CHAPTER 014(The Miracle List)
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CHAPTER START---
Sitting in the back of an armored SUV, Nezu's armored SUV, Horizon idly scrolls through various vacation spots around the world.
He is dressed in a simple black suit to contrast his white body glove, visor, and a single black duffel bag at his side, he nods along to the music playing, using his visor like a wireless headset to the phone Nezu gave him.
He feels the car come to a gentle stop and looks out the window. They'd already arrived at the airport, only a dozen meters away was Nezu's jet. A luxury 20m -65ft- white jet with a decal of Nezu at the side waving and smiling. Along with 'NEZU' written on the side is colorful letters.
Horizon rolls his eyes as he grabs his bag and gets out, "when I buy mine I'll make sure it doesn't look like a five-year-old decorated it..." he grumbles.
Walking to the jet he sees three people standing outside at the base of the short staircase.
A man, a woman, and a third person with a strange quirk, they almost appeared to be made of water, difficult to tell if they even had a gender. All wearing dress shirts and pants.
As Horizon walks up the first man extends his hand, which Horizon shakes, "I assume you're the captain," he nods to the man.
"That I am doctor," the man gestures to the liquid person standing beside him, "my co-pilot and our flight attendant, the weather is clear and we're all fueled. It should only be seven hours to Bern."
"Perfect, I'll be in your care," Horizon nods to the others. The woman reaches to carry his bag but he shakes his head, "I'll take care of it."
"Oh, understood doctor," she politely nods and gestures for him to walk up the stairs.
He doesn't hesitate, but is sure to announce as he walks to the top, " I'd rather you just call me 'Horizon,' doctor still feels a bit odd..."
Atleast that's what he said, but in truth, being called doctor annoyed him to no end.
In his eyes, 'anyone can become a doctor, but the only me...is me.'
A few minutes later and Horizon is sitting stiffly in the comfy leather seat of the jet, a small table in front of him with a seat on the other side occupied by his bag.
Looking out the window as the pilots position the jet for takeoff he anxiously taps his fingers on the table.
As he sinks into his seat when they begin accelerating his tapping continues, quickly feeling his sense of absolute control being ripped away.
He looks out the window to see Tokyo shrinking beneath them and less than a minute later it's far behind them.
A few minutes after that and the view is filled with clouds.
Before he realizes it the flight attendant is standing at his table, a pleasant smile on her face as she speaks to him, "would you perhaps like a refreshment to help you relax?" she asks, with only good intentions. It was impossible not to see his constant tapping on the table.
"I'm fine, thank you," he politely refuses, trying to ignore the fact that they were already up to probably 1000mph -1600kmph-, as expected of a year 2112 luxury jet.
"Just call if you need anything," she gestures to one of the buttons built into the table and a few other places about the lounge area.
"I will," he says, dismissing her.
Trying to distract himself he reaches across the table and takes out his laptop, connecting his visor and computer he starts playing some music, light lofi background music, and starts typing.
"I'll call it 'The Miracle List,' yeah," he thinks aloud, another attempt to distract himself from his current location.
"Typing everything that I can heal is too long, so I'll focus on what I can't heal. Genetic deterioration. Genetic deformities. Some mental disorders too..." his fingers move like lightning to compile the specifics of his arrangement.
"When I work for people do I want them talking," he thinks on it for a moment then shrugs. "More chatter means more competition, that means better bids, and I can go from unknown to celebrity during the sports festival, get ahead of everyone else," he chuckles.
"I'll make it so that they can reveal anything they want but I can't, since I'm the doctor, special agreements for special scenarios of course," he sits back and looks at the document he made.
Nearly five pages of specifics. Everything from what he provides to confidentiality to where he's willing to travel to meet with patients.
"And I should also tell them that I'll only be able to travel outside of Japan for the next eleven months, that gives me a month to settle back in Japan before UA... doubt Nezu wants me ditching class and hero duties because I got a nice offer..."
He types some more, and before he knows it he's already had a few drinks and a full meal while working.
Finishing up the last of his document, it now being a full twelve pages of very clear and specific requirements and services, he only has one more thing to do.
"Price," he mutters. Leaning back into his seat to consider it very carefully. "My clients are supposed to be the most wealthy people in the world, but I don't really have any sense of how to price things like this...the standard prices dad used won't apply here for what I'm trying to do. These people see every bit of money they spend as a flex of their status. And if I'm too conservative with the price they'll think it's bullshit...fuck."
"How do you put a price on time? Time with a loved one, time added to your own life...how?" he spends a few minutes thinking about it before finally giving in, deciding that maybe some outside perspective would help.
Pressing the button on the table once more the flight attendant quickly arrives. As she's about to take the empty glass and plate away he raises a hand to stop her, "I'd actually like to ask you something, if that's alright with you."
"Uh, I mean, yes sir," she nods.
He gestures for her to take the seat opposite him which she does, after moving his bag.
"How may I help you, sir?"
"I'm trying to price my product, and I'm hitting a roadblock here, I was hoping you'd be able to give some perspective."
"Oh, of course, sir," she smiles and nods, excited at the idea of a medical prodigy asking her opinion.
"My product is time, how much would you pay for that?"
She freezes, then looks confused, then shakes her head and blinks a few times. "Do you mean? Like rewinding time?"
"No that wouldn't solve anything," Horizon scoffs at the idea. "Rewinding time wouldn't necessarily heal the things I can, I'm talking about a miracle cure. How much would you pay for something that would give you more time in your life, or with the people you care about, that kind of time."
Her eyes widen at the idea, suddenly realizing she was sitting opposite something humans have been searching for since the beginning of time, a miracle elixir.
As he waits patiently she scrunched her face, trying to imagine all the sick people she wished would get better. How much she'd pay to have her parents in perfect health, to heal her kids if something terrible happened.
Eventually, she releases a tired sigh, and gives an apologetic look, "I'm sorry sir, but I think all lives are equally invaluable, none can be summed up for any amount of money. I'd give any and everything I have for what you're describing," she nods.
"All lives equal and precious?" he almost laughs at the idea, a certain lightness in his slightly mechanical voice. "Well that's a stupid idea," he scoffs. "But I suppose most people view things like that, that everyone is equal and should be saved instead of measured by the value and services they can provide... certainly makes pricing this a lot harder."
She keeps a polite expression, suppressing her disgust at his words and the urge to launch into a tirade or simply yell at his blatant disregard for human lives. Giving a polite bow she stands up, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help to you sir," she says while clearing the dishes from the table.
"On the contrary, you told me everything I needed, thank you," he nods and begins typing once more.
As she walks away he continues speaking to himself, "I don't need to put a price on anything. All I do is set the minimum and let them decide, how much they care and how much money they have will dictate how high the bids go, just need to set a minimum..."
After a few more minutes of typing a page of rules for the bidding he saves the document once more,
"Minimum bid of 10 million USD, gifts can be added but the cash bid dictates the initial ranking...perfect."
He saves it one last time then hits send, almost instantly receiving a confirmation from the man he was on the way to meet.
Checking the time Horizon closes the laptop and leans back into his seat, seeing rolling clouds outside his window, Asia 38km below him. The view itself helped him relax and drift off to sleep.
Only a few more hours until they arrived at Bern, and sleeping was the best way for him to not be anxious the entire flight...
END CHAPTER---
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