mind

(continued from EP06A) Dr. Sweet: What about Dr. Superior? When he first arrived he was the hospital director’s prodigy — the director’s student with the same ruthless research zeal. He stayed after graduation and became deputy director right away. I: But he seems like a science fanatic. A little inhuman. Dr. Sweet: Someone must have told you — he turns the people who come to investigate him into specimens. I: Yes. His fascia web is literally woven from human fascia. He even boasted he had a bigger net he hadn’t used yet. Dr. Sweet: He’s aiming to be director someday. Big ambition. I: You mean that net was meant for his mentor? Dr. Sweet (laughing): I said nothing. You heard nothing. I: The silk he fires is terrifyingly sticky. I still don’t know how I escaped. Dr. Sweet: He was charismatic when he was young. Trainee women all wanted rotations in his department. Not all the interns who came through here had ninja bloodlines, yet they flocked in. He used “meditation therapy” for migraines as a pretext, then controlled one young doctor with his spider-silk. What happened after that we can’t prove, but that intern came back raving that Dr. Superior was a god on earth, preaching sutras. I: Yikes! Dr. Sweet: He had her recruit more female colleagues; soon the department’s women spent their nights at his lectures. In truth he was sending signals through spider-silk straight into their heads. Someone told me his chakra signal can pass through the skull into the cerebrospinal fluid. Before long the hospital’s female staff sang his praises — some unmarried women even swore they’d marry no one else. I: Dr. Good must be very jealous. Dr. Sweet: Ha. I: So what exactly was his relationship with those women? Sounds like a cult. Dr. Sweet: It was a cult. He was married, but still greedy. I: Did he touch them? You know cult leaders — pick a few to groom as concubines, maybe impregnate them, force abortions… After sermons there are “assignments,” and the apprentices compete for favor. Dr. Sweet: We don’t know. Even victims won’t admit it. But a few women later quit and left for other hospitals — we didn’t know why at first. Like a pyramid scheme, his first female disciple rose in power; everyone called her “sister.” I: Given his methods, maybe he programmed their brains via spider-silk so any pregnancy would be terminated automatically — he’d avoid responsibility. Dr. Sweet: Don’t forget Abigail has X-ray Eyes. Whoever gets pregnant, Abigail would tell Dr. Superior. He’d have to handle it with specialized ninjutsu — things like Laser Release or Space Distortion. I: Did the director know? Dr. Sweet: Of course. He’d spent a lot of energy training Dr. Superior; Dr. Superior’s also an Internet celebrity. The hospital director chose to turn a blind eye, like that Third Hokage who let Orochimaru go. I: What changed? Why did everyone turn against him? Where was the turning point? Dr. Sweet: The turning point was me. When I first interned here, some women introduced me to his lectures. One night he called me into his office to “discuss medicine” and wanted me to study some mysterious cases with him. After I entered he suddenly turned off the lights. In the dark he shot out strands of spider-silk that glowed blue. I realized the signal transmitted through the silk was hypnotic — our women had been under his genjutsu all along. I: My God. Not just psychological — it directly altered brain rhythms, right? Did he capture you? Dr. Sweet: I didn’t fall for it. He suddenly screamed as if electrocuted; the lights came on. I saw the silk and grabbed my shuriken to cut it. He froze, looking embarrassed. He didn’t know I could use ninjitsu. He didn’t know certain chakra attributes on me countered his chakra — my chakra actually back-flowed into his body through his own silk. I: You ruined his scheme — he should fear you. Dr. Sweet: Back then, no one else but me could counter his chakra. So the director had to tolerate him, let him be. I sent a mass email to every female staffer with my discovery. The next day they organized a protest — the women’s committee marched on his department. Abigail even got hit; some labeled her a traitor to women; others used this opportunity to vent prejudice against her race. I: Like a #MeToo movement? Dr. Sweet: Something like that. He didn’t dare show up for work for a week. Someone even called his home and told his wife about his sin; she came down with a group and caused a disturbance. The hospital director personally stepped in to calm things down— otherwise, by her power, she could have torn the building down. I: Does she use something like Shinra Tensei? That’s more like a staged demonstration than a family dispute. Dr. Sweet: When the director learned of my ability, I thought he’d fire me or send me away. Instead he privately offered to set up a separate department for me and the women’s committee head, on a different floor from Dr. Superior, and even helped with my citizenship application. The only condition: drop any further pursuit of Dr. Superior so the scandal wouldn’t damage the hospital’s reputation. I: You’re good at bargaining. Maybe the director wanted Checks and Balances within this hospital. But one thing puzzles me — how did I escape his fascia web that day, and why did my transformation accidentally injure him? Dr. Sweet: I can’t tell you that now. When you’re discharged, come to my clinic next week and book a specialist slot. I’ll tell you then. I gotta go — I’m on call this weekend. End of part 2. (To be continued) This is a creative project inspired by the traditions of Eastern shonen manga and Western comics and cinematic storytelling.All characters, abilities, and world elements are original creations.Any similarities to existing works are coincidental