Satoshi-kun really was a considerate brother for his sister.
When school is out, he would always head straight to the clinic to visit Satoko-chan, and speak to her warmly to help her restore her energy.
Even without listening to Satoshi-kun's explanation... It was clear that Satoko-chan wasn't able to build a good relationship with her family up to this point.
......Her conflict with her stepfather was especially intense, I hear the disturbance even went as far as Satoko-chan making a false SOS call for abuse.
At at time like this, to have her parents die together in a falling accident...... There's no doubt that her heart was not able to withstand all this damage.
For Satoko-chan, who's still in her tender years, this must be a very painful event for her, but..........among all the unfortunate things, it's fortunate that she has such a wonderful brother there for her.
A wounded heart cannot be healed easily.
But there is no better cure for it than family love.
......I believed that one day, Satoko-chan will be able to regain her smiles.
Although she still hasn't recovered from the shock yet, she's slowing regaining her smiles from her communication with Satoshi-kun.
...Oishi from the police department is still presistently requesting to meet with her, as usual, but I suppose there's still a need for me to act as her breakwater.
......That man might have the passion as a police officer, but he doesn't have the gentleness of being considerate for others.
If that man insensibly forces her to remember her parents accident, there's no doubt her wound in her heart will open up again.
.........That point alone is the worry that surrounds Satoko-chan.
*knock knock*
The sound of knocking... It's Takano-san.
...But her nurse outfit... for some reason, it just doesn't look right on her.
She has a medical license, so she could've just worn a white coat and acted as a doctor herself.
......It might just be her way of having fun, but it also feels a little rude to the real nurses.... Of course, I won't actually say that out loud.
Takano: "Irie-sensei, do you have a moment?"
Irie: "Ahh, yes. Well then, Satoshi-kun, please excuse me."
Satoshi: "Ah, yes."
Takano: "Satoshi-kun, good afternoon. Play together with Satoko-chan, ok? She's been all alone today, so I think she must be lonely.... right?"
Satoko: "T, that's not true..."
Satoshi: "Muu."
Irie: "Well, Satoshi-kun, I'll leave things here to you."
I stood up from my seat, and entrusted Satoko-chan to Satoshi-kun.
Irie: "By the way, is something the matter...?"
Takano: "This is not a good place, let's go to the manager's office....... *giggle*."
Sometimes, Takano-san would laugh mysteriously.
For many people, a smiling face is a good thing that brings with it the feeling of happiness.
...But recently, I began to realize that, in Takano-san's case, a smile does not carry that meaning....
Irie: "...Is that true?"
Takano: "Yes. The results of the simple exam revealed the possibly of a high level outbreak that's believed to be higher than L3. There's a need for her to be admitted and further examined with more extensive tests....... We're still waiting for a result, but from what I can see, it might even be a L4."
I could see Takano-san's eyes laugh unpleasantly.
There's a reason for that.
............To obtain a living terminal outbreak patient is a very valuable thing for the continuation of our research, that's why.
In fact, as the result of the inhuman dissection of last year's...... dismemberment murderder as a specimen, our research managed to make leaping advances.
In other words, we have finally managed to determine the disease's pathogen.
We have also discovered it's unique characteristic where it would dissolve within a few hours of the death of it's host.
After dissolving, it breaks down into common elements that's normally found within the body, so we also understood that it's almost impossible to look for it by then.
......With that, it also explained why we weren't able to find the pathogen no matter how many autopsies we did.
The research from now on will be at a totally different level from the reseach up to this point.
It's probably not an exaggeration to say that our work during this 1 year have already surpassed the 10-odd years worth of research done by the late-Takano.
Right now, we have expanded into various researches on the characteristics and effects of the pathogen, the symptoms, as well as treatments and vaccines.
In other words... without a living terminal outbreak patient to use as a specimen, there will be no advances in our research.
However, it is rare for a terminal outbreak patient, also known as L5, to happen on it's own.
The ancient Hinamizawa Syndrome apparantly caused a large number of L5 occurances, but it no longer has that potency now.
Which means that securing L5 patients, or perhaps severe outbreak patients close to L5, has become our priority.
.........What this means is that Satoko-chan, who fulfills that requirement, could become the first sacrifice we have had in a year.
To keep the strange disease classified, we cannot allow patients who are feared to be L5 to run around loose.
...We need to first perform a detailed examination... and then think of a response plan after seeing the result.
After all, Satoko-chan is perfectly calm right now.... She's showing no signs of the kind of derangement displayed by last year's murderer.
......Simple exams can produce big errors sometimes.
We just have to wait for the results of the detailed exam to determine whether Satoko-chan is a severe outbreak patient or not.
Irie: "......Understood. Let's admit her into the clinic under the reason of observation. Please arrange things with the other staff members."
That's just an answer by formality, but...... if the result of her examination comes back positive, it will also mean that she will be immediately moved for dissection.
Although I haven't met with Satoko-chan many times... I have already built a long history of contact with her brother, Satoshi-kun, through the youth baseball team.
Satoshi-kun loved his sister enough to melt people's hearts.........Can I do such a thing as dissecting her......?
Coming this far, for the first time, I could feel horrifying images climbling up by body from my feet....
Takano: "*giggle*. Please don't worry. Everything has already been arranged for."
It was an evil smile, as if she was trying to say that even the dissection operation has already been arranged for.
But, is she the only one who has that smile?
...Am I not wearing such an ugly and twisted smile on my face as well.........?
During the dissection last year.... I did feel guilty before the dissection.
But once I made up my mind to proceed with the dissection...... what was in front of me was a paradise of intellectual curiosity.
The pieces left behind by the late-Takano which were filled with foresight were further confirmed, or perhaps betrayed. Either way, it was one excitement after another.
The excitement of stepping into a mysterious realm that nobody has ever solved before....
This taste of excitement that enslaves you like narcotics, just how can I explain it to someone who has never tasted it? There's no word to describe it.
The only thing that I can say is...... Even one year later right now, I still cannot forget that intellectual excitement.
That's why, if the result of the examination...... shows that Satoshi-kun's beloved sister will become the target for dissection............will I be able to stay calm without licking my lips in excitement?
But, ...if I do that, then it would mean that I fail as a human being.
I know just how much the Houjou family has been isolated from the village, and just how much pain Satoko-chan has went though.
...And, I also know just how important that Satoko-chan is to Satoshi-kun as his only relative.
Can I dissect such a Satoko-chan, while she's still alive, just for the sake of my intellectual excitement.........?
I didn't feel much guilt for the man last year...... yet I can feel such heavy guilt towards Satoko-chan.
......That fact has forced me to remember last year's sin that I have been trying to forget.
If it's a man I've never seen before, then it's ok for him to die.
If it's Satoko-chan, then I don't want her to die. That's not a fair reason.
The weight of life should be equal for everyone.
Besides, the reason for my feeling of guilt to be thinned out...... the fact that the man was a violent murderer, it could've very well been something caused by the terminal outbreak.
......I know nothing of that man before he became deranged.
He might very well have been a model citizen worthy of respect.
......He could've been just a poor victim who has had an unfortunate outbreak, and ended up committing anti-social behaviours as the result.... That's right, just like my father....
I know more about the Hinamizawa Syndrome than anyone else.
This disease makes people do bizarre things that they never wished for. Without even the person themself feeling weird about it.
...That's why, no matter how atrocious and bizarre the acts performed by these terminal outbreak patients of this disease are, they should still be worthy of our sympathy and compassion.
And I already knew about this back when I first decided to step onto this path too...!
Recalling such things that should've been obvious to me, as if I remembered them just now... I realized just how much I'm throwing myself into a sinful research.
Finally, Houjou Satoko's detailed examination results have come back.
The result, L5.... Terminal of terminals.
In a way, it should've been a shocking result.
In last year's case, the terminal outbreak patient was in a severely deranged state.
According to Takano-san's observation records, the patient complained of intense itch coming from lymph nodes all over the body, and wanted to scratch his own throat, just like the late-Takano pointed out.
But Satoko-chan is showing no such signs.
Even in the data left behind by the late-Takano, while he mentioned the throat scratching as a very unique terminal symptom, he did not say that it would occur in every patient.
Besides, there are personal differences in people's emotional expressions.
Even with the same feeling, some people would express it intensely, while others would hide it within themselves.
It's impossible to predict how one person would react with only one look.
But the results of Satoko-chan's detailed examination is showing the terminal stage of terminal stages, L5.
In other words... she's simply not showing the same kind of deranged behaviours like the man last year did...... but within her heart, there should be the exact same kind of abnormal feelings that's similar to madness torrenting through her.
The Hinamizawa Syndrome acts on a person's frontal lobe... and strongly stimulates one of human's most primitative emotions, "doubt".
......As the result, terminal outbreak patients are trapped within severe delusions and paranoia, ultimately resulting in them committing horrifying atrocities....
Satoko-chan is exchanging warm communications with the visiting Satoshi-kun, and is showing signs of recovery.
.........But within her, the paranoia that could put her into a deranged state any time is continuing it's torrent.......
......I cannot let Satoko-chan leave the clinic like this.
But... at this rate, if we follow the procedures according to the response manual, I will most likely be asked to decide on Houjou Satoko's dissection plan.
......If that happens, then my decision is only a formality.
I do not have the ability to refuse it.
Takano-san appeared to have already started on working out a dissection schedlue.
That plan will be passed on to me.
.........If I dissect Satoko-chan alive.... Will I be able to taste that intellectual excitement again?
Will I be able to reach that realm of trance once again?
...No... Will I be able to win against that temptation?
Will I end up passively agreeing to Satoko-chan's dissection while pretending to be doing this self-questioning and leaving Takano-san to advance things on her own?
...If possible, I want to save Satoko-chan. I don't want to turn her into a sacrifice for the research. And I definitely don't want to dissect her.
But, what will I say about the man last year then?
Am I a person who descriminates by only feeling the weight of life in someone I know?
If I don't want to dissect her, then do I allow her to live and leave the clinic?
And wait blindly until she becomes deranged and cause some horrifying incident?
...And then, would she would be carried in here in a deranged state, just like the man last year... with me ending up dissecting her alive in the end anyway?
The man last year...... was kept alive for several months...... while he was being dissected alive.
With his cranium left in an opened state, he wasn't allowed to die for several months, and was kept alive only for the sake of cruel experiments.
I don't want to force that on her......!
What should I do...?
Even my own worries, even my own conflicts, are passively moving to agree to her dissection....