Making a Home out of Loose Ends

Keep an Eye On

Hange had an amazing memory. They remembered everything, unless they forgot, which was, as of late, more often than they would like.

"Who are you again?"

"Mikasa Ackerman."

Right. Mikasa. They recalled her now. Hange wasn't sure why she had chosen to pursue biology as a career at all. She did the bare minimum required, and while her work was not bad, often even excellent, it lacked passion. She followed Armin and Eren around, almost like a bodyguard. Nothing but a shadow of herself.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Do you know Doctor Grisha Jaeger?"

They had spoken to each other maybe once or twice. He'd been a speaker at a recent conference about the epidemiology of prion disease in livestock, something Hange hoped would help guide their own research. He was most well known for his work as a consultant for the National Institute of Public Health as a consultant regarding vaccination programs for the general population.

"I'm familiar, yes."

"He sent me to ask you a favor. He wants you to keep an eye on his son. He's also very interested in your work."

It took them an embarrassingly long time to realize she was referring to Eren, the only student in the class he shared a name with. The resemblance was obvious in retrospect.

"He sent you? Why?"

"I'm a family friend."

Mikasa didn't elaborate any further than that. Just as swiftly as she had arrived, she was gone. Like she hadn't been there at all to begin with.

The whole interaction struck Hange as out of place, removed from context. Eren was, in their eyes, a normal kid. The strangest thing about him was his name, and that was something his parents had knowingly picked for him. It was a cruel thing to do to a child, Hange thought, to doom him to bear a name like that. Even the most extremist of parents should be wise enough to see that.

They only knew Doctor Grisha as it related to his good deeds. Hange had no way of knowing if they were actually a good person.

Hange decided the most likely explanation was that of an overprotective father worried about the academic future of his child, and didn't dwell on it any further. When encountering contradictory evidence, it is best to not jump to conclusions. Forgetting the matter wasn't hard. Once they set up the microscope, the memory of Mikasa were buried deep down many layers of books and scientific articles, magnifying lenses, Petri dishes and agar-agar.

"And then I thought, maybe I won't find the answer by studying just human cells. I need to broaden my scope."

Levi was mopping the floor, looking as disinterested as always. He hummed, letting Hange know he was paying attention and wanted them to keep talking.

"Now, our leading hypothesis regarding titan powers is that there is, or was, something about the biology of Eldians that made us able to transform. It is also true that modern Eldians are also susceptible to many forms of cancer, compared to the global average."

"We are?"

Hange nodded, excitedly.

"So I figured that maybe our cells are genetically predisposed to multiply out of control. It makes sense, doesn't it? I might need help to figure that one out. Now, if only we were able to artificially trigger this response..."

"You are not turning your undergrads into titans." He cut them off dryly.

"Of course not! The ethics committee would never approve that! Which is why I'm planning to use dogs. Well, dog cells. I would never dare to hurt a puppy." They took a worryingly long pause before continuing. "Nor an undergrad."