The Science Of Violence (Open)

Healing was a… tricky process. While Korado had made the call that Tarine would benefit far more from the soothing waters of the tank than he in the moment, the severity of his injuries meant it could only do so much in the time it had. Minor burns and scrapes peppering his face and body weren't an issue, besides maybe a hit to his vanity the pod's influence would at worst leave them tender for a few days before they could properly begin to scar over. The more major injuries would remain much more troubling however... the deep laceration Marimba's swipe had inflicted to his chest had sealed shut but it was far from perfect, the site was ugly and swollen near the edges, with the skin nearby still showing dark bruises…

And the subsequent blast that had been intended to take his life? While arguably his attempt at defence had chipped away at the potency, the desperate flailing had only resulted in his right arm being swallowed first and taking the brunt of a searing mass of energy... it would have been a charred mess by the time he was dumped into the machine. Fortunately enough, it wouldn't end up being lost, but the technology could only work with what was there, and that was the remains of useful flesh underneath. So in its current state it was more a mass of stiffened, flaking tissue with signs of healing being a few reddened areas poking out.

He undoubtedly needed more time but his peaceful slumber would appear to be coming to its end... As Korado had been monitoring him, his systems would have probably noticed a steady increase in brain activity over the last hour as Tarine occasionally stirred at the edge of consciousness.

That would change when he heard a thump, or more accurately, a thump muffled through inches of liquid. He was startled awake, his eyelids fluttering open as he was now left staring dazed into the blur of green liquid moving against his eyes... The second realisation that came to him was he appeared to be adrift in something, a cool numbing sensation washing over his body while it felt like much of him was too stiff or powerless against its surroundings to move...

The thought occurred to him that he might have been dead- no, he couldn't be, maybe if he just got rid of this thing over his mouth he-

Unaware of the situation, Tarine had managed to use his good hand to rip the breathing mask off his face and was quickly struck with panic as he felt something flowing into his mouth and nose. In his current state all he could think to do was thrash wildly against the walls of the device, attempting to escape his confines as the pod's alarm began to blare to warn outsiders of its occupant's condition.

Tarine's frantic struggle to escape the strange environment came to a halt as the liquid began to subside, ending with him being unceremoniously dumped on the floor of the tank as he now sat soaked and attempting to sputter out the liquid he'd almost inhaled so he could take in some much needed air.

Even being able to steady his breathing, he still felt disoriented and shaken by the accidentally hectic awakening, especially having to squint against lights which felt far too bright for his liking. So it took a moment for him to catch on that someone was talking… but he wasn’t quite following the words- something about him being in a healing tank? But he hadn’t been injured… how-

It was… confusing but it did occur to him that he should perhaps be paying more attention to the mystery speaker. His eyes drifted up towards the figure and- hold on, he knew them didn’t he? Tarine’s expression shifted to one somewhere between bewilderment and surprise as he saw Korado’s face- he was sure he’d seen this person before, in Hatchi perhaps…? He’d been there before the… “Battle?!” He couldn’t help but parrot Korado’s statement in alarm as events were now starting to click into place, worry quickly bled into his voice as without thinking he was already prepared to jump to his feet.

“What… what happened? The city, I-” Worry bled into his voice as he instinctively went to shoot up to his feet. This was swiftly interrupted as a sharp pain shot through his arm as it was pushed against the tank’s base. A hiss left his mouth as he jerked it back in alarm– the next thoughtless action was to look down and see the cause of the unexpected pain- but he kind of wished he hadn’t.

The first thing of note is it didn’t really register as an arm, let alone his. He was staring dumbfounded at what looked more like a slab of meat haphazardly attached to his side that started to peel. The shock continued as he wordlessly moved it in front of him, he tried to move his fingers, all he got was a slight twitch in one of the fingers.

A blob of something detached from the glass walls surrounding him, the noise at least served to draw his eyes off the thing causing him obvious distress, though he still flinched as he watched the creature slither away. A distant memory threatened to bubble up but Tarine was much more focused on his immediate surroundings for the moment. Unfortunately for Korado however, Tarine was was still much too confused for his desired line of questioning and he stared back with a growing expression of bewilderment on his face.

“I… I don’t know??” Was all he could really blurt out when he barely understood what was happening to begin with as he looked up helplessly. “I was in Hatchi then things happened, now I've got this arm and you're saying I'm diseased too?” His voice rose in pitch and frustration as the strange situation was beginning to prove quite overwhelming for someone who'd basically come back from the dead only minutes ago.