Ch.122Chapter 16. Dispersion (End)

“Huh, what do you understand?”

Not just me, but Camilla was also quite bewildered. However, Cassandra nodded as if she had figured everything out.

“I’ve seen many cases like Johan. When someone experiences an excessive psychological shock, cognitive distortion occurs. They can’t hear what others are saying. Because that’s also how the brain processes trauma. Like me.”

‘Me?’

I stumbled in surprise, even though I was already standing. My sprained right ankle throbbed again. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one surprised. Camilla covered her mouth with her hand. Only Cassandra remained calm.

“Yes, ‘me.’ Ophelia Osborn. The only survivor of the Osborn family, one of the founders of Cybele, and the owner of the Syndicate. Just like how the formulas I solved like puzzles as a child eventually connected to the Cro virus.

Of course, I didn’t do it alone. But because I was involved, I couldn’t accept it with a clear conscience. That’s why I hide behind Cassandra. And Camilla, this isn’t a foreign concept to you either, is it?”

Camilla frowned at being suddenly singled out.

“Why me?”

“As far as I know, Camilla is just your working name, not your real name, right?”

Camilla shook her head vigorously.

“Let’s be clear. You’re right. It’s similar to my real name but not my actual name. But that’s just minimal insurance to prevent my family from suffering because of me. It’s like hiding my eyes and saying ‘peek-a-boo,’ I know.”

“Either way, isn’t ‘hiding’ something the same concept?”

Suddenly, Cassandra… or Ophelia? Cassandra? Anyway, she looks different. The person who had been acting like a shut-in and a fool is now sitting like a stern university professor.

But Camilla shook her head again.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to discuss my name. Besides, we were talking about Johan just now.”

“Johan is capable and quite unique. More so than anyone I’ve ever met. Sometimes he acts too confidently and with too much certainty, but he’s clearly exceptional. He couldn’t have been an ordinary person. But he’s unstable.”

Not ordinary indeed. A complete bum, actually. More importantly, now she’s not even listening to me at all.

Camilla is holding her forehead, and Cass… Ophelia is looking at me with interest, like I’m a virus in a petri dish.

“So what are you suggesting? What’s your point, Ca… Ophelia?”

“Nothing will change. Just treat him as usual. But I think it’s best not to press him about who he was in the past. Right now, Johan is wearing a very hard psychological shell, and if we forcibly remove it… it might be like tearing off a turtle’s shell.”

“…That serious, huh.”

Camilla covered her mouth in shock, but Ophelia remained cool.

“I’ve seen several cases of mental breakdown while treating infected patients. This is a professional assessment.”

“No, I’m perfectly fine.”

I protested, but Camilla nodded with a determined expression. It was as if the word “resolve” was written on her forehead. She stood up and hugged me tightly.

“Everything will be alright now. Don’t worry about anything.”

I should tell her that’s not it, but being held in Camilla’s arms, I can’t think of anything.

I’ll just stay quiet for now.

* * * * *

So I end up in the recovery room again.

Camilla went out to check the situation outside. Occasionally, she would send brief radio messages like “The zombies are dispersing.” Each time, Cassandra would respond, “Okay, got it. Johan is fine.”

“Ouch, ouch.”

Cassandra finally immobilized my right ankle.

“The ligament is slightly stretched. Don’t use your ankle until it heals.”

“Can’t we use some kind of medicine?”

“Maybe a pain patch, but there’s no medicine that can reattach stretched ligaments. Nothing’s broken, at least.”

Cassandra slumped into a chair. She’s wearing a black blouse under her white lab coat, with a white skirt that comes down to just above her knees. She stares at me intently.

She’s even smiling slightly.

“Um, why are you smiling?”

No matter what, it’s weird to smile while staring at someone. Cassandra gently shakes her head.

“Mm. Sorry. Cassandra was being rude.”

‘I’ disappeared again. Apparently, she can’t maintain it for long. Since she’s back to ‘Cassandra’ now. I suppose when she’s aware of being Ophelia, she acts that way because she’s overwhelmed with guilt.

“I just smiled without realizing it because I’m in a good mood.”

I pointed at my ankle. Cassandra smiled broadly.

“It’s not because of that.”

“Then why?”

“Cassandra was envious of Camilla.”

That was a bit random. Why would Cassandra envy Camilla?

“Camilla? Why?”

“Because she’s pretty, good with guns, and agile. Cassandra is a bit chubby.”

Well, she has very large breasts and slightly bigger hips, but I wouldn’t call her chubby. If anything, looking at just her body, she’s average to slightly thin.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“…Most of all, because she seems healthy and normal. Of course, by normal, I mean relative to Cassandra.”

“Come on, I wonder if there’s anyone truly normal in this world.”

After saying that, I felt awkward and lay back, looking at the ceiling. Cassandra dragged her chair closer to my bed with a scraping sound.

“Well, that’s true. But few people walk around broken and shattered. Most people cover it up or dress it nicely. Not like Cassandra, who walks around leaking oil.”

“I think that’s because you’re kind.”

Cassandra burst out laughing.

“Cassandra?”

“I don’t know if I should say this, but if it were me, I’d probably just ignore it and say, ‘So what? Did I do it alone?’ It wasn’t just your responsibility. And how many people really know the full impact of their actions before they take them?”

Cassandra gently gripped my arm. Her hand is quite cold.

“I wish Cassandra’s father had said that to her. He said exactly the opposite. ‘You are meant to lead Elsa. Every action you take will have irreversible consequences.’

And that’s exactly what happened. But, while that was true when breaking things… when trying to fix them, it doesn’t work so well. Is it because Cassandra didn’t listen to her father properly?”

“Who knows? People would probably say it was luck, or coincidence, or that things just happened that way. And you know, you seem too tense—you don’t owe the world anything. And the world doesn’t owe you anything either. Who cares, right?”

Whatever was so funny about that, Cassandra laughed until she shed a few tears.

“Ha. Ha. I don’t remember the last time I laughed like this. It feels strange to hear such words from Johan of all people.”

“What do you mean?”

“Johan is the one who can move zombies now. The most unique person Cassandra knows.”

I really have a lot to say about that.

“Those things don’t listen to me at all. Listen? As if…”

“But just as Johan said, when you whistled into the amplifier, the zombie with chains came running, didn’t it?”

I briefly told Cassandra about what happened with the chain zombie. How it irritated me to no end and wouldn’t move according to my will.

“Hmm…”

But Cassandra isn’t just listening casually; she seems to be pondering something deeply.

“I’ve never thought of an approach like Johan’s. No, nobody else has approached it that way. I wonder why?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Most people, including Cassandra, tried to analyze zombies. More precisely, they focused only on the virus in the zombie’s body.

But Johan focuses more on the zombies themselves. It’s like… you have a talent for reading and handling zombie emotions. You can see what makes zombies angry? That’s what it sounds like from what you’ve told me.”

Well, that’s true. I do know how to provoke them. But is that really such a special ability?

“Johan. Emotions are an extremely powerful language. There’s even a theory that animals that move in groups evolved to read the emotions of other individuals well. You’ve heard of herd instinct, right?”

“Is that so important?”

“It’s much faster and more intuitive to point at a riverbank with a frightened face and trembling hands than to verbally convey that a predator has appeared across the river.

The transmission of emotion is a matter of life and death for a group. Some researchers say emotional language can have an impact on up to ten thousand individuals. The same applies to humans. Emotion is a language. A language that can be understood across different species. Think about the relationship between humans and pets.”

I’ve heard many times that animals other than humans feel emotions. But can the same logic apply to zombies?

“But zombies only have instincts. Well, they seem to feel anger too. And seeing how they slink away when zombie birds fly in, they might feel fear too. But…”

“Johan, that’s just a theory. Theories can always be broken. Until now, it was believed that communication with zombies was impossible. Cassandra thought so too. And here I have a wonderful counterexample right in front of me.”

…I don’t know if I should be happy about this. There’s a big difference between “Here’s a man who stirs the hearts of fans and anti-fans” and “Here’s a man who touches the heartstrings of zombies.”

But Cassandra isn’t finished yet.

“Most importantly, this is significant because it has little to do with the byproducts of the Cro virus. If we can enhance your ability here, and strengthen the power of a certain ruler…”

“What, are you saying I’m going to be some leader of zombies?”

Cassandra neither confirmed nor denied it. Thinking she was making some unfunny joke, I asked again with a laugh.

“No, right?”

Cassandra still said nothing.

“Um… that’s not it, right?”

“Cassandra doesn’t know either. We’ll have to research it. For now… let’s do another blood test. We need to see what changes have occurred since you were scratched last time.”

The wound has healed thanks to Cybele’s medical ointment, but the germs that entered my body are a slightly different matter. I rolled up my sleeve without much resistance. Cassandra drew blood cleanly.

“Can you open your mouth too? I need to scrape some epithelial cells.”

Just wiping the inside of my mouth lightly with a cotton swab. Not a difficult test. Cassandra collected that as well.

“Anything else?”

“Yes. I also want to extract some semen.”

“W-what? What did you say?”

Cassandra put on disposable latex gloves. She even pulled them a couple of times, making a snapping sound.

“W-why do you need that?”

“Hmm? I need to check the level of bacterial infection. It’s for research and medical purposes. Why hide anything from a doctor?”

If you’re that brazen about it, you make me look like a difficult customer.

“Or should I come find you with a beaker when you and Camilla are in the same room?”

“That doesn’t seem… wait, how do you know…”

Was it that obvious? Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. “Huff.” She sighed deeply and threw off her doctor’s coat with her ungloved hand.

“W-what?”

Then she moved close to the bed and leaned her upper body toward me. It feels like one of her breasts alone could cover my face. She takes my hand and pulls it toward her bra hook.

“You’ve already done some fondling… now, want to try some sucking?”

Too big and fair to refuse.

“If it’s for research…”