The long eyelashes flickered slightly before two white eyelids slowly opened, revealing two pale eyes.  Widening, they observed the off white ceiling above him and the spotlights peppering it, before narrowing with a frown.  Something was wrong.  Before the boy could summon any answers from his own mind, a voice beside him broke into his musings.

"Ah, you are awake."  The voice was deep and lazy, not in a easy, drawling sort of way, but cooler, more distant, as if the speaker didn't really care about his own words. 

The boy known as Warren turned to look at the solid form sitting next to the bed he was laying upon.  It was a youth around his own age, though whether he was older of younger he wasn't sure, as Warren didn't recognise him from his own year. His eyes were dark and warm, though lacking intensity as if unfocused. His hair was black like strands of cut jet rather than lengths of dull charcoal. His face was not unpalatable, and possibly could even be considered refined, if not for the overly sloth-like demeanour of the overall body.

A flash of memory awakened in Warren,  and he sat up suddenly in shock.  "What's going on!"  He suddenly demanded, in a panicked way.  "Why am I not dead?  I am supposed to be dead!"  If he didn't die, then the female protagonist would not step up on to her roll and he would not receive the rewards of the world.  He would not free any V.I.P's if there were any lingering here.

The larger boy stared wide eyed at him, the cogs of thought clearly winding slowly within them.  He blinked a couple of times before replying.  "You wanted to die?"  He asked.

"No!" Warren replied unhesitatingly.  "I mean, yes... I mean... I don't know."  The last words were barely spoken above a whisper.  His soul was weary.  He thought it might be fine to die, so he could sleep, finally.  But his instinctive denial suggested that there was a speck of another want still buried deep within him.  Or perhaps that was actually the want of the host rather than the possessor.  "Did you stop me?" He asked the other quietly, who nodded in answer.  "Why?"

The boy shrugged.  "Don't know."  A long silence stretched between them.  "I didn't want you to."

"What?" Warren questioned with a whisper.  "Didn't want me to what?"

"I didn't want you to die," the boy mumbled.  Before Warren could question him further, a rather loud noise broke through the tense atmosphere.  The larger boy rubbed his stomach.  "I lost my lunch," he said, rather forlornly.

Warren tilted his head slightly as he asked; "Um... where?  Can't you go get it?"

"It's on the roof," the boy replied with a slight shrug.

"Oh."  A second silence fell over them, but it was strangely comfortable this time.  "What is your name?"

"I'm Aidan."

"I'm Warren."

"I know."

Another minute passed quietly.  "You know, you don't have to stay.  Don't you have class?"

"Nurse Hughes told me not to leave you."  Warren simply stared at him.  He was beginning to grasp the other boy's personality through his words, or lack of them.  It didn't seem that he was stupid or slow, it was more that to Aidan, speaking more than necessary was a wasted effort.  Warren scratched the side of his nose and decided that he didn't dislike this sort of person. 

He glanced towards the door of the infirmary and whispered softly.  "I suppose the Nurse will be contacting my parents?" 

"Probably."

A dull pain hit his chest along with guilt.  He never considered he would fail his mission and be faced with the consequences of his actions.  It was why he had originally lashed out his saviour as fear of the unknown had wrapped around him..  It was not as if he hadn't experienced failure before, but those were usually side missions and didn't overly effect the plot.  He hadn't actually failed his final tasks before.  He was at a loss of what to do.  Should he wait until he received a message like when he was offered side missions?  They usually came in the form of a note, email or text message, so it probably would not take long for the System to contact him. 

His sigh turned into a yawn, which he covered belatedly with his hand.  "I think..." he murmured with a tilt of his head, "I think I want to sleep now.  Will you wake me when my parents arrive?"

"Okay," Aidan agreed, easily, before watching as the boy lay down and curled onto his side.  Aidan blinked a couple of times as his eyes scanned over the pale boy's face and waited for his breathing to steady before saying aloud; "What do I need to do to save him?"

*Exactly what the Nurse told you for now.*

"And later?"

*Hmmm?  We can discuss the details later.  I need to confirm that you have agreed to contract with me before I can help you further.*

"Who are you?"

*Ah, I don't have a name.* the voice replied almost sheepishly.  *I am just a Backup System after all.*