Chapter 473: Elias
Ryo ordered another glass of purified water at the bar. Carrying the glass, he walked toward the deepest corner of the tavern.
He sat down in the empty seat across from Elias. The metal chair legs scraped against the floor, making a soft sound.
Elias kept his head bowed, unresponsive, as if immersed in his own world.
Ryo pushed the glass of clear water in front of him, placing it next to the untouched synth-amasec.
"Drink some of this," his voice was not loud, but clear enough, transmitting through his built-in speakers with a flat, matter-of-fact quality. "Synthetic alcohol will only further irritate your bronchial mucosa."
Elias's body stiffened imperceptibly, and he slowly raised his head.
His gaze was somewhat unfocused, bearing exhaustion and wariness. He swept his eyes over Ryo's complex mechanical body, finally landing on the glass of water.
"I don't need charity," his voice was hoarse, carrying the lingering aftermath of his coughing fit.
"This is not charity." Ryo's gaze rested steadily on Elias's face through his optical lenses. "Your symptoms are not an ordinary pulmonary infection or pneumoconiosis."
Elias frowned. His lips moved as if wanting to retort, but ultimately, he just pressed them tightly together, maintaining his silence.
Ryo continued speaking, lowering his voice further to ensure only the two of them could hear.
"Persistent dry cough, accompanied by intermittent chest pain and shortness of breath. Physical decline, slow wound healing, accompanied by unexplained subcutaneous petechiae. Your complexion and the color of your inner eyelids both point to suppressed hematopoietic function." He paused slightly, watching the shock and suspicion gradually coalescing in Elias's eyes. "These cannot be explained by a single pathogen."
"They are systemic physiological disorders caused by prolonged, low-dose exposure to high-energy particle radiation of a specific spectrum, resulting in damage at the genetic level."
Elias's breathing quickened noticeably, and the hand he had resting on the table clenched slightly.
Within his house, this illness was broadly referred to as the "Price of the Core" or simply radiation sickness. But no one had ever described its causes and mechanisms so clearly and specifically, let alone directly pinpointing "damage at the genetic level."
This strange cyborg before him had made a more precise diagnosis just through observation than the clinic doctors in the town.
"How... how could you know this?" Elias's voice carried a trace of an undetectable tremble. His previous wariness was replaced by an emotion mixing shock and a faint glimmer of hope.
"I have encountered similar situations." Ryo did not answer directly, but steered the topic toward the core issue. "For this kind of damage, conventional anti-radiation medications and supportive therapies can only delay the deterioration; they cannot cure it. It requires more... targeted bio-restorative technology."
Elias stared intently at Ryo, attempting to discern something from that expressionless metallic face.
"Targeted technology? You say that so lightly. Even the House's..." He abruptly stopped himself, realizing he had almost said too much.
"The House's medical resources are prioritized for those who contribute more to the 'Core,' or those of higher status, correct?" Ryo finished his unspoken sentence, his tone remaining steady. "And you, it seems, are not in the priority sequence."
This sentence was like a needle, popping Elias's feigned calm.
His shoulders slumped, and his eyes revealed agony and a trace of humiliation at having his situation so accurately described.
Ryo observed his reaction, knowing the timing was right.
"If your situation continues to be delayed, the outcome is foreseeable. However, the methods I possess might be able to halt the progression of the damage, perhaps even repair some of the affected tissues." He leaned forward slightly, his mechanical torso emitting faint hydraulic sounds. "But, this requires detailed diagnostic data and your cooperation."
Sitting there, Elias was clearly engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
His house's powerlessness toward this disease contrasted sharply with the hope offered by the stranger before him.
This person calling himself "Karl" was absolutely not an ordinary, down-and-out archeological technician.
The knowledge and judgment he displayed far exceeded the level of this small town.
"Why help me?" Elias finally raised his head, looking directly into Ryo's optical lenses. His voice was dry.
"As I said, I require data and cooperation," Ryo's answer was watertight. "Your case possesses research value. Helping you is a necessary prerequisite to acquiring this data. This is a transaction."
Under the dim light of the tavern, the air between the two seemed to freeze.
Elias looked at the glass of clear water, then at Ryo. Ultimately, his instinct for survival and dissatisfaction with the status quo overwhelmed his fear of the unknown.
He took a deep breath, triggering another slight bout of coughing.
After it subsided, he whispered, "This is not the place to talk."
Elias's residence was located at the end of a secluded corridor. The door was a standard alloy bulkhead, appearing no different from the other apartments.
He swiped his ident-card to unlock it and pushed the door open, signaling Ryo to enter.
The interior space was cramped and sparsely furnished.
A narrow bed, an alloy wardrobe, and a desk piled high with miscellaneous items and data slates occupied almost all the space.
The walls were bare metal plating, and a vent in the corner emitted a continuous, low hum.
The most conspicuous things were the massive amounts of data slates, technical manuals, and hand-drawn circuit diagrams scattered across the desk and beside the bed. Some were even annotated with complex formulas and simplified structural diagrams of starship systems.
A faint smell of machine oil permeated the air, mixed with a barely perceptible scent belonging to a sick person.
Elias locked the door behind him, his movements seeming somewhat hurried.
He leaned against the door panel, panting a few times before pointing to the only chair in the room.
"Have a seat." He then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze never leaving Ryo.
Ryo did not stand on ceremony. His massive mechanical body sat on the chair that didn't look particularly sturdy, emitting a soft creak as it bore his weight.
He set down his toolbag and retrieved a palm-sized device from within.
The exterior of the device looked somewhat worn, resembling a common civilian medical scanner, but its internal components had been replaced and enhanced.
"I need more detailed physiological data," Ryo said, activating the device.
A soft blue scanning beam shot from the probe, sweeping over Elias's chest and head areas.
The device emitted a rhythmic low hum, and data streams scrolled rapidly across its screen.
Elias watched the scanner nervously, then looked at Ryo. "This thing..."
"A standard model, with some modifications for higher precision," Ryo explained simply, his focus remaining on the constantly changing data and waveforms on the screen.
The scan lasted for about two minutes.
During this time, Elias couldn't help but cough a few more times.
When the scan concluded, Ryo examined the compiled analysis report on the screen.
The report displayed the degree of fibrosis in Elias's lung tissue, the suppression index of his hematopoietic stem cell activity, and the concentration of markers indicating radiation damage at the cellular level, all in concise charts and numerical values.
The data corroborated his previous diagnosis; the situation was even more severe than it appeared on the surface.