Healer

"Without trust...we have nothing."

AKA

Sister Pink

Biographical info

Pronouns

she/her

Species

Iris-type clone (human)

Role

Shapen Sister (Healer)

Name in other languages

Chinese

治療者

Japanese

ヒーラー

Appearance

Debut

Chapter [Redacted]

Voice actor

Stephanie Wong

Healer is the Shapen Sister who supervises all healthcare-related matters in the Orchard – researching disease cures, performing medical check ups, conducting radical medical experiments, and leading cloning operations. While healer is attentive and supportive to those she cares for, she is also not afraid to "get real" and be painfully honest when the situation calls for it.

Personality[edit | edit source]

HEALER: Where would we be without trust? These shells trust me... To heal them, to comfort them...that if they close their eyes, they'll open them again. Do they always wake up? Sometimes I fuck up. Sometimes they can't be saved.

HEALER: All I can do is care. To honour their trust. So they die, I cry, and I keep going. The day I stop caring is the day I'll fire up the incinerator myself. (ch.4)

Healer is honest and tired. She wears her heart on her sleeve, feeling all her emotions deeply. She is kind to those who need it, as being a healer means she's had to soothe and care for others. When necessary, Healer is not afraid to get messy – both when conducting radical experiments into the disease cure, and when calling out others on their behavior. When displeased, Healer can be especially petty, sassy, and even condescending, but she is always fair about her grievances. Healer often uses endearing terms like "honey" and "love" for everyone, though they can take on a layer of scorn when she is upset.

As a woman with stylish taste, Healer can get judgemental about fashion. In Chapter 3, she expresses her disdain for the Ancient Sister's old-fashioned plain catsuits, and teases Watcher about her outfit's outdated resemblance.

Healer knows she has to pick her battles, as she is already fatigued from her demanding medical duties. For minor issues (like Germaphobe Shell's repeated check-up appointments), Healer prefers to avoid confrontation at all. Healer also has poor stamina, running out of breath and struggling to keep up with other sisters when they trek long distances.

She feels deeply for the wellbeing of her sisters and is greatly affected by their passing. She experiences intense grief whenever a sister is lost. Despite this, she is known to conduct experiments on Shells as a way of studying the Occupant's Disease and to learn more about it, and intentionally exposes Shells to the virus. According to rumours, she will select useless or annoying Shells to be her subjects.

History[edit | edit source]

Healer is a leader both loved and feared by her shell subordinates. Her function is responsible for printing Shells, sorting them into colours, and providing medical services for the Clone Society. When she is not performing her regular duties, she conducts experiments, pushing medical boundaries in the hopes of finding a cure for the Occupant's disease. She is tasked by Principal to maintain population levels within the Orchard. Whenever she needs to replace a fallen sister, she visits the statue of the ALLMOTHER in the garden.

On the day Fixer goes to the Other Side, she meets with Watcher to offer her comfort and advice.

In the Healer's time, the birthing chambers are difficult to maintain, and as a result she has difficulty printing new clones at a steady rate, with clones being stillborn, or having other defects. Healer notes that new Shells seem to exhibit greater variance, and the memories and abilities new clones are printed with seem to be unpredictable. (TK: get more accurate quote)

After Watcher's first commnunion, and Fixer's incineration, Healer is upset and refuses to speak with Watcher. Despite this, she directs Watcher to speak to one of the other sisters instead of lashing out. During this time, an unnamed Shell has been infected with the virus and is brought to her operating table.

On an anniversary of the ALLMOTHER's birthday, Principal instructs her to commune with Watcher and comments that "something stirs in her". When Watcher wants to commune with her, Healer tries to avoid or delay the ceremony, as she is busy with her other duties.

Communion with Watcher[edit | edit source]

Healer observing the first clones

During the Communion, Healer observes Johnson and Mimi of the Pacific 50 as they prepare to meet Iris. She is suspcious of them (and all humans), and if the Watcher says they are there to help the ALLMO, she will chastise her for trusting the strangers. They witness Iris leaving and joining The 50, and watches the early tests they performed on Iris. Healer expresses curiosity and wants to know more about their experiments, but is frustrated that any more information has been redacted.

After Iris causes the death of the 50, they find drawings made by her in a cave. Healer confides in Watcher that she is sick of the drawings made by the ALLMOTHER. When Watcher responds by asking if she dislikes art, she replies that "art can be sharper than a scalpel".

She watches the creation of the Ancient Sisters, the first clones created by Iris and the origin of the clone society, and Healer seems to perk up as the subject changes to her interest. She teases the outfits worn by the original clones, and is stunned to realise that the first sisters shared Iris's immunity, and did not require masks.

She witnesses as the youngest sister finds a hair in Jiao's notebook and schemes to make a clone. Healer wants to end the communion at this point, and retreats back to an earlier time index, not wanting to see the ending. When Watcher says she has to report her to Principal, Healer is frustrated and finally confronts her about Fixer. Watcher insists that she does not regret what she did, but Healer presses the issue.

HEALER: I want you- I need you- to admit you had a choice. And that you made the wrong one. (ch.2)

Watcher instead argues that should fear the ALLMOTHER, informing Healer that Iris had taken immunity away from the sisters. Healer laments all the unnecessary suffering that resulted from it. (TK: finish off section)

HEALER: I'm mad that you're BASIC. You pretend to be all righteous, but I can tell that you're just scared.
HEALER: But you know what? That scared sister? That sister, I can trust.
HEALER: You don't have to hide from me. Without trust...we have nothing. I want to trust you. (ch.3)

Healer gives constructive criticism.

Occupant Attack[edit | edit source]

After her communion, Healer stops experimenting and trying to find a cure for the Occupant's disease. She attends the graduation ceremony for the new Fixer. She skips out on the celebrations at the bar afterwards, however, instead going to the walkway overlooking the gardens. If Watcher meets her here, Healer will tell her she welcomes the new Fixer, and repeats what she said about the importance of trust. She will answer her questions about the clones' lifecycle if asked.

That night, the alarm sounds; signalling Occupant activity. Healer evacuates to the tunnels with the other sisters, and she does what she can to treat any injuries, although there is nothing she can do for any whose masks were compromised. Among those was the brand new Fixer, with a tiny crack caused during the tremors and chaotic escape. Upon finding this, Watcher goes into a rage, vowing to kill every last Occupant until Healer cuts her off:

HEALER: Really. Hekki validation for your vengeful feelings... I welcome expression from you...
HEALER: But let your sisters rest. (ch.4)

Watcher calms down, but struggles to put her feelings into words. Healer cuts her off, saying she knows how she feels, and tells her she loves her.

On the Run[edit | edit source]

On the night of the Occupant event, Knower approached Healer and Bang Bang Fire to deliver a warning. The two sisters fled to Old Town, where Bartender was able to hide her under the floorboards. They hid there for two months before Fixer came to rescue them. For several years, they stayed on a train, constantly on the move to evade the forces of the Provisional Government. In her absence, Principal declared that she had been incinerated as punishment for her unethical experiments.

In 3AA, Watcher was broken out of prison and brought to the train with Secretary. Watcher's eyes had been gouged out, and she kept on drugs for several years as part of her psychological torture. Healer did her best to stabilise her condition. Fixer offered one of her eyes to Watcher, but was refused.

Healer started experimenting with making and modifying eyes after this. Watcher, reunited with Secretary, began to withdraw into communions in spite of the toll they took on her body. Healer and BB watched over her in shifts, however Fixer and Watcher quickly refused to speak to one another.

Due to a combination of her captivity and the side effects of communing, Watcher would sleep during all the time she wasn't communing. She was disoriented and no longer lucid, often talking in her sleep and regressing to old memories. Healer did what she could to ease her condition, and continued to talk to Watcher. Over the seven years, the fugitive sisters collect several injuries, and Healer is seen with several bandages all over her arms and legs.

Healer speaking with Blue in 7AA (note the bandages on her arms

In 7AA, they learn that a bomb has been set off during the play and they return to the Orchard. Secretary had been spying there, and he helps rescue the shell repsonsible for the attack. After Secretary returns with her, Watcher requests that she be brought to her, and she puts Blue into a communion where they relive each other's lives. In real time, this takes eight hours, and Blue is unconscious afterwards.

The shapen sisters are unsure of Blue's allegience or motivations, and Healer considers whether they should just euthanise her. Ultimately, she takes in the shell as a patient and looks after her until she wakes up; confused about who she is, and scattered across time. Healer is quietly angry, and grieving the deaths of so many sisters. She makes an attempt to keep Blue from seeing Watcher again, and tells her about the harm another communion would cause. After Blue goes to find BBF and Fixer, Healer goes back to Watcher to tell her another bedtime story. The train breaks down again during this.

When Blue returns, she tells Healer how Watcher had been trying to communicate. Healer is upset that Watcher would open up to a complete stranger instead of to her sisters. She leaves the two blue shells there and meets with Bang Bang Fire. Healer tries to help her come to terms with Watcher's mortality, especially considering how vulnerable Watcher is with the train stopped. BB rejects this, however, and insists that Healer continue to think and experiment. Blue reappears, and when asked how she can help, Healer tells Blue to make Fixer talk to Watcher.

Blue is unsuccessful, and briefly talks to Healer. She will say how she is tired, and misses the simpler times living in the Orchard.

Shortly afterwards, the High Minister makes an announcement over the loudspeakers. Hearing her voice triggers a brutal flashback for Watcher, who starts to convulse in her seat. Healer tells Blue to get Fixer and tell her she needs to come now. The additional stress on Watcher's body is too much, and Healer resorts to palliative care. She gives Watcher some medication that calms her episode, but only briefly. This gives the sisters a chance to say goodbye, however on awakening, Watcher asks for Blue and won't talk to her other sisters. Healer insists that Blue doesn't disclose to Watcher that she's dying, and forbids her from starting a communion, which in her current state, would "end" her. With Fixer not coming, she sends Blue in.

Blue emerges a little while later to get Healer, however Watcher is already unresponsive, dead. Healer is upset, and asks whether Blue had a chance to talk with her or not. Fixer enters soon after and breaks the news that the train cannot be repaired. BB wants to carry Watcher's body with them off the train, however Healer sides with Fixer and talks her out of it. Despite that, she tells Fixer she is a "cold bitch". Fixer is unfazed.

Initiating The Mass Communion[edit | edit source]

Now off the train, Healer is forced into more cardio as they walk the rest of the way to the bridge of the Pacific 50 on foot. Despite her exhaustion, her is more concerned with how BB has been handling recent events. With Watcher's death, Healer expected to feel relief, however the loss has not sunk in yet.

In order to gain access to the ship's controls, Healer's job is to replicate the retinal scan of the crew member with administrative privileges. Once Blue identifies the body, Healer is succesfully able to help Fixer bypass the ship's security protocols.

With her job done, Healer indulges her curiosity and stays behind to "poke the body some more". Examining the corpses, Healer is surprised that the dead crewmembers do not show any signs of the Occupant's disease.

The various resistance factions arrive, and after Fixer explains the late Watcher's plan, the meeting quickly devolves into bickering. She shuts down the argument by warning everyone that she's had a bad day, and telling everyone to calm down. When Other-Iris mentions the ALLMOTHER gave them all life, Healer corrects her by saying they are all in fact clones of Principal, not Iris. The factions are able to rally around Blue, and form a plan to distract the Red Guard and bring the Familiars together in the admin office.

To her disappointment, their plan requires even more walking, and a nauseating trip to above the transparent inside sky. They are interrupted by Capital Red, and in a change of plans, Fixer blows up the roof, sending Healer into freefall while Secretary starts the mass communion.

They are successful, and during the impossible conversations, Healer tries to get through to BB, pointing out the symptoms of her mental issues. She tries to reassure the guilt-stricken sister, telling her that everything she did was necessary, and that they owe it to her that they got this far. When asked whether it was far enough, Healer is unable to answer. Shortly afterwards, Healer is seen at the end of a corridor, followed by a gunshot and Bang Bang Fire falling to the ground behind her.

Epilogue[edit | edit source]

They are successful, and during the impossible conversations, Healer tries to get through to BB, pointing out the symptoms of her mental issues. She tries to reassure the guilt-stricken sister, telling her that everything she did was necessary, and that they owe it to her that they got this far. When asked whether it was far enough, Healer is unable to answer. Shortly afterwards, Healer is seen at the end of a corridor, followed by a gunshot and Bang Bang Fire falling to the ground behind her.

As Secretary gives Blue the choice of who lives and dies, Healer is trying to get a response from Bang Bang Fire, who is unresponsive despite being linked via the communion.

In her epitaph, it is recorded that she was a cultural icon in her later years. She is remembered as a "legend" by the unnamed Jiao-type.

Relationships[edit | edit source]

Bang Bang Fire[edit | edit source]

HEALER: Our jobs require us to separate our heartbreak from our hand (ch. 8)

Healer and BBF share a common purpose of keeping their sisters alive. Unlike BBF, Healer has far more experience with failing, and is the one most capable of understanding her grief following the Occupant Quake event.

Watcher[edit | edit source]

HEALER: I want you – I need you – to admit you had a choice. And that you made the wrong one. (ch. 3)

Though Healer can sometimes be patronizing towards Watcher – who is younger and comparatively naive – she still cares a lot about Watcher, even if they are not particularly close. She easily brushes off Watcher's rudeness on the day Fixer leaves for the Other Side, congratulating Watcher on her progress, as a reminder to celebrate Fixer's promotion.

Following Watcher's first communion and the announcement that Fixer was incinerated, Healer's relationship towards becomes strained. Healer is frustrated at Watcher's naïveté and blind adherance to the Principal's rules. Although they fight, Healer continually tries to make Watcher confront and express her true emotions.

After Watcher is rescued (and discovered to be blinded, traumatized, and in very bad shape), Healer becomes Watcher's main caretaker on the Train, sleeping in the same train-car as Watcher to keep watch over her.

Fixer[edit | edit source]

HEALER: text. (ch. #)

they disagree on the train

Germaphobe Shell[edit | edit source]

Sorting Shell[edit | edit source]

Quotes[edit | edit source]

HEALER: (laughs) Ohhmigawd. (ch.3)

HEALER: Oh, sisters. (sighs) You're all so basic. (ch.3)

HEALER: Without trust...we have nothing. (ch.3)

HEALER: Where would we be without trust? These shells trust me... To heal them, to comfort them...that if they close their eyes, they'll open them again. Do they always wake up? Sometimes I fuck up. Sometimes they can't be saved. [...] All I can do is care. To honour their trust. So they die, I cry, and I keep going. The day I stop caring is the day I'll fire up the incinerator myself. (ch.4)