I guess being half-asleep causes you to miss an important phone call. It was not until I forced myself to wake up that I realized that the incessant noise was the phone ringing and it had to be very important for it to be ringing for such a long time.
I looked at the clock and it said 2:00 AM. What could it be to call me at this late in the hour?
Irie: “….Hello, this is Irie.”
Takano: “I’m sorry for waking you up, Director Irie.”
It was Takano-san. …She had never once called me for personal reasons. …And she is the de facto head of the Irie Facility and was responsible for all the research that goes on at that place. …If she’s calling me at this late in the night, it must be of extreme urgency that needs immediate attention.
Irie: “….Sorry for being late. You said that there was a patient in his terminal stages?”
Takano: “Yes. And as luck would have it, it’s just when we wanted a living sample too. *chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle*”
At first, I was suspicious that she forcibly kidnapped a poor patient from somewhere.
The man was put into isolation in the underground research section of the facility. He seemed to be more deranged than putting up a resistance when I saw him on restraints. His speech was slurred and it sounded like he was angry and remorseful at the same time. It was like seeing a child fretting for some candy.
…It was obvious that he was not normal.
Irie: “…Let’s anesthetize him to sleep. He’ll endanger himself in this state. He may end up suffocating himself by swallowing his own tongue.”
Takano: “I wanted to make some more observations, but oh well.”
One of the staff members readied the anesthesia.
It makes sense that any normal person would become agitated when one is suddenly transferred to a strange place like this in restraints. But, this man level of franticness was beyond that. …The people that must’ve captured him was most likely Okonogi and his Yamainu team, and I’m very surprised how they were able to put him down…
According to her, she said that she coincidentally met a terminal-stage patient as on her way home from the clinic. She took him to the clinic for some preliminary tests, and the results showed that there was a high possibility of him being positive.
…Of course, I’m not going to swallow such a story on how she found him. …But it was apparent that this man was showing symptoms of the terminal stages of the syndrome. And, he was indeed what we were looking for in order to advance our research – a living sample…
Irie: “And who is this man…?”
Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* He was holding a package wrapped in old newspapers. …Care to guess what was inside?”
Irie: “…Ugh…., ….What the heck is this…?”
Takano placed the bloodied package wrapped with newspaper on the stainless dish. It was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to be something to look forward with the blood stains and all. However, Takano had a grin on her face as if she was trying to show me a surprise…
Irie: “Oh god…., Jeez, this is awful….”
It was…a person’s right arm…!
But the man on the restraints has his own right arm, so this isn’t his. …Then who does this arm belong to…?
As a doctor, Irie was used to seeing body parts, so he wasn’t that outraged. It was however, the way it was cut off that sent chills down his spine. …He immediately noticed that this right arm wasn’t amputated surgically. …It clearly showed signs of what kind of brutality went into literally “chopping” it off.
Takano: “Judging by the circumstances, I’m sure that it was him himself that chopped this arm off. *chuckle chuckle chuckle*”
Irie: “…So this man is a possible suspect who must’ve committed a corpse mutilation nearby.”
At this time, we had no idea who this right arm belonged to. But the mystery was solved in the next morning when we learned about the dam construction manager’s murder and that the police was still looking for the right arm…
Takano: “This man seems to have some criminal background and is currently on probation. …Yet he committed this crime so the thought must’ve run through him that he should hide it.”
Irie: “…Circumstances aside, I’m sure it must’ve been something in which he wouldn’t be let off too easily with several years in jail or the like…”
Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* Basically he’s just a shit of society. Wouldn’t that fact relieve your hesitation in dissecting him, Director Irie?”
Irie: “…We don’t know if he was a ‘shit of society’ who built up his criminal past and became ferocious from the Hinamizawa Syndrome, or if he was a person who repented his past but unfortunately became a victim of the syndrome and turned violent again. …If it’s the former, well….but if it’s the latter, then there’s no sin towards this man.”
This is the terrifying part of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. …There is no way to distinguish whether or not if a certain criminal act was caused by that person’s own intentions, or as a byproduct of the symptoms from the Hinamizawa Syndrome.
…Yet, what is the primary cause of defiant social skills in the first place? That was what Irie yearned to learn about. Detest the crime itself, but not towards the criminal. …Is throwing them into jail the right answer? …If the crime was caused subconsciously by an unknown tumor in the brain, then the criminal might be cured from doing such acts again.
In theory then…that there are no sins in this world. There are only poor souls who aren’t recognized by everyone that they are really patients waiting to be treated. In the medieval ages, people who were seen as heretic were tried as being under the influence of witchcraft and were imprisoned or burned at the stake. …Several centuries later, common medical science now acknowledges that they were people who needed proper treatment and care. …People’s perception and understanding changes over time. Criminals of today might be seen as patients requiring medical attention several centuries into the future. Crimes are not committed by evil thoughts; they are caused by some kind of disease. …The search for this was indeed, Irie’s lifework.
And researching about the Hinamizawa Syndrome is an excellent and rare case study. …For Irie, unraveling the mysteries about this disease holds a special meaning to him… But in order to shed some light, ….it requires a live medical sample… That in itself is a tremendous sin…but it cannot advance without doing so either. …The Irie Facility was authorized from the beginning to take such drastic measure if necessary. And they made sure that I had the resolve to do what must be done when I was appointed as the director of this facility.
And…the time has come. This…would be a significant step towards the research of this mysterious disease. But…I was still reluctant and hesitant to carry it out…
Yes, I have opened up patient’s body without consent. …As a matter of fact, what I did was very similar to what I am about to do to this man. ….But, there is one big difference.
The things that I did in the past were done for treating the patient. I did them to help them re-live their lives. And I did it for what I thought was good for the patient. But what I am about to do know is not treating the patient. …In the end, this man will be dead. And his death will be done through inhumane methods. …His life will be prolonged as much as possible by cheating death, …while we perform cranial anatomy on this live patient…
Takano: “Director Irie? Are you listening?”
Irie: “..Huh? …Oh…I’m sorry. Can you repeat it again?”
Takano: “I suggest that we should immediately draft a proposal to Tokyo to perform this anatomy. This is a rare and live test sample that we have on our hands that’s in its terminal stage of the syndrome. It will need prudent attention if we are to handle this procedure in a delicate manner.”
Irie: “….Right. I understand. Let’s do it right away.”
Takano: “Since it’s bureaucracy we’re talking about, it will take several days for our draft to go through. Hence, I would like to do some observational tests on the subject by relieving it from anesthesia.”
Irie: “….Isn’t that a bit dangerous? Even if the person is restrained, we don’t know what might happen.”
Takano: “It’s a live sample. Just opening up his brain and looking inside it is no fun. *chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle….*”
Takano-san’s unusual anxiousness gives me the creeps… …But, as a person of science and medicine, Takano-san reaction is correct. …Perhaps I am the one that is wrong to be thinking like this… I am here to do research. So, the correct reaction for a person in my shoes would be to be in full excitement of the tests that are to come. …Yet I am still hesitating.
Was this the limit of my level of commitment? My predecessors who unraveled the mysteries of medical science underwent very courageous methods that were unheard of in their time. And those were the men and women that established modern medicine that we know of today.
…I saw and performed surgeries on numerous brains. …And some of my patients did in fact die. But, I firmly believed that what I was doing was for the better of the patient, so I never had any feelings of guilt or remorse for what I did. …That was even after the law changed saying that what I was doing was unethical.
If I had the time to feel guilt and remorse, it was my duty as a doctor to advance medical science and research so that their deaths would not have been in vain. That is how my predecessors have done to advance medicine.
Yet, changing the word from “treatment” to “anatomy” brings down weight this big to me. Am I just a wimp who is only capable of sidetracking my predecessors and not being able to create my own path for advancement of medicine?
Takano: “…Oh, what’s wrong, director? Are you still feeling grumpy for being awakened at such an hour…?”
Takano-san pretended to worry about me using such words…but she knows. She clearly discerned about the hesitation that I am having right now. …And she’s saying that while mocking me for being naďve against the big step that needs to be taken.
………I shake my head to get rid of whatever drowsiness that I had left.
C’mon Irie, remember what my resolve was. Remind myself on why I am here today. …My hands are already tainted with blood. But if I don’t do anything now, those blood stains would have been in vain. …The only way I can repay my patients is to move forward for this grand research that I am embarking on…
…I shake my head once more in order to awaken my spirit as a researcher.
Irie: “I’m sorry, I had something on my mind. …Takano-san, please prepare the draft for Tokyo. Please let me know on which dates to begin the procedure.”
Takano: “Oh, of course. No problem. …chuckle chuckle chuckle! Drowsiness must’ve ran away for something this exciting!”
My duty is to perform the highest level of work that I am capable of so that this man’s death would not be in vain. …If more blood needs to be shed, every drop must be used sparingly for research.
I scold the staff members for their unusual excitement in being able to perform an anatomy, and immediately returned to my office….