“Please, let me see your arm.” His nurses had already briefed him about this case. Their conclusion was that the joints in the wrist had been shattered, as well as some minor cracking near his elbow.

The man held out his arm and Doctor Lorde began his inspection. He tapped the arm in several mysterious locations and used a sharp instrument to probe inside. Surprisingly, the sharp instrument did not draw blood, and the man felt no discomfort.

“That instrument must be aided by Energy?”

“Yes, it is very sophisticated. It is said that Global hired an expert craftsman with the aid of their high-level Workers before it was designed.”

“Is it effective?”

“Extraordinarily so! Though I am generally a fundamentalist in my art, this is one of the few exceptions I make.”

There was a brief moment of silence before the frail man opened his mouth and said,

“Sometimes, I just want to die, you know.”

This sudden shift in conversation made Doctor Lorde hesitate some with the probe in his hand.

The doctor sighed internally, setting down his instrument. No matter how important the wrist was, this psychological problem meant more.

He remembered the gruesome sight of a previous patient who had said something similar. He did not wish to see another human in that state again, as doing so made him extremely sad, as well as frustrated.

If he had only said some words of encouragement instead of telling them more about their condition… He regretted it.

“Why do you wish to die?”

“I just… I am so useless.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. To my family, friends, and everyone else. Even you. What is the point of fixing this arm of mine when it will never be put to good use?”

Doctor Lorde let that statement sit for some time. He was about to open his mouth and say some words of encouragement when the door cracked slightly.

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A child, three years old at most, sauntered in.

Lord looked around the small room for a second before waving energetically at the old man in the chair. He had seen Doctor Lorde greeting patients, and it appeared that he wanted to replicate it.

The sudden appearance of such an innocent young soul in such a somber setting surprised the old man enough to snap him out of his thoughts.

“Lord! This is not a good time, why are you here? I am very sorry, sir, this child is too demanding, and the nurses gave in again.”

Doctor Lorde stood up and went to usher Lord out of the room, but before he made it to the door, the old man called to stop him.

“Who is this young fellow?” He asked laughingly. The contrast from the previous atmosphere to this one was simply too comical.

“Oh him? His name is Lord; he is my adopted son.”

“Lorde and Lord, nice one! Hello Lord, nice to meet you.” He gave a toothy grin, though several of his teeth were missing. This was also a common symptom.

“Hello, mister, what is your name?”

“Aha! This young fellow seems quite talented to be able to speak so fluently at such a young age.”

“Yes! He has exhibited skill in many areas since he was young, especially in the vocal area. His nickname used to be Noisy, you know.”

The few people chattered back and forth for some time. The appearance of Lord seemed to make the man temporarily forget his negative thoughts, a good sign, so Doctor Lorde permitted it to continue. The youth and vitality of a young child breathed new life into this man.

In the end, Lord was brought away again, and the procedure was completed without a hitch.

The man left looking better than when he arrived, and he saw little Lord on his way out.

“Young man, what do you have there?”

“A puzzle, sir!” The cube shaped toy whirred about in young Lord’s hands

“You are quite the whippersnapper!” What an intelligent young boy, playing with puzzles in his off time.

“Hee hee, I do my best. How are you feeling, sir?”

“Much better, much better. Thank you for your help earlier.”

“Help? I did nothing, it was Doctor Lorde who healed you!” Silly old man, to mistake little Lord for Doctor Lorde.

The old man chuckled, “My mistake, my mistake. However, you must aspire to be like the Doctor when you grow up, so you can heal old folks like myself!”

“Yes! Doctor Lorde is such an amazing doctor!”

After wrapping up his conversation with the child, the man left, looking much better than when he entered.

A healthy, happy patient was what Doctor Lorde wished to see.

And yet, Doctor Lorde was not happy. This man was one man. One man of an unknown number of patients. He could only imagine how painful it was for the families and friends close to all those afflicted.

No, he did not dare to imagine it.

He wished to do something for these pitiful people.

His eyes wandered to the rosy, happy-go-lucky face of the child beside him.

Yes, this boy. This boy has the Talent to do so.

And maybe, bringing this child to work was not such a good idea… the nurses were already having a tough time, even without this little terror running around and wreaking havoc.

Doctor Lorde coughed lightly as these thoughts passed through his head.