The five tied-up monsters growled and struggled against their ropes.
Their eyes were wild.
Animal-like.
Yet something about them still felt human.
We all stood around them in silence.
Trying to figure out what to do next.
"Ooi, these are the people who transformed?" Yamato asked.
As usual, he was eating vanilla ice cream.
"Yes."
Yamato stared at the monsters for a moment.
Then took another bite.
"Huh."
"What do you mean 'huh'?" I asked.
"I'm thinking."
"About what?"
"About whether I should get another ice cream."
I stared at him.
My grumpy neighbor sighed.
"I don't think we can turn them back into humans, Mr. Yamato."
Unlike the rest of us, he wasn't a fighter.
He was a doctor.
A surprisingly good one.
Yamato finally became serious.
"Then we study them."
The doctor adjusted his glasses.
"Study them?"
"We never knew monsters were transformed humans."
Yamato looked at the creatures.
"If we understand what caused this..."
He paused.
"...we might learn how monsters are made."
The doctor's expression darkened.
"To do that, we'll need blood samples."
"And we'll need to keep them under control."
His eyes shifted toward me.
"And him too."
I blinked.
"Why me?"
"Because you're keeping them calm by slapping them."
I looked down.
One of the monsters was trying to bite me.
SLAP.
"Behave."
The monster immediately stopped struggling.
The doctor rubbed his forehead.
"See?"
Yamato nodded.
"Fair point."
Then something caught my eye.
"Hey."
I pointed toward one of the monsters.
"Look at its neck."
The others stepped closer.
On the sides of the monster's neck were strange holes.
Two of them.
Perfectly circular.
The doctor frowned.
"I didn't notice those."
"Look at the hips too."
There were four more holes near its waist.
Larger than the ones on its neck.
The room fell silent.
Nobody knew what they were.
Yamato crouched beside the creature.
For the first time all day, he forgot about his ice cream.
"I don't get it."
"Me neither," the doctor admitted.
He adjusted his glasses again.
"We'll need a proper examination."
The monster suddenly lunged forward.
The ropes strained.
"First," the doctor said, stepping back,
"We need to make them unconscious."
Yamato laughed.
"That's impossible."
"These things are too wild."
The doctor sighed.
"I know."
The room became quiet.
Then I raised my hand.
"Maybe..."
Everyone looked at me.
"...I can try."