Not long after this poor, broken, shell of a man met Unty Vrax, there was an accident. Vrax was trapped under debris, pinned, badly bruised, and in serious danger. The human, adrenaline shooting through them, despite more debris falling on them damaging their prosthetics, dragged the debris off and got Vrax to safety. Despite getting hurt, Vrax was safe. And for them, that was the day, they truly started to heal.
@internutter/challenge-02486-f296-some-of-parts -- Anon Guest
This was the Edge, where civilisation as the Alliance knew it crept up on all those who lived there. With civilisation came Community Services, whether the residents liked it or not. With civilisation came Community.
Unty Vrax had been Human York's unofficial therapist for weeks before the Human asked for "a little help" with things about her domicile. In this case, moving some plants into their habitat to adhere to the new laws about air maintenance[1]. What it was turning into was a remembrance garden.
The bright flowers bought a smile to York's face and moisture to her eyes. "Pokki loved these. Said they were like fireworks but plant." The potted plant went into the new soil and gained a painted stone marker with the name Pokki.
The tree was another tribute to a lost friend. The name Darnl sparked another chain of stories and another spate of soft mourning. Scars beginning to heal.
It was several trips, and York warned Vrax about the garden emporium's shelving several times. It wasn't either of them that sent the improvised shelving toppling. A rogue trolley collided with a strut.
Plants, pots, and bags of soil came crashing down. So too did the planks and loose bricks that made the shelving. Vrax felt York try to push hir out of the way, heard a yelp and then... crushing weight and a difficulty in breathing.
"Not again, not again," York was saying, panting. Sobbing. "Notagain, notagain, notagain, notagain!"
Scraping and clinking. A continuing diatribe of, no's, chained together into a desperate babble. A sudden relief from the weight.
The sight of a very frantic Human, artificial limbs flying, tears streaking down her dust-covered face, scrambling to get Vrax free.
The artificial claws that could easily pierce Vrax's flesh were surprisingly gentle when the Human lifted hir out of the debris. Even more surprising was the tremula present.
"You're alive. You're okay? MEDIK! We need a Medik over here!" Then Human York went back to the pile. Making absolutely, positively certain that nobody else was underneath the rubble pile.
They needed two tranqs to calm her down to the point where she would let the ERT's work on it instead of her.
It was still a mental mountain for York.
"I saved one. I could save one. I did it, I saved..." Like the flick of a switch, they went from surprise to anger. "Why'd you get close? I'm a danger to everyone!"
"Are you?" said Vrax gently. Keeping the same distance ze had upon their introduction. "It looks to me like you saved my life from shoddy shelving."
"I didn't save Pokki and Darnl and Blikko and Jorn..."
Vrax asked the same question that had been unanswered for months. "Could you have saved them?"
"I tried. I was out of it, and they... I couldn't save them. They made a choice." Full tears at last, as the internal dam broke. "It was a bad flakking choice..."
Finally, some healing could happen as the truth came in.
[1] Plants rarely break down and require less maintenance than the algal air recycling systems still in use.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Natika]
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