Chronicle:Pacification

''Beep. Beep. Beep.''

Heun's eyes shot wide open. Something wasn't right. This place...

It was too empty. She took in a breath.

Too sterile. Her eyes darted around.

Too expensive.

What in the world?

Heun attempted to recall... something. She was on her commute, as usual. She was on the Xinzhulian, as usual. She was coughing, as usual. Then, worse coughing, with worse pain. Unusual, but not uncommon. Then... she collapsed.

That was decidedly unusual.

A soft clank sounded from her side, as the door rolled open and a pair of white-coated professionals strolled in. The realization hit her.

"She seems awake." A whisper from the nurse, though it did little in a room so silent. A shrug.

The doctor walked over, a clipboard in hand. "Miss Heun Wai-lok, yes?" She didn't wait for a reply. "I'm sure you know why you're here. Don't worry, your insurance covers your stay for a week or so."

Heun's lips parted. It was an uncomfortable, unusual strain for her to make any noise. When she did, she couldn't recognize her voice.

The nurse appeared to be a little too accustomed to this. He answered her question for her. "Miss Heun, we found you unconscious on the floor when we arrived. It appears that you had collapsed. While we have found nothing in your medical and temple records, if you have any undeclared illnesses, do inform us now."

Her brows furrowed. A slight hesitation, before she shook her head.

The senior of the two staffers spoke up. "In that case... if I am to be honest, your situation doesn't look good." There was a momentary pause. "Would you like to consider pacification?"

Heun jerked back into the bed, face curling up into the most affronted grimace she had ever managed. The pair seemed unperturbed. Despite her voice, she pushed herself to croak out a reply, more in rhetoric than anything.

"Are you telling me to kill myself?"

The staffers shared a look between themselves. The mask right below obscured most else, but the pairs of eyes seemed to be having an entire conversation in the awkward silence. Eyebrows raised and scrunched. Occasional glances at her. Occasional glances at the clipboard. The doctor clicked her tongue, finally facing back towards Heun. Her voice was firm, concise, but most importantly, authoritative.

"Alright, Heun. Since you're one of us-" Or at least was going to be, anyways, but that part remained unspoken. "-I won't sugarcoat it for you. I looked at your report. Your chances don't look good. If you'd like..." She extended the clipboard towards her.

There was a brief moment as the nurse picked up the clipboard and offered it to Heun.

"I don't get it... I'm in my 30s. I should have another 30 left."

Her eyes traced over the dense lines of text on the papers. Her eyes went to the highlights, the reds. The pictures. X-rays. White spots where there ought not to be.

"Do you know what's inside you?" She didn't wait for an answer, pressing on. "Plastic. Some metals too. All clumped up enough that things light up on our scans. You can see for yourself. By the looks of it, we can't repair it as is."

But- uh..." Her eyes darted at the two, fumbling to form a coherent sentence in the overbearing silence. '''"A-A transplant, then? I... should be able to afford that."''' She counted up the savings she had, all the due interest, those of her parents...

"No." There was no room for debate. "Let's say that you can afford that. What about environmental factors - what caused this in the first place? Can you afford to move? Find somewhere you can afford to live away from what would've caused this? Find work if you can even find someplace like that?"

"Tell me. Can you?" Her mind desperately raced to find a solution, something that could serve as an answer, a gotcha, if there was even anything... Was there?

"I!-" A fit of coughs interrupted her. "I need a moment to think..." Her voice was considerably softer the next time around.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. She nodded, a silent acknowledgement of the contrary. With an offhand wave, the two staffers exited the room, offering shrugs just out of view.

The door closed behind them. The walls were thin enough for the intermittent sobs to echo through. The decision was already made.

It wouldn't have taken long for the staffers to return, but she received them with a newfound finality.

"I'd like to name my beneficiaries."