"....R-Really?! T-Thank you, Thank you Ci"nder!
She grinned, straining against the weight of the car a bit
"Of course!!"
green text scrawled across her retina display-a comm notification
Comm received from Linh Adri. Come home. Peony has the plague. She's been taken to Quarantine-You have some explaining to do.
Cinder's heart stopped.
And now we do a lil' timeskip.
Cinder and Iko arrived home as quickly as they could, all thoughts of the car forgotten, abandoning it in the junkyard. She arrived at the apartment and supressed a gasp. Adri was leaning against the wall, face devoid of makeup. She looked like a skeleton, all jutting bones and hollows. Her eyes were puffy and red rimmed. She held a rag over her mouth and nose, glaring at Cinder. Pearl had a rag too, curled up in a ball on the couch. Three medroids stared at Cinder with their hollow eyes, red crosses painted across their chests. One of the medroids came forward, a third arm with a needle emerging from their chest. Cinder flinched slightly but didn't pull away as the medroid pricked her elbow, drawing blood. The medroids fan whirred for a moment as it tested the blood that would determine whether or not Cinder was going to the quarantines right alongside her sister. Whether or not this was all her fault...
???: "No traces of the Letumosis Virus detected. Patient is cleared."
A mixture of relief and sorrow filled her chest. She wasn't sick-she wasn't going with Peony.
the bots ignored her
Adri: "Tell me Cinder...Pearl and I have been tested. Neither of us are sick-so then...where could she have gotten it from-"
"Y-you think I gave it to her? T-They just tested me-I-I'm not sick-"
Adri: "And yet you were in the market when the outbreak happened."
"B-But I didn't-"
Adri: "You're booth is almost directly across from that bakery!! I have been very accomodating of your-defects-but I will not have a liar in my house!!"
Cinder's eyes stung
"I-It's not my fault!! I didn't get her sick-I-I love her too-"
Adri: "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU FAKE LOVE-Can your kind even feel love!? Or is it all just programmed-"
"....I'm still human Adri. Of course I love her-"
Adri: "Then shed a tear for her. Go on-"
"...T-That's not fair...."
"I-Iko no-d-d-on't-"
Her nostrils flared, holding her hand to her chest
???: "...If you will not follow orders, then you are useless to me. Prepare yourself-you will be sold off for parts tomorrow. I'd have Cinder take you apart herself-were she not leaving us...."
"W-W-Wait-Adri NO! D-Don't-p-please-s-she'll d-do what you say-g-go Iko-p-please-"
She was shaking, gripping her metal hand to her chest, legs on the verge of giving up-she couldn't lose Iko she COULDN'T-