"Oh, come ON!!!" I hear Tarran yell. "Not now!"

The lights in the room flicker on and off. Is there something wrong with the power? Doubtful. Hospitals should have backup systems. A few minutes later, Tarran comes in with a box of vials.

"Well," he starts, "at least I made enough."

Honestly, I feel rather queasy, but that's to be expected. That's what happens when you've lost as much blood as I have.

"Was it...a success?" I ask.

Tarran still looks agitated by the electricity, but glances me and nods, smiling slightly.

"You mean that...?"

"Yep! Thanks to you, we've finally got a cure!" he says.

"Can you guarantee that it'll work?"

"I'm 99% sure. I went over the procedure multiple times using my subtone, ."

"So, it's basically the subtone, correct?"

"Yes and no. is the faster of the two, as it quickly returns the results of whatever is examined. As for , rather than just getting the end results, I can examine every outcome of all the analytical steps. For projects with multiple steps, this is ideal, as I can tell what the product of each step is just by mentally visualizing what I plan to do, even without actually performing said step, but it takes longer to get the final results. It's great for experimenting, but it's time consuming."

He takes out one of the vials filled with a green liquid.

"Sorry I took so long, but I had to speed up the experiments by actually testing your blood against the hydra venom, along with other snake venom samples, rather than simply visualizing the results. Time is of the essence, and with this current technological issue we're facing, I'm glad I did."

He gives me the vial. The lights flicker. The two of us look at the ceiling.

"Something wrong with the generator?" I ask.

"Worse." Tarran says. "I think...we're being hacked."

"Seriously? Why hack into a hospital?"

"Historically, there have been multiple reasons. Ransomware, acquiring medical records, the list goes on, but I don't recall any groups outside those now imprisoned antitoxin thieves that would want to break into our servers."

Tarran looks at me. His face is rather...perplexed.

"Something else wrong?"

"No, not really. Anyway, the drug synthesis machine we were using to mass produce the antitoxin has been acting up since the hacking. And until the hydra issue is resolved, the more antitoxins the better."

Tarran heads for the door.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to take a while. I need to do something about this. As one of the lead programmers here, it's my responsibility."

I put the vial into my pocket. Then, a thought crosses my mind.

(Does...this have anything to do with the Keisetsu...or Hunter's yakuza?)

"I'm coming too!" I exclaim.

"Huh? Why?"

"I... It's for your protection. If there is a group that has something against this hospital, going alone into hostile territory sounds rather reckless."

"...True."

Although I'm still lightheaded, I slowly get up.

"Besides, sitting around isn't my style." I say.

Tarran looks at the box of antitoxins, then back at me, and smiles.

"Always putting others before youself, huh? Very well. Follow me."

He opens the door and lets me through. I start walking down the hallway...in the wrong direction. Tarran stops me and makes me follow him. All the while, he is pondering something.

(How...is it possible for him to have this antibody in his blood? His blood doesn't closely match any of my previous patients' records. It's human, but of what culture? And what culture could possibly have an immunity to this poison? And the alternative is even more confusing.)

He stops walking for a second, then continues walking.

(If his ethnicity doesn't have anything to do with his immunity, this means that he must have survived the poison before. But for his body to have this type of immunity, it would take decades of exposure at very small quantities. But...he doesn't look that old, and he doesn't seem to be a wind tone either. How?... How can someone build up a tolerance to poison so quickly? Did the poison have something to do with his loss of memory?)

Tarran looks back at me, still with a confused expression.

"Okay, now I know something's bothering you." I say.

"Don't...worry about it."

(Oren, who or WHAT are you?)