The morning sunshine penetrates through the window, it dazzles Payneth's eyes and then wakes her. She rubs her eyes. "Where am I..."

Bringing some warm water to compress Payneth's wound, Daphne smiles happily as she finds Payneth finally wakes up. "Payneth, are you awake?"

Payneth hurriedly gets up from the sofa, clutching her bandaged stomach. She looks around. "Where am I?..."

"Don't worry. This is my house. You're one hundred percent safe here," Daphne reassures.

Payneth stares at her stomach which is covered in bandages. "It is you who did it?"

"That's right... sorry... I tried calling the contact number you gave, but it didn't connect despite I've called them three times... and you were injured severely, after all. So, I had no other choice, I had to do it myself."

Mrs. Yalle also passes by. "Miss, are you awake?" Daphne has explained about Payneth to Mrs. Yalle (but just focusing on the essential things. She tells her mother that Payneth is Mr. Finn's friend, and not the member of Enigma. She doesn't want to let her mother get anxious), so now the middle-aged woman has understood about the problem.

Payneth asks Daphne, "It seems that you understand medical science?"

It is Mrs. Yalle who replies, "Daphne is a very smart medical student. She was one of the best students at Sapphire University."

"Ah, well... I forget about it. You've told me about that. You and Stairmount Rivers first met when he taught at your university, and you were the intern."

Daphne nods with a smile.

Payneth smiles back at her, "Thanks Daphne, for saving my life."

"You're welcome. I just feel bad, because I'm doing something presumptuous."

"Ah... we often have trouble whenever we should contact them... The excuses they make is they are busy to the extent that they have no time to even look at their ultra-cyber minipad... then what if the people need their help?..." Watching at her ultra-cyber minipad, Payneth soon turns her gaze away, feeling annoyed. But, a few seconds later, she turns her gaze back to Daphne. "You're very talented, having great potential to become a great doctor. Too bad, you are not in the right moment..."

Daphne's gaze glimmers wistfully.

"But, if you have the chance to become a real doctor immediately, will you do it?"

Daphne blinks. "Uh, what do you mean?"

Payneth continues in a serious tone. "Well, I'll create you as a real doctor, before long."

Copyright ©️ by boundless_universe

***

This is an ordinary house. It doesn't look fancy, but it doesn't look as shabby as a hut, either. The best way to describe it - inconspicuous. Just like an ordinary house which is inhabited by ordinary people.

No one will expect that the Jupiter-based team of Enigma use this house as their base.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Well, folks. This is Daphne Yalle, who will be assisting with the medical cases."

Payneth introduces Daphne to her colleagues, who are twelve in total. All members of Enigma observe Daphne very seriously - they are seemingly inquiring about her, causing Daphne to feel agitated. In fact, when Payneth told her about that matter previously, Daphne soon got an uncomfortable feeling. She does want to become a doctor, but this longing soon fades when Daphne knows that it leads her to have business with the intelligence of Neptune. Nevertheless, finally she agrees to accept that offer since she needs Payneth's help, she hopes, Payneth can be more enthusiastic about helping Stairmount if she is willing to accept her offer. But despite everything, she still feels anxious. She still has not yet informed Stairmount that she has told Payneth almost everything about their relationship and the dilemma Stairmount is facing, let alone the fact that she has been much deeper involved in Enigma. And. Neptune has destroyed her hometown, after all.

Payneth soon notices Daphne's hesitation. "I won't mention your relationship with Stairmount Rivers... no, I won't tell them everything about Stairmount Rivers, don't worry, I understand it very clearly. He is a member of Chrono after all, the perception of Enigma towards him won't be good. I just need your help in treating the team members when somebody gets injured. You know, we can't ask to be hospitalized as common people do. The hospital bureaucracy is very convoluted, they must find the reason why we get injured, etc., and then record it in their medical records. When the data is entered into their ultra-cyber minipad, it will soon connect to the internet network, and then will be tracked by Cosmos, and they should quickly track down the data to kill us. That's why we need our own team of doctors. But this new team of doctors..." Payneth sighs, disgruntled. "Totally incompetent, I really don't understand why they can be selected. Well, therefore, I want you to help us, Daphne. Of course you'll get paid, we'll give you a fair salary for that. How about that?"

Being promised to be given 'a fair salary', Daphne who needs money - which comes from the proper way, of course - becomes 100 percent willing to accept the offer. And here she is, standing in front of the members of Enigma who begin to throw a few questions about her.

"Would you mind if I ask some questions, Payneth? Are you sure, that we can trust her?" Lawrence, the chief of the Enigma Team, asks. Lawrence is a man in his middle forties. He has an impressive appearance, at first glance, he only losses a little from Mr. Landlord, but when it comes to body posture, he wins a lot. He is well-built, athletic, and very muscular. Daphne is somehow sure that he has abs similar to the models who often appear in fashion magazines.

"I am sure. I can guarantee it."

"Can you tell us in more detail about this young woman?"

On the next moment, Payneth told about Daphne towards them in detail. But the woman keeps her promise, she doesn't mention anything about Stairmount. Payneth's reassuring attitude and demeanor, added with Daphne's accent as she talks, which declares firmly that she is a real ethnic Neptunian, soon lets them believe in Payneth, and by then, accept Daphne to assist them.

"So, Charlie and Kyle, you guys must be happy then. Because you can get much more leisure time and be free from the hectic hustle and bustle," Payneth throws a sly smile at the two elderly men who quickly give her an apologetic look. "So busy you guys that you didn't pick up my call when I almost died. Now, you can relax and have fun."

"Yeah, you know Payneth, we are not young anymore. We've been 70, we don't really understand about technology or ultra-cyber minipad, yet the government still orders us to do such works!" Charlie, one of the 70-year-old men, soon justifies himself. Beside him, Kyle nods his head.

"Chill, Payneth. Actually, it is not easy to find people who are smart, professional, and also loyal. Usually the youngsters can't be trusted, that's why they choose the elderly. You have to understand that." Lawrence immediately defends the two old doctors. "Besides, Miss Yalle has a big weakness; she doesn't have any experience even as an intern, she's only been an intern for a few days right? So. Every member must have their own weaknesses, can't be as perfect as we hope."

Lawrence's utterance which offends Daphne soon makes the young woman automatically curves a slight, uneasy smile. Payneth replies, "Well, then we should fill those weaknesses with each other. Daphne can also learn a lot from these old doctors. So, the three of them can complement each other."

Charlie waves his hand. "No problem!" Kyle adds with a nod.

Daphne then gives a wide smile as her reaction to their attitudes which has shown their acceptance of her. "Thank you very much for your trust! I hope we can work well together!"

Since then, Daphne works for Enigma.

Copyright ©️ by boundless_universe