well.

  "Story for a time when my brain isn't trying to drill out of my skull." I huffed, pushing Vsevolod's hand off my shoulder to stand slowly, tail flicking to catch me before I fell forward.

  "Ah, quite right. Straining his mind may lead to adverse effects." Arthur added, holding a small box out to Vsevolod. "Just give that to Bella. It should keep her from being drained during any... intimate contact." He chuckled. I growled deep in my chest, crest flexing dangerously.

  "Car. Now, please." I hissed, jerking my head towards the stairwell. Vsevolod nodded quickly, sweating a little as he watched my eyes narrow at Arthur in irritation.

  //11-07-2099 - - 19:58//

  The Hearth loomed overhead as Vsevolod pulled us into the parking garage. The ride itself had been uneventful and tense. Bella was waiting, one hand on her hip, the other tapping at her commlink. She looked over the top of the phone and was at the passenger-side door before I had even undone my seatbelt. She pulled the door open, leaning in. "What in the did that do to you?" She asked, the backs of her claws running along the still-burning runes on my neck. I didn't even notice their cold claw tips.

  "Tss! Stop that." I hissed, smacking her hand away gently. "He did this so I ." I couldn't stop her from helping me stand. "I'm fine. Why are you so worried?"

  "I... Vsevolod... he said things were serious..." she said with a hiss.

  "Eggman, why?" I asked.

  "Because I don't want to be eaten." He shot back, cracking his back as he got out of the car. He tossed the keys over the car, where Bella caught them. The box from Arthur followed, skidding along the roof of the car. "Either way, I am going to let you be. Let you get some rest. I think it's her turn to be the maid." He chuckled. I gave a proper snarl from the chest, sending him packing with a laugh as my fangs glittered in the humming incandescent light.

  Bella frowned, watching as I leaned against the roof of the car, eyes closing. her hands took one of mine, cold from being left ungloved in the unheated garage. "Damn, Vidr. You're riled up." she muttered.

  "It's nothing." I hissed, pulling away to close the door, the heavy sound reverberating off my pounding skull. She took me by the shoulder more firmly, pushing me along to the elevator.

  "Best get you into bed, I think. You don't look great..." She said with a sigh, tail swaying, its side glancing off of my own tail. I narrowed my eyes in irritation, but let her push me along. The warm humidity of my floor felt soft and fuzzy against my scales, enveloping me in much-needed moisture. Several of my neighbors looked on with gently concerned snouts. A heavy weight lingered in the silence.

  It was gone, replaced by the comfort of my room, within moments as Bella hurried me along into my apartment. Bella quickly ushered me into the bathroom and turned on the shower. "Bella. I am a ," I protested, hissing low.

  "Shut it, you look like the dead, not a grown man. Let me pay you back." She said with a happy chirrup, all too pleased with herself. The glance I shot to the mirror showed a completely different story. There were still streaks of dried blood running down my neck, with blackened ash surrounding the runic geometry itself. Streaks ran down my cheeks and snout from where tears had run. The scales themselves had gone dull and pale.

  "At least give me some privacy?" I asked with a resigned sigh.

  She blinked a moment, then nodded, tail twitching stiffly. She slipped out of the bathroom quietly, though I could hear her moving about and making a ruckus in the apartment. I just stripped down, ignoring the pain as I tugged my shirt off. Once it was done, I stood in the shower, taking in the warm water and gritting my teeth as it ran against the fresh scars of the ward. "Shittiest tattoo ever." I snarled, sliding the frosted glass door shut to trap in the steam.

  Minutes later, I heard the door open again. The sound of cloth smacking a countertop. "Sorry to dig around. I just grabbed you some clean clothes. I'll leave them here," she said, sounding smugly pleased with herself.

  But the whole day washed away in ashy streaks down my body, vanishing down the drain. All that was left was a bone-tired lethargy that threatened to drag me down. By the time I had managed to towel off and dress, it felt like I was about to drop dead.

  I stumbled out of the bathroom, ignoring Bella, her words lost at the edge of my hearing as I fell into bed. Darkness came before my head hit the pillow.

  //11-08-2099 - - 05:22//

  //You have (1) new message! Reading now!//

  //From: Imathmaa Mutau | Timestamp: 04:04//

  //Contents: Hey Vidr. I heard from our mutual friend that you were going to be down and out. I got you the next two shifts off. Take care of yourself. I've met a lot of people like you. Yourself is the last person you look after. Don't do yourself that disservice.//

  The time, date, and message from Imathmaa were plastered against the cream-colored plumage of Bella's chest, my forehead pressed firmly against it, snout buried in the fluff of her down. Her heart thudded gently against it. I blinked it away, closing my eyes once again, diving back into hazy dreams of times long forgotten and only half-remembered.