Consciousness came slowly at first, and then more rapidly as the wafting smell of breakfast entered her room. Opening her eyes, Korey's first sight was of Ray bringing in yet another tray of his amateurishly cooked yet delicious breakfast to place on the nightstand beside her bed. She took a deep whiff, smelling eggs and bacon amidst the cereal and sliced up fruit.
"You really need not bother with me so much," said Korey as she sat up with his help. "I have regained strength enough to make my own breakfast.
The dark haired synthetic smiled and shook his head, handing her the plate of eggs and bacons. "For all you have done for me, this is the least I can do in return." He handed her a fork as well before picking up the remote and turning on the TV. The by now familiar long distance shots of the Zero Zone appeared, and Korey paused in her meal to listen to the news caster.
"Korey?"
"Yes? Oh, my apologies, Ray," said Korey, returning to her meal with a renewed dedication. After a few moments though, she caught the synthetic starring at the screen, a concerned look on his face. "A penny for your thoughts..."
"Hmmm? Oh, I am worried about Sandra Blackmore," he explained. "She went back into the Zero Zone, to bring supplies for a friend, and that was before the invasion."
"And since she has not checked back with us since, you're certain she's been trapped in there," finished Korey. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You want to go in, don't you?"
Without hesitation, he nodded, but was quick to add. "And yet I could not simply abandon you as you recovered from your exhaustion and injuries."
"You're a better friend then one could hope for," said Korey as she started in on her cereal. "But my ribs are now fully healed, and my exhaustion gone. I may even be able to return to work soon, after my next check up."
Ray nodded, although the look in his eyes betrayed his agreement with that statement. It had been a rough couple of weeks after the party, with a grueling schedule that had merely compiled the lack of sleep on Korey as well as aggravating her still healing ribs as well as the numerous other minor bumps and bruises received in her line of work. It had gotten so bad that a trip to a doctor in Neo York at once ordered the young woman confined to bed, and for Ray to care for her as much as possible, advice, which he had taken to heart.
However, after they had arrived home, Korey had only submitted to the bed rest only after Ray had agreed to help her keep up on things, with paid-in-cash reports from various sources, such as Spycorp, and a TV placed in her room. With only the one inexperienced member working, work had, unfortunately, declined to simple jobs that were really nothing more then menial jobs, such as delivery. This was a frustrating situation, as the very recent Jinsei invasion would no doubt provide a slew of jobs for someone with Korey's services. After all, who knew how many corporate people were stuck in the Zero Zone while they had been out for a night on the town?
Placing the empty bowl on the breakfast tray, Korey next started in on the selected slices of orange and grapefruit, pondering silently what to do next. There was no doubt in her mind that Sandra was now trapped in the middle of a war zone, as well as Shoko, and they were currently fighting for their lives. The only bit of good news she had was the message from Aoi, telling her that she, Kami, Keiko, and April had gotten out of the Zero Zone and set up home in an apartment building in Neo York. She did not consider them close friends as such, but Korey nevertheless was concerned for them.
She looked over at Ray, whose attention was currently fixed on the TV, and could not help but admire the simple honest way he looked at the world. His friends were in danger, and he wanted to help them, but not without abandoning his own friend. His world was constructed out of these friends and the relations he had with them, or, to be more exact, of the one relationship with their tenant, Sandra Blackmore.
"Ray?"
"Yes, Korey?"
"Let us take an inventory, see what we have... and then, lets go and help our friends."
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