Panacea

[Defiance]

PANACEA

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"Higher powers call, my friend."​

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"...it's time."​

The swift chatter of the train tracks lured Malcolm to siesta. His eyes fluttered, feeling the vibrations crawling up the window next to him and soothing him. They drew to close, framing the moving image of the countryside as a personal token of serenity. Loosely worn shirt underneath a black overcoat that draped from the edges of his shoulders and embraced his torso, Malcolm was well aware of the therapeutic qualities of the term "relax". Rugged yet confident, he dozed at the back of the first class car with a resting smile on his dashed face. Slightly unshaven stubble and dangling strands of red hair struggled to cover the jagged lines that ran from his forehead to cheekbone.

He stifled a yawn. Sleep, despite his best wishes, he delayed. Not many were present in the train car. Nine others, to be precise. Ruby eyes glanced over them, until they caught sight of a woman. His eyebrow raised. A State alchemist—no, an former State alchemist. His eyes examined her form and about her belongings. Smoker, yet medical expertise. A lack of inherent self-preservation? Perhaps the product of unsavory history. The side of his mouth curved into the slightest smirk. Notable scientific curiosity, potential. An intellectual prowess. But then it disappeared. And the foundations of unethical experimentation.

Disturbed somewhat by the revelation, he moved onward, catching sight of another man, who at first seemed to be traveling on his lonesome. Moderate clothing somewhere between style and business, the man's attire and behavior suggested the simple attire of government pay. Added, the two poorly disguised bodyguards—the one situated two rows behind, and the other to the man's front—with their firearms exposed at their every movement, probably suggested that this was an official. A special breed. Specifically? Malcolm couldn't gather, but to warrant armed escort inferred he was of some importance. The rest, as Malcolm observed, were either upper middle class citizens exploring or traveling between two newly connected countries or businessmen between trips.

His attention suddenly diverted as two men entered the car. One was large and the other somewhat slim, but what Malcolm nearly immediately noticed their physiological idiosyncrasies, notably their abundance of feral hair. There they are, he recited as he watched them from his napping position. Chimeras, as they were known among the alchemical world, were a highly controversial practice. They were the result of transmutation between a human and an animal. Legislation on the matter was uncertain at best, the applied knowledge and education required to even perform it made it rarer to stumble upon.

Malcolm's eyes remained in their slits as they passed him, feigning sleep. It hardly made much difference, the two shuffled down the aisle with some hurry, avoiding eye contact. With a quick open of the door, they moved on to the next car. Malcolm played in his suspicions, tossing them over in his head as he idly looked to the window. The landscape had changed. A canyon was fast approaching, and just beyond Malcolm could see the Table City. Perhaps I was wrong, he thought. Perhaps it was nothing.

Then, in a brilliant boom, Malcolm's vision went dark as he felt his consciousness leave him, shadowed by the beginnings of overwhelming pain and falling.

At least they timed it right.

 

[Black Noise]

Rubbing her head, Nemo sighed deeply and attempted to readjust herself into a more comfortable position. A staunch opponent of public transportation, the dark haired woman could not express enough how much she hated carriages and trains. All the bumping and rumbling of the train, the bumbling and shoving of the overcrowded people inside. If it wasn't completely necessary that she take the fastest route to Table city, then perhaps she would have just walked. But those things were not the worst part, the thing that made Nemo hate trains and public transportation in general was that smoking was prohibited.

However, there was no use verbalizing her complaints, therefore she mentally dwelt on them while pretending to sleep. Making no attempt to view her surroundings, she internalized herself and began thinking on what she would need to be doing when she arrived in Table city. There was a need for doctors of both the normal and alchemical variety there, large populations bred disease and diseases would always need to be cured.

A smile etched itself on her face at the thought of new work within the medical field. It had been a long time since she was able to help people. In her time as a medical examiner, she specialized in examining bodies killed by alchemy, finding out exact causes of death and tracing certain patterns in murders. Such work excited her beyond belief, however, it could also be quite depressing. Especially upon examining those whose life had been cut short long before their time. She had begun to wonder about whether or not it was possible to use the bodies of the dead to create a new life to take the lost one's place.

Naturally, no one would ever allow nor approve of such work, in fact there were laws against it. A dangerous practice deemed impossible by many, but there were stories, more rumors than anything, of men who traversed the afterlife to meet God himself. Surely if they could do that, then she could do this. There were so many wastes in human society, problems that were best destroyed, but Nemo had asked herself that perhaps their souls could be used for better work. The immorality of it all did not stop her and she continued to work in secret to recreate the dead. However, she was eventually found out by her chief after yet another failed experiment. What ensued, Nemo decided she would not think about it.

Opening her eyes, Nemo stood up momentarily to stretch her limbs. As she did so, she was overcome by the blasting sounds of an ear bursting boom shortly before lurching forward, hitting her head, and losing consciousness.

 

[Defiance]

Roars sounds of crumbling rock jolted Malcolm awake, bringing clarity back to his senses. His eyes quickly perused the scene while he attempted to move, only to be met with the aching pains of his fall. A lancing throb prompted him to stroke the side of his head, feeling a hot stream of blood. Bringing himself to a stand, Malcolm surveyed the passengers. They were equally disheveled, some even more injured. Many were still recovering from the recent fall. Fall. Malcolm glanced through the train window, revealing uneven walls of bedrock. We've fell into the canyon. How convenient. His evaluation of the train car were less than convenient.

Two mortally injured. Several unconscious, many dazed. And— Malcolm caught sight of one of the bodyguards, and his heart fell. Of course. A bout of irritation rose within him, his eyes fleeted to the woman he had examined earlier. Alive, just beginning to regain consciousness. With a fwip of his robes, he lurched down the aisle and grasped the woman's shoulder. Shaking it, he watched her eyes crack open and spoke promptly. "Sorry to wake you, doll, but people are need of medical attention."

Confirming that she had heard him, Malcolm wasted no time jumping to the door to the next car. The same car that he had observed the chimeras go through. When he came to through, he tested the next car's handle to find that it was locked. Annoyed, Malcolm kicked open the door. Inside the car Malcolm saw a staggering sight. The government man was there, accompanied by the two chimeras, on his knees. The entire car was empty, save for alchemical symbols and markings all across the walls and on the floor. A transmutation circle lay beneath the man, who had tears streaming down his cheek. To Malcolm's entrance, all three looked to him in surprise. The smaller chimera, who sported a large hat, spoke earnestly.

"Now who, might I ask, are you?"

Malcolm, on the other hand, only smiled.

Raising his right hand up, he revealed a small alchemical circle on his palm, which suddenly glowed in a flash of brilliant light. They flinched in blindness, while Malcolm produced a dagger from his sleeve and slashed at the larger chimera. The ape-like man leaped backwards, having the blade only graze him. Without hesitation, Malcolm slashed again, but the chimera had managed to recover. The ape-man dodged again, instead grabbing the collar of the government official and fleeing with his colleague from the exit.

Malcolm growled. They weren't going to get away that easily.