I apologize for the late chapter, I've been intent on getting all the bonus marks possible in my courses and attending several parties celebrating the end of midterms with friends. I'm also celebrating the 3000 dollars received for my education; I DON'T NEED TO REPAY THAT ONE!! WHOA!!
The next day, the news quickly spread out. Posters had been pasted everywhere, large words screaming CAUTION and a photo of the 'monster cat' displayed for all to see. Women and men stared in horror, and soon the whole town became aware. Everyone was shocked and disgusted, but what was more, the public demanded an explanation.
The private hospital doors were crowded as people pushed against the doors, angrily shouting as they held posters of the 'monster cat', for along with the photo of the cat itself there was a picture of the collar, with the hospital's address clearly visible. Security kept them at bay, shouting over the noise.
"Everyone please calm down, an answer will soon be given and you will be satisfied. Please calm down…."
Inside the hospital, Doctor Kelly Sirenna was talking on the phone, "How did something like this happen?" Pause "I think somebody is trying to expose us." Pause "No, I guarantee you the people who knew of those experiments are trustworthy." A knock came before the door opened, it was Riff. Kelly scowled "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Dr. Sirenna," Riff addressed when the woman hung up, "The crowd outside is getting bigger and bigger, what's more, Society of Animal Protection just received a package with animal remains, but someone has deducted that something is wrong with its DNA. They've taken it for further analysis, but I think it could be Number Nineteen."
"I told you, didn't I? Get more people to look for them! Now look, the public found out about our specimen!" The head doctor hissed as she sat back against her chair. Her sharp eyes looked at the man across from her, "Phone the police, get rid of the crowd out there."
"But…"
"Don't talk back to me! Just do what I tell you to! Focus everything now on finding Number Twenty Three, I don't want things to get worse then they already have."
"Understood," Riff turned and left, Kelly glaring at his retreating back. Once the door closed, she picked up the phone again.
"Hello? My name is Dr. Kelly Sirenna, I need to host a press conference."
Inn
The Exorcists had stayed up last night to produce copies of the photo and distribute them around the town. Once again, they had gone off by themselves to do so, and when Kanda returned he had gone straight to his bed. His body was calling for rest, and Kanda always made sure he got enough rest to keep his body in top shape. When he was tired or wanted to sleep, there was hardly anyone who would stand in his way.
With that said, last night when he returned to the inn, he had to do a double take for his brain to finally register there was something wrong. That something came in the form of a sleeping Allen, curled up comfortably in the bed Kanda had marked as his. It baffled Kanda that the younger boy even dared to sleep deeply and in such an unguarded position, when he surely must have heard from others that no one dares to stand between Kanda and What he Wants. As of the moment, he wanted his bed, and Allen was sleeping in it.
Kanda sat down on the bed, staring at the boy and debating what to do. He was still sore about the incident at the five star hotel, and while Allen's sleeping form was an adorable sight it wasn't enough to soften him. Reaching out, Kanda nudged Allen on the shoulder. The boy stirred, but did not wake, so Kanda nudged him harder. This time it worked, Allen opened his eyes and rubbed his shoulder sleepily, ignoring Kanda until the Japanese Exorcist leaned forward in front of him.
"This is my bed," Kanda said flatly, in response Allen had the nerve to smile at him.
"Lavi's sleeping on mine," Allen responded and turned back to the bed. He jerked when Kanda dug his fingers into the younger boy's shoulder, "Stop it! It hurts!"
"This is MY bed, go sleep in Lavi's," Kanda snapped.
Allen frowned and moved back from Kanda, but still remained on the bed. Kanda glared at him, but it didn't have the desired effect, "It's a big bed."
Kanda mentally reared back at the obvious taunt, of all the...the boy was proposing they share the bed! No one had ever said that to him, well, it sounded like something Lavi might have said, but there would always be an obvious joking tone in it. Allen said it so casually, as if it wasn't that big of a deal. Something in Kanda naturally wanted to start a fight, but his body didn't feel up to it. So he simply repeated, "This is my bed."
"You're a possessive guy, are you not?" Allen muttered. He looked back up at the older boy, "It's not the end of the world if someone sleeps in your bed, it's not like I'm in your room back at the Tower; and like I said, there's Lavi's bed." Noah's New Child laughed at Kanda's expression, he pushed himself to Kanda's side and rested his head on the Japanese Exorcists' shoulder. Kanda tried to glare again, but Allen already had his eyes closed, it was a lost cause.
The snow haired boy was enjoying this, Kanda could tell. Lavi really must have influenced him, and for some reason Kanda found himself becoming bitter at that thought. He snatched Allen's chin and pulled his head up, this time Kanda caught a flicker of fear in the boy's light blue eyes.
"Ti," the name slipped out of Allen's lips easily, almost as if calling for the man, as if it would protect him. Kanda froze, his murderous urges disappearing. Catching himself, Allen pulled back and slipped off the bed. "I apologize, Kanda, I'll see you in the morning." The boy left, disappearing behind the door. Kanda heard footsteps heading towards that ragtag group's room.
Kanda scowled and flopped back onto the bed. It was warm, as if Allen was still there. Scowling even further, Kanda stood up and headed for the washroom. He took his time, returning only when he was sure the warmth would at least partially disappear. He slept deeply, and the next morning he woke early, trained outside and listened to the locals' reactions to the poster, and then returned to the inn for the latest news. The Exorcists were all present, they were listening to the radio.
"Regarding accusations that our hospital is conducting illegal and inhuman experiments, I feel the need to inform you all that this is a lie. Our investigation done on this matter indicates that the cat has had contact with biohazard waste and…"
"I don't believe this woman," Linali said as they listened to Dr. Sirenna's voice, "She's lying straight at our face!"
"Why would so many people help her cover this up?" Allen asked, simply nodding at Kanda politely as he sat down. "Does she have that much influence around here?"
"Even if she does," Lavi added, "that isn't enough to cover everything she's done, she needs another source."
"Aside from money, nothing else can have so much influence," Kanda guessed.
"Then that could mean aside from the cat, there must be more things they're trying to hide from us," Bookman noted. "Private hospitals tend to be better supplied then public hospitals. Hospitals are one of the places with the highest technology, and assuming that they can already make animals produce human parts, they might be already dabbing in the cloning of human limbs. For example, healing the heavily ill patients, they might have already used this type of cloning technology."
"Wow, will technology take us that far?" Linali whispered in awe. Bookman answered her;
"Nowadays, if people can clone a sheep (1), it probably won't take that long to clone parts of a human…"
"Or even a whole human! Dirk Ivad Rov (2)!" Lavi exclaimed. "I don't believe this, Kanda, you were right (3)!"
"If cloning technology does advance to that level," Allen wondered out loud "We'll be cloning presidents and prime ministers and all the country leaders in no time."
"And the political world will fall apart, and with it, nations and laws." Bookman pointed out, "Which is another reason for the people who oppose the advancement of cloning technology."
Hospital
After his successful Heart Transplant, millionaire Mr. Hans was more then confident in the abilities of Dr. Kelly Sirenna. After making a generous donation to the hospital, Mr. Hans referred another rich friend to her. Kelly knew that after the transplant, Mr. Hans was going to treat her like some sort of god, able to heal almost any health problem. Judging by the way his friend was talking to her, she was correct.
"…so in that situation, Dr. Sirenna, what's your opinion, can you save my daughter?"
Kelly smiled as the two of them walked down the corridors of the hospital, "Ask someone else, they might say no, but don't worry, I can do it."
"Really? Thank you! But people keep telling me, problems with the brain are close to impossible in being fixed!"
"Believe in me, let me show you something, sir," Judging by the man's eagerness and background, Dr. Sirenna knew she could trust him not to go around telling people everything. She still was not going to tell the man everything, but she could rely on the Placebo effect (4) a bit and reassure the man. So she led him to a deep underground chamber, entered a code and swiped a card. The man's eyes widened when the doors opened, revealing a vast array of complicated machines, but little to no people.
"This is our secret underground research lab," Kelly explained to the awestruck man. "Here, we have discovered techniques that enable us to use a healthy animal's DNA and manipulate them to a human's. After all, a large percentage of living organisms' DNA are identical, only a small percentage separates the species. We have been able to change the DNA of an animal to a human's to produce a needed body part, and have also successfully transported the organ into humans. Your daughter wouldn't be the first to experience this type of surgery, and once it's over I can guarantee you that not only will she recover, she will be smarter as well."
The man nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, she doesn't need to be smarter; the most important thing is that you can heal my daughter! Money is no object!"
"Then rest assured, I will return your child to you." Dr. Sirenna smiled; behind her, Riff looked up from the body at the table, almost sadly.
Later, the doctors escorted the happy man out of the hospital. Once he was gone, Kelly turned to Riff, "Help me organize a free checkup for all the kids under the age of eighteen. For those who seem unnaturally well, do an IQ test on them."
"Dr. Sirenna, are you planning to...?"
"Since when do you ask so many questions?"
"Sorry, Doctor…"
Kelly sighed, and looked at him again. For a split second, Riff swore he saw the old Kelly Sirenna, the one who smiled at him, but then the moment passed and her eyes became cold again.
"Just think of it as me doing a favor for society." She walked away, leaving him alone to reflect on the past, and of What ifs and If onlys.
Street
Booths and stands were set up on every school campus there was. The staff told the civilians that in light of the cat's mutation, free checkups were being done to see whether anyone else was affected by the biohazard wastes. Their excuse was that children were the ones most likely affected, hence why they were only focusing on those categories. Most of the civilians took the explanation at face value, and parents rushed their kids forward, desperate to learn whether their children would be ruined.
The Exorcists were not so willing. They were still suspicious, though Linali went through the 'check up' to see what the hospital was up to. Appearance-wise the examinations themselves did not seem suspicious, the only thing off were the IQ tests, but the Exorcists were still wary, and the manner they used to observe the private hospital showed it.
"To finance this huge project…that doctor's background must be pretty big stuff," Lavi muttered as he watched the people working at the booths. "There's definitely a lot of cash involved here, but so far all they've really done is take blood samples. What do they need so many samples for? Is it just for show?"
"I doubt it," Linali answered, checking the cotton pad covering the skin where the doctors put a syringe through. "Brother once told me that blood contains enough information on its own, blood type, DNA; if a few drops alone can allow crime scene investigators to find their culprit, it won't take long for cloning technology at its finest to use that DNA for its own purposes. That might be what they're aiming for; to them the death of their cat specimen might have just given them an excuse to take massive samples."
"You think it's possible to just use a sample of DNA to make a whole human?" Allen asked.
"In theory you could, but in practice it's another matter completely," Linali answered.
"So, are we going to just let the Doctor continue playing Frankenstein?" Lavi asked. "Clearly now, we can see she's probably the source of all strange events happening around here. There's no Innocence or Akuma, it's just her and attempts of playing god."
"How can we even expose her for what she's doing?" Allen continued, "We can't exactly go back to the Order saying there's no Innocence because the strange events were actually her specimens or clones. They'll want more proof first of all, and while we can just send them the photo of the cat there's still the issue of Dirk, the Order would make us stay until we figure out the Dirk mystery."
"What's there to figure out?" Linali asked, "I bet you anything Dirk and the cat are related! If they were both really the result of cloning experiments, then they have one common connection: Dr. Kelly Sirenna!"
"No, it's probably the whole hospital itself; one person can't hide all that information," Kanda countered. "That woman's background would most likely have many people involved, it's unlikely that she's conducting the research all by herself. Best explanation is that she's the leading Doctor, maybe even the Founder of the research."
"If she's the Founder, it gives us two clues to draw Sirenna's character. One, she wants to bring someone back to life; or Two, she wants to do it for the sake of science and fame. If it's the first option, I wonder why the Earl didn't contact her in the first place."
Allen shrugged, "People die everyday, I guess there's only so many the Earl can turn. Or she might be one of the few to refuse."
"Another thing," Linali added, "She might have started out with other intentions. There are some scientists out there who only want to clone human cells for basic medical research or to study genetic processes; they don't want to actually create a human. Look at Mr. Hans, heart transplants – actually, any organ being placed in the body – usually can trigger some sort of immune response. It can be a huge problem without immunosuppressive drugs, but if the doctors can 'clone' his heart and just replace it, theoretically the body won't reject it and a person can continue living. Therapeutic cloning, producing cells that would produce specific body parts, is considered one of the strongest points on the scientists' side. Organs aside, it's believed that cloning technology can also help with reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries."
"I think I heard some scientists of the Black Order mention that once," Allen mulled, "but they were talking about burn treatments as well."
"I'm surprised; most religious people simply oppose cloning of all levels. They think it's another of humanity's taboos, that we shouldn't try playing god in creating life in such an 'unnatural' form. It's considered meddling in the natural process of life and death."
"Ethicists, religious leaders, and scientists have often argued about whether cloning is viable or ethical. You can guess the classical approach from religion, where life begins on conception. Ethicists believed that once cloned, the clone is human as well, and we have no right to use them to save the life of the original person. Even psychologists are interested in cloning, because they're curious to see how closely a clone will be to the actual person. Plus, it raises the fundamental question of what it means to be a human being, meaning even philosophers can be involved."
Further debate on the merits and flaws of cloning was interrupted when the sound of a siren was suddenly heard. Startled, the Exorcists watched as an ambulance returned to the hospital. The hospital staff quickly attended, opening the doors and pulling a stretcher out. Several more cars entered the scene, and many people rushed forward to the hospital, only to be stopped by hospital security. The shouting and talking from the crowd of people proved the matter to be pretty serious, and as the Exorcists watched several doctors, including Dr. Sirenna, came onto the scene.
Dr. Sirenna took one look at the man and addressed the nurses, "Take him inside and do a full analysis of his body." The nurses obeyed, rushing inside quickly. A well built man then went up to her.
"Dr. Sirenna, you must save him, he's my protégé and I've invested too much into him."
"Don't worry," Kelly smiled, "I can save him, but before that, do you remember what I told you?"
"Never tell anyone the condition of his injuries," The man answered.
"Good," The doctor went inside and disappeared quickly. The Exorcists watched with interest, and Allen took the opportunity to approach one of the members of the crowd.
"Excuse me, what's going on here?"
"You mean the man's condition?"
"Yea, who was he? Why are there so many people here?"
"You're young, so I suppose you can be excused from not knowing. That man who was rushed inside is the jockey Johnny, just a few minutes ago he was participating in a horse race, but midway through he fell off!"
Allen's eyes widened, "And…they chose to send him to this hospital?"
"Why not? It's one of the best." In response, Allen could say nothing. If the people will send Johnny in here so easily, they either believed the hospital's lies about the cat being a product of unintended mutation, or they truly did not know. Either way, Allen knew some experimentation would be done in the midst of saving Johnny's life.
He was correct, for in the operation room, Kelly put on a mask and looked at Riff, "Prepare to extort some DNA"
"Of course"
Later, Kelly exited the room to see Johnny's family there, the only people allowed in since the fans would have disturbed the other hospital patients. They rushed forward towards her, throwing questions a mile per hour, and she smiled soothingly at them.
"None of you need to worry, I can save him."
Fast Food Stand
Really, Tiki didn't mean to cause unnecessary trouble. He was here in his White form as Ti, an orphan from a ragtag group who travelled everywhere to find work. Unlike his Noah form, he did not plan to leave Lavi clues for the boy to work out. Tiki as Ti meant that he was a regular human, not a Noah, and most definitely unrelated to the missions the Black Order gave his redhead interest.
He had been acting out his human role, split up from the others, asking and applying for jobs. After a while, he took a break, and because he did so he overheard two men talking.
"…searched everywhere and still can't find that guy, really, I swear he's getting help from someone. By himself he wouldn't have been able to hide so well."
"The doctors are putting more pressure on us; they really want to find their specimen fast. Can't blame them, the cat's already causing enough trouble for them, least they managed to cover everything up."
"Well, that's the wonderful influence of money, who's sponsoring her again?"
"That's something we don't need to know, as long as we can get a pay cheque, who cares where the money comes from?"
"Agreed," the two man laughed. "Well anyways, we follow this last lead, and we should be able to retire for the night. Hopefully the clone will still be there, we're told to bring him back alive, but if he resists too much we're allowed to kill him and bring the body back." The two men stood up and left, Tiki stared after them and with his curiosity piqued, followed.
The men arrived to a run-down and most likely abandoned house. As it turned out, it wasn't abandoned. Tiki watched as the two men drew out butcher knives before kicking the door down. The men went inside, and suddenly, there were crashes and yelled insults. A fight seemed to have broken out inside the building, and Tiki cautiously walked forward and peered through the dusty and cracked window.
The lack of light kept the men in shadow, but Tiki could make out the shapes of the two men he had been following fighting against a third. The third man wore a sweater with a hood. He moved quickly, dodging blows and throwing punches and kicks forward with an expert's skill. The two men were no match, and eventually their target grabbed one of them and threw him against the other. While the two attackers were stunned, the hooded man rushed out of the house, nearly running into Tiki.
For one moment, Tiki saw the birthmark on the man's arm. Then the man was running away, disappearing into the forest.
His pursuers burst out of the house and made to run after him, knocking into Tiki along the way. The three of them fell to the ground, and the men yelled something explicitly rude to Tiki before running after the figure.
Tiki's eyes narrowed, a feeling of great annoyance rising inside of him. Even though he did not speak, the Akuma in the town understood the summon – though only one of them approached the Noah.
"Do you want us to deal with them, Sir Tiki Mick?"
"Kill one, let the other off after some beating (5)," the cold voice the untidy man spoke with had Noah dripping all over it. The Akuma bowed before disappearing into the night. Tiki then turned and returned back to the inn.
There, he met up with the Exorcists again. Lavi gave him a warning glare, and Tiki gave him his best wounded look, which ensured Allen's pity for him as the white-haired boy patted his head before climbing on his lap. While the Exorcists were startled at the behaviour, Frank and Momo only smiled; apparently the sight wasn't one they haven't seen before. Once Allen was comfortably seated in Tiki's lap, the man turned his attention to the others with them.
"I think I just ran into Dirk," he stated, and quickly the whole table turned to him. The man described what had happened earlier; once he was done the Exorcists each shared a look, but said nothing until dinner was done and over with. Once Tiki and his group left the Exorcists alone, Lavi turned to Allen.
"Have you told them anything about our mission?"
"Give me some credit," Allen pouted, "As much as I want to, I know that without further proof we can't tell them anything. Plus, the Black Order always forbade us from talking about our missions to any outsider."
"That aside, if what Tiki heard is true, then that 'clone' is too much evidence against the hospital." Linali thought out loud, "If they're trying to kill him as well, whatever he says must be pretty damning."
"Then we can see now that Sirenna probably isn't just experimenting on animals anymore, they've probably done it on humans too," Bookman concluded. The Exorcists fell into silence, lost in their own thoughts and the memory of what had happened to the cat they had discovered, until the radio nearby caught their attention: Apparently the Jockey Johnny was well on his way to recovering; Dr. Sirenna had announced that to the media.
"They say he can be out again so soon?" Lavi asked in disbelief. "I find that very hard to believe!"
"Are you saying that the Johnny who's going to come out…isn't going to be Johnny?" Allen guessed. Bookman looked thoughtful, before speaking.
"Well, we can see tomorrow; until then, all of you go to bed and get some rest."
The Next Day
From the begining, the Exorcists realized just how much staff the hospital had on security. Deciding to go about this in the classical approach, Allen and Lavi made a distraction at the front doors of the hospital, drawing in interested civilians that soon formed a crowd. As security tried to get them under control, Kanda and Linali quickly sneaked into the hospital.
It didn't take long for them to find some doctors' coats and put them on. Despite their obvious young age, the hospital staff they passed by didn't attempt to stop them. Their simple disguise appeared to be all that was needed to move about in the hospital. Linali and Kanda schooled their facial expressions into cool, apathetic looks, topping off their fake right of being in the building. They then walked calmly down the hospital corridors and looked up the record for Johnny's room. Locating it, they opened the door and found the room empty.
Linali and Kanda glanced at each other before they began looking around the place. Despite this, they could not find any traces. The room didn't even looked lived in, and a lack of freshness in the bed sheets indicated that the room had not 'just been cleaned up'. Linali frowned; the jockey was never here in the first place.
The two Exorcists sneaked out of the building and regrouped with the others outside. Allen and Lavi looked at them, "Well?"
"We checked the area several times, Johnny's not in the hospital"
"But he hasn't switched any hospitals at all! Just a few minutes ago Dr. Sirenna was even talking about how he was resting here!"
"We looked around the area, not just his supposed room, there was nothing. We couldn't ask the staff for reasons, it would gather suspicion."
"You did a good job in not taking that risk," Bookman complimented. "If he's really not there, then where is he? Hospitals are where the ill and sick live, only one type of people wouldn't be living here."
"The dead…or the hospital staff themselves!"
"Not bad, Allen," Bookman smiled. His smiled dropped when the group suddenly heard a loud voice shout:
"Dr. Siu, how dare you!" The Exorcists turned to see a middle-aged man yelling at a rather calm female doctor. "You're very cold blooded, you…murderer!"
"Don't scream and draw unneeded attention," The woman calmly answered. "Your wife will be placed in our special care section free of charge."
"Ha!" The man sneered, "If you weren't hiding something, would you have given her the treatment free? I'm going to sue!"
"Go ahead," The doctor laughed "But let me remind you, before the operation you signed a document waiving your right to sue should the operation fail. I don't think the courts will accept your case, mister."
"Before doing the operation you told me to sign that document, telling me it was standard procedure!" The man shouted angrily, "You planned this whole thing! You, Dr. Sirenna and all those other doctors planned this!" The woman ignored him as she calmly looked at her watch.
"I'm sorry sir, but I have other duties to attend to, goodbye."
"You…!" the female doctor walked off, and the man cursed. At the same time, his eyes were filled with pain and grief. Linali quickly moved forward.
"Excuse me sir, do you want to reveal the truth of the hospital to the world?" Linali asked as the man looked at her, "Do you want to let your wife's story be known? If so, I can help you."
"Who are you?"
"A reporter," Linali answered, smiling soothingly at the man. "Just tell us your story, tell us what Dr. Sirenna's hospital did wrong, and we can help you get some justice." The other Exorcists glanced at each other and cautiously followed as Linali and the man went inside a coffee shop. She ordered two cups of coffee and handed one of them to the man, who thanked her. The Exorcists knew that the man probably didn't really believe Linali's weak lie about being a reporter, for one thing she looked too young. However, Linali's friendly and kind demeanor would always make people want to talk, and this was no different.
"Two weeks ago my wife needed surgery," the man began. "It should have been a simple, rather common one, the danger was actually pretty low, but just before the operation Dr. Siu – that female doctor I was just talking to – told me to sign a document. They said without it, they couldn't do the surgery."
"What was the document?"
"I can't recall it all completely, I didn't put much thought into it and it had plenty of fine print. Basically it said that under normal circumstances no matter what result of the operation, I waive my right to sue the doctors."
"Define normal circumstances, are you saying if they put too much sedatives and your wife never wakes, you can't sue them for malpractice? Why did you sign?"
"I didn't think it'll end like this!" The man cried, "The hospital is one of the most technologically advanced, and the surgery my wife needed was a common one, how was I to know she'll end up in a coma?" The man's grief was evident in his voice, and Linali couldn't help feeling sorry for him. As if to make things worst, the man glanced at the clock and sighed.
"I'm sorry, miss, but I have to go pick up my children now. In the midst of confronting the doctor and getting worked up emotionally, I almost forgot." Linali nodded, the man excused himself and left. Once he was out of sight, the rest of the Exorcists stood up and moved to her table.
"If you ask me, he doesn't seem capable of suing in the first place; his clothes indicate he's of a lower class." Allen observed.
"To some degree he's lucky it was this hospital, they're like some church or something, very often in situations like this they give free treatment for the comatose patient." Lavi frowned, "Which brings up another question: If they could do this so easily, how rich is the hospital? More importantly, where did all that financing come from?"
"There's just more and more mystery surrounding that place isn't there?" Allen groaned.
"Which means more work," Bookman didn't appear to be fazed. "Allen, Kanda, I want the two of you to go look for more information and come back in an hour."
"With him?!" Both boys yelled.
"Bookman's right, you two will be good," Lavi grinned. "One will make people melt with their cuteness while the other makes people shake in fear, having you two obtain information will be quite easy!"
"Like hell I'm working with Bean Sprout," Kanda snapped, "I'll look for information without him." With that parting, he turned and left. Allen shrugged, not offended, as he could guess the extra rudeness was due to the little misadventure at the hotel. Bidding the other Exorcists a 'see you later', Allen left the group, taking the opposite direction. The rest of the Exorcists sighed.
Allen began to walk aimlessly, simply intent on getting away from the Exorcists' sight. As he did so, he mentally contacted his Akuma and questioned each one of them about what they knew. They told him everything he needed to know. By the time he returned to the Exorcists, he had physically walked for an hour without talking, but mentally he already did and had plenty of information. Kanda joined the group a few seconds after him, and Linali brought the question up.
"So what have you got?" She asked.
"Just in this past month…" Allen and Kanda began at the same time, only to stop when they realized this. Lavi grinned at them.
"Wow, you two are really in sync," He got a pair of glares in return, and the redhead hastily got back to business "Allen, you start first."
Allen nodded, "Just in this past month eight people who entered the hospital for simple surgeries ended up comatose. All eight families signed the same document about waiving their right to sue. Their surgeries should be simple, under – and I quote this – normal circumstances they should not fail so seriously that the patients end up comatose."
Bookman nodded, and then turned to Kanda, who spoke without prompting.
"I checked the background of the victims, all rather poor. I suspect the hospital chose the poorer class so that they can't sue, and used the people to their own advantage. Also of interest is the fact that the hospital really has been hiring a lot of security guards lately, getting inside the hospital or even getting hired is getting more and more difficult."
"So now they're treating the place like some state secret?" Linali asked, "They're definitely hiding something, or why all the security?"
"That's okay, we can all dress up as the staff and sneak in," Lavi grinned.
"I wouldn't count on that," Kanda answered. "Sure we've gotten away with it once, but in the end we're too young to be in the hospital, they could get suspicious of us quickly."
"Then we'll…" Kanda and Allen began again, only to stop and glare at each other. Lavi grinned again.
"Linali, don't you think they're really in sync?"
"Shut up," Kanda snapped.
Pub & Grill
Linali knew it was her turn to do something soon. The others had all been working hard gathering information, so this time; she knew it was her turn to take up the task. The problem was how she could do it discreetly.
Luckily, Rhode had her back.
The Noah invited the Exorcist to the pub where Allen had dealt with the money lenders, and Linali reluctantly accepted, unsure of Rhode's motives. Though Rhode was obviously a child, the waiter allowed her in. Linali noted the maid outfit, which did not seem to fit the rest of the staff, but the others seem to defer to her so she let it pass. Rhode was more then glad about it; the last thing she wanted was Linali to learn that Mimi was an Akuma and start a fight.
The two of them settled down and ordered drinks. Once they arrived and the two customers were comfortable, Rhode nodded to her side.
"Linali, see the two men and women there?"
Linali took a brief glance before nodding. Though the men looked respectable enough, they were literally leering at the two women, who were no doubt enjoying the attention. Rhode smiled, "Those men work in Dr. Sirenna's hospital."
Linali turned back with interest, watching the women talk to the men. "You're male nurses; I bet in uniform you're very cool!"
"Of course," one of the men smirked, "For that compliment, let's have a drink"
"I've always thought those in the hospital are boring stiffs," one of the women smiled coyly, "I think you've proven otherwise."
"Let's play a questioning game, whoever wins, get to kiss Sunny!" the other woman exclaimed. For one moment, Linali considered dropping her attention from the group, as she could guess what could happen. The women's next words ensured her interest, "For the sake of fairness, let's ask questions related to the hospital. Who's the main doctor in your hospital?"
"Dr. Kelly Sirenna!" One of the men shot up from his chair to get a kiss, but 'Sunny' stopped him.
"Ah wait! We still have a long night to go, let's save it all up for later okay? If you can answer my question right, you get to kiss Kitty here!" The other woman smiled as Sunny asked the next question, "Where is the Jockey Johnny?"
"Don't know," the men answered.
"You don't know?" The women asked in disbelief, "Normal room, special unit, Dr. Sirenna' home or his own home?"
"Really don't know"
"How can you not know?"
"You know?"
"Just asking," Kitty pouted. "Fine, next question, who is doctor responsible for Johnny?"
"I know, Dr. Pils!"
"So you do know! To be responsible for Johnny, he must be a good doctor," Sunny smiled. "I ought to get him to be my doctor."
"You won't be able to see him," one of the men answered.
"Why not?" Sunny blinked.
"He's on an extended and undefined vacation"
"Speaking of that," the other man said thoughtfully, "The nurse that attended to the jockey resigned as well didn't she?"
"Yea, what a coincidence, anyways, do I get a kiss now?" The man leaned forward, and then suddenly collapsed, his partner following him after. The women smiled before looking straight up at Rhode, who smiled at them.
"Good job"
"No problem, Mistress Kamelot," Linali's eyes widened, for one moment she felt she should stand up and fight, but Rhode shot her a look and for some reason, she stayed still. The two female Akuma inclined their heads respectfully to Rhode, before paying their bill and leaving the pub. Rhode turned back to Linali and smiled.
"Was that some information for you?"
Park
The sky was several shades of blue by the time the Exorcists found the man. It was getting late, but the four Exorcists were concerned that if they didn't find the man soon, he would leave Scotland (6). So they had asked around and searched for hours before their work finally paid off, and they approached the man seated on the bench.
"Dr. Pils, how are you?" Lavi smiled.
The man didn't move his body, but his eyes looked up and examined the four Exorcists. His eyes lingered on Lavi's eye patch and the scar running down Allen's face, a true doctor at work. Then the man looked the silver crosses adorning their Exorcist coats, and sighed before speaking in a soft voice.
"I only know how to heal people, you all look relatively healthy, so I guess you're not here because of my occupation. I know nothing else, please leave."
The man was good; he could tell they were here for information. Since there was no need for subtlety, Linali took charge.
"To be working in a hospital for twenty years and suddenly leave, I bet it must have taken a lot for you to make the decision."
"You've looked up my information as well? Who are you and why do you know so much about me?" The man asked, but without anger or feeling.
"You're aware of Kelly Sirenna's project, are you not?" Kanda asked.
"Dr. Sirenna? Not familiar with her, don't know of her projects or research, just leave me alone."
"You've both been working in the same hospital for years; you claim you don't know her? I find that hard to believe." Allen countered. At that, the man fell silent. Allen attempted another push, "Did you leave because you no longer support her project?"
The man remained silent; he wasn't even looking at them anymore. Realizing this, Linali decided to give the man some more time.
"We are of the Black Order, and my name is Linali. If you ever decide you want to talk to us, just call an operator and they can put you through." The man remained silent, not answering. Linali glanced at the others, gesturing for them to leave, and they obeyed. As the four Exorcists walked away, the former doctor turned to look at them. Making his decision, he stood up.
"Wait."
The Exorcists turned around, hopeful and expecting.
Somewhere, a gun fired.
There was a splatter of blood.
The Exorcists' eyes widened in horror as Dr. Pils fell, only a grunt escaping his lips. They rush forward towards him, knowing a life and their first solid lead was being snatched away right in front of their eyes.
"Doctor!"
"Hang in there! Doctor!"
But the shot had hit a vital point, and the doctor did not respond. The Exorcists looked around widely in the park, but there was no one. No sign of the killer, they were the only ones in the park: four kids and a corpse.
(1) Dolly the Sheep, I'm aware that she was born in late 1990s, but DGM has always been a fictional universe
(2) I forgot to explain in the last chapter, this is an anagram of the name David Rorvik, possibly the first man to publish a book claiming knowledge regarding the creation of human clones
(3) In Chapter 19 The Next Act, when questioned about the body buried in America Kanda speculated a twin or clone. Technically since twins are nature's clones, he was right
(4) A tactic where a doctor gives a patient some sort of assurance (fake medicine/injections) so that the patient will heal themselves because they 'believe' they will recover with the 'medicine'
(5) Notice that while Allen would let people off with a warning, Tiki's much more willing to kill
(6) Scotland, the place where Dolly the Sheep was born/created – hence why it's the setting here.
In the risk of sounding cliché, the mystery deepens! Any guesses on what happens next? Did I still sound biased on the cloning debate? Did I left out any unanswered questions? Tell me in your reviews!