"Sweet-smelling? Is your nose broken?" Gavial raised an arm and sniffed herself. "I rushed all the way back to the ship—I haven't even showered for three days."
She wasn't exactly "stinky," but it definitely had nothing to do with "fragrant."
"I smell it too." Closure stuck out her tongue and unconsciously licked her lips. "It's… sweet. Like blood… What is this? Why do I suddenly want to drink blood?"
Bloodfiends lived on blood, but Closure was an anomaly—she'd long since learned to suppress that instinct and replenish herself with other food.
Yet today, the urge to bite and drink surfaced again, faint but unmistakable.
"What delicious blood…" Warfarin sank into memory. "I swear I've smelled this before."
"Me too," Closure echoed, frowning in thought.
The two Bloodfiends paused—then blurted out in unison:
"The Doctor!!!"
"Doctor? Where?" Gavial looked left and right. The corridor held only the three of them.
"Gavial—there's the Doctor's blood on you!" Warfarin lunged for Gavial's backpack, while Closure grabbed at her clothes.
If Gavial hadn't had top-tier reflexes and brute strength, she would have been stripped on the spot.
"You mean this?" Gavial yanked out the blood sample tube—Su Yi's sample.
"Yes, that!" Closure snapped, eyes locked on it.
Warfarin drew in a deep breath, like she wanted to inhale the sample straight into her lungs. "No question—this is the Doctor's blood. Where did you get it?!"
The Doctor? He was the Doctor?
Su Yi's face flashed through Gavial's mind. Was that white-haired man really the Doctor Rhodes Island had been desperately searching for these past months?
She recovered and spoke quickly. "I didn't know he was the Doctor. A few days ago he came to the Lungmen office with people from Penguin Logistics. He wanted an Oripathy screening."
"Why would the Doctor get an Oripathy screening?" Warfarin was genuinely baffled.
"Or maybe…" Closure frowned. "He's researching Oripathy again?"
They were both veterans from the Babel days. Each of them had seen—or at least heard—what the Doctor once did: embedding an entire chunk of Originium into their own body.
"Either way," Warfarin decided, "we take Gavial to see Dr. Kal'tsit and Amiya—now. We finally have news about the Doctor!"
"Right!" Closure nodded hard.
They moved at a sprint, practically flying through the corridors, until they reached Kal'tsit's office.
They pushed the door open.
A feline woman with pale green short hair came into view—exposed shoulders like snow jade, with a few Originium crystals growing along them. Her expression was tired, cold, and distant.
When PRTS had dragged her out of rest, Kal'tsit had nearly failed to contain her temper.
But the moment she saw that bloodwork—data she knew far too well—her irritation vanished like it had never existed.
Doctor… I finally found you.
But should I have found you? Maybe I never should have let you wake from that sleep in the first place.
"Give it to me," Kal'tsit said, all efficiency.
"O-oh!" Gavial hurried forward, handing over both the report and the blood sample.
"Warfarin," Kal'tsit added, "make me a coffee."
"Of course you'd make it my job." Warfarin complained, but still walked over to the machine and brewed a steaming cup of rich black coffee.
For all that Warfarin was a centuries-old Bloodfiend, celebrated in medicine with the nickname "Mr. Blood," in front of Kal'tsit she was forever the same: a little gremlin who got ordered around.
"Dr. Kal'tsit! Dr. Kal'tsit! I heard there's news about the Doctor?!"
A brown Cautus burst into the room.
Behind her came a crowd of Elite Operators—ACE, Logos, Mechanist, Scout, Ascalon, Savage, and more—filling the already small office until it felt cramped and airless.
Kal'tsit took the coffee Warfarin handed her, sipped once, and forced down the storm of excitement, joy, and anger rising in her chest. She flipped open the report.
After only a brief glance, she uncapped the blood sample and inhaled once.
Gavial couldn't stop herself from thinking: Why is everyone on this ship verifying identity by smelling blood?
"Dr. Kal'tsit," Amiya asked, voice trembling with hope, "is it the Doctor's blood?"
"It most likely is." Kal'tsit's expression remained cold and controlled. "It appears we'll be going to Lungmen."
"Yes!" Amiya cheered. "We're going to find the Doctor!"
The Elite Operators visibly relaxed, expressions turning relieved.
With the Doctor back, the skies would clear. With the Doctor back, Rhodes Island would stabilize.
"Why does Dr. Kal'tsit look unhappy?" Gavial whispered to Warfarin.
"That's because you don't know her," Warfarin whispered back. "Right now, she's probably happier than she's been since Rhodes Island was founded."
"But I heard she hates the Doctor," Gavial murmured. "Doesn't she forbid anyone from even saying that name in front of her?"
"One thing at a time," Warfarin said. "After the Doctor disappeared, the person who cared most was her."
"Warfarin," Kal'tsit cut in without looking up, her voice like a blade, "do you want to be hung from the bridge again?"
That reprimand would normally chill the room to the bone. This time, it carried something else—an edge of flustered irritation, like her thoughts had been exposed.
Warfarin shrank her neck like a night heron.
"Gavial," Kal'tsit said, "describe exactly how you encountered the Doctor. In detail."
"Understood."
Gavial recounted everything: Penguin Logistics showing up, knocking at the door; the angiography-style scanner proving he wasn't infected; the entire screening process; the parting—nothing omitted, no detail spared.
When she finished, every Elite Operator in the room wore the same look: confusion.
"What is the Doctor doing?"
"That sounds like he doesn't recognize Rhodes Island at all."
"Then we ask him directly."
"Exactly—Dr. Kal'tsit, let's go find the Doctor!"
Amiya raised both hands high and called out, "Quiet, everyone—please, quiet!"
She had no choice. The Elite Operators were tall. Big. Even with her arms fully extended, at one point she couldn't even reach some of their faces.
But they were disciplined—and they respected their CEO. The room quieted quickly.
"Thank you," Amiya said. "I know everyone wants to go find the Doctor. But we can't all go—someone has to stay and guard the ship. And since the Doctor is in Lungmen… some of our Operators may not be able to show their faces there."
"It's fine, Amiya. We understand," ACE said first. "Discuss it with Dr. Kal'tsit and decide."
"We've only been apart from the Doctor for two years," Scout added, deliberately casual. "We're not that desperate."
"The sigils I carved will protect you," Logos said.
To avoid putting pressure on Amiya, the others soon filed out of the office, hearts full of anticipation.
They had only one demand for the operation:
As soon as possible.
In short order, the office emptied out.
Only Amiya, Kal'tsit… and Savage remained.
Savage crept up beside Amiya, shamelessly pleading in a low voice, "Amiya… take me with you too. It's been so long—the Doctor must be craving my carrot pie."
....
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