Arknights story · Operator Records
Careful of Flammables
Ifrit and Skyfire happen upon Shaw, who is inspecting the fire safety equipment in the hallway. The two of them learn how Shaw feels about her profession as a firefighter.
1 scenes, 233 lines
1. Interlude
233 lines
Huff... phew...
It'sokay... Everything'sfine... Calmdown... I'mnotnervous atall... Phew...
......
It's no goooood! WhatdoIdo? Tomorrow's thesecondlecture!
Ugh, mychesthurts. Ican'tbreathe... ughh...
...Huff...
GuessI'm waytoonervous still.
Ican'tgetmydraftfixed. G-Gottamakeitsimple andeasytounderstand. Alsogotta becareful thateachsentence isn'tmorethan twentywordslong. Notlikelasttime.
Also... HowfastItalk... But... uh...
That'snotsomethingIcancontrol.
*Sigh*...
Whoa! Oh... thealarm.
Ohnolookatthetime.
Istillhaven'tfinished checkingmyequipment fortheday, andIstill haven'tputmyreporttogether. Ican'tdothisanymore. Ican'tkeep neglectingmyduties!
Gottagetittogether...
You know, you can go apologize any time. Why do I have to go with you?
Don't tell me you're shy. Please, I've had enough of your jokes.
Huh? Apologize? Me? I... Ugh, this sucks. Anyway, that's not what's happening!
Then let go of me. Stop pulling.
No way! Dammit! If it wasn't for Silence and the Doctor's complaining, I wouldn't be wasting my time with all this.
I was just trying to get a barbecue going. It wasn't supposed to turn out like that... Urgh, this is bullshit. The notes I borrowed from Ice Cube are all wet...
So you are actually trying to study?
W-What're you giggling for? I'm allowed to study! Besides, you were there setting everything on fire with me just the same. Why aren't they giving you an earful?!
Don't you lump me in with you... That was an accident! I didn't think I'd lose control all of a sudden!
You keep YOUR voice down!
......
Hmm...
It'swellventilatedhere, theemergencyexit's notblocked, theemergencylight's working, andall firesuppressionequipment's functioningproperly.
Okay, noprobleminthiscorridor.
Nextup'sthelivingarea, themedicalarea, andthedeck.
Phew, lookslikeIcan finishcheckingeverything beforedinner. Afterthat, Igot thisseason's fireriskanalysis tofinish, andIgotta handoutbrochures...
Hey...
Ohno! Notenoughtime! WhatdoIdo? I'mnotdonewith tomorrow'slectureeither. I'msogonnamessupagain... *Sigh*.
Hey, I'm talking to you! What are you ignoring me for?! That's rude!
You're a fine one to talk, Ifrit...
Eh? What? I'mhere!
Oh, it'sIfritandSkyfire. Sorry, Iwasjustthinkingaboutwork, soIwasn'tpayingattention.
Doyouneedmeforsomething?
Uh! Ohno! Didyousetsomething onfireagain?! That'sweird. Ididn't hearanyalarms.
T-T-Thisisbad. Wegottahurry—
Wait, no, calm down already. There's no fire!
Hey, I'm telling you, stop...! Why are you running? There's no fire!
Why did you assume there was a fire as soon as you saw us?!
And just what are you trying to say?!
How are you not done with this dumb back-and-forth yet?
Hey, shorty. What are you up to? What's the rush?
Shorty?! MycodenameisShaw. Pleasecallme bymycodename!
Okay, fine.
So what are you doing? What's with all the papers? It's all packed with words... and why are these crossed out?
Oh, these? They'retheinspectionsheets foreachsection oftheship... EverythingIcrossedoff hasbeeninspected. Everything'sfinethere.
Huh? You gotta check every last one of these places?
That'sright. Everylastone.
Damn, sounds like such a pain. And you got so many of these forms.
Ofcourse! That'smyjob!
You've got quite a few of these too. A tough job indeed.
Hey! Stopit, don'tmessthatup! That'sa reportIgottagiveto ClosureandtheDoctor! Ihaven'tfinishedwritingityet...
......
Don't you get tired working like this every day?
I couldn't stick with it. All the inspections, all the reports. That sounds so boring. Isn't there something... you know... cooler?
Like, say... uh... I guess you look kinda cool when you use that fire extinguisher. Got me all wet last time, though.
(That's a rather roundabout way to compliment someone... Don't tell me she believes this makes for an apology!)
(It doesn't work at all!)
It'swork. It'snotsomething youshouldbeselfishabout!
Hm, but...
Personallyspeaking, IguessIcan'tblameyou forthinkingthisway.
Right? Right?!
Butthefactis puttingoutfires isonlyatinyfraction oftheworkwedo. Mostofthetime, wehelpfindmissingitems ordoinspectionwork...
It'sboringandtedious.
Firepreventionisn't allthatfun tolearnabout, andnobodylikesit whenwekeepmaking apointoutofit. Alsowehavesomeregulations thatweremade outofsafetyconcerns, butIknowthey canbeabittoomuch forday-to-daylife.
LasttimeIgavealecture atthelocalprimaryschool, andthekidsthere weren'tinterestedinlisteningto whatIhadtosay. Theyallranaway beforeIevengot halfwaythrough...
AndI... IknowI'mnot thebestatspeaking...
Oh, ohh... So you do know that, huh...?
Whoa! W-Why'd you raise your voice?!
That said... what?
Evenhelping acitizentakethering offherfingerwhen itgetsstuck ismeaningfulwork, andsomeone'sgotta doit.
I... It'sbeenafewyears sinceIjoinedthe firedepartment. I'mnorookieanymore!
Ofcourse, Igettiredof doingthesamework overandovertoo.
Thisismyjob, though.
Itwasmydreamtobecomeafirefighter eversinceIwasakid...
Thisismyjobandmydecision, andIwillberesponsible forbothofthem!
So you are the one responsible for this operation?
Relax. There is no need to be so tense.
It's all thanks to you and everyone else at the fire department that there were no causalities in this rescue operation. On behalf of all of Lungmen, please accept my thanks.
Is there anything you want for your reward? Money, an extended holiday? You deserve it.
Go ahead.
Iwouldliketoholdalarge-scale publicinformation campaignonfiresafety withtheL.G.D.!
Ifatallpossible, Iwouldalsolike anincreasein firesafetyinformationsessions atschoolsacross alldistricts...
Ibelieve furthereducationin firesafety canhelplower fireoccurrences aswellasinjuries, deaths, andpropertyloss! P-Pleasegivethissomethought!
Hmm...
Very well, I'll agree to this.
Really?! Awesome!
However, I also expect to see an acceptably feasible proposal for an information campaign of this scale.
And since you requested it, it falls on you to put together this proposal. If you want to see it happen soon, I'm afraid you won't be getting any of that vacation time for your reward.
Thankyou, Chief! Youcancountonme!
I took a quick glance at your file and work logs before our meeting.
Your performance in school was impeccable, and I'm confident you could find yourself a much better line of work, if you wished.
As for your current job, it seems you are unparalleled in the field. Your logs show that, up until today, you've been volunteering your own time to patrol on the weekends for the past two months?
Yes...
I have a question.
Ofcourse, Chief! Please, askaway!
Relax, this is nothing formal. If you would prefer not to answer, you have the right. This is just my own personal curiosity asking.
What drives you to go so far?
Oh?
WhenIwasakid, therewasastorenotfaraway frommyschool. Ilovedthatplace. WheneverIdidsomethingright, myparentswould takemethere tobuysomenuts asareward.
AndI'dtaketherewardstickers Iearnfromclassand stickthemonthewallthere. Whenmyrewardboard wasfullofstickers, theoldmanatthestore wouldgiveme asmallbagofnuts.
Thenutsthere weresotastyandcrunchy. Evennow, Idon'tthinkI'veever hadanythingtastierthanthosenuts.
But... Therewasafire oneday.
......
Itwasn'tahugefire, ithappenedatnight, probablybecausethewiring wasagingindisrepair.
Theshopowner wasn'tthereatnight, sonoonewashurt, buteverything wasgone.
Alltheprettynuts ontheshop'sdisplaywindow... mystickers... allofit.
Theownertoldeveryone itwasablessing noonewashurt, andthatitcould've beenalotworse.
Butthen... WhenIwenttocheckonhimlater... Ifoundhimcryinghiseyesout...
Idon'twannasee anyonelosewhat's precioustothemanymore.
This must be gruesome work to do day after day.
Notatall, Chief!
This isn't an official inquiry. You may answer honestly.
Can you bear with it and remain steadfast to your position?
Very good...
Lungmen is lucky to have a young woman like you.
Now put your proposal together. I will arrange for a liaison to reach out. If you are going to do it, then give it your best effort... Do not come to regret your decision!
Of course!
I thank all of you, for all that you have done for Lungmen.
Mostofthetime, withtherightprecautions, firedanger canactually beavoided.
Aslongaswekeepup safetyinspections... andaslongas everyoneknows theirsafetypreceautions and whattolookoutfor, wecanactually keepfiredamage toaminimum!
That's true. For example, never set up a charcoal barbecue grill indoors...
Oh, shut up!
Neverbarbecueindoors!
Also, ifyourequipment's wornout, butitgoesunnoticed duringinspections andnevergetsreplaced, thenyoumight findyourselfunable touseitwhenyou needitthemost, andwhatcould've beenaneasily solvedproblem insteadturnsinto ahugedisaster.
Like, say, thisfireextinguisher... Look, ifthebuttonhereisstuck, youwouldn'tbe abletotakethefireextinguisherout.
Andtakealookhere. Doyounormally noticethisleverhere? Ifthisisbroken, youwon'tbeableto usethefirebarrierwall tostopthefire fromspreading.
Allthiscanbeavoided solongasIdomyworkproperly.
Oh, I never noticed that little thing...
Italkedaboutthis inourlastlecture! Pleaserememberit!
Well, what am I supposed to do?! You know how fast you talk? I can't get half of what you say!
Uhh...! R-Right... Mybad...
Thistime, I'llmakesureI'mwell-prepared, andI'llmakesureallofyou willcometoknow firesafetyandprevention likethebackofyourhands.
Start by getting your talking speed under control!
Uhh... You'reright...
Actually, Dr.Kal'tsitandAmiya approvedmyapplication rightinthebeginning toinstallfireequipment allthroughouttheship.
Ifrit, Skyfire. Youmaynothave everpaidmuchattention tothesethings.
Butaslongaswemakesure theequipmentisoperatingproperly andthateverybody knowshowtouseit, youwon'tneedtocometome whensomethingdoeshappen.
Itdoesn'tmatterwhetheryou'reat RhodesIslandorelsewhere. Wherethere'safire, there'salways anextinguishercloseby, andyoucanquicklyputitoutyourself.
With these cans and stuff? Now that you mention it, I do see them all over the place.
But if you're gonna put it like that, can't we just get Casters like MuMu to use their Arts to put the fire out? Why go through all the trouble?
I'lladmittherearesome OriginiumArtsthatcandothat.
But, Ifrit, noteveryonehappens toknowhowtouse Artslikethat.
Buteveryone cantakecareoffires withfireequipment aslongastheyknow howtouseit.
Andit'snothardtouseeither. Aslongasyou gothroughsome basicfiresafetytraining, anyonecandoit.
Andactually...
IfIcanmakefiresafety commonknowledge hereatRhodesIsland byholdingmorelectures, wecancompletely eradicatedangerslike usingunauthorizedelectronics!
Hey, hold up. Why does it feel like you're yelling at me?! I told you last time I won't do that again!
*Cough*... No, no, notatall. You'reimaginingthings.
Firedoesn'tdistinguishgoodandbad. Anythingitburnsisdoneforgood. Didn'ttheDoctor tellyoulasttime?
Yeah...
It's true that all my enemies burn to cinders whenever I use my Arts on them.
YourOriginiumArts arewaytoodangerous eveninbattle, Skyfire!
Alotofoperators can'tevenget anywherenearyou, andiftheydon't putout theflamesyourelease, itcouldlead tomuchworsedamage... Justlikethattime intheforest!
Younearlyburneddown thewholewoods!
Uh... D-Did I now...?
Hahaha! So lame!
Youstoplaughing, Ifrit. Thesamegoesforyou!
Ughh.
Anyway, ratherthanputtingoutfires afterthefact, Iwouldrather weputastop toallthefiresattheirsource!
I'mdoingallthis sothatnoonehasto loseanythingeveragain...
Wow, hey... That's actually a pretty cool thing to say.
Hm? Whatwasthatjustnow?
Nothing at all!
If that's where your heart is, then you'd better do a good job! I'm going to that lecture tomorrow, and don't you dare disappoint me!
Y-Yeah...! I'lldomybest!
But, hmm. Remember the podium last time? I couldn't even see you behind it!
That's not gonna fly... Oh, I know! I'll ask Closure to do something about it!
Don't worry about it. Just let her do her thing. Perhaps she'll actually figure out something nice.
So how is your lecture coming along?
Imanagedtogetitwritten, butIjustdon'tthink it'sgoodenough... Everyonesaid theydidn'tknow whatIwastalkingabout lasttimetoo...
Hmph, if they can't figure it out, it just goes to show the level they are at. That being said...
Okay, let me take a look at your draft. I don't mind helping you with some minor edits.
Huh? Yousureaboutthat?
I'm telling you I don't mind! It has absolutely nothing to do with me being sorry for setting the hallway on fire last time! Don'tyoudaregetthewrongidea!
Stop babbling already!
Andthat'sthe lastparttakencareof... Yep, it'sallgood.
Castertraininggrounds re-inspection... thesimulationcabins... thecanteen... Okay, allofit's takencareof... Good.
Phew... NowIjustneedto putmyreporttogether andhandittotheDoctor.
BothSkyfireandIfritleft... Iwonderifthey'llbefine. Theywon'tcauseanotheraccident, right...? *Sigh*... I'mstartingtogetworried.
Mmph!
Sorry, it'sallmyfault! Iwasn'tpayingattention... Areyouhurt? DoIneedto takeyoutotheclinic?!
Oh... I'm fine. You don't need to apologize...
What about you... Are you with the Lungmen Fire Department?
Oh, yesIam! MycodenameatRhodesIsland isShaw!
I knew it! I got the right person...! I didn't expect to bump into you here!
Excuseme, butyouare...?
Please, don't be so polite. You can call me Waai Fu. I saw you on TV before.
I'm not sure if you remember, but it was that accident caused by the heater that's against regulations? I think it was a pretty big deal. Master Wei even took it upon himself to do some fire safety PSAs.
Oh, thatone...
One of my classmates was in that very building, and she kept telling me it's all thanks to you firefighters that everyone's still alive.
All of them are really thankful for everything you've done, and they've been paying extra care to the safety code. The city's awareness campaign was right after that... I learned so much because of that.
Hehe... That'sgreat!
I heard you led the rest of the firefighters at the forefront in that rescue operation. You really left an impression, with how cool and brave you were.
Oh, notatall. Y-You'regivingmetoomuchcredit.
Don't be so humble! That's just how amazing you are!
Oh, right... I forgot to mention. My classmate is looking to join the fire department, and she's prepping for the exam now.
Eh?! Ifsheneedsanything, letmeknow! Ihavesomematerials shecanborrow!
That's perfect! I know she's got to be studying so hard for her exam day after day. I bet she'll be so jealous if she finds out I met you here!
You'reexaggerating. Ihopeshepassestheexam!
Not at all. It's no exaggeration.
It may seem like no big deal, but she told me it was a miracle that everyone made it out alive and unharmed.
Shaw, you're a hero to her.