Chapter 87: 87: Plans of revenge [pt1]
Amane had not expected to find herself in the hospital once more. She had expected to visit this place, but sometimes in the future.
But here she was, back once more, and all because a kid wanted to talk to her about something important. Or Amane hoped that it was something important since she did not have a lot of time.
"Lady Yoko, the child is stable but I would still ask you not to excite her too much. It can cause her unknown psychological harm if she gets excited too quickly."
The doctor was treating Amane like she was a fool and did not know how to handle her emotions. The way this doctor looked at Amane did not sit well with her.
"I know what I am doing. I will make sure to not excite the kid too much."
The doctor frowned at Amane's words; disapproval written all over his face. Amane had no idea what this man's problem was, but he was getting on her nerves.
The way he looked at Amane, but his lips closed and his eyes piercing straight at Amane, she had a feeling this doctor was looking down on her.
"Fine, please go in now."
The doctor finally relented and opened the door for her. Amane could swear that she heard the doctor whisper 'Lucky bastard, what did the divine leader even see in her.'
And somehow, that cleared up all the questions Amane had. She now knew why this doctor and a lot of nurses in this place were being rude or outright ignorant in front of her. It was because they were jealous of Amane and her position in life.
"Oh well, jealousy is human nature. There is not much I can do about it."
Amane whispered and opened the door to the room. She entered the place quietly since it was dark inside. She did not know how long it would take for this kid to wake up, but Amane was willing to wait.
"No don't. They did nothing wrong…"
The kid gasped and woke up from her dream. She was still a little disoriented and tried to gather herself before the room came into her focus.
Her rapidly beating heart calmed down once she realized that she was safe once more.
"Did you have a nightmare? Your complexion looks bad."
Once again, the kid stiffed before realizing that she knew the one who spoke to her. Tension drained from Penelope's frame and it made her look a few years younger than before.
"You scared me. What are you doing here? No, I mean, you arrived quite quickly."
Penelope quickly caught herself so that she did not sound as surprised as she was at this moment. She did not want to sound like a brat who only cared about themselves.
But there was something about Lady Yoko's presence that put Penelope at peace. She could not explain it, but even now those piercing eyes made her instincts submit to the older woman.
"You asked me to be here. I was told that you wanted to convey something to me. Now speak. I am all ears."
Amane opened her arms in a gesture to show that she was willing to take anything she was given. She already had an idea of what Penelope wanted to discuss.
"A-About that. I remembered the stranger talking to my parents about something. He asked how the experimental drug kept in the Sullick was and how much it progressed. M-My parents were not thrilled to answer, but they said that it is ready for human experimentation."
Now this was big news. So far, Amane had not found any evidence of the chimera being related to human experimentation.
But if it was the truth then it changed things. This violated any code of conduct set for the beat workers.
"Did they ever succeed? Heck, did they experiment? How long ago was this conversation?"
Amane asked this all-in-one breath. She had a trauma when it came to human experimentation and it was coming back to her.
Before Amane knew it, she had clutched the kid's sides and her strength was squeezing the kid rather tightly.
There was a pained expression on Penelope's face, coupled with a small blush. Her uncomfortable expression was what made Amane finally let her go.
"I d-don't know how long ago this conversation was. I just know that it happened recently. I am sorry that I cannot be of any help."
Penelope apologized to Amane for not being useful. But this small piece of information was precious to Amane.
She now had a direction and a possible outcome for this experiment as well.
"Those Hive bastards sure are playing with fire. Do they even know what their curiosity would result in?"
Amane doubted that the hive knew the result of human experimentation. The last time such a thing happened, it was an utter disaster.
As a result, the records of that experiment were destroyed and the memories were sealed to ensure no one else would try such a thing.
But there were still idiots out there who tried such things nonetheless.
"Kid, you did well. Your information will help me a lot. Now go back to sleep because you need to recover your strength."
Amane patted Penelope's head and Penelope's blush spread across her face. The sudden shyness from the child startled Amane. But in a good way.
When she exited the room, the looks of disgust followed. But her mind was far too occupied to bother with these people.
Penelope had given Amane a direction that Amane needed to follow. Hive was getting more and more dangerous by the second.
......
Ashely Tunner watched Yoko Tsurugi exit the hospital. His rage burned his insides as he took in the female form in front of him.
This female was the reason his career was going downhill and why Ashely's fans were abandoning him.
As soon as the press had released their statements in favor of Yoko, Ashley had been bashed and mocked by everyone. What's more? His funding had been stopped by his supporters.
Now he was truly left with no support and no way to continue his research.
'Yoko Tsurugi. Yoko Tsurugi. Yoko Tsurugi. I shall never forgive you.'
Ashley promised in his heart as his face remained neutral. He turned around and went to the last press conference of his life.
He needed to redeem his reputation before he played around with the drug he was given. His beloved chimera was waiting for him back home.
"Mr. Tunner, what do you have to say about yourself and the chimera? Everyone saw the chimera attack yesterday live and they know that chimera is a violent specie. Do you want to defend yourself somehow?"
Ashley Tunner looked at the reporter who asked him this question. Her eyes were fierce and her attitude was mild.
"That is not the chimera's fault. Even the most well-mannered people would get irritated if they are triggered, never to mention a beast. The excitement from the press conference must have started it."
Ashley calmly replied. He was ready with his answers. But the reporters did not seem to agree with his statement.
"Hmm, according to bi-standees, the chimera appeared out of nowhere and began to attack them. The amount of pain it was in also caused an empath to faint. Don't you think it is kinder to kill a beast in such a situation?"
One of the reporters asked, trying to back Ashely into a corner. But Ashely was not going to go down so easily.
"Of course not. A beast should not be killed under any circumstances. Instead, we should have tried to understand it more. Maybe we would have been able to help it out."
The reporters suddenly smelled a scope and asked more and more questions, Ashley. He deflected a lot of them, but even he was not able to keep up with the ferocity of these reporters until the end.
He was beginning to look irritated and his secretary noticed this.
"A-Alright, this is enough. Please stop asking useless questions now so that we can get to work. I hope you people will give us time to look after our interests as well."
The secretary quickly ushered the reporters outside. He did not want to see his employer fly off in a fit of rage. No one would be able to survive that.
"Hmph, these people are annoying. What do they even know about the chimera to criticize it like this? They are a disgrace to our human race."
The secretary shook his head in shame. He knew in his heart that it was his employer who was wrong. But since he needed this job, the secretary did not say anything. And this quietness of the secretary fueled Ashely Tunner's desire and his delusion even more. He knew what he was doing was the right thing. He just needed the world to see it now.
And for that, Ashley Tunner had the perfect solution - to use the drug and tame the chimera.