I thought I woke up in a hospital, but it turns out it might be an insane asylum. I think I’m going insane, at least.

Everything seemed fine when I first opened my eyes. I woke up in an unfamiliar bed, and after taking a quick look around, there was nothing to be worried about. All I saw was a neat and sanitized room that immediately reminded me of a standard patient room. There were four beds, including mine, but I was the only one there. So far, so good, but that’s where it ends.

There was a chair near the beds with someone hearing a hoodie sitting on it. Must be some kind of doctor or caretaker. That was my first thought. But then I took another look and saw the person spinning a revolver around their index finger…

Hehehe… I must be going insane, right? What kind of doctor plays around with a revolver? I must be seeing things.

That was one option. I took a lot of damage in the fight against the mermaid, and it left me so exhausted that I passed out. I don’t remember exactly how everything ended, but I can sort of imagine. I probably got taken to a hospital after passing out from exhaustion, and now I’m seeing things because I haven’t fully recovered yet. In that case, I’ll be fine after a little more sleep. The gun will be gone next time I wake up. Surely…

But there was another option. A much likelier option. The PSF, the government people I’ve heard stories about, got a hold of me after I passed out, and they’re planning on dissecting me. That means the person here is not a normal doctor but more of a cross between a doctor and a mad scientist. A mad doctor. Here to pick through my entrails…

My fears have come through… I knew my journey would end with me being dissected because of the VISS Driver. Dammit!

[Iroha Shinohara: Lv.23]

[HP: 2128/2209]

Hmm… My HP is almost full… Can I survive getting shot? I don’t really wanna start a fight, but I need to know what’s going on.

“Uhmm…” I nervously opened my mouth and let out a soft noise. The room was perfectly silent, so even a quiet voice was enough to grab anyone’s attention.

The person in the chair twitched and stopped their raised finger. The gun lost its momentum and hanged down awkwardly. The figure slowly turned their neck, and our eyes met.

Oh, wow! It’s a girl! Might be the same age as me, judging from her face. Raised shoulders, slightly inquisitive look, but otherwise, almost expressionless. She stared without saying a word. Her hair was light purple, and the only visible parts flowed down the sides of her head to her shoulders. Her eyes shared the same gentle color, but their vibe was anything but. They were a mysterious, vast expanse that seemed to grow larger the longer I looked.

There was of a thin black choker around her neck, but she turned around before I got to look at it properly. Her hoodie’s all I can see now. It was a black and white hoodie split diagonally from head to waist. The head part was predominantly white and the ratio inverted around the waist. What stood out the most about the hoodie was a pair of soft spikes placed near the ears. Like the Frankenstein monster with cones of fabric instead of screws. One black, one white. Quite the interesting design.

What the hell? She’s so cute. What was I scared for? Well, that’s not how it works, is it? Hecate can be really scary, but her fashion sense is also immaculate… Taking that into consideration, I might still be getting dissected today. This cute girl might be planning that right now. Speaking of which…

Did she just ignore me? She turned around without saying anything! Who does that? Our eyes met. There’s no way she didn’t notice me.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When the girl turned around, she stuffed her gun in her pocket of her hoodie and started tapping away on a tablet. I- is she really not gonna say anything else? She’s just gonna pretend she didn’t see me? I really don’t get what’s going on here. At least she put the gun away… Maybe we can talk now without me having to worry about getting shot.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Uhmm… Who are you?” Once again, I opened my mouth nervously and called out to her.

“…” The constant tapping was the only answer I received. Then, the monotonous rhythm stopped for a second. “Reia.” She said with a soft and sweet yet perfectly flat tone. Back to the tapping.

…

That’s it? That’s all she has to say? Seriously? Now I know she’s not ignoring me, but I still don’t know shit about what’s going on! Nice name and all, but that’s not what I was asking! I wanted to know who she is… Like… *Sigh…* A girl of few words, is she?

“What are you doing here?” Is she a doctor? A mad doctor? She seems too young, but I’ve seen weirder. Hopefully, I’ll be able to understand what’s going on now.

It took a moment, but she responded. “Work.”

Okay… So she is here for work… Can’t tell if that’s a good start or not. I’m clearly a patient in some kind of facility. I’m the only one in this room, so no doubt she’s here for me. If this is part of the PSF, then she’s probably going to dissect me. Meaning… I have to get out of here! As soon as possible! I think I’ve recovered enough, so, with Agility Burst and Wall Artist, I should be able to escape if I jump out the window. Can’t tell from this angle, but we’re not too high up.

“Work’s over.” With those dry, monotone words, she stood up and left the room.

Huh? She just left? So… no dissection? I mean… I’m so confused… Who was that? She barely spoke any words and left without explaining anything! Whatever… I’ll figure it out later. No one’s around anymore, so I should look for a way out of here before someone else shows up. They probably think I’m too hurt to get out on my own, but they’ll soon regret leaving me unsupervised… Fufufufu…

“Iroha?”

“Iroha!” Before I could make a move, I heard a set of familiar voices coming from near the door. Four faces I recognized poked their heads into the room.

“Girls…” Carol, Katja, Narumi, Hecate… They’re all here for me! “I’m so glad to see you!” I couldn’t stop a couple tears from rolling down my eyes. They didn’t abandon me! Even after the enemy got their hands on me! “You’re here to rescue me, aren’t you?!”

“Huh?” Narumi gasped.

“Rescue?” Hecate tilted her head, resting her face on her hand.

What’s with their confusion? They’re here to rescue me. Why else would they have shown up?

“Did Reia do something to you?” Katja asked, and everyone stepped inside the room. They calmly approached the bed.

“No…? Wait, you know her?”

“She’s a friend of ours who’s excellent at patching people up. She’s the one we call whenever any one of us gets hurt.” The girls surrounded the bed and sat on some stools and the bed next to mine.

“Ehh? What about the PSF? And the dissection?”

“What are you talking about, you poor soul? Are you still feeling under the weather?” Hecate asked while the others looked kinda confused.

“Ah!” Carol gasped. “I think I get it… I told her a bit about our connection with the PSF before. I think now she’s scared the PSF will dissect her alive if they catch her.” I mean… Of course I am, why shouldn’t I?

The other looked attentively at Carol without saying a word. “Pfft!” Narumi’s face cracked into a smile, then she let out a small sound. “Ahahahahaha!” She burst out laughing, and the others quickly followed. “That’s a good one! The PSF? Dissect you alive? Ahahahahahaha! Why would they do that?”

Crap… Now that she says that, their only reason to dissect me would be the VISS Driver. I shouldn’t even have voiced those worries. Nice cover from Carol… The girls laughed for a bit, and my face grew red. They don’t need to laugh so hard…

“Your imagination is running rampant, Iroha. They may not be the most reliable lot, but dissecting you is very unlikely. It likely hasn’t even crossed their minds. You can relax. Even if they somehow had thought about it before, they’re not gonna do anything. Not anymore, at least.” Hecate assured me with a cunning smile on her face.

“Not anymore? So they were planning something before… What changed, though?”

“You misunderstand me… I meant it hypothetically. I don’t believe dissection, as you put it, has even crossed their minds. They don’t have a reason to. Why would they?” Her words were blunt but kind. “The only change is that, even if they were planning something that distasteful, we wouldn’t let them touch you now. I’ve said some harsh things to you in the past, but now that you have risked your life to save Katja and Narumi, I can’t doubt you anymore.”

“Doubt?” Is she saying…

“Yes… There’s no doubt anymore. You’re one of us now. We all had our reservations before, but that’s over. You’ve shown us that you have not only the strength and talent, but, more importantly, that you have the heart to fight alongside us. We now know we can trust you with our backs… And you us with yours. No matter who comes after you, we’ll be on your side.”

“Really?” Is this the end? No more awkwardness?

“Absolutely! With your help, I have no doubt there will be a lot fewer injuries and dangers for all of us. We need you, Iroha. Please keep fighting together with us, and forgive me for how I’ve treated you in the past.” Hecate bowed her head slightly.

Wow… I don’t know what to say… That’s a big shift from her… I looked at the others, shocked, and they all nodded their heads. “A bit off-script. But we all feel the same way.” Katja added to ease my confusion.

“Uhmm…” I focused on Hecate, but my answer was for all of them. “It’s all good… You don’t need to apologize. I’m happy you said you needed me… Really happy! So, uhmm… Let’s keep working together! That was my plan anyway.”

Hecate slowly raised her face with a smile. She extended her arm, and we shook hands. “Thanks, Iroha. You can count on me—on us for from now on!”

I’m glad I could help them… I feel bad I wasn’t around when Carol couldn’t wake up or when she suddenly left. But I’m really glad I showed up in time to be able to help. It really paid off in the end…