Episode Two, Part 4:

B o u n d   T o g e t h e r 

I can't save us, my Atlantis. We fall. 
We built this town on shaky ground.

Sol headed over towards the Sovereign's Quarters after receiving a very concerning radio call from Dreea. By now, Sol and the group had been back at Basilisk for around 7 hours, and the numbers of their people who were becoming sick were growing every hour. She thought they would be able to keep it between Wynn and Quill, but they had already passed on whatever they had the moment they stepped back into camp. 

She wandered inside, walking down the hallway until she found Dreea speaking with Joren, Kodiak resting nearby on one of the sofas. 

"What did you call me for?" She questioned, stopping once she reached them. 

Dreea turned around, her face dropping, worried how she would break the news. 

"What?" Sol pushed. 

"Bess is dead." 

Sol stepped back, processing Dreea's words. She knew immediately what it meant, but she didn't want to be right about it. 

"She was the one who brought the virus in." Sol piece together. 

Joren nodded at Sol. "We think so. But, there's more..." 

"Tell me." 

"Aeryn thinks..." Joren looked away briefly, unsure himself how to deliver the news. "She thinks it might be the same virus." 

"As what...?" She knew what was coming. 

"The Surge." He finally confessed. "You know..the same virus that wiped most of us out 20 odd years ago." 

Sol exhaled, turning to pace around the room, the overwhelming stress digging through her skin. 

"You're wrong. Y-you have to be." 

"River-" 

"No, Dreea, you don't understand! You have to be wrong. The March is coming in three days and they're gonna wipe half of Basilisk out before then, and everyone is going to be killed-"

"River, calm down!" Dreea pleaded. She hesitated, wavering in her battle with emotion, but approached the Nobel, her hands on either side of Sol as she brought her to stand still. 

Sol closed her eyes as she tried to regain her breath, her mind going a mile a minute, exhausting her down to her soul. 

"River. You've got this-" 

"I have no idea what I'm doing, Dreea. Take a look around, I-" She sighed. "My dad was right... I shouldn't be Nobel." 

"No." Kodiak spoke sternly, sitting up from his place on the sofa. He winced at the discomfort, holding onto his stomach as he moved, but determined for Sol to hear him. "You're the only one who should be leading us into this." 

"I got us into this mess. I was the one who let our people into Blood Riders so we could have an 'inside man.' They sent Bess back to us with the Virus, so we wouldn't stand a chance." She reminded them. 

"You did what you thought was best for our people, like you always do." Kodiak reminded her. "And like it or not, we're all looking to you, here." 

"What for?" 

"Plan of action." Joren answered. "What your decision is regarding those who are infected-"

"My decision?" Sol choked. "As in do we leave out anyone who gets sick?" The resentment in her voice was undeniable, completely enraged that Joren would suggest such a thing. 

"You can't go to war when all of your people are dying, River. If you don't do something about this, everyone will be infected." 

"Not everyone." Sol barked. "Not everyone can get infected." 

"Pure and Impures." Dreea muttered, figuring out what Sol was leading to. 

"As Riders would call them, yes." Joren agreed. "But we don't know who the Pure bloods are. We don't have the same kind of technology as Riders to figure that stuff out, nor do we need to." 

"What if..." Sol began to pace around, hurrying to think of a resolution. "What if we do a transfusion of some kind... Those who are exempt from getting infected transfuse some of their blood into those who are infected?"

"Again, we don't have the technology to try that on a mass scale, and even then, the march is 3 days away, River." Joren was desperate for her to comprehend what he was saying, to understand that there wasn't any other way around it. 

"Then we call a quarantine." Sol declared. "Separate the people showing symptoms of the virus from those who don't." 

"It won't be enough-" 

"Well at least it's something! We're at war, Joren. Our people are going to die regardless. I'd rather we go down fighting, then not trying at all."

Joren was tense, scanning over Sol to see if she could be shaken, if there was anything he could do to change her mind. But all he saw was a young Nobel, living up to make her own decisions, knowing the consequence either way. After everything Eryx had put her through, Joren knew he had to accept this not only because she was the Nobel, but because he trusted that 

"Okay. But you need to-" 

Joren didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying when the doors behind them burst open, almost shaking the building at the urgency in which they were forced. Everyone turned around to see who had entered, worried that because a lot of the guards to the Quarters were infected, that anyone would be walking in.  

But it wasn't just anyone, it was Zara and a boy Sol recognized from the Bunker, carrying Atlantis. 

Sol stumbled momentarily at the sight of of her, unsure why. She was unconscious, body limp as the boy - Daniel - held her in his arms. The sweat on her skin glistened under the dim lighting, the discolouration of her skin more than noticeable as she was moved around. 

"River, please help. She's sick." Zara begged. 

"You have to take her to medic tent. Aeryn is there. She'll be able to help you." Her answer lacked confidence - something about her fire dissolving confronted with such a situation. The horror in Zara's eyes was hard to look away from, even though she tried to turn away. 

"There's no beds left, and there's too many people waiting! Please, Riv. She hasn't been exposed to this world long enough. It could kill her." 

"It's not about exposure, it's about her blood." Sol corrected under her breath, not meaning anything bad by it, only trying to avoid having anything to do with Atlantis. 

"Please, River." Zara begged, her voice breaking, not knowing what else to do. 

So looked up at her to her big eyes glossed over by tears, and a desperation on her that seemed to be screaming out to her. Then, something that shifted everything else in the room, something Sol wouldn't allow anyone else to say to her, until now. Until it mattered.  

"She's your sister." 

All eyes turned to Sol, waiting to hear her verdict, or, plan of action. Even without the pressure of everyone waiting on her, without the knowledge of the medic tent being full, her answer would have been the same. 

Sol nodded. 

Two // Part Four

She's your sister.