{YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

{WARNING: YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

“What is it..”

I was just about to make my way out to visit Lia when I stepped on yet another mine. Do submarines have infinite mines? If that was true then aren’t I screwed?

That would make me no different from Pu’er’s prisoner, be it the Greenwood one or Julis one. Since xe holds the right to release or trap me.

“Where did you go just now?”

“I need to go meet my etler.”

“I mean just now. You went to meet Mister Cain, right?”

“Yes. And?”

“Are you going to meet him again later?”

“No. The training session is currently limited to a Friday. Today is a Tuesday.”

“Alright.”

This elf is an absolute paranoid.

“And don’t just drop mines everywhere. The nausea is hard to bear.”

“S-Sorry.”

The mine was released, I did my best to keep myself upright and hopped my way to Lia’s classroom.

“Not again.”

“Yes again. I need to tell you something.”

“Is this your brother? He’s so tall.”

“So you had friends after all.”

“Who do you think I am?!”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lia’s brother, Avner.”

“I’m Tabbie, nice to meet you.”

An elf with grey hair just like me. Eyes a shade of dark green.

“Are you going to invite me out for lunch this time around?”

“If you want? I’m just here to tell you that something came up. I have a project I need to do and I’ve informed father to pick me up at 4. So you can go back home first.”

“Oh. What project?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“So are we going for lunch together?”

“Let’s go then.”

“You can join too if you want, Tabbie.”

“Sure thing.”

Xe’s a male-oriented elf.

===

Here’s a little known fact about elves. Previously I said that there are two orientations to them, male and female. So it is entirely possible for an elf with a male orientation to possess ample breasts.

The converse, that being an elf of a female orientation with a flat chest is more commonly seen.

The ratio of obvious breasts to flat chest in elves is 3 to 7.

And, as you can imagine, having breasts is an advantage. Those that don’t envy those that do. The culture of this world really blows my mind. Novelle, good job.

On that note, Pu’er and Lia are on the luckier side of the spectrum.

“Is there any cover for me because I skipped class?”

“I hadn’t reached out to your teachers, so no.”

Lynda slammed her head against the window of the ELRT, legs kicking her school bag on the floor.

[Avner, I suggest you report her condition to the health authorities once you reach the hospital.]

“I’ll do it when the need arises. For now, don’t try to hint anything to them, Randell.”

[I understand.]

“I-It’s nothing Cuue, I’m just going on a trip.”

Lynda fumbled, eyes chasing the cube AI.

“No, this isn’t a date, don’t misunderstand. I’m going to do a check up, that’s all, and don’t tell anyone about this. Yes. Thank you.”

“Cuue is the name of your AI?”

“Yes.”

“Mister Cain, how about you? What’s the name of your AI?”

“I didn’t set up my AI.”

“Oh.”

“Avner, you sure this will work right? Mister Cain, who will pick us up later? We’re going to Alska General Hospital, right?”

“Xe goes by the name Nyill. I’ve never met her before, but I do have an inkling of what xe looks like.”

A familiar sounding name. Can’t recall.

I then noticed Lynda looking at me like I was some delicious beef jerky. A second later, realizing that I was returning her gaze, she froze and lowered her head.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine..”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Yes. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine..”

The trip took around 30 minutes. Considering the time, I’m questioning if 2 hours is enough to settle everything.

“This way.”

Instead of entering the hospital’s main entrance, Cain directed us to the garden annexing it. He brought us to the second entrance. Close to the sliding glass entryway were a group of nurses chatting with each other. They had their AIs set to public display so it was rather cool seeing them interacting with each other outside the influence of their main users.

A short distance away from that group was Nyill, the elf observing a vending machine which sold drinks and onigiris.

Ah, no wonder xe’s so familiar.

“Excuse me.”

“Hm? Oh, you must be Sir Cain, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

“A pleasure to meet you too. Thank you for attending to my call, with all due respect, it’s him who’ll pass on the message.”

“It’s.. you.”

“The coincidences really,” I sighed. This makes things much easier, “Nice to meet you, again. I’m Avner.”

Short spiky bright green hair, hirs emerald eyes reflected a lot of complex emotions.

Come to think of it, xe’s should be a submarine. Which meant xe had noticed that I was a demon the first time we met.

“Is this place being surveillanced?”

“We’ll go somewhere else.”

We followed Nyill and came to a pavilion overlooking the park. Vending machines everywhere, really, business must be good around these places.

Xe examined the corners of the ceiling before turning to me.

“How did you know drinking blood would work?”

“I just know.”

It seems Nyill was able to convince the doctors. From there, the information was relayed to other hospitals all over the world.

I began explaining what I knew about NtBM. How there are two stages, and the possible complexity behind how it affects the myeloid cells or the production of erythropoietin..

“The nanomachine don’t only affect the myeloid cells and kidney function. It’s much more complex than that. Even though I believe in your explanation, I don’t think the process behind it is as simple as releasing the virus’ suppressive function.”

Medical researchers already have the basics on how NtBM affects people. But, the correlation between the different problems isn’t something that simply ends at stem cell mutation. There were things that scientists still don’t understand like how people with NtBM could enter a state of depravity, or why it causes abnormal rates of wound recovery.

Nevertheless, that’s not the important thing here. Crucial is the information about feeding NtBM infected blood to NtBM infected people. And the difference in blood volume required for the feeding needs of vampires in the two different stages.

“So 200 ml of blood in one go.”

“Around that, if not more. “

“I don’t know how NtBM blood or the digestion of hemoglobin in the stomach plays into this, but I’ll do my best to persuade my colleagues to try this method.”

“Thank you.”

{Karma: +8}

“Telling me this is not the only reason why you came here, correct?”

I nodded, and turned to Lynda who looked blank as paper.

“She’s a first stage NtBM patient. I’m wondering if we could get her some blood to drink.”

“Then she’ll have to follow procedure. She’s an unreported case, correct? I can go ask a doctor for help, but that requires that you too, cooperate with regulations for everyone's safety.”

I was naive to think that we would be able to get away with things. Looks like Lynda would have no choice but to be reported as a positive case.

“Lynda?”

“My life is more important, no question. I’ll do the test. Then should I tell my parents about it now?”

“They don’t know?! You shouldn’t keep these things to yourself. Yes, you should tell your parents. Follow me, I’ll bring you for a test. Sir Cain, as they’re minors, you’ll act as their guardian.”

“I understand.”

2.7.

The initial tests came out positive. A further blood investigation was ordered per regulations. Lynda was ushered to the NtBM ward where numerous guards were stationed outside.

I expected there to be many patients here, but I was off mark. NtBM isn’t a super contagious disease that spreads through air. It’s limited to blood contacts.

So despite all the craze online, it’s more manageable than it looks.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I have a friend here with me. Okay. Un. I’ll be fine, there’s a way to cure me, really, I’m not joking. Yes. Alright, see you. Take care.”

Lynda cut the call and sighed.

“How did it go?”

“My mother will come over now. Aether will come over a little later. Father is too busy with work.”

“That’s good to know.”

“How about you, Avner? Does your parents know that you’re here?”

“Not at all.”

“Which means you’re in trouble.”

[Very big trouble. Avner, it’s almost 3:30 pm.]

Crap.

“Cain..”

“Yes?”

“No. Nothing.”

Could I just leave Lynda here? I’ve already given the necessary information to Nyill. All that’s left is to leave it to the medical staff to do their work, right?

There’s nothing more for me to do here.

“If you want to leave, you can. I’m fine now, thank you,” Lynda said.

“Not possible,” Cain responded.

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m your guardian, you’re a minor. I can’t just leave a student alone in the hospital.”

“Then there’s no choice.”

Cain is the one who will send me home. And since he’s adamant on staying, there’s no way I could just leave.

“Avner, I’ll call your parents and tell them about the situation. We’ll go with this story. You noticed that Lynda is pale so you brought her to the hospital. Will that be alright?”

“Alright then.”

I think it’s the perfect excuse.

“Pardon me.”

Cain got up and left to make the call.

Now it’s just me and Lynda. The curtains around the bed were partially closed, so there’s some level of privacy. Then again, one of Lynda’s hands is restrained to the bed in case of emergencies.

“Um, Avner. About earlier. You said something like you could see the future?”

“In a way. Though, it’s more like, I read a book that shows what’s going to happen in the future. So with that knowledge, I’m doing my best to change it.”

“Then did something bad happen?”

“Not particularly. In the future I read, your case was never reported. Emily became your first victim. Next is Daniel. Eventually you learnt that you could survive off feeding each other’s blood. Which led to you turning the baking club into a cult of vampires.”

Lynda blinked.

“So that’s how you found out?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about the future now? What will happen to me after this?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably changed.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don't. It's a one time thing. So I don’t know what has changed because of what I did.”

“Which means you’ve changed the future permanently?”

“In a way.”

I think it is better to say that I have no clue what the future has in store.

“I find that really hard to believe..”

“Not that you should think too much about it. It doesn’t matter all that much.”

“It does!”

“It doesn’t.”

“You practically saved the world by telling information from the future.. if it’s correct information.. Do I really have to drink blood?”

I’m pretty sure things would’ve been fine even without my intervention.

“Yes.”

“Did the future me say it tastes good?”

“You said that it tastes like drinking rust, so no.”

“Fuck. I want to drink blood so bad though hahaha..”

Lynda's head was wobbling.

“What? Oh, right, and?”

“You can treat the feeding urge using blood with the other formed elements like plasma and white blood cells..”

“You’re right, that can totally work too~”

“Lynda?”

“Yes~”

Her speech slurred. Something was wrong.

“I’ll call the nurse.”

“No~”

I found Nyill beyond the curtain.

“Miss Nyill, I think Lynda is going into delirium.”

“Ah, really? Let me go check on her.”

Lynda pulled the curtains close.

“Avner, who’s that?”

“Lynda, can you tell me how you’re feeling right now? Do you feel any pain anywhere? Does your head feel like it’s spinning or anything like that?”

“Huh? My head is starting to hurt.. i-is something going on?”

“Miss Nyill, when is the blood going to be ready?”

“Her blood reading isn’t out, we haven’t prepared the blood packs. Lynda, listen to me, I want you to lie down on the bed.”

“Okay?”

Nyill pressed the call bell, removed her coat and folded up her sleeve. Then xe attached an oximetry clip on Lynda’s finger and put nodes on her arms. Xe also checked her temperature using a scanner.

The dinamap machine began showing readings of her blood pressure, pulse and oxygen level.

Other nurses came to help, most of them working to soothe the anxieties of the other patients.

Close curtains were a bad omen here.

I stood to the side and watched Nyill perform the procedures on Lynda. An IV drip was given to the restrained arm.

“Woi?! Is she turning?”

“Calm down, it’s going to be alright.”

“Will the same thing happen to me too?”

You could hear their panic.

Cain came through the curtain.

“Avner, your parents allowed me to send you back home once everything is settled here.”

“Alright.”

“When do you wish to return?”

“Until her parents arrive.”

“As you wish.”

“I hate you so much, Avner. I hate you!!”

Lynda yelled, almost giggling.

“I was trying to study and you just had to disturb me.. nm..”

“Lynda, stay calm, we’ll get the blood as soon as we can.”

The type of blood doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not contaminated. We don’t need to wait for the correct blood pack to arrive. There’s no hard fast rule you should use blood that corresponds to the patient's blood group.

Even though that was what I knew, I couldn’t simply just tell the nurses to let her drink blood.

The doctor from before came to check on Lynda’s condition. He made a call to the lab staff. Exchanging a few words and a sigh, he made his way to a storage unit with the biohazard label and took out a small blood pack.

For some reason, the packs came conveniently packaged like a juice carton.

Can a doctor just administer blood? Don’t they have to sign consent forms or something?

“Sit her up.”

“Try to take slow sips.”

“Oh, this is.. this is blood.”

Lynda smelled the packet a little before downing it with the included straw.

It was an eerie sight, seeing blood disappearing from the packet like pomegranate juice. Some of the blood remained stuck to the side. The packet itself was quite a small one. So she finished it in no time.

Nyill offered her some water to rinse her mouth. After that Lynda just went to sleep.

“It’ll take a few hours before the blood begins its effects, if you have any concerns, please ask the nurses around,” the doctor said to Cain.

“I’ll pass the message to her parents.”

“Oh, I thought you were her uncle? Pardon me.”

The doctor nodded to Cain before moving to another patient nearby.

“Don’t look so down, she’ll be alright. Regarding the information you gave me, I’ve passed the message to the doctors,” Nyill said to me.

“You were able to convince them?”

“Yeah. Since I’m going to win the Nobel prize, if you get what I mean.”

It took me a while to realize that Nyill got the credit for being the first person to share this crucial piece of information. And because of hirs initial success, it increased the credibility of hirs claims.

That’s good to know.

“I’ll be sure to let the world know your name if it ever comes to that.”

“No thank you.”

“You would make a good doctor, strive hard for it.”

“No thank you.”

“Suit yourself. Demon.”

Cain’s eyes turned sharp at hirs words. Xe meant no harm of course.

Lynda’s mother and aether came soon after. I didn’t know what to say to them.

{Karma: +9}

===

dotturndot: I’m just guessing my way through the procedures of the hospital. I’m a nurse but have yet the chance to experience what it’s like to be in the wards (due to Covid and some other factors). Though, I tried to make things as realistic as I could.

Then again.. stories are stories. Just because the facts are realistic, you shouldn’t take it literally. Anyways, I’m going to sleep now, good night~