What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god – the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me . . .
-Shakespeare, Hamlet Act II Scene II
***
The doctor was much older than how Shion remembered him. The tall, liberal man used to come to Karan's shop once or twice a week to buy a sandwich or meat pie. A handsome beard and moustache adorned his face, and he spoke in a beautiful, clear baritone.
He had also once invited Shion to specialize in medicine and work at his clinic.
"You'd have no problem with picking up the necessary specialized knowledge and technique. I recommend taking the certification exam if you're interested."
It was an attractive offer, but Shion did not take it up. There was no way someone like him, who had been stripped of all his privileges and exiled from Chronos, would be able to pass the exam. But he was happy that the doctor had looked out for him―a stranger and a mere baker's son―and offered him a path in medicine. He was also grateful.
In the months that Shion had not seen him, the doctor had transformed so much he hardly looked like the same person. There were white streaks in his beard and his hair, and he looked like he had shrunk a size. But in terms of appearance, Shion admitted he had probably undergone a more drastic change. His hair was completely white, and his face was smeared with blood, dirt, and soot.
The small clinic in the outskirts of Lost Town was run by the doctor, a nurse, and a nursing robot. The nurse screamed as the bloodied, dirty group burst in. Shion yelled over her shriek.
"Doctor, please―please, he needs treatment!"
"You... could you be―"
"The baker's son. Doctor, please. Treat him."
The doctor's eyes shifted to Nezumi. His gaze trained on the blood that dripped from him.
"Prepare for an emergency operation."
The nurse sprang into action even before the doctor finished speaking. She hastily disappeared into a room adjacent to the examination room. A robot came pushing a stretcher.
"Please place the patient here."
Shion laid Nezumi down on the stretcher.
"Nezumi," he called tentatively. His eyelids remained tightly closed. "Nezumi..."
"Please remove your arm. Please remove your arm from under the patient. Now transporting the patient to the operating room."
The robot urged him, but Shion's arms were stiff and unyielding, still holding Nezumi as he had all this time. Only his fingertips shook violently.
"Shion!" Inukashi grabbed his arms and yanked them for him.
"Now transporting the patient. Now transporting the patient. Entering emergency operating mode. Commencing oxygen intake. Commencing measurements. Now measuring blood pressure, pulse, heart rate, blood type."
The doctor swiftly cut Nezumi's clothes away. Several pipes grew from the robot's torso and connected to him.
"Transporting the patient. Transporting the patient." The stretcher and robot entered the operating room.
"Doctor." Shion grasped at the doctor's white coat. "Doctor, please... save him. Please..."
"Shion."
YOU ARE READING
No. 6
Science FictionThe story takes place in the "ideal" and perfect city known as "No.6". Shion, a boy raised in the elite and privileged environment of his home, gives shelter to another boy, who only gives his name as "Rat" or "Nezumi" on the former's 12th birthday...
