“What happened around here?” Cassandra asked, being the first to speak except for Charlie. Adam noted the large man side-eyeing her for that but he said nothing. “We saw the bombing but couldn’t get any clear idea on why it’s happening.”

“We are officially at war with Fatum,” the male officer answered with a matter-of-fact voice. “They were not happy with our apparently ‘blossoming dictatorship’ which made them decide to invade in the name of freedom. Not sure if we are at war with the rest of the world as well yet. The other ones in their alliance haven’t made anything clear yet.”

Adam could guess what that meant. Fatum had declared war due to necessity without asking the others, forcing the alliance to gather up more information before they could take a side. With war already being on the minds of the people for a while, it wouldn’t have been too surprising if some were to have guessed the destination.

With how empty the city was, Adam supposed the city had been forced down to minimal numbers as well. Yet… the amount of wounded on the sides were likewise making it clear that there still were a few thousand people left. It meant nothing for a city that normally had tens of thousands but there were still many more than there had been in the city they left behind.

Yet looking at the politics on a more global scale, the AI had to guess at what would happen in the next few days. With Bello not officially being with any other countries at the current moment, it would likely ally itself with the other major group in the world. With how the world had been waiting on Bello and a few other countries to finally choose a side, it wasn’t going to come out positively. With how many countries seemed ready to fire their largest missiles, it was slowly becoming clear how things could progress. The war was still in its early stages and no invasions of any kind were happening.

Adam hoped that would remain that way for at least a few more days. Troy still needed to get his arm fixed before anything else, Dr Hale seemed to be quite pale, even if she had become healthier at a very rapid rate recently, and the group did need rest in general. Since they weren’t wanted in the country officially just yet, getting a hotel room was within the realm of possibility. With how much the AI had been forced to listen to them talk about such a thing, he knew that he would be asked to get them one. Making a reservation by hacking the system was more than possible without doing anything too drastic.

But before the idea of comfort was to be allowed, the doctors still needed to be visited. Even when inside the city, the car still drove at higher speeds, making sure it would arrive by the doctors’ tent before long. The officers had clearly seen the discoloured arm and decided to give it a fighting chance by not wasting time obeying traffic laws. As Adam was very dependent on his host having full mobility, this was greatly appreciated.

They arrived at the tent within a minute, the door opening up quickly as the entire group was escorted out. Charlie was quick to thank them but hardly had the chance as a few doctors hurried out to get at them. Inspecting those with obvious injuries first, Troy and Dr Hale were brought in without question. Cassandra and Charlie were left outside as the two others were led through the plastic walls.

The doctors were quick to agree with Dr Hale’s ideas about being malnourished and lacking energy, giving her an energy bar to chew on while being hooked up to a few monitors. Nothing with magnets, however, since the woman had ‘medically required lung- and liver-augmentations.’ Adam supposed that was as good a cover as any, Troy giving one of his own the moment the people tried to remove his earpiece and gloves.

“I need those if I’m to be any help here,” Troy said, pulling both hands away. One of them caused a small gasp of pain, the bone connected to it clearly not being in a good state. “Damaged brain. I have no semblance of a mental interface without them.”

Hushed arguments were had because of that between the two doctors. Adam had trouble hearing what they were saying. Some of the words were distinctly similar to what Troy was speaking but most of it was heavily accented. Perhaps a sister language? The AI supposed that was in order since they were in another country, though the main language should still have been English. How peculiar.

“We need to remove the glove on your left hand no matter what if are to get scans of your forearm. The wires on it will mess up with the results too heavily,” the doctor finally said, the man clearly not being too happy with the idea. Troy nodded meekly as the glove was removed and put in a small basket by the side. If the man didn't pick it up himself while leaving, Adam noted down that he needed to remind him about it.

The AI noted internally the chance of the results showing up wrong no matter what due to the jammers planted into Troy’s shoulders yet the doctors didn’t seem too worried about the results at first. Or, they didn’t seem too worried about the results possibly being false, instead of turning a few shades lighter.

“Are you on any mind-altering substances at the current moment,” one of the doctors questioned Troy?

“No?” Troy answered with a bit of confusion. “Was I meant to be?”

“Not really. I haven’t just met anybody with that high a pain tolerance before,” the doctor noted as he showed what the scan of the arm gave. Adam had to spend a moment studying it before he finally realised what he was looking at.

There were no real pieces of bone left in the middle anymore. The middle had fractured so heavily that nothing could truly be pieced together. And with how much time had passed since the injury, it was clear that the new shrapnel was slowly moving through the arm itself. Adam had been wondering what those bursts of pain meant, other than there being larger amounts of internal bleeding.

“We have to amputate if he’s gonna live to see the sunset tonight,” the doctor to Troy’s right commented before shouting at a few others to come to assist them. Troy was put on a small rolling chair within mere moments, the young man only being able to utter a single word.

“... What.”

Adam didn’t find the time to mention the glove that was left in the basket. He hoped they could get it back when the surgery finished. While still wearing the remaining glove and earpiece, Troy was put to sleep, and Adam was left with an open connection to the outside. The next few hours would be quite something. The AI wondered if he could get a clear signal to Charlie.