I LIIIIIVE
Anyway, standard disclaimer. This is for fun, I do not claim to own anything or give completely accurate information.
Enjoy the chapter
First impressions aside, it seemed Saria was nothing like Kal'tsit. When rubbing cream on his burns, he could feel how gentle she was trying to be. Nothing quite like how when Kal'tsit drew his blood. Where Kal'tsit was quick and efficient, it seemed Saria was careful and methodical. Yes, the touch felt incredibly gentle when compared to how she effortlessly wrenched him from Skyfire's grip or picked up his books. It was also clear when she attempted to stir up a normal conversation with him. While she didn't always have something to add, he could tell she listened quietly as she focused on her work.
Once she had finished, Saria placed the burn cream back in the cabinet and pulled out a different one, a tube this time. She then handed it to him and said, "If you need to relieve the pain again, use this. It isn't as effective, but if you need relief fast this ointment is best."
"Thank you," Evan responded with a smile while taking the cream. Saria gave one of the smallest smiles he had seen in response before closing the cabinet and walking to the door of the storage room. Before Saria could open it though, the door slid up to reveal another woman. This woman had short brown hair, comically large circular glasses, and the similar headfeathers as Ptilopsis. Her eyes, which were half closed, widened upon seeing Saria. They soon narrowed sharply though.
"Hello, Doctor Silence."
"What are you doing here? It's not your shift in the Medical Department today." Silence asked with a low voice and a suspicious glint in her eyes. She looked at Evan and turned her attention back to Saria. "Who's he?"
"I'm Evan Carvey."
Silence's eyes widened again and her head snapped to Saria with a far fouler expression gracing her face.
"Saria, what in the world are you doing here with him?" her voice nearly shouted while somehow still remaining relatively quiet.
"He sustained some burns, so I came to treat them," Saria stated matter-of-factly while directly looking Silence in the eye.
"You expect me to believe that? Get out, right now. I don't want to see you in the Medical Department again today," Silence ordered in a low voice. Saria knew she didn't have the authority, but obeyed anyway. It was better to just leave without a word.
Once Saria left, Silence approached Evan and asked in a much calmer, gentler voice which seemed to flow smoothly, "Are you unharmed?"
Evan was obviously confused. That clearly showed when he spoke back.
"She really did just treat some burns. Look, she even gave me some cream for myself."
Evan raised the cream up and showed it to Silence who very closely examined it. Once she was satisfied, she returned it to him. "I see," she affirmed. "Nevertheless, please don't let her treat you without notifying someone. I wouldn't trust her."
"Why not?" Evan asked with his brow raised and a small frown present. "She was very kind, and she treated me very well. Is there a reason?"
The owl lady gave a sigh before saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't disclose the reasons. All I can say is that I have my own personal reasons for distrusting Saria, that's all. Now come, I'll see you out."
Before leaving the room, Silence glanced back at Evan. So this was the anomaly that had drawn the attention of the top two doctors on Rhodes Island? She knew about him. That's because she was the one who initially tried to test the urine sample the LGD sent. She had to call Kal'tsit because it was that unique. After that, the lynx took the case on herself, and that didn't bode well for any of the medical department's chances of research. After all, Skadi's case was famous for more reasons than her blood results.
There was also the matter of last night. Warfarin had been called in because the machine couldn't identify any originium in his blood. Half the department knew by now, and it was causing quite a stir. Silence had asked Ptilopsis to look into the database and figure out who the samples belonged to. Now that she thought about it, there was no way Saria could know Evan Carvey was the one who had such unique results. She had to wonder though, what in the world was he? His results had been thoroughly discussed with many other medical operators. If he really did have no detectable originium in his blood, could it be used to treat Oripathy? The image of a certain young girl popped into Silence's head and she slowed her pace with her gaze tilted to the floor.
The footsteps passed her and Silence looked up to see Evan walking to the other side of the waiting room. She hadn't even noticed. She wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. What was she going to ask? Kal'tsit was very strict with her patients. If Silence so much as took a sample of anything, she could be fined very heavily. Warfarin was fined an entire month's salary for attempting to retrieve samples from Skadi. It just wasn't worth the risk.
The door closed and Silence turned around to walk back in the storage room to get what she needed. When she did though, she noticed a hardcover book sitting on the counter. She couldn't read the title, and upon picking it up, she flipped through it.
Skyfire was still there when Evan returned to the library. She was sitting at the table, looking down at it with a rather anxious looking face. Her lips curled in weird ways and she was staring very intently at a table that otherwise had nothing on it. The moment she noticed Evan, she donned a serious expression and placed her hand over the top of her chest.
"I apologize, I didn't mean to hurt you," she said with a bow. She opened one eye to look at him. Evan seemed to have a concerned look with his brows furrowing upwards and a small quiver on his right lip. Then, he put his things on the table.
"It's fine. As Saria said, it wasn't anything serious. Just, don't touch me or my books when you're excited."
Skyfire gave a small cough out of habit and replied, "Understandable. Though, I would never dream of damaging such valuable texts. Also, I finished the transcription. If you want, you can study it on your own time."
A slip of paper with the two alphabets lined up side by side was shown. Evan took it and took a moment to look at it before looking at Skyfire. He then gave a smile and a nod before thanking her. Her tail swished and she stuck her nose up with a smug grin.
"Oh, Skyfire," Evan started. She looked at him, letting her silence tell him to continue. "Since you're an expert on originium, could you tell me more about it? As I said, there's none of it where I come from."
This time, the haughty cat took a moment to think. She took some glances at Evan before she nodded to herself. She then looked at him and replied, "Certainly, but only if you'll continue to let me read your literature and help me understand it in turn. Be grateful, not many get a chance to learn from me."
That last line had returned her to a lady pointing her nose up.
"What a snob," Evan thought to himself while looking with lips curled in disgust and eyebrows furrowed in judgement. He had to admit though, she could be a useful acquaintance and mentor if she was as good as she said she was. He had no idea what King's Wand was, but Angelina had mentioned she was really good on the subject of arts. He might as well try to understand the world he was in after all.
"First, practice your literacy, then we may meet tomorrow. Do you have a preferred time?"
"Perhaps in the evenings? After dinner? I have no idea what my shifts with Closure are like yet."
"Miss Closure?" Skyfire asked with her pupils dilating some as her eyelids split apart slightly more than usual. The fire kitty then regained her composure and remarked, "Well it makes sense if your claims are true. I'm sure the technologies of another world would be very interesting to Miss Closure. Very well, we may meet tomorrow evening and discuss how to partition our time even further. Until next time."
Skyfire departed with a half-hearted wave after the last sentence, leaving Evan alone with his guide to reading and writing in this new world. Since Closure gave him essentially the rest of the day to work this out, he just sat there, studying for the rest of the afternoon. The time was well spent, and when evening rolled around he just went back to his room. He did learn something from the books though, and it just made him more convinced he was far from the only isekai victim. Greek letters and words appeared in some text, which could mean the mathematics side of the science he knows should be easy to translate.
What was really odd though was how Terra had the ability to recognize different chemical elements, but it lacked the modern atomic theory to back it up. No universal periodic table seemed to exist, and there was also a lack of understanding on some of the technologies used. That in of itself wasn't too surprising. It isn't necessary to know every fundamental property of a material to understand how it works. Wires and electricity can still be used without having to understand the electron cloud or what electrons even are.
Before Evan entered his room, he looked down the hall. He hadn't seen Grani all day. While not worried, the intern did wonder where she was. That train of thought ended when he walked into his room. Beyond placing the books on the desk in the wall, he didn't really do anything else. He stared at the table, thinking for a bit. The last couple of days, he had learned enough to start getting some thoughts going. There were also some ideas brewing in his head, but there were still too many gaps in his knowledge.
Oripathy, originium, and catastrophes seemed like they fed a nasty cycle. Those who had talked to him about so have either stated or implied that this mysterious McGuffin mineral is dangerous. On the other hand, it was the only power source this world knew. Then there was the weirder stuff. Over the course of reading texts and experiencing Terra he found that certain things from his world may have leaked over. He would have to ask Closure about some of the other technologies because he couldn't find anything explaining things smaller than chemistry, yet this world used LED lights and Lasers. Both those technologies in his world relied on Quantum Mechanics, particularly Atomic Theory. There also seemed to be no explanation for such technologies on Terra.
After a certain point, his thoughts became more erratic and nonsensical. Evan just stared at the wall and let his imagination run wild, but eventually a sound broke his train of thought. A knock on his door. Quickly checking his watch, he noticed it was the evening and went to answer the door. Upon opening it, he was greeted by a rather cute and beautiful face with pink hair and two long floppy bunny ears. A stethoscope was wrapped around their neck and an ID along with a Medical Department seal was on their jacket.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, my name's Ansel. I'm Doctor Kal'tsit's intern. She asked me to come bring you to the medical department for a General Exam.
"Thank you," Evan responded automatically. He then walked out of his room and the door automatically closed. He and Ansel proceeded with an uneventful walk to the Medical Department. Once there, Ansel led him straight to a regular looking room with medical equipment of various kinds. Ansel asked Evan to sit on the bed, and began a rather boring procedure where blood pressure, lungs, heart, ears, and reflexes were all checked.
During the reflex check, a conversation popped up.
"So, how long have you been an intern?" Evan asked Ansel as the mallet hit his kneecap and it reflexively flinched.
"A few months now," Ansel replied. "So far I enjoy working here, so I'm considering staying once my contract is over. Stand up please."
Evan complied and Ansel began shuffling through the drawers. For some reason, Ansel's face was hard to piece together, it seemed almost androgynous. A sense of foreboding filled Evan. Ansel's hair was short, but the ears gave an illusion of long hair. There was also a lack of other physical features, and when he looked really closely at Ansel, he felt more and more doubt begin to creep in.
"Turn around please," Ansel requested.
"Hey, can I ask something?" Evan asked while he heard Ansel shut the drawer. Ansel hummed in affirmation. "Are you a boy or a girl?"
"Boy," Ansel deadpanned as a rubber snap was heard. "Now pull your pants down and bend over please."
"Oh fuck," were the last words in Evan's mind before he got his prostate thoroughly fondled by a trap.
When Kal'tsit walked into the room, she saw Evan wearing a hollowed look of despair as he sat in a chair. In the trash was a long rubber glove, and she could immediately piece together why. She gave a small deep breath and called, "Evan."
The eyes of a broken man turned to face her, and she just sat down.
"Congratulations, your Physical is perfectly normal. I thought Ansel would be a better choice since he's a boy, but it seems your expression says otherwise."
"I feel violated…" Evan replied with a raspy voice.
Kal'tsit took one more deep breath then looked him straight in the eye. "Very well. Regardless of how you feel, we need to talk. Your blood tests have me fully convinced of what Ch'en said in her report of you. In fact, it can almost only be made sense of that way."
With a complete transformation in posture, the intern donned his regular neutral expression and sat up straight.
"Our machines couldn't detect any originium crystals in your blood. We had to bring in Warfarin, Terra's greatest expert on blood, to examine yours. Not even she could find anything. As it stands, you're more impossible than I previously anticipated. Of course, such low levels means you will never be able to use arts. To that extent, I'll say you were lucky the LGD sent us the sample."
Evan was taken aback by those words for a moment. He had no idea what she really meant by that, and it made him think. Why would Rhodes Island be the best place to end up in this world? Granted, he hadn't seen much of it, but he really wondered what the rest of Terra was like in terms of society and civilization. Before he could speak, however, Kal'tsit continued.
"If it had been Rhine Lab, you would not have the degree of freedom you have now. They're the world superpower in scientific research, and as of late they're the ones with the worst reputation."
That sounded really ominous, and it sent shivers down Evan's back when he heard that.
"You've already met three of the four operators who were formerly associated with Rhine Lab. Ptilopsis, Silence, and Saria. Silence and Ptilopsis are here for the same reason, but Saria's relatively new. All three are excellent minds, and they've more than proven themselves in the short time they've been on Rhodes Island."
Now that Kal'tsit had explained this much, it made the isekai victim all the more curious. Suddenly, something started to click. Silence's disdain for Saria could have something to do with why she and Ptilopsis left Rhine Lab. It was an easy connection to make, but it brought him to ask a question.
"Why did they leave Rhine Lab?"
Kal'tsit paused, looking at Evan for a good while before closing her eyes briefly and adjusting her position.
"As of now, only Rhine Labs knows the full story. Silence, Saria, and Ptilopsis are directly related to a very infamous incident that happened six months ago, the Di⍺bolic Crisis. On that day, Rhine Lab's Oripathy Research Facility nearly burned to the ground. Several people died, and even more contracted oripathy. After the incident, several cases of infected, claiming to be Rhine Lab test subjects wandered Columbia giving horrifying stories of their time in the Oripathy Research Facility. The entire incident was hushed down by Columbia, blaming radical groups of infected and Rhine Lab has yet to state the truth. Silence and Ptilopsis contracted oripathy thanks to the incident, and they came to Rhodes Island. Currently, they're under a non-disclosure agreement enforced by Rhine Lab."
"And Saria?" Evan asked curiously.
"She was Rhine Lab's Head of Defense. She personally subdued the incident within the facility. All we know from her is that she cited personal reasons for leaving Rhine Lab on her resume. Those were the exact same reasons the other three Rhine Lab operators before her cited, but Saria is the only operator who truly knows the full details of that day. As of now, this is all I can say to you without leaking classified information. You should be able to find records in the form of news articles and public reports, but they all generally say the same things I just mentioned."
Nothing was said between the two for several moments. Kal'tsit just casually watched his expressions shift as he tried to make sense of it. She could see his lips curl in disgust, his eyes widen with disbelief, and his brows scrunch in confusion. Before he became lost, she decided it was time to turn back to their original topic.
"Back to our previous discussion. You're an anomaly to all known life on Terra, and to that end I must advise you to be cautious. By no means should you ever reveal this information to anyone other than medical staff trusted by me, and this medical information does not leave Rhodes Island. I'll also be ordering regular draws of blood for reasons that should be obvious. Speaking of the blood, it may only be retrieved by me or individuals I trust. If anyone asks you outside an appointment, deny them and report it to me. If Warfarin tries to obtain anything from you or do anything questionable around you, the proper course of action will be to immediately report it to anyone in the Medical Department and have you admitted to a guarded room. That will be all for today. I'll send you a schedule for your blood draws later. Until next time."
With those last words, Kal'tsit stood up and opened the door for him. Both walked out and Evan walked back down to his dorm. It was still a little early for bed, so he decided to see if Grani was in her room. After a few knocks, he came to the conclusion she wasn't home. With a shrug, he entered his room and prepared for bed.
Over the course of a few days, and at the start of a new week. A rhythm of sorts had been established. At eight in the morning, Evan would show up to Closure's office and tidy it up with Weedy. After a short time, Weedy would leave for Bio-Engineering and he would spend the rest of the day around Closure. Before lunch break, the two tinkered with various things. Sometimes Evan watched on the sidelines as Closure rambled on about engineering on Terra, and other times they collaborated to test theories of technology of his world. So far, they had managed to get a lightbulb going with a hand crank. Occasionally, an emergency would pop up and Closure had to go solve the issue. It was an exceptionally rare occurrence though, but it still left him alone in the disorganized workshop with little to do.
After lunch break, Closure truly treated him like an intern. He would run errands, grab snacks or coffee, and he was given simple paperwork to do as of recently. According to his vampire boss, it was to show him the bureaucratic side of engineering as well as because she just didn't feel like doing it. It was very simple stuff too. Orders for parts, statistics of minor systems, complaints and concerns, or it could be something weird to do with the Procurement Department or Closure's shop.
The evenings were then spent in relative peace as Skyfire taught him basic Originium stuff. In reality, they met only on specific days, but it was rather refreshing when compared to studying alone. Both of them proved eager to learn from the other, and it wasn't long before Skyfire began referring to him by name regularly. True, that didn't seem like much of an achievement, but it was clear that a mutual respect had blossomed between them.
Studying alone, however, always brought some clarity. Tackling a problem on his own was what Evan was used to. He never joined study groups or had set study partners, so a peacefully quiet library was often an enriching environment. That changed, however, when one of his books slid off. He turned his head to see a young girl with horns looking at the book rather confused.
"What is this? It's weird," she casually remarked as she flipped through it. Evan looked back to see a group of children at a table, and guessed she had come from there. A peculiar sight too as one had nine tails, another was sewing a macabre looking doll that seemed to flinch in her hands, and there was also one with a cap and eye patch. He returned his gaze to the girl who had grabbed his book and noticed her unusual curved horns which were very polygonal and shone like crystal with her tail seemingly the same. Oripathy crystals were all over her arms and legs, and her gaze seemed harsh. Their eyes met and the girl's eyes narrowed at him.
"What?" she asked with a rather nasty tone as if she would spit. She then looked at the book and her brows folded as her grin grew wide. "Is this book valuable?"
"Priceless, actually. The only one of its kind in the world," Evan calmly replied. He then held out his hand and tried to take the book. The girl backed away and held the massive text book above her head. What she did next shocked him. Her other palm faced upwards and a flame spouted out from it.
"If you don't want me to burn it, do something for me," the little demon demanded with a nasty sneer for a smile. She then casually waved her flaming hand around and tempted fate by drawing it closer to the book. She watched his reaction then hummed before speaking to herself. "What shall I have you do? Oh, I know! Call me Lord Ifrit and I'll consider giving your book back."
For the first time since entering this world, Evan felt real and true anger boil in his blood. With grit teeth and a low voice he growled to the child, "You wouldn't dare."
For several moments, the two stared at each other intensely. Ifrit held the flame and book with a sadistic grin growing wider and more menacing as Evan stared at the child with furrowed brows and a tight jaw. This went on until a voice called out, "Ifrit! What are you doing?"
Ifrit's eyes widened and her flame vanished in the blink of an eye. Even the victim looked up with a change in expression, but that expression was one of calm followed by a sigh of relief. In a moment he ripped the heavy text out of Ifrit's hand, nearly pulling a muscle as he yanked it and it thunked onto the table. The child didn't even acknowledge it and just looked down at the ground with an expression he knew very well, the face of a guilty child trying to avoid their parent's gaze.
"Ifrit, aren't you supposed to be doing your homework?"
"Yes, Silence…" Ifrit groaned at the feet of the doctor.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
A small and pitiful groan escaped Ifrit as she turned her head and looked at Silence in her wide owl eyes.
"What were you doing to Mr. Carvey?" Silence asked. Ifrit's gaze immediately turned away from Silence and towards the walls lined with books. Silence called Ifrit's name slowly and leaned in closer.
"She was threatening to burn my book," Evan casually answered while tapping the aforementioned book. Silence stared at him with eyes the size of grapefruit, and Ifrit's slits narrowed as she shot daggers at him with her gaze.
"Ifrit, I can't believe this. Why did you do that?"
"I-. He-. But-" Ifrit stuttered, clearly looking for a response that didn't exist.
"Apologize," Silence ordered.
Ifrit's head turned and she gave a mellow glare to Evan as she mumbled 'sorry' under her breath. She was nudged by Silence's feather arm and regained balance before looking up at Evan then back down.
"I'm sorry...for threatening to burn your book," she disparagingly apologized with some sincerity behind the words. Looking at Ifrit, he felt something bubble up. An impulsive child with an attitude sent some memories to the surface of his thoughts. As the two turned around to go back to the study table, his emotions compelled him.
"What were you studying?" Evan asked the child. Both Silence and Ifrit looked back curiously. Ifrit's expression reminded him of a puppy dog with how she looked, and he tapped the spot next to him. "Do you want to study with me?"
It wasn't hard to see that both were shocked. Silence's eyes had swollen past the size of grapefruit, and Ifrit's eyebrows couldn't decide what they would do once they were high up. The two looked at each other and Silence nodded. Soon, there was company on the table in the form of a young girl doing simple math equations next to Evan who was reading about basic level Originium Control.
Silence watched from a distance. Evan peaked over from his own work to look at Ifrit's and casually pointed out mistakes then went back to his own. At a point, Ifrit started asking him when she got stuck on trying to correct or when she just needed help. Silence felt her lips curl as a warm feeling set in her chest watching Ifrit. Sure, some minor bickering existed, but Evan somehow managed to get the rowdy Ifrit in line without ordering her or anything. Ifrit even finished sooner than usual, and that's when Silence walked up to Evan.
"That was quite remarkable, I must thank you for getting Ifrit to do her homework. Still, I'm very sorry she threatened to burn your books, I imagine they're quite valuable," Silence thanked and apologized as she reached into her lab coat.
"It's fine, I-" Evan was cut off when Silence produced a paperback book about the human brain. The book was quietly handed over, and Evan was speechless for a while as he looked at it.
"You left it in the medical supplies room the other day, when Saria addressed your burn wounds. I must say, Ptilopsis and I are quite impressed with it. Once she managed to decipher it, it was quite insightful. There aren't many experts on the brain in Terra, and fewer still in number are psychologists. Ptilopsis told me this book's author simply doesn't exist on Terra. The place you come from must be incredibly impressive to determine the evolutionary function of individual parts of the brain. Do you by chance have books about evolution?"
That in of itself was very interesting to Evan. Evolution and psychology were also behind? From what he saw, robotics were leagues ahead. Then again, the robots also functioned on Originium Circuits, so it made sense that with a system like that they could do more than traditional electric circuits. Geology, psychology, and evolution were all behind in this world compared to his?
"Mr. Carvey, are you alright?" Silence asked with a small upturn of her eyebrows while her eyes somehow stayed half closed.
"Oh, I'm fine. Also, yes, I likely have some texts with evolution on them. I don't think they'll be very useful though."
"Oh? Why is that?" Silence asked while adjusting her glasses.
"Because there's nothing about originium? Also, many of the species described as well as geological times won't match up I believe."
"Fascinating...I would still like to read them if possible. I could ask Ptilopsis to transcribe the texts to standard writing if you want."
"Sure," Evan responded as he looked at his watch. Then he gathered his things and stood up. "Though I have to go, I could bring a book to Ptilopsis when she's next in the Library."
Before Evan could start walking, Silence called back with some urgency in her voice, "Wait…" Evan turned around and she stood there, looking towards the floor before making eye contact. "Thank you again for helping Ifrit. She's quite challenging, but you handled her so easily. Could you spend more time with her in the future?"
Evan smiled kindly before nodding and saying, "I'm in the library often. You can find me while I'm here."
Hey, been a while. A lot of things happened after I started getting out of the shock of having complete freetime. Going from finals to nothing really messes with my head. I usually don't know what to do with myself.
Anyways, I've gotten back into this project. I'm really touched people want to see more of my work, and it helps when I enjoy it too. Sometimes we have too much to do, so thank you to those of you who expressed concern and patience.
Just to say something, Kal going over the Diabolic crisis of Rhine lab will not imply a violent clash between the two. I also have some fuel to work with past this mini story-arch thanks to the event. Funny enough I got Mountain in my first 10 pulls and my first Weedy. Now here's to hoping my luck holds out with Blaze...maybe.
Cheers, and thank you for reading.