//Ahn: Wounded

The closer they got to the center of District 3, which, according to Nathan, was where the Wormhole was, the less drab the environment became. People began to differentiate their clothing. Some wore long coats of various colors, others wore simple shirts and jeans. There was still an abundance of people abiding by the conformality of the gray clothes that were worn near the border between District 3 and District 5, but a few of them stood out especially. These were the people whose clothes were tattered and dirty, as if they hadn't been washed in a matter of weeks, or even months.

They bore the same worn composure and pathetic expressions to those in the slums of District 5. They usually were sitting along the sides of the streets, tucked into alleys or sitting on the sidewalk. The people in gray paid them no mind, almost like they were ignoring their existence entirely. The group wearing unique clothing, however, looked upon them with disdain.

Ahn noticed that those wearing their own choice of clothing had a red cross plastered across the backside of whatever they were wearing. Could they be members of the OEC? He thought back to the man called The Executioner. The red cross these people were wearing was a symbol of death, yet they all carried the burden of the macabre image with pride.

He took a deep breath, realizing that the pollution here was so thick, he could actually taste the difference. The air smelled of oil and smoke. The clouds overhead formed a murky brown blanket, separating the earth from the stars beyond. OEC patrols rolled past in a variety of vehicles, all of which could be considered military grade.

"Welcome to the Judge Sector," Nathan said, though no enthusiasm was behind his voice. He went quiet for a moment before continuing.

"I'm not, ah, exactly welcome here," he added with a nervous laugh. He had pulled his mask and goggles over his face some time ago, clearly in an attempt to conceal his identity. Ahn didn't blame him after seeing the massive bounty on his head. Whatever Nathan had done exactly wasn't important to Ahn, but the repercussions would affect all three of them negatively if they were seen together.

Nathan's face was marred with a grim complexion, his eyes flicking around behind his goggles from one person to the next as he walked by them. His gaze tended to linger a bit longer on the people in poor condition.

They continued to walk through the streets, seemingly approaching a large structure a few miles ahead.

"Remember how I said that District 3 follows a monarchical system?" Nathan asked suddenly.

Ahn nodded.

"I'm assuming there's more to it?" Sae replied, a suspicious look crossing her face.

"Right. It follows not just the monarchy, but a similar power structure to a feudal country."

"Like medieval...I believe it was called Europe," Ahn said.

"Close enough," Nathan acknowledged. "The Steel King has a number of elites that he trusts, and has appointed them to be in charge of different Sectors within District 3. There are five of them." He scoffed. "The Executioner is one of them. He likes to go by the title of 'Judge', but that would imply that the people he kills really have a trial. This area happens to be the one under his jurisdiction."

Nathan stopped walking for a moment, looking confused.

"Is something wrong?" Sae asked, craning her neck to look back at him.

Nathan stood in place for a few more seconds, scanning his surroundings carefully.

"Um...no," he decided. "I'm, uh...fine."

Ahn shared a look with Sae. It was almost like Nathan had totally forgotten where he was.

Nathan hurried to catch up with them when he had recovered from his stupor. "We're heading to the Wormhole, correct?" he asked.

Sae gave him a sideways glance. Nathan seemed to pick up on her suspicion, and let out a laugh.

"Humorless, the both of you," he joked. "I'm quite sure your face would be even prettier with a smile on it," he added, turning Sae's stare even colder.

"It's gotten even worse." Nathan was whispering now, quietly enough that most humans wouldn't have heard, but Ahn was barely able to make out what he was saying. Nathan's eyes lingered even more prominently on the people in poor condition on the sidewalks.

"Did…" Ahn hesitated. He knew better than anyone that one's past wasn't always something they wanted to talk about. "Did you live here when you were younger? From the sympathetic looks you've been giving the lower class people, I assume you were one of them?"

Nathan's face showed a glimpse of solemnity. His movements became stiff, much different than the relaxed aura he usually had about him. "I suppose you could say that." He tried to conceal it in one of his coat pockets, but Ahn caught a glimpse of his right hand trembling lightly.

A low rumble rose from the expanse of road in front of them. The people on the street around them suddenly stopped whatever they were doing, lowering themselves into a kneeling position, their eyes pointed to the ground.

Before Ahn could react, Nathan grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him along with Sae between a pair of small buildings on the side of the street.

"What are you doing?" Sae whispered harshly.

Nathan didn't reply. Instead, he softly raised a finger to his mouth, signalling for them to be quiet. He pointed with his other still trembling hand to the street, which had also fallen into a state of silence, save for the rumbling, which was getting closer with every passing second.

When the noise was directly across from them, Ahn could see a large vehicle of some sort, painted entirely white with streaks of red running across it. It had too many wheels to count, and appeared to be heavily armored, more so than even an average hover tank. A large rotary gun of some sort was mounted on the top, swerving from left to right, seemingly tracing the sidewalks for any who were foolish enough not to prostrate themselves.

Nathan's heart rate had risen above one hundred and eighty beats per minute. His breath was ragged, as if he had to force himself to intake oxygen with each inconsistent rise in his chest. The vehicle passed without incident, and the bustling noises along the street resumed. Ahn stood to make his way out of the alley, but was stopped by a small voice.

"D-don't move!"

Ahn turned to see a small boy behind them. He was dressed in a dull brown shirt with a number of tears running through it, his worn and dirty jeans not looking any better. He had short blond hair, which was marred by dirt and oil, and looked to be around nine years old.

He stood shakily as he faced them, a long knife clutched in his tiny hands. When Ahn looked more closely, he saw that a woman was lying behind him. She appeared to be in a worse state than the boy, nearly on the brink of death. Her dry lips moved lightly, but no noise came out.

"Don't move!" the boy repeated, louder this time.

Sae reached for her swords, but Nathan reached out and stopped her, gently grabbing her wrist before she was able to unsheathe them. He turned to the boy, kneeling to meet his height.

"What is it you want?" Nathan asked smoothly.

The boy lowered his knife a little, confused by Nathan's kind tone of voice, clearly not expecting such a calm reaction. He clenched his fists around the handle.

"Give me your money!"

"What's your name?" Nathan said, ignoring the boy's order.

The boy hesitated for a moment, but decided to reply. "John."

Nathan met the boy's nervous gaze with a smile. "John, is it? That's a good name. And what do you need money for, John?"

John turned slowly to face the woman, flicking his eyes cautiously back towards Nathan frequently as he did so. "My mother...she's sick."

"I see," Nathan said, scratching at his barely existent beard. "And what will you do with the money?"

"Take her to the hospital. So she can get better." John's voice cracked as he said this.

"And?" Nathan asked. "How do you intend to get her there? She doesn't appear to be in any condition to walk."

John's head sank. "I'll figure it out," he mumbled.

Nathan nodded. John's mother coughed violently on the ground, blood spilling from her mouth onto the pavement.

John winced with each cough, as if he were the one who was sick. He raised the knife again, tears forming in his eyes.

"G-give me your money! Now!" he stammered, the force he tried to put in his command losing its potency as he stuttered.

Nathan stood to his full height, though it wasn't necessarily impressive, again, looking down at the boy in front of him.

"What if I declined? What would you do?" He said this not in a mocking tone, but in that of genuine interest.

"I...I'd kill you!" John shouted.

"I doubt you could. You're not very observant if you couldn't tell that my friends here," he gestured to Sae and Ahn, "Are more than capable of holding their own in a fight.

John's eyes drifted between the two of them, coming to a stop on Sae's mildly bloody hands from dealing with the bodies at the bar. He stared at the blades at her waist, his expression turning even more fearful than before. His grip, however, remained tightly around his weapon.

Nathan pursed his lips into a surprised smile. "You're still willing to stand your ground?"

John swung the knife through the air with no real target, a swishing sound of his knife following the harmless blade.

"What if I told you that we could give you something far better than money?" Nathan asked, clearly unphased by the boy's unrefined attacks.

"Like what?" John's interest was piqued, but there was an edge of suspicion to his shaky voice.

"Fighting isn't the only thing these two can do."

Sae looked at Ahn. 'What does he mean by that? He's never seen us do anything but fight.'

Ahn had been thinking the same thing. While Nathan wasn't entirely wrong, there shouldn't have been any way for him to know that. If he had brought it up in a friendly conversation, it would have been a different matter, but in this situation, he clearly had something specific in mind.

"They can help your mother right now," Nathan said confidently. He looked back at them, gesturing towards the dying woman. Both Sae and Ahn remained still.

Nathan's expression softened. "Please."

Ahn couldn't help but remember the first time he had tried to help a human in District 5. The happy look on the woman's face upon being reunited with her daughter, then the utter disgust as she realized Ahn wasn't human.

'Monster.'

Nathan's pleading gaze did little to sway him now, but, to his surprise, Sae moved first. She walked slowly over to the woman and knelt over her, then slowly lifted her shirt up to reveal a horrible gash across her stomach. Patches of purple and brown surrounded the wound, and it was bleeding lightly despite the fact that it obviously wasn't recent. It was infected. Badly.

Ahn hesitantly joined Sae next to the woman, examining the wound carefully. While the damage was severe, it wasn't fatal yet. If left untreated, however, she most definitely would die.

Ahn took his backpack off, then gingerly set it on the ground. He unzipped it to reveal a few miscellaneous items, then found what he was looking for. He pulled the medical supplies out, putting them next to the backpack on the pavement. He hadn't originally intended to bring it, but Hephaestus had insisted that he would regret it if he didn't.

'You don't know your way around District 3, do you? In that case, you're going to need to make friends, ones that you won't want to die. You can thank me when you get back with that new arm of yours,' he had said.

Ahn was impressed with the contents of Hephaestus' medkit. It even had platelet production serums, which would cause a much stronger scab to form over the wound much more quickly. There were also various antibacterial supplies, along with tools to remove foriegn objects from the body.

He scanned the woman for any augments or debris near the wound, finding that she had a shard of metal stuck in the deepest point, holding the flesh separated in the middle of the laceration. It looked to be caused by a blade of some sort, but where the needle-shaped piece of metal came from wasn't apparent. No heat blade that Ahn knew of would cause this kind of injury.

Sae cleaned the cut while Ahn prepared to remove the metal. While he didn't have the same tools as a hospital might, he could move his arm with as much precision, if not more, than a medical device could. The woman wasn't self-aware enough to even register the fact that she was in pain at the moment, so there was no need to use propofol or anesthesia, which Hephaestus had somehow managed to get ahold of, while he removed the object from her stomach.

None of her vital organs seemed to have any substantial damage; there wasn't any need for severe surgery. If they did everything right, which they would, they could have it done in under fifteen minutes.

"It's sterile," Sae said, leaning back to put her cleaning supplies back in the medkit. John stood behind her, watching intently as she worked.

"Right," Ahn replied, stepping to take Sae's place in front of the woman. He hesitated, all too aware of the missing arm concealed under his cloak.

"Nathan," Sae said.

He turned to face her. "Yes?"

"Can you keep the child distracted for a few minutes? This part will be unpleasant to watch."

"Right," he replied, crouching towards John in the other direction.

Ahn nodded his gratitude to Sae, then pulled his cloak aside, leaving his broken arm exposed. He grabbed a simple pair of pincers out and worked them carefully into the wound. He had to be careful to leave any tissue and the arteries and veins around the cut undamaged; any more bleeding at this point could be fatal.

He felt a light resistance that was unnatural for organic tissue. The metal. It had narrowly missed rupturing her small intestine - if it hadn't, she would already be dead. Despite the severity of the wound and the large amount of blood loss, this woman was incredibly lucky to be breathing.

The shard of metal was fixed horizontally across her abdominal muscles, which would require meticulous precision to remove properly. As Ahn worked carefully to work the shard out, the woman emitted a few groans.

'This isn't good,' he thought. 'If she starts moving, this could end far worse than we had intended.'

The woman's eyes opened for a moment, then closed. She was regaining consciousness. Ahn was getting anxious. He couldn't finish in time. At this rate, the woman would wake up, move, and subsequently die.

He wouldn't be particularly phased by the death of another person - it was something he was more than used to. But the thought of failing after coming this far, as well as the idea of Nathan turning on him because of it was less than ideal.

'And,' he decided, 'If I can prevent someone from going through the same pain that I did, I'll do whatever I can to do so.'

He glanced at Sae, who was watching him with curious silver eyes. 'As long as it doesn't mean I have to relive that pain myself.'