Standing in the hallway is only two men, one dead and one alive. You envy how the dead one is in peace now but that's that and this is this.
You step closer, taking a better look to see what's left of the anomaly. Your better half, your honorable half, says that it's a bit too soon for Extraction but your spiteful half admits that this has to be done sooner than later.
You reach your hand up to his chest. <span class="mu-b">Something's still beating in there, even after all of this.</span> The flesh around it begins to dissolve until a decent sized hole appears in his chest and something falls to the floor.
A huge (at least the size of eight human hearts combined) still beating purple heart lays on the floor. Carved onto its surface is a modified version of the stars and stripes (you note some extra stars) and a single message underneath it.
"EVERY MAN DESERVES TO FIGHT FOR WHAT HE STANDS FOR."
<span class="mu-s">The American Spirit has been extracted.</span>
You pull out your PDA and send a general order to declare that the fight is over and for someone to secure and contain the new PARADIGM. You head over to the medbay to get yourself treated (including your injured arm from that damn [REDACTED]) in the meantime.
As you do, you wonder on how to honor the anomaly's death. A man deserves a funeral, doesn't he?
>Fireworks, food, a whole shebang. Sure, it might ruin the hallway even more, but let's make it fun!>[BOUND BY DUTY] A quiet, respectful funeral with the help of Uriel/the Priest. He deserves a moment of silence. Bring in the BLESSED CHAINS and the HOLY ELIXER to use on him. >[HOPELESS WRECK] No, you know he wouldn't want anything sappy. Get a few employees together, some wines and beers, and drink until everyone's stupid. Pour one out for him.>Write in You enter the medbay and to be frank, it's a total shit-show in here. Arthur, Emily, Seneca, and Uriel are scrambling to keep your employees from entering critical condition, so you go to treat yourself in the time being.
You notice a somberness in the air underneath all of the panic. You're not really sure how to address the situation. Even the snarkers like Agent K and Gamma aren't speaking up. Hell, even Emily's in a bit of a dour mood, with her usual sunny smile being replaced with a stressed and exhausted frown.
>Ask about Delta's condition. He's the most injured, do they need any backup?>Just quietly heal yourself and leave. It's too awkward in here.>[HOPELESS WRECK] Try to assist in the healing wherever you can. You're not letting ANYONE fucking die on your watch. (Tires you out even moreso, but should help relieve some of the burden)>[BOUND BY DUTY] Try to raise the morale of the situation! Tell them how they did a great job! Something to break the silence. (What do you say?)>Write in. (After this, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled anomaly tard wrangling.)
>>5200634Frankly still impressed with the amount of fanart this quest has gotten. You did good, even if you think otherwise.
