//------------------------------//
// Prelude: Recovery 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Adagio moaned as she became aware of the fact that she wasn't resting on the ground near a bridge, as whatever she was laying on was softer than what she could have sworn the ground or the road would have felt like, though she could have sworn that it was a bed of some kind. As her senses returned to her she heard the sound of what had to be hospital machines beeping in the background, though whether that was because she was the one it was tied to or if it was tied to someone else she had no way of knowing. A few moments later she carefully and slowly opened her eyes, where she found that she was staring up at a ceiling that wasn't anything special and that she was, indeed, laying in a hospital bed with some sheets resting over her body. She moaned again as she finally noticed that there was a needle and some sort of tube attached to her right arm, though as she turned her head to the right she noticed that the majority of her clothing, which had been wrecked by the blast, happened to be resting on a nearby table... along with the ruined clothing she and her sisters had seen when they found Cole earlier.

Thinking about her sisters made her more alert, as she had no idea where Aria and Sonata were and was immediately worried about them, since they had all been in the same condition when they pulled themselves out of the wreckage that they had found themselves in earlier... though before she could move she felt someone touch her shoulder and gently pulled her back into a position where she was laying with her back on the bed.

"Well, it's good to see that someone is awake, even if it's not Cole." a voice said, though as Adagio finally returned to her original sitting position she noticed that the speaker was the same as the lady she had seen next to Zeke, which meant that this had to be Trish, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." Adagio replied, as that was the truth, because after taking that blast like she and her sisters had, where she wasn't about to question how any of them survived it when it killed so many people, but at the same time she tuned towards Trish for a moment, "Where... where am I?"

"My place in the Neon District," Trish said, though at the same time she checked a few of the monitors that were resting nearby and breathed a sigh of relief, one that made Adagio happy for some reason, "Well, your vitals are fine and it appears that you'll make a full recovery in a few days. I don't know how you, Cole, and the other girls survived being in the middle of the Blast, but at least I know that someone's going to be up and about soon."

"Other girls..." Adagio said, though that was when some of the drugs that were in her body, as she was fairly certain there were some in her body at the moment, became less effective as she thought about her sisters, "Aria! Sonata! Are they okay?"

"They're just fine," Trish answered, to which she seemed confused at first, merely because she was shocked by the sudden burst of adrenaline that had gone through Adagio's body, before she focused on the matter at hand, "I just checked on them a few minutes ago and they were sleeping soundly... at least it's better than being in a coma, like Cole is. At first I thought that I wouldn't be able to do much for the three of you, since your bodies appear to be different than mine and Cole's, but I was oddly surprised when the drugs worked just fine. Though I have to ask this; how in the world did you and your sisters end up with hooves, horse tails, and horse ears?"

"Actually, they look more like the ears and tails from that damned pony show the last girl I tried to date liked," another voice said, to which Adagio turned and watched as Zeke, Cole's best friend, entered the room that she and Trish were in, though he seemed to be displeased about something, "I never did find out why she liked it so much..."

"Well Zeke, it might have been because she had a little sister that was fascinated with the show?" Trish offered, though something about the way Trish said that made Adagio realize that she had likely known the girl that Zeke had dated and then dumped the moment he found something he didn't like, but she kept her mouth shut as the two of them talked for a bit, "Or maybe it's because you prefer fighting and... other things... than learning a few life lessons?"

"I do like some of the fight scenes in Dragon Ball Z," Zeke said, confirming that Trish was right about what he liked to watch in his own way, though at the same time Adagio was a little lost about what they were even talking about, "I was in the middle of the Cell Games when the Blast went off... I think that might have actually ruined the disk I was watching."

"You should be focused on Cole and not your cartoons." Trish stated, though that was before she sighed as she turned back to Adagio, who watched as Zeke moved towards another bed, where she guessed Cole was resting, before someone said anything about his choice of shows, "I guess it's safe to assume that you aren't from a cartoon world and that the Blast messed you and your sisters up in some manner, like it did to Cole. Sorry, I never did catch your name."

"Adagio... Adagio Dazzle." Adagio replied, though at the same time she glanced up at Trish and decided that it was best if she didn't fire off the lady's name instantly, just in the off chance that the name Cole had said was his nickname for the lady, "And you are?"

"Trish Dailey." Trish replied, to which she smiled at Adagio for a moment, the way a nurse or doctor would to a patient, but even thought that was what they technically were Adagio felt there was another reason for her to be happy, despite the brief flash of pain that came next, "You said that the other girls were called Aria and Sonata?"

"Yeah... Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. They're my sisters." Adario answered, though the only reason she was answering Trish was because she was being nice, since there was no particular reason for her or Zeke to help them, despite the fact that they helped Cole get out of the blast area earlier... and she decided not to ask about the pain that Trish was feeling, as the mere mention that Aria and Sonata were her sisters caused Trish to stiffen for a few seconds.

"Oh my aching head..." a voice said, to which Adagio and Trish looked at the doorway and found Aria, bound up in a blanket no less, standing there, though she was clearly overcoming the drugs that were in her body, "It feels like I got hit by something... again."

Adagio found the urge to chuckle at Aria for a moment, because she had said the same when they first woke up in the large crater that they had found Cole resting in, though at the same time she had to imagine that Aria's clothing was resting somewhere else and that's why she was using the blanket to cover herself at the moment. Trish seemed a little amused by what she was seeing as well, though that was before she became more professional and went over to check on Cole, leaving Aria to walk over to Adagio's bed.

"How are you doing?" Aria asked, which was one of those rare occurrences where she asked Adagio how she was doing, instead of Adagio asking her or Sonata how they were doing, but at the same time it was an interesting change of pace since the last time it happened was around ten years ago.

"I've been better." Adagio replied, to which she carefully pushed herself back into a sitting position, giving her the chance to look Aria in the eyes as she made sure her own covers didn't fall off her body, "Though, if you want my opinion, you should put some clothes on before you drop that blanket."

"You're one to talk," Aria said, though that was when she looked down at herself, allowing Adagio to see that the drugs were definitely wearing off, since she was growing a little more alert as the minutes ticked by, "however, you're also right... I do need to put my old clothes back on, even if they're full of cuts and holes from that explosion earlier."

"Hell must have frozen over, because we just agreed on something." Adagio stated, though oddly enough that got a small smile out of her sister, something that she determined had to be because of the lingering effects of the drugs that were still in her system, before she sighed for a moment, "So, how's Sonata?"

"Actually, she was snoring when I woke up." Aria answered, revealing that Adagio hadn't been the first one to recover from their ordeal, though since Sonata was still asleep that really didn't mean much else, despite the fact that Adagio was happy nothing bad had happened to the three of them, "Hang on for a few minutes... I'm going to change into something that's not going to fall to the floor."

Adagio watched as her sister carefully walked back into the room she and Sonata were apparently sharing, no doubt trying to get used to her new hooves now that they weren't in immediate danger of being blown apart of buried under rubble, before she vanished from her sight. Since she was still confined to the hospital bed that she had been laying on, until Trish determined that she could be discharged from it, all Adagio could really do was look around the room they were in. It appeared that the place that Trish called home was either inside an actual clinic, and these were for when Cole hurt himself, or she had moved some items around to make way for her and Cole to have the beds they were in, though when she thought about him Adagio found that Cole was definitely in a coma, as he was resting in a bed nearby and seemed to be peacefully sleeping... despite the fact that Trish and Zeke were worried about him, as Trish was tending to him and his vital machines while Zeke appeared to be reading a comic of some type.

Besides that there wasn't much for her to look at, save for a picture of Trish with someone that was either her best friend or her sister, before she heard someone clear their throat and found Aria standing in the doorway she had walked through earlier... only this time she had ditched the blanket that she had been wearing earlier and was now wearing her clothing from before, complete with the rips and tears from earlier.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing," Aria said, though at the same time she walked over to Adagio's bed and looked at the pile of clothes that were nearby, which were in the same condition as her own clothing, before she turned towards her sister, "Do you feel well enough to put some decent clothes on?"

"Since her vitals are fine, and she's got no inquires despite the fact that she was in the area of the Blast, she should be able to start moving soon," Trish commented, to which the two sisters turned and noticed that she was staring at them for a moment, though she didn't seem surprised to find that Aria was wearing her old clothing, "though we'll have to get the three of you something new to wear. Those clothes look like they've seen better days."

Adagio nodded, as she was glad to hear that she could actually be able to leave the bed soon enough, though at the same time that didn't stop Aria from helping her up from the bed, complete with the covers that she had been using to cover herself, before taking her over to where the restroom was located. Adagio was surprised when she touched the floor and found that walking came naturally to her, despite the fact that her legs were different from before, though she wondered if their trek through the crater earlier had anything to do with it. She and her sisters hadn't even attempted to adapt to their new body structure, since they were in pain at the time and had to avoid the collapsing area they had been in, but this was still strange, especially when they were banished to the Earth and transformed into humans, as it had taken them some time to adapt to those forms... she eventually guessed that, since this form was so identical to their old forms, that all three of them had adapted to walking with hooves inside the crater.

She shelved that thought for a moment as Aria opened the bathroom door and let her step inside, where she returned a few seconds later with the clothing she had been wearing before the Blast went off... to which Adagio sighed as she carefully put on her old clothes, still finding it odd that her shoes had been morphed to fit their new hooves.

"So, what's our plan?" Aria asked, knowing that Adagio had to be thinking of something at the moment, even if she was standing outside the bathroom door so no one bothered Adagio while she was changing, meaning that she couldn't see the look on her sister's face.

"We're in an unfamiliar area, with someone that clearly has powers, and we have no idea how to get home," Adagio said, though at the same time she pulled up her pants and put on her shirt, while she considered what they could do with the situation they found themselves in, "Our best course of action is to recover from the Blast, do what we can to repay Trish for even helping us out, and figure out what sort of powers we unlocked earlier... before we even consider trying to figure out a way back home."

"We... have powers?" Aria inquired, though the tone of her voice spoke volumes, as Adagio could hear that her sister didn't believe her statement, but Adagio didn't blame her, as she was having a hard time believing that and she had see the aura around her and her sisters earlier, "Explain."

"When Cole was experiencing the rush of electricity earlier I noticed that all three of us had auras around our bodies," Adagio replied, hoping to at least inform Aria of what she knew, because she was mostly guessing at the moment and wouldn't know anything for real until one of them practiced later on, "from what I could see the white auras seemed to protect us from the intense lightning that erupted from the sky and struck the area around Cole. Other than that I didn't see the auras do anything else, which means that we'll have to try accessing those auras to see what sort of powers we unlocked by coming here."

"Sounds like a plan." a third voice said, to which Aria turned to the right and found Sonata, already wearing her old set of clothing, standing near her, revealing that she must have woken up the moment she heard the two of them talking and decided to join them, "How's Cole doing?"

"According to Trish, he's in a coma." Aria said, surprised that Sonata would care about someone that they just met, but considering that his friend and girlfriend were willing to help them she guessed that she could attempt to do the same thing, especially since they had no idea where they were.

Sonata seemed a little sad by that statement, confusing Aria again, but she smiled as Adagio walked out of the bathroom, wearing her old clothing, before the three of them headed out into the part of the apartment that Adagio had woken up in. Since all three of them were up and about at this point, which was strange considering what they had been through earlier, Trish prepared something light for lunch, telling the sisters what time of the day it was, which happened to be some ham and cheese sandwiches with some chips. While all of them had lunch Trish told Zeke that there were some items that they needed to get before the nearby store was completely looted, informing the sisters that the Blast had changed how the city worked. She also asked if the sisters were feeling well enough to help out, as she wasn't forcing them to do anything since they had just woke up, but Sonata was more than willing to help out... to which Adagio and Aria decided to go with her, so they could see what sort of state the city was in.

When the meal was done Zeke decided to head out to get the errand done, to which the sisters headed out with him and were pleased to find that, thanks to everyone concentrating on themselves and the supplies they were taking home, no one seemed to care that they were part pony. Zeke lead them to the nearby store and grabbed a cart, where the sisters found he was storing up batteries and other electronic devices that some people were ignoring for the moment, before they helped him gather up some food items that had been left behind. Most of the clothes that had been inside the store, unfortunately, had been taken before their arrival, either by families that needed them or by street people to burn according to what Zeke told them, but that only told the sisters that they were out of luck. That ended up raising a question in Adagio's mind, one that she hadn't thought to ask earlier, which she ended up asking Zeke as the four of them walked out of the store with the cart he was pushing.

"So how long were we out for?" Adagio asked, as that was something that was bothering her, because neither she nor her sisters knew how long they had been unconscious for since the Blast happened, or rather since they hit the ground on the bridge after helping Cole reach his friends.

"Well, the Blast happened four days ago, so I'd say four days," Zeke replied, though at the same time he noticed a pair of goons walking down the nearby alley and counted his blessings that they didn't see the four of them, and their cart, while they were walking, "Since the Blast happened there's this plague that's stuck the entirety of Empire City, and so far there have been a series of riots, thefts, rapes... essentially the civilization of Empire City is committing suicide, but I'm sure that when Cole gets back up he'll have a plan to save our hides, especially with you three helping him out."

"What do you mean by that?" Aria inquired, as she was interested in why Zeke was thinking about that, even though she was disgusted by the fact that it appeared that order was falling apart, because while the three of them may have fed on negativity, back when they had their siren powers, they never did anything that caused something like this.

"Dude, I saw the three of you running beside Cole with these awesome auras when you were outrunning the lightning!" Zeke said, his tone telling them that he was excited by what they had done, revealing that someone already knew that they had awakened something inside them, "The lightning ignored you and fried everything else, as if your auras protected you or something. I bet with some practice the three of you will be able to control whatever powers you possess and, with whatever happened to Cole added to the mix, I'm positive that the four of you could make a difference in the days to come."

The former sirens looked at each other for a few moments, as Adagio and Aria were surprised that Zeke believed that they could help Cole, if and when he recovered, but the look in Sonata's eyes told them what their sister was thinking about without needing to be told. Sonata was already seeing herself as a hero of the city, standing alongside Cole and the two of them, meaning that she was imagining the four of them being a group of superheroes, sort of like the Rainbooms they guessed. Neither Adagio or Aria were sure that they wanted to be like the group of girls that had taken their powers in the first place, since the students of CHS had seen them as heroes after they brought down Sunset Shimmer and she, in turn, helped them bring the three of them down. Before they could really react to what Zeke had said a man, who was dressed like a thug and had a gun in the back of his pants, ran up to a nearby lady and demanded her stuff, why neither of them had any idea considering the state of the city, but that didn't stop Sonata from rushing towards the man and attacked him, as they heard her declare 'Cure on the Descendants' as her attack connected.

What really happened was that Sonata stopped behind the guy and raised her right leg in a kicking motion, right between his legs no less, and Zeke shivered at the thought of having that happen to him, especially since the thug fell to the ground in pain, leaving Sonata to make sure that the lady the thug was attempting to mug left with her stuff intact, who appreciated the rescue. Once the lady was on her way once more Sonata returned to her sisters, though she grabbed the thug's gun and handed it over to Zeke, figuring that he could use a weapon to defend himself in the future, especially since she, Aria, and Adagio had no idea how to use them. Of course her sisters were surprised that she had gone out of her way to save someone, but they were more surprised where Sonata had hit the thug, as they had no idea their sister would even consider doing something like that. Zeke, on the other hand, was more than happy to have a weapon of his own, so he could properly defend himself, though as the sisters followed him down the street they noticed that he had also robbed the store of several cases of bullets... though whether that was for weapons he already possessed or so the lunatics didn't have any ammunition none of them knew, as he didn't seem to be in a talkative mood about that.

Despite the fact that none of the sisters knew how to use a gun, something none of them really cared about, they were all somewhat pleased to see that Zeke had taken the ammunition, regardless of his reasons behind why he had done so, as the one thug demonstrated that just having a weapon was making people commit crimes to improve their lives. Another reason behind why that was a good thing was because there was an unnamed gang forming somewhere in the Neon, the part of Empire City that they were in, that was already causing problems. All four of them agreed that this gang shouldn't be allowed to have all the weapons, as it made them more dangerous, but there wasn't much they could do at the moment and simply continued on their way, where they headed down the street and kept their thoughts to themselves. Along the way Adagio, Aria, and Sonata noticed that the civilians were already losing hope, though at the same time they wondered what the government was going to do about the situation.

The sisters also had the feeling that Empire City's condition was going to go downhill rather quickly, especially when they considered what was already happening, and they needed to be prepared for anything... so they followed after Zeke and headed back to Trish's place, where they could watch over Cole and see what happened to the city next.