"You're tagged - can I test a pull."

"Yes."

He is successful.

"Pretty certain I'll be able to tell whether someone is pullable - should I go to the hospital now?"

"In 5 minutes you'll have a ride there, until then you help us clear the dungeon."

May can go back to stabbing slimes in the brain.

It turns out the green ones explode if poked wrong - Taylor blocks most of the resulting acid slime with a wave of bugs but Lucien still ends up with a burned ankle before he leaves.

Fortunately he's going to the hospital anyway. May needs to learn to handle a gun.

Meanwhile.

Chelsea looks like she belongs here, and if she doesn't, then yes she does anyway.

Where is Panacea?

Treating a bunch of patients with acid burns in the north wing. 

Panacea doesn't look up from the person she's treating when Chelsea arrives.

That's fine. Bonesaw's work doesn't deteriorate instantly. She wasn't a Load Bearing Boss.

Panacea has a sister, right? Right. Rummage rummage. Copy. Paste.

Well, now Panacea is looking at her! She's still healing the guy but all of her attention is on Cherish.

"Oh, don't let me interrupt, I can wait."

"Um, if you say so." She finishes up pretty quickly without making it too obvious that all of her attention is still on Chelsea even if she's looking rather patient.

"Done."

"Do you need to do more of those or can we step out for a moment?"

"We can step out for a moment!" Panacea says, without really thinking over the question. Her heart beats a bit faster as she walks outside with Chelsea and she's still focused on her with an intensity that would normally require constant pushing on Chelsea's part.

It feels gooooooooood to be loved. "I need help. I've had some Tinker work done - I never sought it out, the Tinker and her crew showed up in my hometown to make trouble and I've only just gotten away from them, but I don't know how long it'll hold up without maintenance."

"I can help, of course. Did you let Mom know about the group?" She holds out her hand for Chelsea to take - not touching her herself because that's the rule she decided on - if Chelsea can touch her than she'll wait for Chelsea to do it rather than doing it herslf.

"I really just want to put that entire chapter of my life firmly behind me." Handclasp.

Nod nod, Panacea isn't going to read too much into the words or pay attention to how she's a little turned on nope she is just paying attention to fixing up Chelsea.

"Oh wow there's a lot here - I can make it leave your body? Though uh. Some of it's in your brain and I don't do brains."

...turned on, interesting. "I think some of it's helpful, or would be if anyone were looking after it, but I certainly can't hope to understand it myself and if you think it'll be safest out of me I trust you. Can you tell how long the brain installations will last without hurting me?"

"I think they might knock you out if you're in a lot of pain? But aside from that - a couple of weeks, maybe? There's reinforcing mesh around your organs I can keep from going wrong I'm pretty sure."

"The knocking me out when I'm in a lot of pain thing is recent. I had a cluster headache that wouldn't go away and all she wanted to do about it was torture me more, it took so much work to convince her to put me out and that was how she did it. The headache is gone now, though, so - I guess I have a couple weeks to - live? What will it do when it breaks down?"

"Um - oh. It will. Make you unable to sleep until you die, I think." Panacea is so so torn up and arguing with herself about this.

"Oh. And you can't get it out, you're sure?"