Chapter 2.2

He who protects the living

After I'd helped Siesta into a wheelchair, we headed for another hospital room. We hadn't wanted to barge in as a crowd, so the two of us went on behalf of our group.

We made our way down the dingy corridor of the little hospital, and when we opened the door of that room—we saw a girl lying on the only bed.

"Natsunagi…"

Pushing Siesta's wheelchair, I went closer.

I'd visited this room several times in the past week, but I still hadn't gotten to see Natsunagi smile like she used to.

"The conditions for Nagisa to awaken seem to be in place." From the wheelchair, Siesta gazed at her, analyzing the situation. "All that's left are the things we amateurs can't pick up on. Whether there's serious internal damage, for example. Say she managed to miraculously overcome brain death by going dormant. It's still possible that it put too much stress on her cerebrum, and she's fallen into a vegetative state."

"Yeah, that's about all I can think of, too. I spent the past week reading through all the medical journals I could find, but an amateur who's studying this stuff on the fly was never going to come up with a great theory anyway. Besides, since Natsunagi's a special case, previous case studies probably won't be much help."

That was exactly why we needed a specialist right now. This medical expert had saved Natsunagi's life once; he might know what it would take to wake her up again.

"Before you worry about others, you should remember that you're badly injured yourselves."

A man spoke behind us. I turned around…but he didn't even glance at me.

Instead, he walked straight to Natsunagi.

"She's making good progress. It appears there were no real problems while I was away," the man murmured in a rather monotone voice, adjusting the IV drip in Natsunagi's arm.

"Thanks for all your help," I told him, and he finally turned to look at us across the bed. He seemed to be in his midthirties. He had bright blond hair, but the eyes behind his round glasses were of a subdued color. Even at a glance, you could see his intelligence in his features, and in his lab coat, he looked like a knowledgeable researcher as well as a doctor.

"Do you mean with this girl? Or are you referring to yourself ? I've taken care of more patients than I can count, so there are far too many cases you could be referring to."

It sounded like a joke, but the man spoke in a matter-of-fact way, and his expression didn't change. I guess I should've known he wouldn't be the type

to crack jokes.

"I meant both of us. And Siesta, Saikawa, and Charlie, too, actually… You helped all of them as well. I'm grateful."

I didn't just mean this time, either. I'd been brought here when I was wounded in our previous battle with Seed, and this doctor had treated me then, too. He was the director of the hospital and the man I'd asked about Natsunagi's condition.

From what I'd heard, this hospital didn't take ordinary patients. It existed to treat people in special situations like ours. During the three years we'd spent traveling, both Siesta and I had been saved by back-alley doctors like this one time and time again.

"No, there's no need for gratitude. It's my job—and the duty I must fulfill in this world."

…The conversation was oddly failing to connect. It was as if none of his words were allowed to leave any room for interpretation. He seemed to be refusing to read between the lines, or to let us do it.

"I suppose I haven't introduced myself." The man didn't bother to read the mood or pick the correct moment, and his face stayed blank.

"I am Stephen Bluefield—the Inventor."

The Inventor. When I heard that, the first thing I thought of was Thomas Edison, the world-famous king of inventions. If you went back in time a bit, there was also Hiraga Gennai of Japan, inventor of the electrostatic generator. However, the man probably wasn't talking about ordinary inventors like those.

"He's a Tuner," Siesta chimed in; she'd been listening quietly up till now. "He was involved in the manufacture of my Seven Tools as well. He preserved my body cryogenically in suspended animation, and he also equipped it with an AI and created Noches—He's the Inventor, an underground doctor."

…So I'd been right about that. Two weeks ago, I'd had missed the chance to meet him at the SPES hideout. Although I hadn't seen him then, this guy was the unknown doctor who'd based himself within the lab. He was a Tuner, one of the world's twelve guardians.

"It's been a long time, Stephen." Siesta looked up at him from her

wheelchair.

These Tuners seemed to have a lot of shared history I didn't know about. "Yes. Seeing you moving and talking this way makes it clear that the

yearlong course of experimental treatment was a success." Gazing at the patient for whom he'd done so much for so long, Stephen smiled a little.

Siesta told him, "You and Nagisa saved my life. But, Stephen, if you consider it your mission to save lives, then please: I want you to save Nagisa this time."

She was asking Stephen for help again, in order to repay the debt she owed Natsunagi. She believed this man was the only one who could possibly know how to wake her up.

"Daydream." Stephen called Siesta by her nickname as he entered notes into a patient chart. "You're drastically underestimating my skills as a physician."

That didn't seem right. Shouldn't it have been "overestimating"?

He wasn't being modest and telling her he didn't have that kind of power. "In order to save my patients—my clients—I always do everything I can. I

pour my heart's blood into the work and call upon all the knowledge and technical skill I possess. If the patient fails to wake up even then, I never blame myself. I'm aware that I've already done all that could be done."

There was no anger or dissatisfaction in his voice. He was just telling us the cold, hard facts, and Siesta and I listened.

"If there was anything I could still do for a patient, it would be proof that I had previously cut corners. As a Tuner and a doctor, I take pride in my principles, so I assure you, I've done everything I could."

At that point, I understood why Ms. Fuubi had told me "Nagisa Natsunagi is dead" that day. She made that statement due to the trust she placed in the Inventor.

Ms. Fuubi had to be familiar with Stephen Bluefield's personal philosophy. When he'd performed treatment and gave the diagnosis of brain death, she'd understood there was nothing more that could be done.

"That other time, too. So that's why…"

Come to think of it, when I'd sworn to bring Siesta back to life a few weeks ago, Fuubi had hinted at a possibility by telling me about Mia Whitlock, the Oracle. Putting us in contact with Stephen should have been the more natural thing to do, since the Inventor had been involved in Siesta's

treatment.

But Ms. Fuubi hadn't done that. She knew that the Inventor had already done his best, so there was nothing left for him to do. Still, I believed in miracles, and so she'd introduced me to the Oracle; she hadn't had any other leads.

"Therefore, there's nothing else I can do for Nagisa Natsunagi." Telling us bluntly that the current treatment was the final option, Stephen briskly turned and left the hospital room, white coat flaring behind him. He'd been gone this whole week; he might be on his way to see another patient with special circumstances.

"Wait." Siesta rolled her wheelchair after Stephen. Following them out to the corridor, I saw the Inventor had stopped. He still had his back to her.

"I know about your philosophies, too," Siesta told him. "You have another one: You refuse to attempt surgeries that are one hundred percent impossible. Meaning that if you were to get involved, there's a definite chance that that patient will be saved."

It was the Inventor's second conviction. Siesta was insisting since that was the case, there must still be at least a 1 percent chance that Natsunagi would wake up.

"You diagnosed Nagisa as brain-dead, and you donated her heart to me in accordance with her wishes. But you didn't stop there."

She was right: Stephen had transplanted Alicia's heart into Natsunagi. Ordinarily, brain-dead patients had no chance of recovery. Even so, Stephen had conducted the second transplant; that had to mean he'd seen a possibility of at least 1 percent.

"On that day," Stephen began, still with his back to us, "after Nagisa was declared brain-dead, I did transplant her heart into you. As a doctor, it was my job to do so. However…" He turned to face us. "After that, I did my job as an inventor."

The hint of a smile in his blue eyes was unsettling. "I hate miracles that can't be reproduced."

His expression promptly reverted to the chilly, intelligent one he'd worn earlier.

"Ordinary humans don't come back to life. I'm aware of that. Still, I was

exceedingly conscious of the fact that your bodies are not normal." As Stephen spoke, he was gazing at Siesta—or possibly at the left side of her chest. "I was also intrigued by the primordial seed that made you this way."

"Is that why you worked out of the SPES lab for so long?"

When Natsunagi and I visited the place two weeks ago, Noches had mentioned that Stephen was researching the primordial seed there while he continued Siesta's treatment.

"That's right. As a matter of fact, when the Daydream died a year ago, I preserved her body with cryonics…but the operation didn't succeed through my skill alone. Immediately after death, she made an involuntary attempt to preserve her life by going dormant."

Glancing at Siesta, he gave us additional information about how she'd resurrected.

"Then, as I was performing Nagisa's surgery, I had a sudden revelation: As the sole fully compatible host for the primordial seed, she might have done the same and intentionally put herself into suspended animation."

That was what had led Stephen to help Natsunagi a second time, even though she was supposed to be dead.

"That is why, after I had transplanted her heart into you, I transplanted the girl Alicia's heart into her. I was concerned Nagisa's heart might be too damaged for the procedure, so I had brought a spare from the laboratory— and it proved to be the right choice."

"So that's why Alicia's heart was here…," Siesta murmured.

The medication trials she, Natsunagi, and Alicia had undergone six years ago had given them DNA from Seed. That was why their three hearts were interchangeable and why the surgeries had been a success.

"Both operations, including the transplants themselves, succeeded without incident. However, neither you nor Nagisa awakened immediately. In particular, Nagisa showed no vital reactions that would overturn my diagnosis of brain death, and the limit seemed to be drawing near. That was when you happened to visit her hospital room," Stephen told me. I remembered taking Natsunagi's steadily cooling hand about ten days ago.

"Therefore, I did not retract my diagnosis of brain death, and I felt that was the natural result. If this was a world where the dead could be revived so easily, there would be no need for doctors."

He had a point. In terms of modern medicine, Natsunagi had died then.

However, three days after that, Stephen had changed his opinion. On that day, one week ago, Siesta had awakened, and Hel had come back to life soon after. Over the course of three days, the heart that had been Siesta's to begin with had settled into her body, and Seed's order had awakened Natsunagi from suspended animation.

"I hate thoughtless words like 'miracle,'" Stephen said again. "Why don't miracles occur consistently? It's illogical. I only believe in things that can be repeated. On that point, since the primordial seed has brought two humans back from the dead, it should be referred to as a reproducible philosopher's stone."

"Then there could be a miracle that would wake Natsunagi again…" But even as I said it, I spotted the problem.

The primordial seed himself was already lost. Besides—

"There isn't a fragment of the seed left in Nagisa's body. I've done all I can for an ordinary human."

The argument had come full circle: Both as a doctor and an inventor, Stephen had already performed his duty to the best of his abilities. Now he was off to save some other patient with special circumstances somewhere else—leaving Natsunagi behind.

"You used Alicia's life…!"

My strangled voice echoed in the corridor. He'd used Alicia's heart, her life.

What if, after all that, Natsunagi never woke up? That couldn't possibly be okay.

"Assistant." Siesta gently tugged the cuff of my sleeve. My fists were clenched, and my nails were biting into my palms. One other problem had crossed my mind.

…I knew Stephen had used Alicia's heart to save Natsunagi, as a doctor. But naturally, Alicia's will hadn't been involved. Had it really been the right thing to do? I couldn't—

"It isn't my job to speak for the dead." At the sound of Stephen's voice, I looked up. "The dead cannot speak for themselves. That being the case, my mission is to save the life in front of me. To help people through science. There can't be anything more to it."

I knew that. Just guessing what someone would have wanted and then actually wishing for it on their behalf would be arrogance on the part of the living.

However, an idol had curtailed the debate with pretty words once; she'd worn a nice dress and argued against the skepticism with a song. I didn't know whether that had been right or not.

—Still. If the dead can't talk, it means the question doesn't exist, either. If there's no question, then maybe there never was a correct answer.

"Let me make this clear, Kimihiko Kimizuka." Stephen said my full name, even though I'd never told him what it was. "If it means I will save two people, I will kill one. I can't save all three. Always think of the whole, the greatest good. Numbers are everything. Whatever saves the greatest number of people is the right thing to do. I work to save the living, and I have no time to consider the last wishes of the dead. My next patient is waiting." With that, Stephen left.

In response…Alicia's and Natsunagi's smiling faces came to mind, and I couldn't respond at all.

"Let's go back." Siesta tugged gently on my cuff again. I nodded wordlessly, then returned to the door of Natsunagi's room, which we'd left standing open.

"Sorry to make you listen to all that, Natsunagi," I told her sleeping form. I reached for her hand…but somehow I couldn't bring myself to take it. I felt as if I didn't have the right, considering how we still haven't found a way to wake her up.

"…Hm? What's this?"

I noticed there was something that looked like an old book sitting on a nearby shelf. It was close to the spot where Stephen had first stood.

"...! That's—" Siesta's blue eyes wavered, and I handed her the book. When she opened it…the inside seemed to be a child's picture journal. In the photo, a girl with black hair was sitting on a bed, chatting with a girl with white hair and another with pink hair who stood near her.

"It's Alicia's diary," Siesta murmured. She gently hugged the book to her chest as if it were precious.

"…So we already had our answer." When I saw Alicia's journal and Siesta's profile, I remembered.

Alicia's heart had awakened Natsunagi's body once. I'd seen the three

young girls standing side by side. That was the answer. Even if it was a selfish wish, I decided to believe in that sight and in the words Hel had left behind.

"Hurry and wake up, Natsunagi," I told the girl on the bed.

And then let's have another stupid fight, like we always do.