Orfeus drew her hands back. She didn’t want to just make the damage worse. These people needed proper medical attention. They needed proper medical attention a year ago; failing that, immediately would have to do. Right now, she had the sinking feeling that what they most needed was a soft bed to die on.

She shook the thoughts away. She couldn’t tell the future. No one could.

“This is awful,” Rivasoa whispered.

Orfeus glanced up over at her. Rivasoa’s hand with light was still held out steadily. Her other hand was clasped tight to her chest, her eyes huge with horror.

“Any idea what’s happening here?” Orfeus said, pitching her voice quiet. She didn’t want to disturb any of these people.

“Harvesting energy,” Rivasoa said, taking an unsteady step forward. She stopped far short of any of them, but frowned at one of the vacant chairs. “That’s what it looks like.” She shook her head, sharp, quick. “This…”

Orfeus looked at the chair, at all the empty chairs. “This can’t be all of them,” she said slowly, not sure whether or not it would be better if they found a pile of bodies in a hidden back room.

“This is a perversion of everything I believe in,” Rivasoa said unsteadily. She stepped forward and rested just the tip of her broad finger against the chair’s arm rest. Orfeus straightened, and Rivasoa looked at her. This was as helpless as Orfeus had ever seen the hypercompetent and put-together woman look. “This isn’t right,” Rivasoa said. “We stopped this. We were meant to have stopped this. The world moved forward.”

This particular thing felt unpleasantly new, but exploiting people for energy…hurting, and exploiting, and taking and taking. Orfeus wished she’d ever been able to believe that those things could ever be entirely stopped. She looked at the row of people strapped to chairs and said, struggling to keep her voice low, “So, what, you thought you won the fight?” She gestured at them. “This… his just means we have to keep fighting.”

After a long moment, Rivasoa nodded.

“Fall apart later,” Orfeus said tiredly. “After the moment of crisis is done, because I know I will. Right now, they need us.” She paced the line, looking for some easy way to get them free. There was no universal overriding mechanism as far as she could see. Probably unwise just to rip them free of tubes and wires, even if she itched to.

Rivasoa paced the line slowly. “Eight of these are Elders,” she said slowly. “Two are not.”