Chapter 8: Renfield Syndrome (Pak)
Stalin once said that artillery was the god of war, and I find it hard to disagree with him. The majority of casualties in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery, and it's estimated that artillery was responsible for 60% to 70% of casualties on the Eastern Front. Most movies gloss over the role of artillery, preferring to focus on quick and action-packed firefights and awe-inspiring charges. Those played important roles too, but neither was as devastating as a good artillery barrage. General William Sherman said it best. A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets.
Fortunately, the SSS never had to fight with muskets. We had 21st century assault rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, recoilless rifles, pistols, revolvers, swords, grenades, and a halberd. We fought hard, but our rifles were not enough against Angel. Things soon changed after I arrived down in the Guild. Artillery canons were finally rolling down the Guild production lines. There weren't enough guns to form an artillery battery, but they still gave us a huge boost in firepower. Napoleon once said that god fights on the side with the best artillery. I still wasn't too sure whether god would fight against his own servant, but we were about to find out.
In order to test the effectiveness of our artillery against Angel, Yuri added an additional element of surprise to Operation Tornado. Instead of just guarding the GirlDeMo concert, the SSS was going to be on the offensive. We were going to ambush Angel as she makes her way to the concert. I made two new Pak 36 guns with Flakvisier 40 reflector sights and painted them with special forest camouflage. The two guns were set alongside the path between the girls' dormitory and the auditorium. Yuri gave me the honor of taking the first shot. She needed the first shot to hit. Angel is virtually invincible when she deploys her shield.
Because the ambush required a lot of manpower, Yuri could only spare a handful of members to defend the auditorium. Otonashi, who had just awoken the day before, was assigned to guard one of the key bridges there. He did not have any firearms experience before his death, and he couldn't even remember his full name. I felt that it was a very risky decision, but Yuri didn't think so. Our ambush, not Otonashi, was the primary defense.
"I see movement to the right of the incinerator," I whispered to Yuri "Is that Angel?"
Yuri peaked her head out of the bushes and looked through her binoculars. "No. It's just some random NPC. Be patient."
I crouched down and went back to adjusting the canon's sights. The dormitories were unusually quiet for this hour. There were a few NPCs walking around, but the majority of them were at the GirlDeMo concert. It was a shame that I couldn't go myself. Their music was so powerful and energetic. I was half a kilometer away from the auditorium, but I could still clearly hear the melody. Rock was not my favorite genre of music, but it was undeniable that the GirlDeMo girls were incredibly talented.
The sound of the music were soon supplanted by the sound of approaching footsteps and panting. I looked back. Takamatsu was sprinting towards us as full speed. He was gesturing and shouting wildly at us, but his words were garbled. I couldn't understand what he was saying until he was right in front of us.
"Angel attacked the auditorium from West Bridge!" Takamatsu shouted, "She has Otonashi cornered. You have to help him."
"Dammit" I cursed, slamming my fist against the barrel of the cannon. Not only had Angel found a way around our ambush, she had found a way to attack our weakest member. Otonashi had just arrived the day before, and I didn't even know if Yuri bothered to arm him. I looked at Yuri, who was clenching her teeth in frustration. After a few moments of deliberation, she gave out the orders: "Pak, Yim, Sandra. You three move the artillery. The rest of you, grab your guns and follow me. Rendezvous at auditorium." She loaded her Beretta 92FS and ran off, with the rest of the combat team following her.
"Are you two ready?" I asked, retracting the stabilizers of the cannon. Yim nodded. Sandra's facial expression made it seem as if she couldn't have cared less, but she was holding a box of shells in her arms. That was all that mattered.
Yim and I each grabbed one of the ends of the stabilizers and made a beeline for the cafeteria. We had practiced transporting the cannon numerous times, but we always practiced on hard and empty ground. The shortcut to the cafeteria was neither hard nor empty. Yim tripped on a tree root, and I almost lost my left eye to a tree branch. Tanks or jeeps would have been very helpful in those situations, but Yuri didn't believe that we needed any. She was very wrong, but I didn't bother to argue otherwise. I made a note to myself to be more assertive next time.
As I got closer to the cafeteria, I could see tracers being deflected towards the sky. The sheer volume of unrelenting gunfire reminded me of the anti-aircraft artillery fire during bombing raids. A tracers deflected horizontally every now and then, breaking streetlamps and shattering windows. A few whizzed past us as we struggled to set up the artillery in the darkness.
The SSS team members formed an arc in front of Angel, blasting away at her with their weapons. Such firepower would have been enough to rout entire battalions, but they had no effect on Angel. She just stood there, like a tank, as the bullets simply bounced off her shield.
Suddenly, something made Angel jump back. A rocket launched from the rooftop of the auditorium exploded just a few meters away from Angel. A sound of smoke enveloped the ground. The smell of gunpowder was in the air.
During the firefight, Yim and I managed maneuver the artillery behind Angel without soliciting her attention. Yim and Sandra deployed the stabilizers as I took aim. I set the sights on the center of Angel's back.
"Quickly, load the armor-piercing shell," I instructed Yim. I heard the breach open and shut. Yim gave me a nod. I pressed the trigger. The gun let out a big bang as the armor-piercing round rocketed towards its target.
What happened next stunned every member of the Battlefront. The shell flew true to its target. It hit Angel right in the back. The shield either didn't extend to cover her back or was penetrated by the shell. The shot penetrated her body, left behind a gaping wound in her torso. She stumbled and looked back with a shocked expression on her face. A second later, she collapsed onto the bloody concrete.
Yuri's POV:
We could only watch in dead silence as Angel fell to the ground. Her body twitched for few seconds on the ground before becoming motionless. It was only then that the SSS burst into pandemonium. Assault team members fired their guns into the air. Takamatsu threw his jacket into the sky, slapped the tree in front of him with his shirt, and shouted, "Victory! Victory! Vicotry!" Even Shiina let out a cheer of joy.
The grin on my face could not have been bigger. "Hinata, go fetch me some rope," I ordered, "We can't let her escape. No. Wait. I have a better plan. Noda, go retrieve your halberd. We're going to chop off her legs. We can't let her get away this time."
An ebullient Pak ran out of the bushes, cheering in German. Yim and Sandra were not far behind him. I rushed forward to give the girls a tight group hug. It was our moment of victory. The original ambush failed, but we still managed to snatch victory form the jaws of defeat. Of course, Pak deserved most of the credit. The SSS had fought Angel for almost a decade, but we only managed to injure her a few times. Pak managed to kill Angel in less than two weeks. The facts spoke for themselves.
"Pak! You're a genius!" I hollered, "You're the real hero of the SSS. I'll personally see to it that you get the best accommodations in the school. From now on, you'll be the new head of the design division. Yim can be your secretary. You'll get all the materials you want. Your weapons are worth their weight in gold."
My voice was drowned out by thunderous cheering. The guys were slapping Pak on the back. The larger crowd that gathered around Yim and Sandra was throwing the two in the air, much to the former's delight. Yim had a fascination with heights. It took minutes for the cheering to die down.
Pak didn't really seem to notice all the celebrations and smiles. He stood motionless over Angel's bloody corpse, as if deep in thought. Otonashi, the new guy, walked up to him.
"Thanks for saving me back there," Otonashi said with a kind smile, "That was a great shot." The newcomer then squatted down to examine Angel's corpse. "You broke three of her thoracic vertebrae and pierced a lung and her liver. Injuries like that aren't enough to cause instant death, but they're definitely fatal."
Much like Pak, Otonashi still retained much of his semantic memory. I figured that he was probably a medical student or a paramedic in his past life. Those skills were not essential to the SSS, but they were not useless either. Injuries still heal faster when they're treated.
"A pleasure," Pak replied in a strange, unusually deep voice, "But that's not all. She'll have to pay for her crimes against us." He slowly took out his MP 40 and aimed it down at Angel. His voice dropped another octave. "This is vengeance, Otonashi. This is justice."
"Don't overdo it, Pak" I shouted at him, "We need to let her respawn and question her!"
Pak acted as if he were caught in a trance. He turned away from me, switched off the safety, and fired an entire magazine into Angel's corpse. Her shields were no longer active, and the bullets ripped apart Angel's midriff. When the MP 40 ran out of ammunition, he took out his P38 and unloaded another clip into Angel's chest. Blood splattered across the ground. Some of the SSS members began to scream.
"That's enough, Pak!" I shouted, "Stop that this instant!"
Pak dropped the smoking pistol. I almost expected him to turn around and apologize. But instead, he descended on Angel's with an utility knife, slashing her carotid artery. Angel's heart was already stopped, so the blood only oozed out slowly. Pak stabbed her again and again, grunting in frustration. Then, in an act of insane depravity, he threw away the knife and bit down on the side of Angel's neck. He spit out the bloody flesh a moment later. It was only then that we could see his face.
Pak's face were covered in blood, and his usual smile had degenerated into a wicked grin. His eyepatch had slide off, revealing a dark red scar where his right eye should have been. His teeth were still embedded in Angel's neck, and he was trying to suck blood from Angel's wound. Tears were streaming down his face, but he was grinning nonetheless. I was greatly saddened to see him like this. His face kept on twitching, as if he were being shocked with electricity. Angel, in contrast, never looked so peaceful and innocent.
The GirlDeMo concert reached a climax, and meal tickets fell from the sky. As if it were a signal, Pak stopped laughing. He held his head low to the concrete. Then, with utter fear and shock, we watched as his tongue lapped at the blood like a horse at a water trough.
"Pak-kah…" Yim started forward, but Sandra grabbed her arm.
"It's not Pak," Sandra said, "Look at his eye." She pointed to Pak, whose other eye had turned completely blank. The eye was completely glazed over, as if his iris had expanded over his pupil.
"What happened? What the hell is wrong with him?" Oyama asked, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
Otonashi thought for a moment. "Renfield syndrome… It's probably a combination of hallucinations and Renfield syndrome. I'm sure of it."
Yim shook off Sandra's grip and strode forward, knelling by Pak and nudging him. "Pak… Pak, look at me. Are you oka-"
"Yim! Watch out!" Otonashi shouted.
Pak lunged forward, seizing Yim by the arm with his teeth and locking on to her like a hound. Yim recoiled for a moment but then held her hand up. "Let him be."
"But Yim, that's a bit…" I stuttered.
Yim only flexed her writs, opening the wound in order to let him drink freely. "Drink to your heart's content, Pak," Yim said with a smile, "We owe you one after all-kah."
Pak drank greedily, but within moments, he recoiled form her arm, coughing and choking. Pak shook out of his trance, his eye changing back to their original gold color. He gagged and spat out a mouth full of blood on the floor before doubling over and hyperventilating.
Yim ran her hand up his bloody cheek. "Are you okay, Otouto-chan, um… Pak?"
Pak looked up at her through his teary eyes. "Nuna… Сестричка… Yim?"
He grabbed her wrist and stared, his eye widening. He traced his fingers along his bloody lips, finally letting go of Angel's body.
"You didn't hurt me," Yim assured Pak, "I'm already healing, see? Everything is alright-kah."
It was only then that Pak noticed Angel's body. He shrieked in horror, jumping away from the pool of blood. "WHAT HAPPENED?" Pak cried out, "DID I DO THAT?" His voice was shrill now, but it was back to its normal register. He stumbled backwards, his face full of shock and disbelief.
"Come with me," Yim said calmly, "You're just stressed, that's all-kah. You just need some tea and a long bath." Yim was still clearly in a lot of pain, but she hid it well. She extended her other hand towards Pak and pulled him up. She led him away from the auditorium.
"I hope Yim recovers soon," Oyama commented, "She really put herself on the line."
"I knew that there was something fishy about him," Fujimaki said, "I never thought that he'd do something like this though."
"What do you think that was about, Yurippe?" Hinata asked.
"What do you think happened to him, Otonashi?" I asked the new guy, who seemed to be lost in thought.
Otonashi nodded. "I have theories about why this happened, but I can't be sure. Pak's past might also have something to do with it… We have a lot of work ahead of us, unfortunately."
Hinata shrugged slightly. Some of the meal tickets he stuffed under his arms were blown away by the wind. "Beats me. At least we managed to kill Angel and protect the concert."
"It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world," TK added.
"Give the guy a break," Sandra joined in, "The guy managed to kill Angel, didn't he? So what if he wasted some ammunition? Angel got what she deserved." She kicked Angel's corpse, as if trying to make a point.
"I'd be willing to call this a victory," Takamatsu suggested, "We did what we came out here to do. Yim got hurt slightly, but things could have been a lot worse."
"I won't have mercy on her either," Noda added, brandishing his halberd, "You said you wanted her legs cut off, Yurippe-san?"
"Yes. And take the rest of her body to the Guild prison," I replied, "Make sure to tie her up tight. We can't let her get away." The Guild prison was a deep pit that was designed for punishing misbehaving SSS members. It was never used, so we converted it into a holding cell for Angel instead. It was designed in a way such that Angel would not be able to use her Hand Sonic blades to cut herself free. It was one of the best-guarded secrets of the Guild.
"Will do, Yurippe-san," Noda answered. He started to swing the halberd and hack away at Angel's legs. I looked away. I had seen enough of violence for one day.
"Very well then," I nodded, "We'll call tonight's operation a success. Guild members, you are now dismissed for the day. Assault team members, meet me tonight in an hour in the principal's office. Don't tell Pak about this. Operation concluded!"
That night, the SSS held an emergency meeting in the principal's office. The room was packed full of people. Even Yim showed up with a bandage on her wrist. Noda was absent, having taken Angel's corpse down into the Guild prison and secured her to the tethers, and Sandra had put Pak to sleep with one of her lullabies. He had been babbling madly and convulsing uncontrollably, and he still talked in his sleep. Most of his babbles were in German and Russian, but Sandra recognized some phrases about his sisters, the Holocaust, and socialism. They also told me about the strange Korean broadcast during the camping trip and how much it upset Pak. Pak was starting to recover his memories, and he was becoming mentally unstable. That worried me more than Angel.
The translated NKVD records did state that Pak worked on chemical weapons used in the Holocaust, but it never talked about his siblings, his health, or his role in the Holocaust. To find out, we had to manually translate all of his German documents. We didn't bother with them earlier, but we weren't lazy anymore. Members worked furiously in the computer lab, using the translation software to translate his German and Russian records into Japanese. Runners brought the files to the principal's office in heavy binders. The efficiency of the work was admirable, but the translations were a jumble. Google Translate had its limits.
Otonashi was now the center of attention. He was sorting through the classified dossier on Pak, making rough sketches and notes, which he arranged like a puzzle. We waited silently for him to finish.
Pak closed the dossier. "Your translation software needs updates," he said with a sigh, "I can only speculate, but I have a good idea of what went wrong."
I bit my lip. Normally, such classified files were off-limits for newcomers, but things had really slipped out of control in the last few hours. "Let's hear it, Otonashi."
"This paper," Otonashi held up a document, "This is a memo was written by Emil Fischer. The Emil Fischer. The creator of Luminal, the epilepsy drug. This was written to the board of IG Farben, asking for Pak to be transferred."
"Bastards," Sandra cursed. "Those Nazi bastards killed everyone in the ghetto. They gassed my parents. My siblings. Myself. All my friends. Pak… Why did you do something so terrible?" Her tone was an odd mixture of resentment and sadness. She spoke as if she expected Pak to intrude and defend himself.
"Well," Otonashi interrupted, "To his credit, he was probably trying to help people like you. Take a look." Otonashi handed Sandra the first page of the letter.
" This memo is asking Pak to be transferred. It complains about Pak being uncooperative and violent towards his coworkers. It also accuses him of sabotaging the work of rival chemists and getting into violent altercations. Fischer places the blame for the delays in the sarin gas nerve agent squarely on Pak."
I took the page from Sandra and glanced over it. "Pak could indeed by acting out of envy or arrogance," I noted, "But that's unlikely. Pak is usually pretty agreeable. It's more likely that he was just disguising his sabotage as personal grievances. He was a NKVD agent, after all."
Pak highlighted a passage on the second page of the Fischer letter. "It says here that Pak was injured by one of his own nerve agents," Otonashi said, tapping his paper, "He was working on a new nerve agent project combining substituted cathinones, tabun, and chlorobenzene when the chlorobenzene vapors ignited. Pak got some minor burns on his hands and arms, but the real problem was the substituted cathinone and tabun that spilled onto his hands."
"Please explain in Japanese, Professor Otonashi-san," Fujimaki interrupted sarcastically. "I don't know a single one of the chemicals you mentioned."
I promptly grabbed one of the binders and threw it at Fujimaki. The impact was enough to give him a nosebleed. "Not all of us are morons like you, Fujimaki. Now let him finish."
"Substituted cathionones. They're a group of compounds containing stimulants such as alpha-PVP. You might be more familiar with it as flakka or gravel. They're known for causing aggression and hallucinations. Pak might have synthesized a version with an extended half-life. It could have been activated by stress, excitement, or a combination of both. Tabun is a nerve agent that causes paranoia, restlessness, and convulsions. Remember how Pak was shaking so badly? I bet that he that tabun had become active again."
"Bad trip… Bad trip…" TK added.
Yim was dejected upon hearing the news. Her signature smile turned into a frown. "Will the old Pak come back, Otonashi-san?" She asked with watery eyes, "Please tell me that he'll be alright-kah."
"Oh, he'll be alright," Otonashi assured Yim with a pat on the head, "He'll probably be back to normal tomorrow morning. He probably won't even remember what happened." Yim, somewhat relieved, sat back down. Out of all of us, Yim seemed to be the most worried about Pak's well-being. She treated Pak as if he were her brother and even called him that on a few occasions. She did have a brother in her past life, but he died in 2006. She never told us how he died, and she avoided the topic whenever possible. But from how protective she was of Pak, I suspected that her brother died in the same way my brother did. Murdered down by heartless vermin.
"What was the Renfield syndrome you were talking about?" Hinata asked, "And why was he drinking blood?"
"Renfield syndrome. It's not formally recognized by most medical associations, but it's a syndrome in which people derive satisfaction from drinking blood. It could be just a part of Pak's hallucinations, but it could also reflect some degree of sadism or psychopathy."
There was an uncomfortable pause in the room. I couldn't help but feel some pity for Pak. He did everything he could to stop the Nazi war machine, but he never got any appreciation during his life. His youth was terrible, and his jobs were egregiously dangerous. I wasn't too surprised to hear that he might have developed some psychological issues. Still, the prospect of Pak recovering his memories was a more pressing concern.
"What does this mean for Pak's memories?" I asked, "Do you think that this incident had something to do with his memories?"
"It might have," Otonashi acknowledged, "Angel's death might have served as some sort of a trigger for some of his memories. Also, he might be getting a boost from context-dependent memory. People are more likely to remember depressing events when they're sad and frustrating events when they feel frustrated. Pak's violent outburst could cause him to remember some of the more traumatic events in his life."
That was bad news. If there was one word that described Pak's life, it would be "traumatic". The different sources on Pak's life were neither complete nor unanimous, but they all painted a very dim picture. Pak's father died not long after Pak's birth. The government relocated his family to Chongjin, where they lived in dire poverty. He was forced to witness and partake in some of the cruelest acts of inhumanity, including the Holocaust, Stalin's purges, and the Japanese occupation. His life seemed to have consisted of nothing but death, poverty, and oppression. Even by SSS standards, he lived a miserable life.
"Is there anything we can to do prevent Pak from getting his memories back?" I asked, slightly irritated by the revelations.
Otonashi shook his head. "That's going to be tough. Patients without severe brain damage usually do recover their memories after a while. I'll fully recover my memories too. It's just a matter of time."
"We have to at least stop him from acting violently," I insisted, "I can't have him randomly biting other SSS members."
This time, Otonashi nodded. "That's certainly possible. Benzodiazepines have been shown to be very effective in treating cases like this."
"And where can we get these… benzo… drugs?" I asked, "There are no hospitals or pharmacies on this island. People aren't supposed to get sick."
"That's going to be a problem," Otonashi acknowledged, "I can't just synthesize them in the chemistry lab. Pak can't do it either, since he died before these drugs were created…"
Fujimaki was the first to propose a solution. "We can't keep Pak around us anymore" he proclaimed, "Just bury him or send him off this island on a boat. He's too dangerous for us."
"That's nonsense," Yim retorted, "Pak is just sick. He'll recover soon-kah. He just saved the entire assault team yesterday, and this is how you repay him?"
Takamatsu jumped in to break up the argument. Then, he pushed up his glasses and grinned. He had a plan.
"A boat isn't a bad idea," Takatsu stated, "In fact, I think that a boat is essential our next operation."
"Do tell."
Takamatsu responded with a question. "Yim, Sandra, what exactly did you hear in that radio broadcast?"
"The broadcast was in Korean," Sandra started, "So I couldn't understand anything. But there was plenty of screaming and gunfire in the background…"
"I think I heard something about a broadcasting center. It sounded like English. I think that the message was talking about the broadcasting center in some city… Was it Busan? Or something else. I can't remember the exact name-kah, but the city's name ended in –san."
"Yes!" Takamatsu exclaimed, "I know where we can find the drug."
"Where?" I asked, still a bit lost.
Takamatsu lifted his arm and pointed north, somehow taking off his shirt in the process. "Busan."
Jargon Dictionary
Flakvisier 40 reflector sights:
Flakviser 40 reflector sights were a series of gunsights used by the German military on anti-aircraft guns. It was one of the more sophisticated sights used at the time, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of German autocannons.
Warsaw Ghetto:
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe. Created after the German invasion in 1940, the ghetto held more over 400,000 Jews from around Poland. At least 254,000 residents were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp by the SS, and many others were killed by disease. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising resulted in another 13,000 killed. It is estimated that at least 300,000 inhabitants were killed. Sandra and her family were some of the unfortunate victims.
Emil Fischer (1877 – 1947):
Franz Joseph Emil Fischer was a German chemist famous for his contributions to organic chemistry. He and Hans Tropsch discovered the Fischer-Tropsch process for producing hydrocarbons. This discovery literally fueled the German war effort, as it enabled Germany to convert its vast coal reserves to aviation and automobile petroleum. Fischer is also credited with discovering barbital, which is sold under the name Luminal. It was a commonly prescribed sedative until the introduction of benzodiazepines in the 1960s.
Chemical compounds:
Sarin is an infamous nerve agent prized for its toxicity and odorless character. It can be fatal even at very low concentrations, with death typically occurring within 10 minutes. Survivors may suffer permanent neurological damage. While the agent was discovered in 1938, the Germans lacked the capacity to produce it in large quantities. Small quantities were indeed produced, but they were never used.
Substituted cathinones are a group of compounds featuring a phenethylamine core with an alkyl group attached to the alpha carbon and a ketone group attached to the beta carbon. These compounds naturally occur in the khat plant, and modified versions are often used as recreational drugs. Some substituted cathinones, like alpha-PVP, are psychoactive drugs that cause hallucinations, aggression, and mental instability. Although Pak could have indeed synthesized a derivative that can be activated by stress, such effects are not observed with the existing drugs in real life.
Tabun was another nerve agent developed by Germany. First discovered in 1936, the compound was first used as an insecticide before scientists noted its potential as a nerve agent. Large quantities were produced by the Germans, but it was not used. Symptoms of exposure include nervousness, pupil contraction, and convulsions. Exposure by skin contact is not as toxic as inhalation, but it may cause the same symptoms. Tabun can build up in the body and stay active for long periods of time. Although tabun is not as toxic as sarin, it's significantly easier to produce. The compound's simplicity attracted the attention of Saddam Hussein, who used it against Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War.
Chlorobenzene is often mixed with tabun as a dispersing agent. The liquid is highly flammable and can explode if handled improperly.
Benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive drugs consisting of a benzene ring fused to a diazepine ring. These drugs were discovered in 1955, but it was not marketed until 1963. The drug enhances the effect of the GABA neurotransmitter, resulting in sedative and anticonvulsant properties. They have proved very effective in treating anxiety, agitation, and the symptoms of certain substituted cathinones.
Context-dependent memory:
In psychology, context-dependent memory refers to improved recall of specific episodes or information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same. People are more likely to recall happy events when happy and remember sad events when sad. However, this effect extends past emotions. Divers who learn words underwater are more likely to remember the words underwater.
Closing Scripts
Sandra: Go softer on the chemistry, Dima. Not everyone here is a chemist, you know.
Dima: Sorry. I just thought that they added some good detail to the story. They take a lot of time to write too. My chemistry professor was just talking about how he often gets calls from authors inquiring about poisons.
Pak: I don't understand all this biochemistry either. I'm just too old for this stuff…
Yuri: I don't understand it either. But thanks for the additional screen time.
Sandra: My hands still hurt from all that typing. Translating is hard work.
Yim: My wrist still bleeds…
Pak: Sorry… Don't know what came over me. Was it bloodlust? I don't know. Blame Dima.
Dima: Sorry, Yim. But here's something that will make you a little happier.
(A figure suddenly descends from the sky. The figure turns out to be a teenage girl wearing a strange contraption on her legs. The mechanical contraption seems to have propellers that allow the girl to fly. She has a pair of cat ears on her head and a tail growing out her back. She slowly flies to an awestruck Yim and extends a Wai greeting.)
Waan: Hello-kah. I'm Flying Officer Wattana Sujarittum. Nice to meet you.
Yim: Nice to meet you too.
Pak: That's a really cool flying machine. How do I make one?
Sandra: And why aren't you wearing pants?
Dima: Hold off on the questions for now. Please introduce yourself, Waan.
Waan: Hello, readers. I'm Wattana Sujarittum, but you can just call me Waan. I'm a magical witch pilot. I'm the main character in PPSyrius's new story-Strike Witches: Southeast Asia Theater. Be sure to check it out.
Dima (envious): That story has only been out for like two weeks. It already has more reviews and favorites than this story. What gives?
Yim: Awesome! That makes us sisters then. Oh, I have so many fun things planned for us. We can fly together, go shopping, and do each other's hair. This is going to be so much fun.
Dima: So, that's it, guys. Sorry for the late update. I've been feeling a little depressed recently due to the events in Paris and the Middle East. I didn't feel comfortable writing about bloodshed for a really long time, but I didn't want to let you guys down. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Please leave a review and/or add it to your favorites. I won't bite, unlike Pak.
Pak: I heard that… (Takes out P38)…