Nagi broke off, and stood up. “They’re calling me. See you again, Doctor.”
✦ ✦ ✦
She waved.
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“Yes. Goodbye, Nagi-Chan,” Makiko said, wav-
✦ ✦ ✦
ing back.
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That was the last time they ever met inside the hospital.
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...the next time they met, it would be in darkness.
✦ ✦ ✦
a change in living things, Makiko lost all interest in figuring out just what it was...there was something else that preyed upon her mind.
✦ ✦ ✦
In particular, What would happen if I injected a human?
✦ ✦ ✦
She did not have particularly advanced facilities, so there was no way she could try it on a monkey. The basement wasn’t large enough.
✦ ✦ ✦
So. . .a patient?
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When she caught herself seriously considering the idea, it was enough to rattle her.
✦ ✦ ✦
But we have some patients who are like living corpses. They show no reaction no matter what you do to them...
✦ ✦ ✦
...no, no, no, no, no, no.! How can I even think that?!
✦ ✦ ✦
She wondered if she should just abandon her
✦ ✦ ✦
research and tell the world about the medicine.
✦ ✦ ✦
But then there was the question of who had manufactured it. If a medicine this astonishing existed and no one knew about it...
✦ ✦ ✦
It's been kept a secret.
✦ ✦ ✦
That was the only explanation. So why was it in Kirima Nagi’s room?
✦ ✦ ✦
That question dogged her, but every time she thought about it, she always found herself thinking instead:
✦ ✦ ✦
So if its a secret...then can I use this without getting caught?
✦ ✦ ✦
And use it...on myself?
✦ ✦ ✦
Medicine that granted immortality. . .to her.
✦ ✦ ✦
The idea became steadily more intriguing.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Whenever you are hiding something
✦ ✦ ✦
from other people the world is hiding
✦ ✦ ✦
ten times that much from you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
-Kirima Seiichi,
✦ ✦ ✦
The Proliferation of 'Dunno'
✦ ✦ ✦
2.
✦ ✦ ✦
A string of grisly murders had been committed in town.
✦ ✦ ✦
Teenage girls were being murdered, one after the other. The string of murders was noteworthy because of the manner in which they were killed.
✦ ✦ ✦
The Victim’s skulls had been torn open.
✦ ✦ ✦
The maxilla and the mandible had been pried
✦ ✦ ✦
apart, and the spinal cord had been yanked out of the head. The skin on the face had been pulled open without being pared away from the bone. Inside the head there was nothing left; everything had been removed as though a dog had cleaned it out.
✦ ✦ ✦
Investigators could only conclude that the contents had been sucked out through the foramen magnum and other smaller natural openings into the skull.
✦ ✦ ✦
But how?
✦ ✦ ✦
What reasons could anyone have to kill like
✦ ✦ ✦
this?
✦ ✦ ✦
There were various theories regarding the method of the killings, but everyone on the case agreed that the murderer must be insane.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kisugi Makiko giggled.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What?” asked the intern sharing the staff lounge with Makiko. Interns were generally the lowest rank-ing people in the hospital, constantly running errands for everyone else, but Makiko’s position was not much higher, so they were on friendly terms.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Nothing, I just thought he looked good on TV,”
✦ ✦ ✦
she said dryly.
✦ ✦ ✦
The doctor on screen was an associate profes-sor at a large university. He had written a number of books and was often called to comment on cases like this one.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ha ha, true enough. If you’re good looking, you don’t have to actually say anything, as far as TV’s concerned,” the intern said, laughing. Then he grew serious. “Dr. Kisugi, what’s your take on the case? I can’t even begin to understand it...”
✦ ✦ ✦
Makiko gave him a pained smile. “The director would advise specialists not to get interested in such extreme cases,” she said.
✦ ✦ ✦
He winced. The case was something of a taboo around the hospital. Partly because of their proximity to the murders...the police had come by asking if they had any patients who might be capable of such an act.
✦ ✦ ✦
It had caused quite a lot of disruption.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I dunno, maybe the TV doctor’s right.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“An obsession with the brain? That doesn’t
✦ ✦ ✦
sound right, somehow. Maybe I’ve seen too many brains,” he chuckled. The hospital had a number of brain samples pickled in formaldehyde. They were only about the size of two human fists, lumps of gray meat with no mystic aura around them. They were certainly nothing like the vivid objects seen in horror movies. Those props might have been able to inspire the sort of superstition they were chattering about on TV, but real brains were nothing more impressive than what you could find at a butcher’s shop. That’s why most superstitions tended to revolve around the skull, instead.
✦ ✦ ✦
“But you need fairly advanced knowledge to take apart the skull like that. The killer must be using tools.
✦ ✦ ✦
That person must also be a maniac!” His cheery tone made him sound like the maniac. Looking at the crime scene images on TV, he added, “Maybe the damage itself is his purpose. Perhaps he enjoys breaking the skull open. . .what do you think?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“No idea,” Makiko said, glancing sidelong at the intern. The look in her eyes was cold enough to raise goosebumps.
✦ ✦ ✦
Her tongue cracked like a whip inside her
✦ ✦ ✦
mouth.
✦ ✦ ✦
Hes too sweet to bother with. No matter how
✦ ✦ ✦
much I scare him, it’ll never have much taste.
✦ ✦ ✦
She could tell exactly how mentally strong other people were, now. It was as though she could reach out and touch it. No, it was more like she could reach out and lick it.
✦ ✦ ✦
The stronger someone was, the more “bitter” the person would appear to her; if they were weak, they seemed “sweet.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The sensation went well beyond instinct or imagination. The knowledge was as clear and definitive as an ice cube in the hand is cold. Her skills also made it very easy to discover what a human’s weakness was.
✦ ✦ ✦
For example, this intern...
✦ ✦ ✦
“But if the killer turns out to be a doctor, there’ll be no end of trouble,” he said cheerily.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Like jumping into a snake’s nest,” Makiko said absently.
✦ ✦ ✦
The intern twitched, turning to look at her. He had gone pale. “Wh-what?!” his voice trembled.
✦ ✦ ✦
“That’s a common expression, isn’t it? Or was it a homet’s nest?” Makiko said, innocently.
✦ ✦ ✦
He recovered somewhat. “Oh, right. Just a figure of speech.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You don’t like snakes?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“N-not as such,” he said, breaking into a cold sweat.
✦ ✦ ✦
Makiko could not tell if this man had ever had a traumatic encounter with a snake. But she could tell that he had had some sort of sexual trauma. He had been violated by something resembling a snake-like a male sexual organ. Or perhaps his encounter with that pedophile had been his first sexual experience.
✦ ✦ ✦
Either way, to Makiko’s eyes he appeared to have a snake wrapped tightly around his lower body.
✦ ✦ ✦
cine surpassed healing abilities impressive enough to allow her to pull out her eyeball and put it back in.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sensing enemy strength, perceiving their weak points. . .these were the most impressive of Makiko’s newfound abilities.
✦ ✦ ✦
On a basic level, they were nothing more than the traits any animal needed to survive in the wild. They had simply been elevated to extreme proficiency.
✦ ✦ ✦
Of course, she had already put these abilities to use. The hospital director was already incapable of saying no to her. She had had several of the snottier nurses fired, but had soon tired of that. She had begun to believe this ability was not to be wasted on such trivial affairs. It would be easy to take over the hospital, but she had ultimately decided against it.
✦ ✦ ✦
True, if she used her abilities carefully, she could do anything. But she was cautious.
✦ ✦ ✦
She had to be wary of the medicine’s creators.
✦ ✦ ✦
They would know of her ability, or of similar abilities, and have countermeasures in place. This was one reason for her caution.
✦ ✦ ✦
But there was another reason. A side effect...the real reason she could not use her abilities openly. If her new talents became public knowledge, the entire world would be against her.
✦ ✦ ✦
Every time she said the word, he blanched. “N-no. . .not really. Just. . .they’re creepy, that’s all.”
✦ ✦ ✦
There was no trace of the cheer he’d displayed earlier while talking about the serial killings.
✦ ✦ ✦
“According to the outdated theories Freud put forth, snakes are a metaphor for male genitalia,”
✦ ✦ ✦
Makiko said, blithely.
✦ ✦ ✦
The intern went white as a sheet and started lo tremble. “L-like I said, it was not like. . .I’ve never...”
✦ ✦ ✦
The tip of Makiko’s tongue could taste the sour-ness of his fear. It was pathetically weak.
✦ ✦ ✦
"........."
✦ ✦ ✦
A violent urge rose up within her. She felt a sudden desire to shred the frail life-form in front of her.
✦ ✦ ✦
She wanted to terrify him to the brink of mad-ness and toy with him before tasting his blood. No, that was understating what she wanted...what she needed. She longed to stick her head right into his mouth and suck out all the chemicals in his brain.
✦ ✦ ✦
She wanted to do to him what she did to those high school girls...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-what’s happening... ? ”
✦ ✦ ✦
“This is a dream, a nightmare... it must be...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Nothing like this was ever meant to hap-
✦ ✦ ✦
pen...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Help! Somebody help me...
✦ ✦ ✦
Voiceless screams, death throes, and the delicious chemical secretions terror released into the body.