The dissection plan against Satoko-chan has been halted, and we are shifting to put into action an administration test plan of a totally unsafe test drug, C103.
The purpose of this test drug is to suppress the production of certain hormones in the body, which will block transmissions from the Hinamizawa Syndrome that could lead Satoko-chan to derangement.
We know how the Hinamizawa Syndrome works. The pathogen takes over the frontal lobe of the patient, inducing a condition that causes them to become extra sensitive to paranoid doubts, and as a result, the patient will "voluntarily" carry out excessive defensive behaviours (problematic behaviours).
If we can cut off that inducement, then it will be possible to save terminal stage patients from derangement.
However, just stopping the inducement is not enough to be an actual cure.
...It's ironic, but the brain is an organ that learns.
Once the brain has learned to be excessively paranoid from the Hinamizawa Syndrome, even if the pathogens were to be completely removed, the brain will have already learned to not resist against paranoia.
In other words, even without the pathogen inducing the derangement, the patients will send their own emotions in that direction out of their own will.
......Therefore, there's probably no way to cleanly escape from a near-mad condition like L5.
(The proverb "blowing the sashimi after being burned by the hot soup" refers to these kind of situations a lot. It refers to the fixed "fear" of being burned by food again, even after your tongue's burn has already healed. In a good way, this is called "learning", in a bad way, it's called "trauma")
I can imagine that this treatment will probably take a long time, requiring both medicinal treatments such as prescriptions of antidepressants, as well as mental care counsellings.
While suppressing Hinamizawa Syndrome's derangement inducement, slowly relax the paranoia of a heart that's frozen an inch from madness....
This was my prospect of the treatment plan for terminal stage patients like Satoko-chan.
But still, parts of her brain that controls her emotions are going to be faced with stimulation from both the pathogen and us.
Unexpected side effects can be expected....... The key to success lies in her physical and mental toughness.
The experiment was meant to begin after we have carefully reviewed the stableness of her heart and the recovery of her physical stamina....
Among all of this, someone who threatens to disturb that stableness of hers has been coming to my place days after days.
...It's the sly old detective from the Okinomiya station, Oishi.
He considers everything from the dam war to the dismemberment murder of the construction site manager last year to be an organized crime secretly conducted by the village's gosanke. And he believes the falling accident of Satoko-chan's parents, which is being referred to as this year's curse, might be related somehow. So he's persistently clinging onto the central character of all this, Satoko-chan....
Irie: "...No matter how many times you visit us, I cannot grant you permission to meet with Satoko-chan. She has been crippled by the shock of her parent's death, remember? Is it not possible for you understand that?"
Oishi: "No, no, I'm really only asking to talk to her for just a bit. I don't plan to take very long....... If you want me to get a warrant, that can be done too, but if that happens, things will get quite serious, you know? I'm being attentive of Houjou-san's health as well, that's why I haven't done something as inconsiderate as getting a warrant, now have I?"
Irie: "Just what exactly is it that you want to ask Satoko-chan, so much that you're willing to go as far as getting a warrant for it? I haven't got the slightest clue here."
Oishi: ".........Hmm~~, well, actually, there is a possibility that the falling this time could actually be an incident, not an accident."
Irie: "I know of the talks about the Houjou couple being hated by the villagers ever since the dam war. However, isn't it a little too absurd to think someone would actually chase them all the way out to their vacation spot and push them off a cliff?"
Oishi: "Hmm~~~ Well, we can call it an accident too, you know? But in that case, then there are some lies that we just can't understand. And the more we think "why are these lies needed?", the more it doesn't look like an accident to us."
Irie: "...What do you mean by lies?"
Oishi: "Well, you see, it's about Houjou Satoko-san saying she was sleeping in the car when the accident occurred.... I'm just thinking that's a little weird."
Satoko-chan has stated since the beginning that she was sleeping in the back seat of the car when the falling accident occurred.
Because of that, it appears that she didn't even go to the viewing platform at the accident scene.
When she woke up, her parents were already nowhere to be seen, and she was left in distress... after that, she realized that her parents have fallen off the cliff.
Irie: "Where is the lie in that? You're not trying to say that Satoko-chan was actually awake and went to the viewing platform together with her parents, are you?"
Oishi: "That's right. Houjou Satoko-san was not sleeping at all. She left the car together with her parents, and went to the viewing platform."
............At this moment, I was hit by an image of a worst possible scenario.
If what Oishi is saying is true, and Satoko-chan actually lied by saying she didn't go to the viewing platform, even though she did....then a terrifying imagination will come into shape.
Irie: "I, I don't know what proof you have to be saying such a thing. Besides, why is there a need for Satoko-chan to lie?"
Oishi: "That's just it. Why must Houjou Satoko-san lie? If we can't learn the truth behind that... then we won't be able to write this off as just a falling accident."
Irie: "What is it that makes you think Satoko-chan is lying?"
Oishi: "......Since the accident this time took place in a different jurisdiction, the Shirakawa station people interviewed the parties involved, you see. And after reading through their report, there are some parts that just bothers me."
Irie: "Parts that bother you... what are they?"
Oishi: "According to Houjou Satoko-san's statement, she was invited by her parents to go to the viewing platform together, but since she was sleepy, she refused and remained in the car. Then she fell asleep immediately after that, before waking up after a considerable amount of time has passed. And then, she began feeling insecure as her parents never returned, so she cried out loud. A patrolling park worker heard the cry and talked her, and that's how the accident was discovered.
During that time, according to the park worker's statement, it was she who said her parents have fallen off the cliff. However, at the time, the accident site in question should be quite difficult to see from where the Houjou couple had parked their car. Well, no, if you looked carefully, you might be able to notice that the fence has been broken.
But you know? If you woke up and realized your parents aren't around, I don't think it would be usual for you to immediately say that they have fallen off a cliff. Normally, most people would probably say their parents left for a walk and didn't come back. To suddenly tell a third party that your parents have fallen off a cliff even though you were not at the site of the fall yourself, that's just hard for me to accept!... I wanted to know why she was certain that her parents have fallen, and how she came to believe in that, and that is why I have been making these frequent visits. Before her admittance here, I have approached her several times as well. But it was always "I don't remember" or "I was confused at the time", well, it's almost like the answers of some politician. I was just thinking that it might be valuable to have a good talk with her."
At this point... the terrifying imagination in my head has become solid.
I have always vaguely thought that the trigger of her terminal symptom outbreak was the shock from her parents' accident.
...But that's wrong.
.........Satoko-chan was already in the terminal condition, and has been filled with enough paranoia to drive her mind crazy before the accident occurred.
They say that she had a bad relationship with her step-father, who's not related to her by blood, and that she was quite stressed by it.
They also said that she was even scolded by her mother for not being able to open up to her step-father.
......If she was to become paranoid here and misunderstood her parents, thinking that maybe they consider her to be a bother and is trying to kill her, then....
Then, when she was taken to the viewing platform, she must be thinking that they were going to push her off and pretend it was an accident.
So...... the tragedy that she considered to be self-defense ended up making her parents fall to the bottom of the cliff....
It is because I am the one who knows the most about the Hinamizawa Syndrome... that I am confident.
This falling accident was not an "accident".
...And it's also not an "incident", like the kind Oishi is looking for.
All we have here was...... simply a sad "tragedy".
After asking Satoshi-kun afterwards about the family, my belief was deepened even more.
Because I got to hear that although Satoko-chan didn't try to open up her heart, the step-father, while inexperienced, did try his best to communicate with Satoko-chan.
It's true that their relationship didn't go well in the beginning.
Satoko-chan caused troubles time and again, even developing into a situation where she made a fake call to the city's abuse SOS line.
At this level, they received instructions from the child consultation center, and the lack of communication between the step-father and the daughter was pointed out as the problem.
And then, the step-father received instructions from the child support worker, and participated in the city's childcare curriculum, and as inexperienced as he was, he tried his best at communicating.
Satoshi-kun knew that well, and tried to make Satoko-chan, who still won't open up even then, aware of it too.
And yet, Satoko-chan was not able to notice those efforts.
The extreme stress called for the terminal symptoms......... and she was not able to understand her step-father's remorse and effort.
...No, on the contrary, there's no doubt her step-father's change in attitude had actually created even more mistrust in her.......
And the result...... To enjoy the beautiful sceneries of the Shirakawa Nature Park from the viewing platform as a family, and to share that joy...... even such a humble wish, normal for any family to have...... did not get through to Satoko-chan....
.........What a heartbreaking encounter it must've been.......
The daughter who stayed in the car to sleep in grudge has gotten out of bed slowly, and is tip-toeing this way.
The step-father must've heard that too.
...Thinking she was probably trying to scare them with a "boo!"... They pretended to not notice her.
.........Thinking about what the step-father must've been thinking at the time, it makes your heart ache.
......While he thought that his heart has finally gotten though......the opponent was actually attacking him with an intent to kill, that's why.
On top of that, it's not caused by Satoko-chan's own personality.
It's the fault of the sickness that Satoko-san carried.
Not only is Satoko-chan worthy of pity... the parents who were pushed off were also far too much of a pity as well.......
On top of all that, she is being doubted by Oishi as the criminal for the pushing.
......Judgement and punishment is required for crimes with a malicious intent.
...But... what she requires are pity and understanding.
......And no one except me, who knows of the Hinamizawa Syndrome, will be able to have that understanding....
Although I am the head of the Irie Institution, I have never acted that way or used that authority before.
But for the first time since I took up the position of being the head of this place, I am using it.
Not as the head of the secret research institution, Irie Institution.
......But something I believe to be necessary as a doctor, in order to protect Satoko-chan.
Irie: "About the Shirakawa Nature Park falling accident of Satoko-chan's parents...... Can I get you to ask Yamainu's Okonogi-san to put an end to it as an accident?"
Takano: "Yes, that's not a problem at all. Yamainu is a team that's the most specialized in concealment or manipulation of those kind of things, after all.... You're right, if we don't quickly put an end to that falling accident as an accident, the police will be a bother trying to get close to our experiment specimen."
Irie: "......That's right. In particular, make sure that Oishi-san is drawn away from this case as soon as possible, please....... We're at a delicate stage of the drug administration test, it would not be appropriate to create any unnecessary stress for her."
Takano: "Exactly. I will be sure to let Yamainu know. Since they have connections in the police as well, let's tell them to apply some pressures there. I think the Shirakawa Falling Accident will be confirmed as an accident in a few days."
Confirmed, as an accident.
......Ahh, if only it really was an accident, it would've still offered some ease to Satoko-chan's heart ....
Even if the pathogen is eliminated, the wounded heart will not heal.
...And neither will the sad tragedy that has already occurred.
All I can do...... is to do my best... so the day where she regains her smile would come sooner, even if only by a day....