Chapter 179. Liars Must Eat a Thousand Candies
A somewhat dim, gentle glow lit up the room.
All around were instruments with lights flickering nonstop, and dense pipelines laid out across the floor.
The only difference from last time was a virtual pod placed beside Theresa's nutrient pod in the center.
Its exterior was similar yet not identical to Anti-Entropy's, and it even bore Schicksal's emblem.
He stepped toward Theresa.
Seeing the petite girl sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed, his footsteps unconsciously grew lighter, as if he did not want to disturb her slumber.
But he quickly chuckled and shook his head.
He had come to wake Theresa, after all — what was he hesitating for?
Stopping in front of the nutrient pod, Xander Masato stood still and bent down.
One palm rested lightly on the transparent glass.
Watching Theresa slowly rise and fall in the nutrient fluid, her thick clothes wrapping her body so tightly that only a small head was exposed — and even her face was covered by a breathing apparatus — she looked like a princess in a dream.
He opened his mouth, and for a moment found he did not know what to say.
This visit was also a trial run.
Unlike last time, Theresa had not been told that Xander Masato would return to see her.
If he succeeded in waking her again today, they would officially adopt the new treatment plan.
If not, everything would remain the same.
Somewhat hesitant and a little nervous, he let his feelings ripen and took a slow breath with his eyes closed.
At that moment, a voice call suddenly popped up on the screen of a nearby instrument.
A slightly mature woman's voice came through.
"Young man, there's no need to be so tense.
Just say whatever you want to say from your heart.
Don't worry — Miss Theresa can hear you."
Startled, Xander Masato opened his eyes and looked at the screen, asking in puzzlement, "And you are?"
"I'm one of Miss Theresa's attending physicians.
I saw how nervous you were, so I couldn't help coming on to chat and help you relax."
Xander Masato did not doubt her introduction.
He trusted Otto's protective measures for his own granddaughter.
This attending physician was clearly a bit of a chatterbox.
No sooner had she finished one sentence than she added another: "But you really are pure, young man.
It suddenly makes me miss my youth.
Back then I was interning under my professor at Schicksal Hospital.
My husband was my senior.
He didn't know how to express his feelings, so every time he bought pig hearts for dissection he would secretly buy an extra one for me.
After the dissection he'd ladle all the meat from the stew into my bowl, even making our professor a little jealous.
And for my thesis, he secretly moved a cadaver into our dorm so I'd have enough time for research.
Ah, thinking about it now, it was really romantic~"
Him, "pure"?
If Bronya heard someone say that, she would definitely point and laugh.
Also, there were so many things wrong with that story that he could barely keep a straight face.
Do medical students really have such… particular tastes?
With a snark stuck in his throat that he could neither spit out nor swallow, he felt a little suffocated.
Thankfully, another voice chimed in.
"Hey you — stop promoting your weird, messed-up view of romance, will you!"
It was a middle-aged male voice, and it sounded… a little unserious?
"What's messed up about it?
Isn't it romantic for two people to dissect the same pig heart together?!"
"That's enough."
Judging by the shifting distance of the voices, the female doctor had probably been pushed aside.
"Young man, don't listen to her nonsense.
Your story is much more romantic than hers."
He paused, then spoke in an odd, performative tone: "A girl frail and sickly since childhood, confined to a hospital bed.
A sunny, warm boy who brings light to others.
Two people who would never have crossed paths begin to meet because of virtual reality.
The boy travels across the world just to wake the girl from her sleep — oh, what a moving tale!
It makes me want to compose a poem —"
Thud!
After the sound of a fist to the gut, the female doctor's voice came back, "Don't you dare recite your awful poems.
I'm afraid I'll throw up my breakfast."
"Lies!
Those are my greatest works.
Being a doctor is merely the shell that restrains my wild and romantic soul!"
"Then why were all your submissions rejected?"
"T-that's because the judges are far too shallow to appreciate my elegant, profound verses.
Young man, want me to teach you a few lines to say to Miss Theresa?"
"Stop leading the youth astray!"
"Ahem."
A third voice finally cut in, as if unable to watch any longer, coughing twice.
The owner of this voice seemed quite authoritative.
As soon as he spoke, the other two fell quiet.
"You two, don't make trouble.
As for what to say — let Mr. Masato speak freely."
"Okay~" two voices in unison
This voice was quite young, and his tone was gentle, which surprised Xander Masato a little.
Then he stepped toward the mic and said softly, "Sorry.
These two are… well, a bit free-spirited in their thinking.
You can trust their abilities."
Speaking of his team members, the gentleman sounded a little embarrassed.
"No, it's fine.
Both doctors are… very passionate about life."
Choosing his words, Xander Masato forced a smile and replied.
High EQ: passionate about life.
Low EQ: a bit unwell in the head.
Seemingly catching the subtext in Xander Masato's words, the gentleman let out a long sigh.
"While you're talking, we'll be monitoring Miss Theresa's mind in real time.
If we detect sentences that cause significant fluctuations, we'll notify you.
Are you ready?"
Now that they had gotten to the point, Xander Masato's expression grew a shade more serious.
After all that commotion, he really did feel more relaxed.
"I understand."
He nodded lightly, set one hand on the nutrient pod, and dropped to one knee so he could be closer to Theresa.
Looking at Theresa's gentle face, he suddenly stalled again just as he was about to speak.
He was here to wake Theresa — but what exactly should he say?
A normal greeting?
Something moving?
Or should he actually do as that man joked and recite a poem?
Or read a piece of prose?
He flipped through his memories.
Maybe "The Back"?
No — that would probably make Otto come after him with a gun.
Shaking his head to cast off that ridiculous idea, Xander Masato fell silent again.
"If you don't know what to say, try moving through modes of address that express relationship — from distant to intimate.
Layer it step by step.
That can be our little experiment."
Sensing his difficulty, the person in charge offered a suggestion.
Thinking it over, Xander Masato decided to try it his way.
Fixing his gaze on Theresa's closed eyes, he finally spoke.
"Theresa, long time no see."
No response.
"Theresa, I came to hang out with you."
No response.
"Theresa, time to wake up!"
"Theresa, I bought tickets to the Homu Amusement Park.
Let's go play together again."
Right then, a voice by his ear — barely suppressing excitement — burst out, "Oh my God, we've got movement!
Real movement!
Young man, keep it up — Miss Theresa reacted to what you just said!!"
At that, Xander Masato's spirits lifted, and he spoke even more earnestly.
From playing together to eating together, from gifts to promises, he tried nearly everything he could think of.
Theresa's mind did fluctuate a few times, but she still did not fully awaken.
"Still not enough?"
He licked his lips; his throat was getting dry.
"Just a little more!
Just a little more!
Young man, push through!!!"
After a moment of silence, Masato spoke slowly.
"Back then, Theresa, you asked me: what if we never see each other again?
I said it's okay — when that happens, I'll come and find you.
You asked what if I can't find you.
I said then I'll keep looking, until I do.
You were still worried, so you hooked pinkies with me and said that if I lied, I'd have to eat a thousand candies."
He had asked curiously: why candies for lying?
Shouldn't it be "swallow a thousand needles"?
After the pinky swear, Theresa had smiled and answered, "Because I don't want Mr. Homu to get hurt because of me.
Even if Mr. Homu can't find Theresa, those thousand candies will be enough for Mr. Homu to eat for a long, long time.
Each time he eats a candy, Mr. Homu will think of Theresa once.
That way, Mr. Homu will never forget Theresa."
Innocent.
Beautiful.
And sincere.
"Now I'm keeping our promise and have come to find you, Theresa."
His voice grew even softer, and Xander Masato smiled gently.
When they made that promise ten minutes before parting, Xander Masato thought he would have to wait until Theresa's treatment was complete before he could fulfill it.
He did not expect it to happen now.
It seemed he would not need to eat those candies after all.
Better to save them all for Theresa.
But Theresa still lay there quietly.
Still not enough?
Feeling a bit of regret, Xander Masato was just about to say something that would have made Otto pull the trigger if he had been present when shouts of surprise suddenly rang in his ear.
"Peak reached!
We've hit peak!
Quick — switch nutrient-pod modes and stabilize Miss Theresa's mind!"
With no time to listen to the confused chatter in his ear, Xander Masato opened his eyes wide and met a pair of crimson pupils slowly opening to look at him.
As before, the small hands, threaded with many lines and tubes, strained upward.
Slowly, the two palms pressed together through the layer of glass.
He saw Theresa's lips gently part, then curve into a smile at him.
That smile — drawn out with all she could muster from a frail body — was faint, but its instant of beauty was enough to move the heart.
He could not hear her voice, but he knew she was calling him Mr. Homu.
"We're stabilizing Miss Theresa's mind.
Please stay with her for a while.
In about ten minutes we can activate the virtual pod."
"Mm."
He nodded and leaned a bit closer to the nutrient pod.
"Theresa, don't worry.
Wait just a little longer.
In a bit I'll be able to play with you."
Theresa nodded lightly, gazing at him with no trace of impatience.
From time to time she blinked, her mouth opening and closing, but at this distance Xander Masato could no longer tell what she wanted to say.
After they stared wide-eyed at each other for quite a while — and after Xander Masato ran out of things to mutter — he finally heard the doctors breathe a sigh of relief.
"All good.
All instruments adjusted.
Gene therapy paused.
Nutrient composition changed.
Beginning the monthly mental conditioning phase."
They were old hands at the subsequent procedures.
They had merely swapped the initial electrical stimulation for a safer, manual awakening.
"The virtual pod is connected to the Schicksal network.
We've preloaded engineer privileges in it.
We hope you and Miss Theresa enjoy a wonderful week together."
Theresa's monthly period of wakefulness lasted one week.
Xander Masato decided to treat it as a short vacation for himself. Whether for work or life, both the head above and the head below needed a good rest.
"Thank you.
I'll go keep Theresa company.
Oh — will virtual reality affect her?"
He replied with a smile, but quickly followed up with a question.
"Affect her?
Of course it will.
But don't worry — it's a good kind of effect.
To keep Miss Theresa's mind stable, she needs to remain mentally active.
Isn't virtual reality a perfect place for that?"
"I see.
Then I'll trouble you with the rest."
"Not trouble at all, not at all!
Young man, hurry and go to Miss Theresa.
She's already gone ahead — being alone is lonely!"
"Mm."
He nodded, stepped into Schicksal's virtual pod, put on the helmet with practiced ease, and closed his eyes.
Its configuration was much like Anti-Entropy's.
No guidance was needed to use it skillfully.
Soon, that familiar sensation swept over him, as if his consciousness were being kneaded and stretched.
…
Seeing the connection light turn on atop the virtual pod, the trio of doctors in another room relaxed into their chairs.
"Wow, the young man actually did it.
Didn't expect that~"
The bubbly female doctor stretched and rattled on like a machine gun: "I thought last time was a special case, but it wasn't, huh.
We even used AI to simulate the young man's voice one-to-one, but Miss Theresa didn't react — none of the little fluctuations like today."
"The human body is amazing, right?
There's still so, so much mystery we haven't uncovered~"
When she mentioned the human body, she could not help but chuckle.
"Tsk, tsk."
Casting a disdainful glance at his oddball colleague, the "poet" confined by the doctor's profession said, "What do you know?
This is true romance — like a beautiful fairy tale.
Only her prince can wake the princess.
Oh, I feel a new poem coming —"
"You two, settle down.
Record everything about today and each submit a report."
Ignoring the instant frowns of his two subordinates, their lead sat before the screens, frowning in thought as he watched the now-quiet room.
Could there really be some indescribable force at work?
With gray long hair tied in a simple braid, he squinted eyes that looked as if they were barely open, pondering this question that people had debated since ancient times.
After a while, he sighed and rubbed his temples.
Forget it.
No more thinking.
This week is Theresa's wakeful period.
If there is nothing urgent, he could take a short vacation — buy a ticket to visit Kevin and hang out for a couple of days.
Kevin was basically always alone at home anyway; better to keep him some company, Su thought so.
Those watching and monitoring the lab were not only Su's team.
Not far away, in Schicksal's Bishop's office, Kallen watched Theresa awaken little by little and flashed a V-sign at Otto in delight.
"I told you, Xander would definitely succeed.
I win the bet!
So, Otto — you can't bully Xander!"
"I will not break our agreement."
The blond man in a bishop's robe leaned back in his chair, casting a somewhat helpless glance at the bounding, girl-at-heart Kallen, then fixed his eyes on the screen showing the two sleepers.
Even if science could not quite explain it, he had no doubt.
After all, he was the one who believed in such feelings more than anyone else in the world.
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