Zeto

Cold Yuichi reaches the abandoned medical office beneath a gray afternoon sky. Mika’s letter is secured inside his jacket, and the bandage around his palm remains tender.

The boarded entrance looks undisturbed, its dusty windows reflecting the empty street. Jaricho, Maric, and Marlene have stayed at the residence, leaving Yuichi to investigate alone.

Along the building’s side, a narrow basement stairwell descends beneath a rusted awning. A recently replaced lock gleams against the old door, and faint clinical light leaks beneath it.

The lock has fresh scratches around its housing, but the surrounding dust is mostly intact. No voices carry through the door, only the low electrical hum of equipment below.

The address matches Mika’s letter, yet nothing proves Dr. Halen is inside or that the restoration method is still present. The quiet street leaves Yuichi time to choose.

Cold Yuichi presses the fresh lock and works it carefully. The mechanism gives with a sharp click, but a concealed buzzer immediately begins pulsing somewhere below.

He slips through the basement door into a narrow medical corridor. Dusty examination rooms line both sides, their frosted windows dark, while red indicator lights blink above the entrance.

His palm brushes the doorframe as he moves, and tenderness flares beneath the bandage. At the corridor’s end, a security shutter drops over the only lit office.

The shutter locks with a heavy clank before he reaches it. Through its narrow viewing slot, he can see an overturned chair, a powered monitor, and no doctor.

A printer beside the reception desk wakes and feeds out a single page. It shows a recent access log, ending with the words: EVACUATION ROUTE ENGAGED.

The office has not yielded its doctor, and the pulsing alarm now marks Yuichi’s presence inside. The access log offers a safer lead than forcing the sealed room.

The viewing shutter’s slot gives Yuichi a clear angle into the lit office. A chained, human-looking Pinno lies restrained beneath clinical equipment, motionless except for faint breathing, while three spiritually awakened medical workers monitor it.

A middle-aged man in a white coat turns sharply from the monitor. Dr. Halen has a lean build and warm brown skin; a narrow face, thinning gray hair, rectangular glasses, and rolled sleeves marked by old ink stains.

The other awakened workers freeze beside their instruments. One doctor grips a clipboard, another watches the chained Pinno, and the third reaches toward the alarm console without pressing it.

Cold Yuichi steps through the opening toward the office, but the security shutter’s lower edge drops sharply. He catches himself before the metal seals against his chest, his tender palm scraping the frame.

The failed opening changes the office at once. Red lights brighten, the shutter locks fully, and the medical workers pull their instruments away from the chained figure without abandoning their stations.

Cold Yuichi steps up to the shutter and looks through the slot. Elias is a human-looking Pinno with ash-pale skin, a gaunt face, short dark hair, and black veins faintly visible at the throat. Chains hold their large body beneath the examination equipment.

The restrained Pinno's eyes remain closed, but its chest rises with slow, measured breaths. The staff keep their distance, monitoring the restraints without touching them.

Dr. Halen taps the monitor, bringing up Elias’s sparse file. It identifies the figure as spiritually awakened and dangerous, but offers no origin, history, or account of how it came to the clinic.

Cold Yuichi studies the monitor through the shutter slot. The sparse file reveals Elias was found near the abandoned office, already spiritually awakened, with memory damage and unstable responses to restraint.

He notices the file's timestamps are recent, but the origin field is blank. The information confirms what Elias is, not who brought them here or why.

Dr. Halen switches to the restraint log. Each entry records controlled breathing, brief waking episodes, and one repeated phrase that was never translated.

The monitor dims while the system saves the file, forcing Dr. Halen to restore the display. Yuichi has the useful facts, but the missing origin remains unresolved.

The basement door opens behind Yuichi. Friken steps into the corridor, a relaxed young adult Artist with neatly styled blond hair, clear blue eyes, and a focused expression.

Through the shutter, Dr. Halen watches Friken with guarded recognition. Elias remains restrained beneath the equipment, while the three medical workers hold their positions.

Friken raises one hand and forms a small green bow from spiritual light. Yuichi follows the rhythm of his breathing, and a fine green glow gathers around his fingers, answering without pain.

The green glow settles into Yuichi’s hands as a quiet, controlled presence. Behind the shutter, Dr. Halen slowly lowers his file, realizing the restoration method was not involved.

Cold Yuichi steps through the basement exit into the gray afternoon. The clinic alarm fades behind him as clean air reaches his face, and he steadies his breathing outside the abandoned office.

Friken follows to the sidewalk but keeps several paces back. He watches quietly as the green glow gathers around Yuichi’s shoulders, chest, and arms without pain or resistance.

The glow unfolds into a fitted green Artist uniform, its clean lines settling over Yuichi’s body like a deliberate answer. The awakened power remains calm, fully present, and under his control.

Behind the basement window, Dr. Halen sees the green uniform and lowers his gaze to the medical file. Elias remains restrained inside, while the awakened medical staff stay at their stations.

The air beside the abandoned medical office buckles, and a towering Pinno steps from the distortion. Its monstrous frame bends beneath the gray sky, black eyes fixed on Yuichi.

Friken shifts to Yuichi’s flank, relaxed but ready, while the creature’s heavy steps crack the pavement. The green glow around Yuichi’s hands tightens into a clear weapon shape.

A green Artist bow forms fully in Yuichi’s grip, its limbs bright and steady. Spiritual arrows gather around the string as his awakened uniform settles against his body.

The Pinno lowers its massive center of gravity and faces him across the wet pavement. Yuichi plants his feet, bow raised, weapon trained on the creature before it can charge.

Cold Yuichi runs in a tight circle around the towering Pinno, his green Artist uniform staying bright against the wet gray pavement. The bow remains steady in his injured hand.

He releases a rapid barrage. Green spirit arrows cut across the creature’s shoulders, ribs, and legs, each impact scattering dark wisps from its monstrous frame.

Cold Yuichi crosses behind it before the Pinno can turn. More arrows strike in succession, driving the creature sideways and forcing one massive knee into the pavement.

His palm throbs around the bow, but the green uniform holds firm and the weapon answers cleanly. The barrage pins the creature’s advance without breaking his control.

Cold Yuichi springs skyward, his unzipped green Artist uniform streaming behind him. The green spirit bow brightens in his injured hand as a giant arrow gathers at the string.

At the height of his leap, he points the enormous arrow down. Its gathered force compresses into a single brilliant line aimed at the Pinno below.

He releases it with all his energy. The arrow strikes the towering Pinno and sweeps through its monstrous frame, scattering dark wisps until the creature vanishes from the pavement.

The impact leaves the pavement steaming with green light but spares the clinic. The local alarm cuts out, and the sealed office shutter rises automatically, exposing a clear exit for Dr. Halen and his staff.

Cold Yuichi turns his injured hand beneath the gray light. Green Artist energy gathers through his fingers, and the torn skin closes cleanly, leaving only a fading warmth.

The healing completes, but the effort sends a hard ache up his wrist and buckles his knees. He catches himself against the wet pavement, breathing through the strain.

Friken watches from beside the clinic entrance, focused rather than alarmed. Behind him, Dr. Halen and the awakened medical staff remain visible through the raised shutter.

The green glow settles around Yuichi’s healed hand. The pain eases to tenderness, while the abandoned clinic falls quiet behind him and the choice to remain in the living world stays his own.

Cold Yuichi looks back at Friken and Dr. Halen, a rare smile softening his serious face. The green uniform remains steady around him, no longer feeling borrowed or unfamiliar.

Friken’s relaxed expression warms with unmistakable pride. He lowers his hand, and the last traces of his own green bow dissolve into the damp afternoon air.

Behind the raised shutter, Dr. Halen closes the file and shuts down the clinic monitor. For now, the abandoned office holds no demand, only answers Yuichi can carry home at his own pace.