Chapter 365: Ancient Medical System 2

Security teams still guarded every major junction, though weapons were no longer raised at every movement.

Medical workers pushed equipment through open routes, and several awakened survivors had begun helping with simple tasks.

Some carried food.

Others guided Arcturus workers through the older halls.

A few stood beside doors and watched everything in silence.

They had spent years under Compact control. A different uniform did not automatically earn trust.

Aurelian did not blame them.

Near the lower medical entrance, Vaela waited beside a sealed observation room. Doctor Marr stood with her, while Doctor Tal monitored the treatment through a clear panel.

Elya Sorn rested inside one of the matrix pods.

The lid remained open, and she appeared awake. Thin bands of light moved along her left arm and both legs while the system carried out the first stage of treatment.

"How is she?" Aurelian asked.

"Stable," Doctor Marr replied. "The matrix spent the first twenty minutes comparing her body with the old preservation records. It found damage we missed."

Vaela looked toward the display.

"Nothing immediately dangerous, but the muscles around her spine had begun healing badly. If we had continued normal treatment, she might have walked again but lived with pain."

"Can the matrix repair it?"

"It says yes."

Aurelian looked through the panel.

Elya noticed him and gave a weak wave with her right hand.

Her left arm remained still beneath the field.

"She is conscious through all of this?"

"The treatment does not require sedation," Doctor Tal said. "She can ask to stop at any time."

Vaela had insisted on that condition.

Aurelian approved.

"What has the matrix done so far?"

Doctor Marr brought up the medical sequence.

"It has removed damaged tissue, stimulated healthy nerve growth, and begun rebuilding the weakened muscles. It is working slowly."

"That is good," Aurelian said.

Rhoswen’s voice came from behind him.

"Slow is good now?"

Aurelian turned.

She had changed out of the damaged uniform and covered the cut near her temple, though the fresh medical seal was still visible. She carried a food packet in one hand.

"When did you arrive?" he asked.

"Just in time to hear you praise slowness."

"This is medical treatment."

"I know."

She offered him the packet.

Aurelian looked at it.

"What is that?"

"Food."

"I can see that."

"You skipped the last meal."

Astra took the packet from Rhoswen and handed it to him.

"Eat."

Aurelian looked between them.

Vaela watched with quiet approval.

Doctor Marr pretended to focus on the treatment report.

Aurelian opened the packet.

Rhoswen smiled as though she had won something.

The food was simple convoy ration bread filled with meat and vegetables. It was not particularly good, but it was warm, which helped.

Eirenne appeared near the observation glass.

"The matrix has completed the first repair phase."

Everyone turned toward the room.

The lights around Elya’s arm faded. Doctor Tal asked her to move her fingers, then her wrist and elbow.

At first, the movements were small.

Then she raised her left arm from the bed.

Vaela stepped closer to the glass.

Elya stared at her own hand before slowly opening and closing it.

Doctor Tal checked the readings.

"Nerve response is normal."

"Pain?" Doctor Marr asked over the room channel.

"A little," Elya answered. "Less than before."

"Can you feel every finger?"

"Yes."

The doctor continued the test.

Elya followed each instruction without trouble.

The room remained quiet until Vaela finally released the breath she had been holding.

Aurelian looked at her.

"One success does not prove everything."

"I know."

"But it is a good start."

"Yes."

Elya’s leg treatment would continue for another three hours. The doctors still planned to keep her under observation afterward, but the first result was better than any of them expected.

Doctor Marr opened the next group of patient files.

"We have eleven other people with similar damage. If Elya remains stable, we can begin treating them tomorrow."

"Not tonight?" Vaela asked.

"The matrix needs to clean and reset the pod. We also need to study every part of Elya’s response."

Vaela did not like waiting, but she accepted the reason.

Aurelian looked toward Eirenne.

"How quickly can the reserve pods be restored?"

"Four are already active. The remaining eight require replacement fluid lines and fresh control seals."

"Can the convoy provide them?"

"The control seals, yes. The fluid lines need to be produced at Helion Bastion Twelve or built by one of the vault fabrication units."

"Priority?"

"High, but below sanctuary shields and medical life support."

Aurelian agreed.

They could not spend all their resources on increasing treatment capacity while the sanctuary remained vulnerable.

The matrix was useful, but it did not change their basic needs.

They still needed secure territory, reliable power, food, ships, engineers, and time.

Vaela looked toward the treatment room.

"How many of the reserve population will need this level of care?"

Eirenne brought up the latest estimate.

"Based on passive preservation scans, between seven and nine percent may require advanced treatment after awakening."

Doctor Marr frowned.

"That could be nearly four thousand people."

"Yes."

"And the rest?"

"Most can recover with normal medical support, though the process may take weeks or months."

Aurelian considered the numbers.

The reserve population could not be awakened all at once.

Even with the matrix, the medical teams would be overwhelmed. Housing and food were also not ready, while Larkspur Haven and Helion Bastion Twelve were still receiving the people already evacuated.

"We keep the reserve halls sealed," he said.

Vaela looked toward him.

"For how long?"

"Until we have enough medical space and housing to wake people safely."

"That could take months."

"Yes."

"They have already waited centuries."

"And that is why we will not wake them into overcrowded halls with no safe place to go."

Vaela lowered her eyes for a moment.

When she answered, the frustration had left her voice.

"You are right."

Aurelian knew the decision still hurt her.

Every sleeping person was real to Vaela, even if she had never met most of them. Their names filled the sanctuary records.

Their families, work histories, illnesses, and old messages still existed in the archive.

Leaving them asleep felt like abandoning them.

It was not.

It was keeping them safe until the Crownward March could support them.