Sad Reality

Sekai awoke to a white hospital ceiling.

'...What happened?' He wondered to himself, he was too exhausted to move, his body felt like someone had used it as a bat.

"Yoohoo~!" A girl said from out of his field of view. At first, he thought it was Antei, until he realized he didn't recognize the voice at all.

"Who are you..?" Sekai turned his head toward her, the girl in question was childish-looking, maybe a year or two younger than him, with messy brown hair and a white lab coat.

"You're a little young for a doctor..." Sekai noted, upon closer inspection, he realized the girl seemed...familiar, somehow. But he couldn't quite place a finger on it.

"I'm not a doctor." The girl chirped, "I should introduce myself again, I am Hina Susumu, head of virtually...well, anything science related in Serpentine."

Sekai's eyes widened in realization, and he promptly proceeded to pass back out.

⸻

After a few minutes, Sekai once again came to his senses. His body felt a little better, and he had the strength to sit up at least.

"What a weird dream..." Sekai mused to himself aloud, "There was this girl named Hina Susumu from Serpentine who had a lab coat and looked like a grade schooler..."

"Who is - still present, by the way." Hina restated, and Sekai's face turned pale. Not only was she still at his bedside, she was joined by none other than Hoshida, whose large build and weathered face did nothing but terrify the high schooler.

"You look like you want to piss your pants," Hoshida said nonchalantly,

Sekai could only give out a strangled squeak in response, no words would form in his mouth, he was just that scared.

"If you don't breathe soon, you'll suffocate yourself," Hina warned, and Sekai forced himself to inhale and exhale.

"Listen, if we wanted you dead, we could've easily killed you hours ago." Hina sighed,

"What...do you want?" Sekai asked, "If you don't want to kill me-"

"We want you to work with us." Hina said simply, cutting him off "No one has been able to reach Ruiko like you have."

"I doubt anyone in your little organization treated her as human either." Sekai shot back,

"A whole lot of gusto coming from a kid in a hospital bed. We didn't have to save you from that river you know. We could've just...left you to drown." Hoshida sighed,

"You guys brought me here?" Sekai raised an eyebrow, "I don't even get it, what can I offer you? And what if I refuse?"

"You won't refuse." Hina shrugged,

"Why not?" Sekai stated,

"For one, Hoshida is a big man with a gun." Hina gestured, "And two - even if you got ridiculously lucky like you have been, luck won't save you from the I.K Virus."

"I.K...virus?" Sekai said curiously, "Isō Kekkan Virus, or Topological Defect Virus." Hina explained, "It'll kill you within days."

⸻

"Let me see him, that is my son!" Hidoshi Kaeru argued,

"Listen, Dr. Kaeru...there can't be any visitors right now-" One of his fellow doctors tried to

"Liars, I saw them go in! I work here and I'm not allowed, but two strangers can?!" The elder Kaeru raged, and right as he said that, Hoshida and Hina exited the room.

"Really? You had to go that route right off the bat?" Hoshida chided, completely unaware of Hidoshi's presence,

Hina only shrugged, "He deserved to know, the I.K kills within days, weeks if you're unlucky. It colonizes the brain and then..." She drew a line across her neck,

"What kills within days?" Hidoshi interrupted, "I swear if you've done something to him-"

"Hidoshi, right?" Hina cocked her head, "Hidoshi Kaeru, Aged 37, a surgeon at Kotono Hospital, married to Kiyomi Kaeru and the father of Sekai Kaeru - is that all correct?"

Hidoshi fell silent, objections dying in his throat as this woman whom he'd never met proceeded to give a complete overview of everything relevant in his life.

"Who...are you?" Hidoshi whispered,

"Where are my manners," Hina extended a polite hand,

"My name is Hina Susumu, a researcher with the Serpentine Corporation. Beside me is Hoshida Sentin, a member of our affiliated private security forces."

"I believe that we have a great deal to discuss."

⸻

Sekai couldn't feel anything, but not due to any sense of tiredness or injury.

No, this was an emotional numbness, his brain simply couldn't wrap his head around what he was told. It would be the mental end of him if he did. The conversation between him and Hina replaying through his mind.

⸻

"You're lying," Sekai replied immediately.

"Cope." Hina replied, "What I'm saying is true."

"Then prove it." Sekai shot at her, "Give me proof, bring in an actual doctor."

"Two things - for one, no actual doctor outside of those with Serpentine will be able to diagnose the I.K, we made sure of that.

Two - there really isn't any need. Take a look at your hair." Hina handed him a smartphone, camera on and showing Sekai's face and hair.

And what he saw, shocked him.

His hair had begun to develop sudden streaks of white, they weren't all too obvious, but it was visible if you looked long enough.

"Why is my hair turning silver?" Sekai questioned,

"The first signs of infection." Hina explained, "As the virus spreads, your hair will eventually turn silver. Plus, you'll start getting some abnormal skull growths as well."

"Abnormal...skull growths?" Sekai stated,

"Horns." Hina said simply, "The virus causes people to get silver hair and horns, well, the horns only come if you don't die within a week or two."

"How do I know you didn't just dye my hair?" Sekai countered, still unbelieving.

"Okay - what about Ruiko then?" Hina questioned, "Surely she mentioned it at some point."

"..." At that, Sekai fell silent, he was initially about to respond with a "no" but then he remembered some of her words to him:

"This isn't going to end neatly, Serpentine won't stop coming after me, and even if they did - the I.K Virus won't cease to exist either."

Suddenly, the pieces fell into place, and Sekai's face crumbled.

"So you finally get it?" Hina asked,

"...So...I might only have a week or two?" Sekai's voice trembled,

"If you're lucky. It acts fast, you might be dead in the next three days if you're unlucky."

⸻

After that, Hoshida and Hina left him alone to process the information, and he couldn't help but feel absolutely dead inside.

"I'm dying," Sekai said aloud as if he needed to hear himself say it. "I'm going to die."

⸻

"...and that's the situation." Hina finished,

Hidoshi Kaeru felt weak in the knees, "So...that's it then?" He said, collapsing down.

"He has less than three weeks to live? You tell me that like it isn't our problem?!" Hidoshi grabbed the teenage girl by the shirt,

"You've been studying this virus - there has to be a way to cure - or at least treat the I.K!?" Hidoshi begged, but Hina simply stared at him impassively.

"...I can't...what am I going to tell Kiyomi...?" Hidoshi's face crumpled in despair.

Hina kneeled down to him, her voice softer. "We can try to help your son. But we will need you to cooperate with us..."

Her voice was soft, but her eyes glinted, everything was going perfectly.

While what she said was true, Sekai was still at a very real risk of dying. Hina had noticed some differences between his case and the case of others that made her hopeful that he was actually an Immune.

For one, Sekai was noticeably lacking many of the more extreme symptoms. Particularly, extreme headaches as the virus colonized the brain, leading to the immune system to attack it unheeding of brain cells.

'The next three days...we will see.' Hina pulled out what seemed like a set of digital watches,

"It's the least we can do - it's an approximate timer to determine how long Sekai has, if it goes off without him dying, then we might be able to help your son." Hina confided,

Hidoshi took it like it was his lifeline, "If he isn't dead by the time this runs out then...?" His eyes lit up with hope, and Hina nodded.

"We can treat the virus, but only if he lives for the next 72 hours. Please contact us if the situation changes,"

⸻

"...You're a sociopath," Hoshida said once they were out of earshot of Hidoshi.

"Harsh words. I'm a very emotional teenage girl at this age, you don't know what I might do to myself~" Hina replied with feigned hurt, but the elder man only rolled his eyes.

"Do you even care what happens to the Kaerus?" Hoshida asked,

"'Course I do, since when do you?" Hina raised an eyebrow, and Hoshida only shrugged.

"Sekai is just suffering from his own idiocy. His chances of living past the next three days are less than 1%, but will exponentially increase if he does." Hina noted.

"That's just the sad reality, nothing we can do about it."