Arknights: The Cycle of Light and Darkness

Revy was awakened by a sudden ringing. The sound from his personal terminal was noisy, too noisy for him to remain in light sleep. Though haunted by Theresa's swimsuit form, Revy still had to irritably wake from his light slumber. Glancing at his personal terminal, it was Kal'tsit calling, hoping he could make a trip to the Medical Department. Annoyed, Revy initially considered throwing a small tantrum and ignoring it, but seeing Kal'tsit had specifically noted it was for work, he had no choice but to get up and put on his clothes. After all, as Rhodes Island's blade, Revy took his work seriously.

As Revy was about to enter the Medical Department, he coincidentally met Platinum walking out. When the Doctor's Sanity Value dropped to dangerous levels and he had to enter a hibernation pod, most of Rhodes Island's work was handled by Amiya or Kal'tsit. The recruitment of high-tier combat personnel like Platinum was naturally personally overseen by Kal'tsit. Seeing Revy, Platinum was clearly startled, then merely nodded indifferently as a greeting, and walked straight past. She hadn't forgiven Revy... or perhaps, she hadn't forgiven herself.

Revy merely sighed with some melancholy. Qingjin's departure, though hard to say it was entirely his fault, was somewhat his responsibility after all—he knew he would likely have to make some amends or accommodate Platinum's emotions for a long time.

"Knock, knock, knock." His thoughts didn't delay Revy from knocking on the door. After hearing Kal'tsit's faint "Come in" from inside, Revy pushed open the door and entered Kal'tsit's office.

A somewhat... messy environment. It wasn't that Kal'tsit had bad living habits, like throwing clothes and pants everywhere. It was simply that, due to no one tidying up, countless medical reports, medical texts, data files, and various other items were haphazardly placed in every corner of the room. Kal'tsit was too busy; she simply had no time to organize her room or file her documents. No one else could clean here—because only Kal'tsit knew and clearly remembered the exact location of every piece of data, every file. Initially, Yato once tried to organize Kal'tsit's room, which almost led to a disaster...

However, Revy didn't care about any of this. He pulled up a stool directly facing Kal'tsit and sat down.

"...You're here." Kal'tsit was looking at a medical report in front of her. Even when Revy entered, she only looked up at him once before returning her gaze to the documents in her hand: "You should have more or less guessed why I called you here, right?"

"Eyjafjalla." Revy didn't directly answer Kal'tsit's question, but instead threw out a name, seemingly off-topic. Hearing this name, Kal'tsit finally shifted her gaze from the documents in front of her and looked seriously at Revy.

"I have to admit... although I don't know what you did to Operator Eyjafjalla during that time in Leithanien, it's clear that your 'method' has achieved far more than what we doctors have researched for decades—"

"—What exactly is going on?"

Revy sighed. "Coming straight to the point in conversation, that's truly... very much your style, Kal'tsit."

"Don't interrupt. At least on this matter... I want to hear your answer."

"Then, my answer is, I can indeed do it, and there are no side effects... but I need time."

With every small syllable Revy uttered, Kal'tsit's eyes brightened a bit, until finally, the silver-haired Feline directly slammed her hand on the table and stared intently at Revy. "...You're not joking?"

"...When it comes to serious matters, I never joke."

Kal'tsit stared into Revy's eyes for a long time, as if trying to ascertain whether the man before her was telling the truth, but ultimately, she chose to sigh and sat down. "Indeed... you truly are an incredible existence... Reguluss Harvey... So, can you grant what I am about to ask?"

"If it's an order, I will execute it, any order," Revy straightened up, speaking without the slightest hesitation or sloppiness: "However, just as I said, it's very difficult to leave no after-effects... so my speed is limited."

"How limited?"

"At most one person a month... depending on the severity of the situation, possibly even two months," Revy pondered for a moment before saying: "However, if it's just to slow down the progression of the disease, I can do that at any time."

Revy wasn't joking about this either. Although there was indeed some margin left in his estimate, Revy couldn't expect every treatment to involve a direct night-time exchange like with Eyjafjalla... Indirect contact would multiply the treatment time and increase the mental effort required. So, one person per month was arguably a more appropriate and conservative figure.

Kal'tsit breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this number. To be honest, she had imagined Revy refusing, or being reluctant to treat certain individuals; she had also thought Revy might stretch out the treatment intervals considerably. But fortunately, one person a month was, more or less, within an acceptable range.

"At any time... can it be soon?"

"Yes, who wants to try first?" Revy looked at Kal'tsit with certainty. After all, even with Eyjafjalla's example, the "treatment process" still needed to be seen to be believed before the actual leader of Rhodes Island, who had lived for an unknown amount of time, could truly feel at ease.

"...Operator Nightingale, does that name sound familiar?"

Revy shook his head, feeling somewhat surprised. On one hand, he genuinely didn't know such a person. On the other hand, in his opinion, Kal'tsit should have been the first to "eat the crab" (be the first to try). After all, hearing is one thing, seeing is another, and when seeing isn't necessarily believing, experiencing it firsthand is the best option.

"Operator Nightingale, her condition is somewhat difficult to control... and it's been getting worse lately." As if reading Revy's thoughts, Kal'tsit said faintly: "It has nothing to do with my personal feelings for you. Your credibility in my eyes is still perfect, so if you say you can cure it well, I believe you can cure it well."

Revy looked at Kal'tsit, his eyes calm.

"...Understood. Then, starting tonight?"

"Starting tonight. I'll contact Operator Nightingale and Operator Shining."