Chapter 42: Recommendation for Disposal of Humanoid Anomaly (２)

****

Beyond the screen, a red form was twitching. A human heart, separated from its body, beating while submerged in nutrient solution.

Setting aside the shock and looking closely, the heart in question was emitting a faint blue glow from its center. That was the mana circle they’d been searching for all this time.

“Fuck.”

I let out a sigh and picked up the phone.

“Hello, is this the Security Section Chief? Ah, yes. This is Dr. Geum from the Director’s Office. Do you happen to have any Security Department staff available right now? Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Lee Seah.

You crazy bitch. You die today.

****

This is the Head of Research’s office.

Flanking me were the Director’s Office aides and a few Security Department staff, all waiting. Lee Seah didn’t seem to have caught on to what was happening yet.

I kicked the office door open.

“Put your hands on your head and stand up.”

My pistol was aimed at the Head of Research.

The Head of Research had no choice but to comply with my order, and I holstered the pistol and grabbed Lee Seah by the collar. She was very quick on the uptake.

“Eek, wait a moment. Director—”

Look at her, calling me Director right away.

THUD.

I shoved Lee Seah against the wall.

“Head of Research. Was the experiment to extract the Returnee’s heart carried out under your orders? Answer yes or no.”

“Ah. Well, that’s actually—”

An uneasy laugh.

I yanked her tie and choked Lee Seah, and she couldn’t say another word.

“Head of Research. You are hereby temporarily relieved of duty on the grounds of insubordination to the wartime command structure, destruction of Foundation assets, and endangering a Foundation ally.”

“Director Geum. Wait a moment.”

“I’ll hear your explanation in the containment cell. Staff, please escort Miss Lee Seah to the containment cell.”

“Hold on, I understand why there’s a misunderstanding, but it’s not what you think, Director?”

The Head of Research had access to most of the anomalies managed by this facility’s Research Department. Who knew what cards she might be hiding. Instead of answering, I fastened a bomb collar around Lee Seah’s neck.

“This is a misunderstanding. I’ll explain.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

****

Things moved fairly quickly.

As soon as Human Resources Department heard the full story, they dropped everything and sent eight staff members. Four seemed to have come to soothe me, and the other four to manage the Head of Research.

Lee Seah was being fitted with polygraph test equipment and a pile of containment gear including the bomb collar. Like a cyborg.

I watched the Head of Research through the glass wall. Human Resources Department staff were operating the lie detector equipment.

“Shall we begin, Miss Lee Seah? Tell me three things about yourself that are true and three that are false.”

Lee Seah wore an uneasy smile.

“Director. Isn’t this security measure a bit excessive? I’m not a humanoid anomaly, and I don’t have any notable abilities either.”

I pressed the remote in my hand, and the bomb collar around Lee Seah’s neck detonated. She merely blinked.

Just as expected.

Whether it was an anomaly or overtech equipment, she was enhanced to a superhuman level.

“We’ll need to call in a task force.”

“Director. It’s true that I ordered the Returnee’s heart to be cut out under my command, and the responsibility is mine, but there’s something you’ve got wrong.”

At least Lee Seah wasn’t selling out her subordinates. I’d thought she might at least try to shift the blame onto the surgeon who performed the operation.

“What have I got wrong?”

“An Yuri is alive. I had an artificial heart implanted, and she’s lying in the recovery room.”

“Miss Lee Seah. I’m not doing this over a single humanoid anomaly.”

“Is that so…?”

“Miss Lee Seah disobeyed the wartime command structure, destroyed Foundation assets, and endangered a Foundation ally. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“…”

“And the Returnee is one of the few leads we have to uncover the truth behind the worst terrorist incident of this century.”

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.

“Dr. Lee… I understand. I can stay cold when it comes to solving a problem. I can cross the line of common sense to deal with beings outside providence. I can sacrifice the small for the greater good. I understand that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“But. None of that is a reason to torture and dismember people just to satisfy Miss Lee Seah’s curiosity.”

The Head of Research let out a sigh.

“Miss Lee Seah, go get your emotions re-evaluated at Human Resources Department. Let’s talk again around tomorrow.”

I left the Head of Research’s containment cell.

****

I had no intention of keeping that damn woman tied up for long. She’d be back to work by tomorrow or the day after. Still, I’d put a leash on her.

I’d spoken to the Head of Research with my hackles up, but I was just as curious as she was about what the Returnee’s mana heart was. Now that it was cut out, we might as well study it.

This was the operating room.

The researchers from the Humanoid Division were gathered around the Returnee’s heart like children who’d just received a new Christmas toy.

“Dr. Kang of the Humanoid Division.”

Kang Cheon, Section Chief of the Humanoid Division. A former physician.

“Hello.”

“It’s a shame about the Department Head… but research has to go on, doesn’t it? We’re in the middle of an examination right now. There’s an infection risk once it’s taken out of the fluid, so we’re being careful.”

“Yes.”

“The Returnee’s heart will be moved to the operating room for research. If Dr. Geum would like to observe, put on a surgical gown and come in.”

I nodded.

****

The operating room was cold.

The immediate task was to run tests on the Returnee’s excised heart.

To that end, I’d come after reading the heart transplant clinical guidelines and the myocardial infarction clinical guidelines.

A manual is a manual. Even if the content is more complex and difficult than I’d imagined. The core issue is this: the Foundation’s doctors are smart.

But.

Most of them not only lack knowledge of anomalies, they can’t think outside the box either.

It was something I’d heard from other researchers many times, and something I’d felt firsthand.

“Then… beginning the experiment.”

Six Foundation doctors surrounded the Returnee’s excised heart, surgical instruments in hand.

One older cardiothoracic surgeon lifted the heart out of the nutrient solution and placed it on the operating table.

“What should we check first?”

Good question.

The Foundation doctors looked at me.

What doctors know is how to save lives, not how to study mana in an already-excised heart. That’s my job.

“Yes. Let’s start with the basic supernatural properties. Can we run an ECG and an echocardiogram?”

The first thing to do when studying an anomaly was to check the properties that were easy to grasp and not supernatural.

That way, you could record exactly where it deviated from providence. The fact that the object was a heart didn’t change much.

“Proceeding.”

“Any findings?”

I thought about it.

A heart normally survives only about 12 hours after excision. Twelve hours hadn’t passed yet, but from what I’d studied, it should have stopped beating within minutes of being removed.

But. The Returnee’s heart was still beating.

“What about the ECG?”

“This is our first time attaching an ECG directly to a heart. But it appears to be an utterly normal reading. Disturbingly so.”

I nodded.

“How is it — is the sinoatrial node firing normally? Any signs of perfusion impairment in the cardiac muscle tissue?”

“We’ve already confirmed the heart’s ECG is normal, and there are no signs of hypoxia so far. I can’t say why.”

I nodded.

“Understood for now. Can you measure the lactate or reactive oxygen species concentration in the heart sample?”

“Understood. What about the ultrasound?”

“We’re checking whether there are any endocarditis vegetations. But it looks normal. No structural abnormalities or issues.”

Bizarre.

The Returnee’s heart, even after being separated from its owner’s body, had not stopped beating. I picked up the sterilized forceps and took a step closer.

“I’m going to lift the atrial appendage.”

The heart was emitting a faint glow.

When I lifted the atrial appendage, the light grew stronger. It seemed the light was emanating from the center—roughly where the ventricular septum would be.

****

[Returnee Observation Log]

[Filed by: Kang Cheon (Humanoid Division)]

[The Humanoid Division and some Medical Department staff, under the Head of Research’s orders, extracted the Returnee’s heart for this experiment and installed an artificial heart in its place.]

[Unless the Foundation treats the Returnee using anomalies or overtech, or performs a heart transplant procedure, the Returnee is expected to die within 12 months.]

[The Returnee is currently unable to utilize any anomalous abilities whatsoever. It is possible she has lost her powers entirely. With a small amount of preparation, she may be able to return to society as a non-anomalous human.]