The old man continued to weep.
It wasn’t quiet, either. He sobbed like sothing inside him had split open, his frail body rocking back and forth. Saliva ran down his chin.
"This isn’t..." Jimmy swallowed, adjusting his glasses. "He’s never done this before. Not once since I’ve been here. He’s never... wept."
Adam stood at the observation window, arms at his sides... and there was still nothing on his face. Whatever Patient 6 had pulled from Adam’s skull, whatever gallery of horrors the old man’s ability had forced him to walk through, Adam showed none of it.
Jimmy stared at Adam. The absence of expression was almost worse than grief would’ve been. If Patient 6 was breaking apart from what he’d seen in there, then what exactly lived inside this kid’s head?
Adam turned from the window.
"He’s probably just scared," Adam said. "Probably thinks we’re going to experint on him."
He looked down at the floor for a mont... and then walked away.
"H-huh...?" Jimmy scrambled to follow. "Wait—I thought you were going to free them."
"Not ."
"But—"
"If the old man’s really a criminal, the authorities can handle it." Adam didn’t slow down. "That’s not my call."
Jimmy wanted to say sothing, but just chose to follow hurriedly behind. And then, the next door they stopped at was Patient 11’s.
There was a woman there. Probably middle-aged. But even under the hospital gown, even with the unwashed hair hanging in tangled clumps past her shoulders, it was obvious. High cheekbones. Full lips. The kind of face that would’ve stopped everyone in their tracks—she was almost as beautiful as Katherine.
"Her secretions are poison," Jimmy said before Adam could ask. "Sweat, saliva, tears, and... well—all of it. The toxicity fluctuates based on her emotional state. Heightened arousal, anger, fear, the potency increases exponentially."
"That’s..."
"She’s killed several n and won. Knowingly. Fully aware she was doing it."
"Hm..."
Jimmy’s voice dropped. "She knew she was sick, and she didn’t stop."
"I... see."
When Katherine told him the other patients were criminals, he’d found it hard to believe. He wanted to find victims. People like him. But standing here, hearing it from another doctor...
Was... the Hospital actually keeping people safe? No. Don’t hesitate now, Adam. Look at what they did to Bjorn. How many do you think ca before him?
And as Adam was lost in thought, the woman noticed him through the glass.
She smiled. A hot, almost flirtatious smile as she licked her upper lip.
Then her eyes widened, and she stood up so fast the padded floor scraped.
She pointed at Adam. Then she rushed to the door, slamming both palms against it, screaming. The sound was muffled, distorted through the reinforced barrier.
Adam glanced at Jimmy. "Turn on the speakers."
Jimmy fumbled with a panel on the wall and pressed a switch.
Her voice flooded the corridor, raw and cracked.
"—hy are you back?! Didn’t that bitch set you free? Why are you back here?!"
Adam leaned slightly toward the intercom. "Can... she hear us?"
Jimmy nodded.
"Do you know ?" he asked.
The woman didn’t answer. She just kept slamming the door, over and over, her fists leaving faint sars on the surface.
Adam watched for another three seconds. Then he said, quietly, "Relax. Soone will free you soon."
He walked away.
These people would probably just end up in prison after, Adam. Too dangerous to be out there.Too dangerous to just let go. Careful, Adam. You’re starting to sound like Dr. Aniston.
"Hm..." He swallowed his thoughts and continued on.
Door 17.
Adam stopped at the door and blinked. Then blinked again.
A... pig sat in the center of the room. Massive, pale, bristled—its snout pressed against the floor. Except it wasn’t quite a pig. The proportions were wrong. The limbs were too long, too jointed, and sowhere in the folds of pink-gray flesh, two small black eyes tracked movent with an intelligence that pigs didn’t have.
"What... is that?"
"Patient 17," Jimmy said.
"Huh...? That’s a person?"
"He was born that way. The Hospital retrieved him from Vietnam." Jimmy leaned for a second. "He was sothing of a rural folktale. Villages near Quang Binh or sothing talked about a creature that entered hos at night. Turned out his parents threw him away at birth for being... well. Like that."
Adam stared. The thing, the... man, scratched at the floor with a clawed foot.
And you thought you had a hard life, huh? Look at that, Adam. Look at—
"Patient 17 killed a lot of people," Jimmy continued, quieter now. "Mostly children. He would enter hos at night through open windows. That’s why the locals thought he was so kind of monster."
"Oh..." Adam sighed and quickly turned from the window and walked.
The last one. Door 24.
The room behind the glass was different from the others. No padded walls. Instead, a massive cylindrical tank filled with water dominated the space, lit from below by pale blue panels. Inside, suspended in the gentle current of a filtration system, floated a man.
His hands were webbed—thick mbranes stretching between each finger, translucent at the edges. His torso was enormous, barrel-shaped, with faint ridges running along the sides. His eyes were closed. He drifted in slow circles, peaceful.
"...A rman?" Adam didn’t really have to ask.
"Patient 24 hasn’t done anything!" Jimmy quickly said without being asked. "They found him near an island in the Philippines. A fishing village reported a rmaid. The Hospital’s retrieval team extracted him three years ago. He hasn’t hard anyone. Ever."
Adam placed his hand flat against the door. He shook his head slowly.
"Tell him he’ll be free soon."
Jimmy hesitated, then pressed the intercom. He leaned in and spoke gently, "You’re going to be free soon. Soone’s co for you."
The man in the tank opened his eyes. Dark, round... red. He turned in the water until he faced the window, and his gaze found Adam.
He smiled.
Adam nodded once, held the look for a mont, then turned and walked.
What happens if he gets summoned to the Ga?Without water, he’d just... die. Wouldn’t he? Dropped in a desert, a city, anywhere dry—he’d die. What’s the point? The Ga has to end. Is what you’re doing here really... insignificant?
"That... was the last patient," Jimmy said from behind him.
"There’s at least 30 doors here." Adam stopped. "Where are the others?"
"They are..." Jimmy’s voice cracked. "Deceased."
"Killed."
"T—" Jimmy stuttered. A whimper before managing a weak, "Yes."
"Hm."
"But what we were doing here—it was for the benefit of humanity. To evolve, to advance our understanding of—"
"Stop."
Jimmy flinched backward, raising his hands like a shield. But Adam just turned away from him, facing down the corridor.
"Where’s Dr. Aniston’s office?"
Jimmy stiffened at the na. He gulped, looking away for a mont before nodding.
"I’ll... lead the way."
They walked back the way they ca. Past Door 11. The woman stood at the glass, perfectly still now, watching Adam pass with unblinking eyes. Past Door 6. The old man had stopped crying. He was there, but still very much looking terrified.
Adam glanced at him once and kept walking.
Soon, they walked to more corridors. Adam could see shadows hiding inside the laboratories, but he ignored them.
"Dr. Jimmy."
"Y-yes?"
"You’re not actually just a regular scientist here, are you? You’re higher up and just pretending?"
"Uh..." Jimmy looked back, genuinely confused. "No? I’m just a researcher...?"
Adam stared at him, trying to see if he would suddenly smile sinister...ly. But no.
Adam sighed again and looked around.
He truly wasn’t feeling anything. None of it. Not anger, not sadness, not righteousness. Just... nothing. A hollow space where sothing should’ve been.
He even wanted Jimmy to be tricking him, that would at least be... sothing. At least that would’ve given him sothing to push against. But the man doesn’t seem to be lying at all.
Why are you not feeling anything, Adam? You should be happy, rejoice. You’re close to abolishing the Hospital completely. But... does it really matter? This all feels... anticlimactic. Rushed.
They continued in silence, with Adam following behind Jimmy now. But after a few steps, Jimmy stopped.
"You should be careful," he whispered.
"Hm?"
"Dr. Aniston is with so of the higher-ups. They’re all Heroes." Jimmy’s voice dropped. "I know you’re strong. But there are three of them, and one is A-tier."
"Why...are you telling this?"
Jimmy looked down at the floor. His hands were tightening at his sides. "I’ve... seen what they did to you."
"Hm..."
"Since you were the first, and because of the nature of your abilities, the doctors were..." Jimmy trailed off. "Well, they were... What they did to you was wrong. It was all wrong. I’m... sorry."
"Don’t apologize to ." Adam quickly said. "You weren’t there. Apologize to the patients who are here now."
Jimmy went silent. And the two once again continued on. It’s not far now."
But before they could take three steps, soone clicked their tongue.
"What are you doing, Jimmy. Jimmy." A man erged from around the corner ahead. Pale. Sickly pale. Thin-frad glasses sat on a narrow nose. He wore a suit, hands clasped behind his back, and he moved unhurriedly.
"Mr. Jin!" Jimmy blurted.
Jin raised a finger to his lips.
"Shh." He tilted his head, staring Adam with calm, appraising eyes. "You shouldn’t have told Patient Zero about us, Jimmy. That wasn’t wise."
Adam looked at Jimmy. "Who is he?"
"He—"
"I..." Jin didn’t let Jimmy speak. "I’m one of the people on the board."
He bowed. "It’s a pleasure to finally et, Patie—"
And then, Adam suddenly lunged.
His fist connected with Jin’s chin. A clean shot.
"Wha—" Jin’s head snapped back, and he stumbled, catching himself against the wall.
"That was rude—" Jin started, straightening his glasses.
Adam lunged again. Sa target. Harder this ti. The impact cracked through the corridor like a gunshot. Jin’s glasses flew off his face. His legs buckled, knees folding inward, and he raised one trembling hand.
"S-stop. Wai—"
Adam lunged a third ti.
This one was the hardest. His knuckles drove into the underside of Jin’s jaw with everything behind it. Jin’s eyes rolled white. His hand dropped. His body went slack.
Adam didn’t catch him, however, and only let the man fall in front of him.
He gazed down, and as soon as he saw the man’s chest rise and fall, he sighed and glanced back.
"Who was he again?"
"I... I believe he’s one of the representatives from the board?" Jimmy swallowed. "A B-tier Hero...?"
"Oh." Adam looked down at Jin’s unconscious body again.
"Can any of the patient rooms handle him?"
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