The gate opened and the dim light of the hall lit the face of Shimamori. His look was stern, his mouth twisted in a smirk of deep concern. Accompanied by two armed guards, the marquess was himself clad in composite Kusarian armour and with a personal blaster and a composite katana at his side. This was not typical for Shimamori to show up armed at the station but the situation was far from typical. Yuki's docked a few moments ago and she must be somewhere around the docking bay. Shimamori nodded to the guards, who gripped their swords' handles and marched toward the area designated for the arrival of fighters.
Fort Wakkanai's docking bay was meant mostly for a few patrol squadrons and was not big. it even seemed desolate with but a few "Wyverns" not on patrol and a single "Drone" in the middle being unloaded. There it was, Yuki Sinon's "Stinger" by the far wall of the docking bay still in a haze from the cooling engine. Shimamori and his retinue quickly proceeded to the ship looking for its pilot.
- "Sinon-san, are you here?". - shouted Shimamori through the hum of working machinery and banter of the dock loaders.
Fort Wakkanai
Sinon Yuki was weak mentally. She experienced the worst experience. The engines were slowly turning down and the only entrance of the ship opened and slowly but surely, the kusarian showed up. Her space suite was still on her and she still had her helmet on. Her movements were slow and she walked slowly with some difficulty.
When she was completely outside of the ship, Sinon slowly kneeled on the ground. With the guards and Shimamori armed before her, it was stupid to stand before them. Even if she was weak after this event, deeply, the woman knew what will happen. After all, she has been influenced by an alien. It was almost too late for her. Somehow, she managed to be free and escape. But at this moment, Sinon needed to face what will come.
Shimamori slightly bowed in greetings without taking the eyes off Yuki. He nodded to the two guards who assumed positions to the left and right of Sinon at a distance of two metres. The atmosphere was tense. Straightened his posture, Shimamori said after a short pause:
- "Now, I bet you owe us some explanation. It can wait, however. First, let us proceed to the medical bay and run a thorough scan of your condition. I assure you, nobody will use force unless you give us a reason to. So far, as far as I am concerned, you are just a pilot who has suffered a mental breakdown due to unforeseen consequences in a dangerous part of space. Nobody needs to know more, for now.".
Shimamori looked around as if checking if nobody was eavesdropping.
- "The examination will show if we have anything to be concerned about. Now, shall we?" - he made a gesture inviting for a walk.
Fort Wakkanai
The woman finlly stood up and followed them. She did not show any resistance during the walk. She would like to speak, cry and scream but she needed to rest first. Suddenly, during the walk, Sinon stopped and broke the silence. ''That thing... That thing played with... my emotions.'' She said with tiredness in her voice. Then a guard pushed her to let her know to walk.
After long minutes, they arrived at the room where Sinon Yuki will stay for some days or even weeks.
The gate to the medical bay opened and the bright white light illuminated the hall. The group was welcomed by a service droid.
- " Shimamori Masahito, captain of the "Zuiryu". We need a full medical check-up on one of my crew members. Reason: exposure to hazardous conditions".
The robot staggered for a second with mechanical screeching and let the group pass.
The four walked into a sterile-white room with numerous medical devices, some familiar and some completely unknown. With an abrupt bell sound, a message appeared on the digital notification board: "Thank you for visiting Fort Wakkanai's medical bay. The doctors are now busy. Please, stand by and wait until a doctor attends you".
- "Waiting? Can't they have an automated procedure?". - Shimamori was growing impatient - "But perhaps attention of a human doctor is for the best".
All this time Shimamori looked as if in a hurry and had barely looked at Yuki while walking. Now that they were waiting for a medical attention, he turned to her and gave a forced smile. Even despite his political experience in faking emotions it was obvious he was nervous.
- "It surely did play with your emotions, Sinon-san. But worry not for now. I managed to resist it,y officers did too, although two soldiers aboard "Zuiryu" went catatonic. If we can resist it, so can you. Perhaps, some mental training will be in order... The medical examination will help us decide what to do next.".
Shimamori looked pensively around.
- "What happened there? Do you have any ideas how it got into your head? How it manipulated your emotions?"
Fort Wakkanai
Sinon Yuki was silent during the walk. When they arrived at the medical sector, Sinon took off her helmet but let it dropped on the floor. Her eyes were empty and her expression was stone. In her head, there was always the same scene. Before her, there was that entity always saying ''Come child.'' Shining pink and purple. When Shimamori adressed to her, at first, Sinon did not react. After several calling, she turned her head toward him. She did not look into his eyes. ''It.. It said none wants me... Minato... My father... and you... It broke my heart. Nightmares... I returned there...'' It was not really understandable the last part of her sentence. The woman seemed to be elsewhere and lost.
- "What nightmares? Where did you return? How is Takahashi related to this? Why...".
The marquess abruptly finished his rapid sequence of questions and gave Yuki a comforting look.
- "I am sorry, the time for questions will come later. Now you will need to undergo a medical examination and take a rest. If you can, however, cast some light on what happened, whether in your mind or for real - that would be much appreciated. To counter our enemy we need to understand our enemy".
Fort Wakkanai
She simply nodded to him. She slowly walked within the room. Her eyes showed emptyness. She was broken. The woman said nothing but just viewing the recent events. It was like if her mind was elsewhere.
When she heard Shimamori saying the word Takahashi, she fell on the ground on her knees. She was crying but in silence.
Shimamori gave a sign to one of the guards with a nod and the guard helped Yuki to her feet.
- "You certainly are out of shape, hatamoto Shinon. Pull yourself together". - his words became harsher as if giving an order. - - "Think it yourself: you allowed a second a weakness which could have resulted in sad consequences, but at the same time you showed a commendable feat of resilience. You overcame that mental "influence", whatever it was, and assisted "Zuiryu" in combat. I hope, that was your genuine decision and not another ploy used by that "thing". Your father and your colleagues must be proud of you. To err is human, only the dead don't make mistakes. So do not be too harsh on yourself: eventually, you carried out your duty".
The marquess turned around to look at the notification board still displaying a message asking to wait for the doctor.
- "Eventually, as we have discussed before, the medical examination will give a hint as to what to do next. What I am concerned about, however, is the role of Takahashi in all of this. I have had my suspicions before but even now I do not know if he is what he has claimed to be. You seemed to be close with him, have you heard anything suspicious? Do you know anything about it? " - Shimamori looked at his feet, feeling a mixture of guilt and desire to get to the bottom of this. - "Do not answer if you are not ready to. If you want to talk about this later, let's discuss it after the examination."
Fort Wakkanai
Even if the marquess said to Sinon to not be harsh on herself, it was not easy. This will to be ''perfect'' was there when the woman wanted to follow her father's path. She wanted to be alike him. But the second of weakness toward the scorpion gunboat proved that she wasn't perfect. That thing played with her mind, told lies and influenced her. It was certain, after that, she was blaming herself.
It was hard on her psychic. It was looking bad. Really bad. With the blames she said to herself and the visions of the recent events, she ended up to be in catatonia. The words, the sounds, the odors and sensations seemed to not affect her. When the guard helped the woman to stand up, he needed to hold her with her arm around his neck.
What has received Shimamori was just a silence from Sinon Yuki. Not that because she did not want to talk but she just couldn't. Her left arm was suspended within the air and by the look of it, there was no strength. However, it was the case.
![[Image: wRlzTev.png]](https://imgur.com/wRlzTev.png)