Chapter Text
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The next cycle began quietly. Too quietly.
Fe9625 tried not to think about that as she hurried along the morning circulation routes with another box of oxygen.
Around her, the body moved through its usual rhythm. There was a steady flow through the larger blood vessels. Crowds exchanged near the distribution points. Everything seemed normal.
But now that she had noticed something was off yesterday, it was impossible to stop noticing smaller things. Tiny pauses within the current. Brief delays in the signals. Platelet crews also appeared more often than usual.
Nothing major. Nothing that she could point at and say that's where a problem was.
Still, the unease lingered. Not dangerous. Just wrong.
She adjusted her grip on her box and continued moving.
A few platelets hurried past carrying a roll of fibrin between them.
"Excuse us!"
"Emergency maintenance!"
One nearly tripped when the current shifted.
"Whoa!"
Another platelet grabbed her before she could fall.
"Careful!"
The tiny group soon disappeared around the bend in a rush of nervous voices.
Fe9625 watched them go.
The body had always been busy. But lately, it just felt restless.
"You're thinking about him again."
She nearly walked into the wall as the artery turned.
"I am not!"
Her friend walked alongside her with entirely too much amusement.
"You made that same face yesterday."
"Wh—What face?"
"The worried one."
Fe9625 puffed her cheeks out reflexively.
"I don't have a worried face."
"You absolutely do."
Her other friend leaned over from nearby traffic.
"It's the one where you stare into the distance like you're waiting for tragic news."
"I do not look tragic!"
"A little tragic."
"Very tragic."
Fe9625 groaned softly.
"I'm just thinking about the strange signals."
"Mmmhmm…"
"I am!"
Her friends both exchanged identical looks.
"And the strange signals just happen to involve a certain white blood cell?"
Her cheeks immediately grew warm and red.
"That's not what I said!"
"You didn't have to."
More heat crawled into her face again. She hated that they were that observant.
Unfortunately, they were also not completely wrong. She had been thinking about him. Not constantly. Just… More than usual.
The hesitation she had seen yesterday kept replaying in her mind. It had only lasted a second. Maybe less. But she could not shake the feeling that it had looked wrong.
White blood cells were supposed to move without hesitation. Especially ones like 0222.
"Maybe you should just ask him," one friend suggested.
Fe9625 looked horrified.
"Ask him what?"
"If he's okay."
"I can't just ask that!"
"Why not?"
"Because… Because…"
Because what? Because she was already embarrassing enough around him without suddenly sounding overly concerned. Because if she asked too directly, her friends would never let her live it down. Because she was not sure she wanted to hear an answer that confirmed her unease.
"It would be weird," she finished weakly.
"Look," one friend said gently, "You literally told him to stay safe yesterday like you were watching him march into the front line of battle."
"That's normal!"
"You looked one heartbeat away from crying."
"I did not!"
"You absolutely did."
Fe9625 covered part of her face with one hand. Her ears folded to the sides.
"Can we stop talking about this?"
"Fine," her friend said easily, "…You still like him though."
"AH!"
Nearby red blood cells turned to look.
With her tail tucked, Fe9625 lifted the box over her face. She wanted to dissolve on the spot.
Elsewhere, another alert echoed through the tissue sectors.
0222 arrived late. Only by seconds. However seconds mattered.
By the time he reached the damaged area, another team of white blood cells had already intercepted most of the bacteria. A few nearby cells trembled as macrophage cleanup crews moved into position.
He scanned the area quickly. No remaining hostiles.
One of the white blood cells glanced over.
"You got redirected too?"
He frowned slightly. His ears were perked in curiosity.
"Too?"
"Signals pointed us to the upper branch first. And by the time it corrected itself, the bacteria had already spread to over here."
Another signal discrepancy.
0222 looked towards the damaged tissue.
The attack itself had been minor. But still. This was happening too often.
He flexed his fingers once.
The strange delay from yesterday had not disappeared. If anything, it felt worse. Not physically. His body moved normally. Mostly. But every signal seemed to arrive through static now. Faintly distorted around the edges. Enough to slow him down while he sorted through it. Enough to irritate him.
One of the other white blood cells looked over.
"You okay?"
0222 answered automatically.
"Yeah."
His response came too fast.
The other neutrophil studied him for another second before shrugging and walking off.
0222 turned away before any additional questions followed. He did not like being watched. Especially not when he could not explain what was wrong. Because there was no clear answer yet. Only delay. Only interference. Only the growing certainty that something inside the body was moving in ways that the system was failing to track.
A fresh alert flared through the corridor. Another nearby sector.
He moved immediately.
The vascular walls blurred past as he accelerated through the branching pathways. Signals layered over one another in rapid succession.
Upper tissue damage. Possible bacterial intrusion. Repair crews dispatched. Then another signal crossed through the first.
His head throbbed. For half a second, he could not separate the alerts cleanly. His pace slowed. Only slightly. Enough to make his jaw tighten.
What is this?
He forced himself forward before the hesitation could deepen.
Another white blood cell crossed paths with him at the next junction.
"If you're heading to the alerted sector, it was a false alarm," the other reported, "No bacteria found."
0222 frowned.
False alarms were unusual. Several in one cycle were not.
"What caused it?"
"Unknown."
The other white blood cell looked irritated.
"Signals are a mess today."
0222 continued moving. The wrongness followed him.
Fe9625 completed another oxygen delivery and was handed a small stack of route slips from the cell.
"Additional deliveries are requested from everyone," he explained apologetically.
She blinked.
"More?"
"Demand's been fluctuating all morning."
That uneasy feeling returned immediately.
"Is something happening?"
The cell shook his head.
"No idea. Everyone's just been needing more oxygen."
She nodded.
That was normal. Probably.
She checked the route markers. Then stared. The pathway curved directly towards the patrol sectors again.
Her face heated instantly.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"Hmm?"
She jerked upright.
One of her friends had appeared beside her again somehow.
"Nothing!"
The other red blood cell leaned over to look at the route map. Then grinned.
"Wow. The universe really wants you two to interact a lot today."
"It's just a route assignment!"
"Mmmhmm…"
"I didn't choose it!"
"You sound defensive for someone innocent."
Fe9625 pointed accusingly at them both.
"You two are making this weird."
"We're not the ones looking forward on taking scenic routes through white blood cell territory."
"They're not scenic!"
"Romantically-inclined then."
"AH!"
Several nearby red blood cells turned towards the noise.
Fe9625 lowered her voice immediately, her face all red.
"Please stop saying things like that!"
"Why?"
"Because it's embarrassing!"
"You know what would make it less embarrassing?"
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"What?"
"Actually talking to him properly."
"I do talk to him properly!"
"No," her other friend corrected, "You panic politely at him."
Fe9625 made another strangled noise.
Unfortunately, that was also not entirely inaccurate.
The alternate route was quieter than the regular blood vessels. Fewer blood cells crowded the pathways here. That left long stretches where only the rush of circulation filled the air.
Fe9625 moved carefully along the outer wall, keeping the oxygen box balanced securely in her arms.
The current shifted up ahead. Sharper this time.
A nearby red blood cell stumbled.
"Sorry!"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just lost my balance for a second…"
The blood vessel steadied almost immediately afterward. But the uneasy murmuring among the nearby cells lingered.
Fe9625 looked down the corridor. Something was definitely wrong.
The warning signals started a moment later.
"Bacteria detected in adjoining sector!"
The nearby cells froze. Then movement exploded through the vessel.
Red blood cells changed routes. The regular cells scurried deeper into protected areas. Platelets rushed emergency materials towards the alert locations.
Fe9625's pulse spiked.
The warning came from close by. Too close.
It's fine. White blood cells will handle it. That was their job.
Still, her feet refused to move for half a second.
Then movement flashed at the far end of the blood vessel. White uniform. 0222.
Relief hit her so quickly that it was almost embarrassing.
He moved through the corridor at a rapid pace. His weapon was already drawn and ready. Then he slowed. Only slightly.
But Fe9625 noticed.
His gaze flicked towards one branching passage. Then another. Like he was trying to choose between the two signals. The hesitation lasted barely an instant before he accelerated again towards the adjoining sector. But this time, she knew that she had not imagined it. Something really was wrong.
Her chest tightened. And without thinking, she took a step forward.
Immediately, one of her friends grabbed her sleeve.
"Don't go near there!"
She startled hard enough to nearly lose her box again.
"I—I wasn't!"
The other red blood cell looked unconvinced.
"You looked like you were about to follow him."
"I was not!"
She absolutely had been.
The realization made her stomach twist.
Why would she even think about doing that?
That was dangerous. She was not a white blood cell. She could not fight bacteria.
And yet, as another warning signal echoed through the blood vessel, she found herself staring towards the corridor where 0222 had disappeared through. Worried. Again.
The adjoining sector looked worse than the alert than the alert had suggested. Several cells huddled near damaged walls while bacteria crawled along the ruptured surfaces in scattered clusters.
0222 eliminated the nearest group quickly.
Another neutrophil moved beside him.
"They're spreading fast," he warned.
Too fast.
The bacteria themselves were weak and disorganized. But they kept appearing in disconnected locations. Like the immune signals were reacting after the damage had already started.
0222 turned sharply as another alert sounded.
Left side. No… Behind.
His body stalled as a shallow burst of pain flashed behind his eyes.
Another white blood cell shouted something. But 0222 only caught only part of it.
A bacterium then lunged an attack from the side corridor.
He reacted a fraction too late.
However, his blade still connected cleanly. It destroyed the pathogen before it reached the nearby cells.
But the delay happened again. Small and brief. But noticeable.
The other neutrophil frowned.
"0222?"
"I'm fine."
Too quick. Again.
The vascular walls seemed oddly loud around him now. Every pulse pressing against his focus. Signals overlapped. Warnings blurred together.
For the first time since the irregularities began, a cold thread of unease slipped beneath his irritation.
This isn't normal. Not just the signals. Him.
Another alarm cut through the corridor.
0222 moved before the thought could settle.
Outside the body, the veterinary clinic smelled faintly like disinfectant and wet fur.
Hinata sat in one of the waiting room chairs with Mike curled reluctantly inside the carrier beside her.
"You're okay," she whispered through the carrier door.
Mike blinked slowly at her.
Usually, she hated carriers with dramatic intensity. But today, she barely protested.
That worried Hinata more.
A dog barked somewhere deeper in the clinic.
Mike flattened her ears weakly.
"Mike?"
The carrier door rattled softly as she shifted.
"Hinata?"
She looked up quickly as the veterinary technician stepped into the waiting room.
"The doctor can see Mike now."
"Right!"
Hinata stood and carefully lifted the carrier.
Inside the examination room, the veterinarian gently checked Mike over while explaining each step.
"Slight fever," the vet murmured, "And he's definitely a little dehydrated."
Hinata's shoulders tightened immediately.
"Is it serious?"
"Not necessarily."
The vet offered a reassuring smile.
"Cats can pick up minor infections or parasites pretty easily. Especially if they get into things they shouldn't. Has she been outside recently?"
"I don't know… I don't think since she came back from being lost. But that was a couple weeks ago."
Without anyone knowing she did, Mike had absolutely escaped onto the apartment balcony last week. Twice.
The vet nodded knowingly.
"We'll run a few tests just to be safe. For now, just keep an eye on her appetite and energy levels. If she stops eating entirely or gets worse suddenly, bring her back immediately.
Hinata nodded quickly.
"Okay, I will."
The vet gently scratched Mike beneath her chin.
"Hopefully it's something simple."
Mike made a quiet sound.
Hinata tried to relax. Hopefully.
As the vet stepped away to prepare the tests, Hinata opened the carrier slightly and rubbed Mike's head.
"You scared me, you know that?"
Mike simply blinked slowly at her.
"You're usually so loud when you want attention…"
This time, Mike only leaned weakly into her hand.
Hinata swallowed.
"You better get better soon, Mike."
Within the body, another signal split in two. Upper branch. Lower branch.
0222 stopped hard enough that his boots scraped against the path. Again.
The wrongness struck deeper this time. Sharp pressure built behind his eyes.
For one disorienting second, both directions felt equally urgent.
Then the upper signal vanished. False. The lower remained.
0222 immediately changed his course. Too slow. By the time he reached the sector, bacteria had already breached the outer tissue layer.
The macrophages rushed as their cleanup crews frightened cells away from the damage while another white blood cell fought to contain the spread.
"0222!"
He moved without answering.
His weapon struck through the nearest bacterium cleanly.
Another one rushed him from the side.
He reacted a fraction late.
The pathogen scraped across his sleeve before he eliminated it. A shallow hit with a bloodied torn sleeve. Nothing serious. But still.
His movements stopped for the briefest instant afterwards.
Late. Again.
And somehow beyond the damaged tissue, hidden deep where signals failed to reach cleanly, the parasite continued to spread itself. Unnoticed.
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