THE SECOND CRADLE - BOOK TWO OF THE IRON CRADLE SAGA Chapter 5: CHAPTER FIVE - Welcome to the System

Read chapter 5 of THE SECOND CRADLE - BOOK TWO OF THE IRON CRADLE SAGA by JE PAYNE on NovelPedia.

CHAPTER FIVE ROSLYN RESEARCH FACILITY: Welcome to the System Yumi screamed, and I turned to see Kyle half-buried in debris at the bottom of the shaft. Blood was gushing from multiple puncture wounds running down the left side of his body. He looked weak and broken. When Tanya ran over to help pull him free and tried to heal him, she looked up at the rest of us with an expression of pure horror. She didn't say anything; she just pulled the window up so we could see it. SYSTEM WINDOW] WARNING: Your target Kyle Mercer is afflicted with Blood Toll. Healing is suppressed for the duration of this effect. All regenerative skills, spells, and abilities will fail until the debuff expires. I didn't wait. I ripped the chest piece of my armor off, exposing the woven top beneath, and started tearing the bottom of it into long strips. "You might not be able to use our abilities, but we have to stop the bleeding!" Tanya looked up. "Yumi, I can't see. There's not enough light." Yumi was already trying, her hands shaking as she reached out through her sobs to respawn her drones. Her breath hitched when nothing happened. "It's not letting me," she choked out. She tried again. "They're all on cooldown." She tried a third time, and her face crumpled. Tanya and I worked frantically to wrap the wounds running up the side of Kyle's body as Yumi stayed close, sobbing so hard she could barely get the words out. "Please," she said. "Please don't die. Kyle, sweetie, please don't leave me, okay?" ARi looked up at Roslyn, who had gone quiet, her face pale. "Roslyn, please. We need light." "Roslyn," ARi raised her voice. "Please!" Roslyn pulled herself together, and the lights at the far end of the corridor flickered to life. We kept working on Kyle while Tanya did everything she could with what she had. After a while, Tanya sat back. She looked at Yumi, and her expression said everything before the words did. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely holding together. "Yumi, I'm sorry." She stopped, pressing her lips together for a moment, her eyes wet. "That's everything we can do." ARi moved in closer as Yumi turned and threw herself into her chest, crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath. I didn't look away from Kyle. I glanced up at Roslyn after a while and caught her projection flicker and fade. It occurred to me that the explosion upstairs had likely collapsed the entire level. Whatever was powering those lights wasn't coming from a generator or a battery backup. She had to be pulling the power for the lights from her own reserves, and it was taxing her. She looked back at me, shaking her head, stopping me before I could say anything about it. "Roslyn, you can stop." She held my gaze for a second, and then the lights went out. The only light left was the faint flickering of flames coming from somewhere deep in the debris at the bottom of the elevator shaft. There was just enough light to make out the shapes of the people around me. I don't know how much time passed. Kyle lay motionless on his back in the middle of the corridor. ARi and Tanya held Yumi between them on the adjacent wall, her head resting against ARi's shoulder. She had cried until there was nothing left. It had been quiet for a long time, and nobody had said a word, as if somehow a sudden sound might force this to feel real. Even in the quiet, I almost missed the faint breath when he tried to get my attention. His eyes were open, and I pushed myself off the wall, lowering myself to my knees beside him. I leaned down until my ear was close to his face. "Am I dead?" His words were barely a whisper. I kept my voice low. "No, man. You're not dead." I paused. "But it was pretty touch-and-go for a while." A long moment passed before the next words came; each one was an effort. "Gavin," he said with a slow, ragged breath. "I can't move." "So don't try, okay? As soon as that debuff clears, Tanya will fix that. Just try to stay still." He was quiet for a moment. Then, rasping, he man