The woman’s chest rose and fell in shallow, rhythmic pulses on the sofa.
The air in the cramped room was thick with a cocktail of sweat, chemicals, and the omnipresent grime of the Lower District.
“...So, this is the one?”
“One of the Order's ‘Believer Candidates.’ My guess is drug-induced brainwashing,” I said concisely, flicking the rim of my water glass.
Beside me, Kaya sat with her elbows on the table, watching the exchange. She had pulled back the hood of her robe, her silver hair catching the room's dim, flickering light.
“Hmm...” The Doctor scowled visibly through the holo-display. “And her condition?”
“She doesn’t seem to be completely gone. She’s an old customer of mine; she reacted to my voice.”
I leaned in to look at the woman’s face. Her hollow eyes drifted in the space between sleep and wakefulness, her mouth slightly agape. Wordless, thready breaths leaked from the back of her throat.
...It hurts... Mr. Repairman...
The speech bubbles floating above her head remained brief. Still, the fact that my name was in them suggested that her core hadn't been entirely corrupted yet.
“And just how much of that ‘doesn’t seem to be brainwashed’ part can we actually trust?” the Doctor asked.
“The flower's components have definitely circulated through her system, but I can't tell the extent of the damage. I’m sending the data now.”
I typed the information about the flowers I’d seen in the underground facility into the terminal. The Doctor’s brow furrowed as the data populated his screen.
“...Tch. They’ve cooked up something nasty,” he muttered bitterly. Then his expression shifted instantly. It was the cold, analytical gaze of a physician. “For now, send over her vitals. Let me see her.”
I pulled a portable scanner from my pocket and pressed it against the woman’s neck and chest. Short electronic beeps—pip, pip—echoed in the small room. Waveforms and numerical values immediately began to cascade across the Doctor’s side of the hologram.
Heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves. The fluctuations were erratic.
“A textbook Pseudo-awakening State. She’s being held in the gray zone between sleep and wakefulness to make her more receptive to external suggestion. There’s a narcotic pattern derived from those flowers mixed in there, too. And...” The Doctor’s voice dropped an octave. “Do you remember that ‘small brain’ we extracted from the Believer the other day? Its cellular pattern matches the scan I’m looking at now in a very specific, very strange way.”
Another hologram bloomed behind the Doctor. Inside a translucent cube, a spiral pattern emerged.
“This is the tissue from that ‘small brain’ we pulled out of the guy's gut. And...”
A second spiral layered over the first. They were similar, but not identical.
“This is her nervous system. As you can see, they share the same ‘habit.’ But it’s not a perfect match.”
“A habit?”
“In short, it’s a blueprint.” The Doctor snapped his fingers. “The small brain had a program-like pattern engraved into it. Now, here’s where it gets even weirder.”
The Doctor smirked. He had the triumphant look of a man who had just solved a riddle no one else could see.
“Remember that ‘chip’ you brought me? The runaway device Olaf Karvel apparently made? There was a similar pattern in its programming, too.”
The chip. The same device that had nearly destroyed Cecily. The pieces were starting to connect, even if the picture they formed was still blurry.
“I see. The chip, the small brain, and the patterns inside her... they all share a common origin.”
“Yeah. And as for whose ‘factor’ they’re based on...” The Doctor paused, clearly gauging my reaction.
“Me?”
“It’s you.”
That blunt confirmation carried a strange weight. My stomach did a cold flip, but part of me wasn't even surprised. Of course.
“In the tissue of anyone you’ve ‘repaired,’ a faint trace of your factor remains. Like with that woman there.” The Doctor gestured to the scrolling spirals. “Someone is extracting that trace and processing it.”
“Into small brains and chips.”
“Yeah. God knows why, though.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaya’s shoulders tremble. She didn't say a word, but her hands were gripped tight beneath the table.
“...And there’s more,” the Doctor added.
“Of course there is.”
“That small brain was broadcasting a strange neural signal, right? Well, I found faint transmission logs on the chip, too. After analyzing them, I found the feedback point.”
“Feedback?”
“Yeah. I don’t know who’s on the receiving end, but it’s as if they’re reporting experimental results in real-time.”
Someone. Someone who had manufactured the small brains and used Olaf to test the chips. Someone who was following my footprints as a Repairman.
“I managed to pull some location data for that ‘someone.’ It’s not a complete fix, but it’s a start.”
The Doctor pulled up a simplified map of Neo Babel—the Upper District, the Subplate, and the Lower District—traced with thin lines of light.
“Tracking the signals from the small brain and the chip’s logs... it leads here.”
He enlarged a section of the map. It was a high-class residential district in the Upper District. I recognized the terrain instantly. The Rainburg Manor was just a stone's throw away.
Right on cue, a notification blinked on my terminal. It was Sebastian.
I signaled the Doctor and flicked the screen. The holo-display split to reveal the face of the elderly butler.
“Sebastian?”
“I am relieved to see you are unharmed, Master Haijima. Our investigation has yielded results.”
He stood with his usual poise, the familiar drawing room of Lucia’s manor visible behind him.
“Good timing. I’m sharing this with a collaborator; I hope that isn't an issue.”
“...If it is someone you trust, Master Haijima, then it is no problem,” Sebastian replied after a brief hesitation. He got straight to the point. “The residence in question is an empty shell. The master and the servants have vanished without a trace. The manor’s surveillance logs were destroyed, but we managed to salvage enough to identify several individuals. I am sending the images now. Public records claim they made a ‘sudden relocation’ a few days ago, but the paperwork is clearly backdated.”
“They either ran or were silenced,” I said, scrolling through the list of dozens of people—contractors, residents, and delivery staff. Sebastian had even attached personal data for most of them.
“Likely the latter. We found the scent of prohibited narcotics inside the manor. Furthermore...” Sebastian lowered his eyes for a moment. “There was a small chapel in the basement. A strange sigil was etched into the floor, and several empty capsules were lined against the walls. We recovered one terminal that mentioned a place called the ‘Deepest Chapel.’”
The Deepest Chapel. The Order’s true nest.
“Did you get a location?”
“There were no exact coordinates, but we found an identification code for an Old Maintenance Path within the Subplate. I have sent the data to your terminal.”
I slid the data over, overlaying it on the map the Doctor was already displaying.
“Hmm. It’s a ‘hidden level’ separate from the Order's known bottom floor,” the Doctor muttered, pointing to a void on the map. “A maintenance space that doesn't exist on the official charts.”
“I see.”
I looked back at the woman sleeping on the sofa. She was a former patient, someone I’d saved once, only for her to be snatched up to become a Believer. How many others like her had already been sent to that Deepest Chapel?
“There is one more thing,” Sebastian said, his voice tightening. “Since this morning, we have spotted suspicious individuals loitering near our manor. They are disguised as external contractors, but their faces match the individuals in the data I just sent you.”
“So they’re coming for you, too.”
The air in the room chilled further.
“I see... Doctor, can you dig up information on the people on this list? Go back about a year.” I forwarded the list I’d taken from the Eradicata executive.
“On it. Give me a second... I’ll push it to the holo.”
The sound of the Doctor’s typing filled the silence. Sebastian watched the shared screen as the data populated. I frowned when I saw Lucia and Cecily’s names on the list.
“About half of these people have vanished,” the Doctor noted. “Police reports say they’re runaways, but the numbers don't add up. These are kidnappings.”
“Yeah. It’s the Order's ‘Kidnapping List.’”
“Good heavens...” Sebastian whispered. He looked shaken—hardly surprising, given that his charges had only recently escaped the same fate.
“The ones who’ve disappeared are mostly the ones marked as ‘Priority’ on this list,” the Doctor added.
Priority. In other words, the people I had repaired. The Rainburg sisters were right at the top.
“Master Haijima...” Sebastian looked at me through the screen. I knew that look. Regardless of his pride, he was a man who knew when his strength wasn't enough to protect what he loved.
I let out a long breath. “I’m worried about that empty manor and the chapel. I’ll head that way and stop by Rainburg on the way.”
Sebastian bowed deeply, his relief palpable even through the hologram.
“Alright, I’ll help with the logistics,” the Doctor said. “I’m sending a recovery vehicle for the woman. It’ll be faster if my people handle the transport. Once you’re in the Upper District, you two go to Rainburg. I’ll take her from there.”
The Doctor seemed almost giddy at the prospect of more research material. He shot me a brief, knowing look. I nodded. I’d check in with him later.
I drained my water and set the glass down. The woman on the sofa continued her shallow, labored breathing.
Kaya was staring at me. She had a strange, conflicted look on her face, as if she were holding back a flood of words.
“...What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said shortly.
It was a brittle silence, devoid of her usual banter. But I didn't have the time to push her for answers.
“Repairman,” the Doctor called out. “I’ll map out the route to the Deepest Chapel on my end. I’ll contact you once the preparations are finished.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Heh. I’m expecting a hefty reward for this.”
“I’m sure you are.” I didn't argue. His price was always steep, but he was worth every credit.
“Good. Sending the pickup time and route now. See ya.”
The Doctor’s feed cut out, and his hologram dissolved into static.
“We shall be waiting for you, Master Haijima,” Sebastian said before his image likewise vanished.
The room fell quiet, save for the hum of the cheap lights and the woman’s thready breathing. New data flashed on my terminal—the route from this sector to the Doctor’s recovery point.
I closed my eyes for a second, centering myself.
“...Things are getting pretty hectic, partner,” Kaya said, her voice forced and bright.
I pretended not to see the shadow behind her smile—a darkness that hadn't been there in the old Kaya.
“It’s a bit late to notice that. It’s only going to get worse from here.”
I kept my tone casual, the same way I always had.
“Let’s move. We drop her off with the Doctor, then we hit Rainburg.”
I scooped the woman up from the sofa. She was terrifyingly light in my arms, a reminder of the flesh-and-blood humanity the Order had tried to strip away.
“Ready, Kaya?”
“Yeah. I’m with you. Wherever this leads.”
There was a weight to her words that I couldn't quite place. I simply nodded.
I pushed open the door, and the roar of the Lower District rushed in to meet us. Neo Babel was as restless as ever. But beneath the noise, I could feel something cold and silent beginning to stir.