Vol 9 Chapter 3.2 (1/2)
This is a continuation of PART A.
”Your brother?”
”Yes. We were far apart in age. Our father pa.s.sed away early on, so I raised him like a son. He was abducted by the Security Bureau five years ago, when he was eighteen. Take a guess at why.”
”Because he refused to declare his loyalty to No. 6?”
”Absolutely right. My brother refused to partake in the allegiance ritual held at their school every morning. He didn't like being forced to submit. I think it came from his youthful pride and sense of justice. And as a human, it was normal for him to feel this way. My brother was indeed a proper, normal adolescent. Maybe he was a little more rebellious and stubborn than most. He was also a little inexperienced in the ways of the world. My brother was summoned to the Moondrop the same day, and he didn't come back until two weeks later.”
”He came back?”
”He came back, but he was transformed. I don't mean dead―he was alive. But he may as well have been dead. You could see no remnant of the cheerful, active captain of the basketball team that he used to be. He hardly spoke or responded to me, and just gazed blankly at the sky all day, just vacantly stared.... He killed himself not long after coming home. I can't even bear to think about what he must have gone through during those two weeks. I said he killed himself, but in truth, he was murdered by this city. Our mother collapsed from shock, and she never... she pa.s.sed away not more than three days later. Her will to live was torn from her once she saw what her beloved son was reduced to. Our mother may as well have been murdered, too. No, she I believe was. It was definitely murder.” The doctor nodded vehemently as if to convince himself.
He killed himself.
s.h.i.+on recalled the doctor's words in his head again.
The doctor bit his lip as if to endure a throbbing pain. This man had also suffered at the hands of No. 6. Already how many lives had the city devoured?
s.h.i.+on clenched his hand into a tight fist.
No. 6 did not permit people to be people, nor for each to be his own.
Why? he almost screamed. Rou said so. He said he tried to construct a utopia―one without war, discrimination, or unhappiness.
When did it go wrong? What went wrong to transform it into such a ruthless monster? What went wrong―?
The doctor's face unravelled into a smile as his lips relaxed.
”But Karan was fearless. She continued to open her shop, bake bread, and put it on the shelves. Every time I pa.s.sed Karan's bakery, I couldn't help but breathe in the delicious aroma of freshly-baked bread. She is amazing for carrying on her daily work in spite of her loss. She probably strongly believed that you were going to come home. I felt pity for Karan, you know. I thought there was a slim chance, if there was even one, that you were coming home. I believed if you did come back, you would be just like my brother. But you did come back, and in one piece. You came back proper.”
”I did change in appearance, though.”
”Appearances don't matter, as long as your soul isn't broken. That's precisely No. 6's plan―to govern human souls. To rule the hearts, minds, and even thoughts of people.”
Inukas.h.i.+ stifled a huge yawn.
”So tell me what else is new. I thought this was obvious to you guys already. For us West Block residents, No. 6 ain't no utopia. It's like a bloated, fat vampire.”
”A vampire... I can see that.” A smile spread across the doctor's face. ”And that vampire is writhing in pain from the changes occurring in its body. To think―to think this day has come―ha ha ha! I wish I could have shown this to my brother and mother! Ha ha ha ha!”
The doctor's laughter gradually gained momentum until it became a roar. Inukas.h.i.+ furrowed his brow and recoiled.
”Hey, s.h.i.+on. Is the doc okay? I mean, up here?” He pointed at his head. ”You sure he hasn't got something loose in there?”
”He saved Nezumi's life,” s.h.i.+on said sternly.
”Sure didn't do anything for me,” retorted Inukas.h.i.+.
The doctor was still laughing. s.h.i.+on slowly enunciated his words as he spoke at the man's trembling back.
”Doctor, can I see Nezumi?”
The laughter stopped. The doctor turned around. The echoes of his laughter and the residue of his mirth still swam in his eyes.
”Nezumi? Ah, you mean that boy. What a peculiar name. Not his real name, is it?”
”I don't think so.”
”And what is?”
He had opened his mouth to say ”I don't know” when the door to the examination room opened a crack. A tall, thin man was edging his upper body into view. A crow was perched on his shoulder. The mice gave a terrified screech. One dove into s.h.i.+on's pocket, while the other two squeezed under the belly of a dog with patched fur.
”Yoming, what's the matter?” The doctor strode over to the man. Yoming whispered something into his ear. The doctor's eyebrows rose dramatically.
”The Correctional Facility!” The doctor's mouth gaped open. ”The Correctional Facility―is that even possible?”
Yoming answered him. s.h.i.+on could not catch it. He didn't want to. Right now, he was in no mood to listen.
I want to see Nezumi. All of his thoughts concentrated into that one point. His heart pounded in antic.i.p.ation.
I want see him and know that he's alive.
s.h.i.+on put his hand on the operating room door.
”He's upstairs.” The doctor pointed an index finger straight up at the ceiling. ”There's a recovery room on the second floor. Aria is attending to him. There's a direct-route elevator in the operating room, too, but I want you to use the stairs in the hallway.”
”Thank you, doctor.”
”Oh―wait a minute,” the doctor said. ”Don't tell me you've come from the Correctional Facility―”
s.h.i.+on did not hear the last of the doctor's sentence. He tore into the hallway.
”Hey, wake up, old man! Looks like we're paying Nezumi a visit. We need to get some flowers.”
”Nnngh, what? Who said I ever wanted to go?”
”Quit talking in your sleep and wake the h.e.l.l up.”
s.h.i.+on left Inukas.h.i.+ and Rikiga bickering behind him, and dashed up the stairs. His legs faltered for a moment as he reached the corridor, dimly lit by nighttime lights.
It reminded him of the long, straight corridor of the Correctional Facility. But this atmosphere was not impregnated with fear; it did not p.r.i.c.k his skin as before.
He exhaled softly.
Only one room by the stairs had the lights on. s.h.i.+on regulated his breathing, and gently placed his hand on the door. It slid silently open.
The room walls were painted a pale yellow. Across from him, darker yellow curtains were drawn across what he supposed was a large window.
By the window, the nursing robot was making faint electronic sounds by the bed. When s.h.i.+on entered, it raised its arm as if to reject him.
”Resting. Resting. Not taking visitors. The patient is resting. Not taking visitors.”
I see, this robot must be Aria. He bent low to talk to the robot.
”Aria, thank you. I'm very grateful.”
”Grateful. Grateful. Grateful.” The nursing robot's visual sensors flashed, and turned from red to green. It seemed to have acknowledged s.h.i.+on's presence.
”Aria, I want you to let me see your patient. I want to see him really badly. I'll do anything.”
Aria's visual sensors stopped flas.h.i.+ng―or rather, she stopped blinking. Her green eyes were fixed on s.h.i.+on.
”Want to see. Want to see. Request accepted. Request accepted.”
Aria glided across the floor. She retracted her arm, and settled herself in a corner of the room. She looked like a quirky but lovable piece of interior decor. The dogs lay around her peacefully.
Nezumi was sleeping on the bed. He was connected to many tubes, and his eyes were closed. A tinge of colour had returned to his cheeks, perhaps thanks to a blood transfusion. His superfibre cloth was folded neatly and placed beside the bed, no doubt by Aria.
s.h.i.+on bent over Nezumi and took his pulse. It was faint, but regular. s.h.i.+on could definitely feel it. A sigh of relief escaped his lips.
”Nezumi...” He felt his body unravel as he released a sigh.
He made it. He survived. s.h.i.+on knelt by the bed and buried his face in the sheets. He could feel Nezumi's heartbeat. He wanted to raise his voice and cry―as loudly as his voice would allow.
He's alive. He's alive. Nezumi's alive.
”I could do with a few more winks.” Rikiga yawned, showing a full array of teeth.
”I'm hungry,” Inukas.h.i.+ said. ”And my dogs are hungry, too. It's all good that Nezumi made it, but it ain't gonna be funny if we die from starvation instead. Ah d.a.m.nit, I'm starved!”
”If 'we' die? Don't lump me in with the likes of you.”
”You've got nothing to do with it, old man. I'm talking about me and my dogs. Hey, robot, uh―Aria, was it? Struck lucky with a pretty name, haven't ya? Doesn't suit you at all. So, Ms. Aria, can you get us some grub or what?”
”Grub. Grub. Grub. Cannot comprehend. Cannot comprehend.”
”I mean a meal. Patients and injured people still need to eat, right?” Inukas.h.i.+ made a motion of wolfing something down.
”Meal. Understood. Understood.”