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nuggetofthesea · 12 days ago

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It really is a good read! Can't wait for more. 💙

ALTERNATE HUMANITY A Field Guide to "Humanity Removal Therapy"

Part 1: Introductions

This is a complimentary series to this system's other Animal HRT series; Black Arms HRT

This story is NOT written by the system's host, Aikshlin (🌹). To keep with the mystery of the story itself, the author of this story has chosen to simply go by "Penpal" (🖋) for the time being.

WARNING: This story currently contains Swearing, Mild Mentions of Death, Implied Reincarnation, and a perhaps Untrustworthy Narrator

[The Beginning (You are here!)] [Next (Coming Soon)]

Somewhere within a city left a mystery to most, there lives a peculiar scientist by the name of Doctor Theodore H. Erian, who is known by a select group of individuals for providing an experimental treatment to anyone across the dimensional planes willing to take it. ‘Animal HRT’, they call it, though it is more professionally understood as ‘Humanity Removal Therapy’; a medical miracle designed to change someone into a completely different species.

Despite its colloquial name, this treatment is not limited to just animals, nor is it limited to species commonly considered as ‘real’. Creatures of fantasy, creatures of folklore, and even creatures from modern fictional media have been achieved from this incredible treatment.

With a power so great, it was only a matter of time until that power, that medicine, fell into the wrong hands. Some would argue that Doctor Erian’s hands were already the wrong hands. Others would point to other doctors not affiliated with Doctor Erian, giving out “back alley treatments” as Erian himself would call them.

But there are a select few that say that the true danger lies within the patients themselves.

After all, despite Doctor Erian’s claims that he asks each patient to spend at least 48 months as their desired species, it has been found that it is scarily easy for these patients to just lie and get what they want at a moment’s notice.

The city where Doctor Erian works, only known as ‘Hyper City’, is said to be a crossroads between dimensions. A place that anyone from any reality can access if they have knowledge of it, and a place where theoretically one could travel to any reality from as well. With such widespread access to this strange location, it was only a matter of time before someone with questionable motives came across its existence.

And with it, the existence of ‘Humanity Removal Therapy’ as well.

Somewhere within the computer of Doctor Erian, there exists a copy of a set of journal entries. And elsewhere on that same computer, there exists an email sent to him by a concerned citizen of “who-knows-what” planet of the “who-knows-where” dimension (his words) – several, in fact.

Doctor Erian was dismissive of the message at first, regarding it as either something already addressed or simply an attempt at ‘trolling’.

But once he saw the entries included in the email, he saw the situation unfolding just under his nose to be quite the troubling one.

And perhaps you will too.

---

January 8th, 2025

Today was a short day at the station, or at least it was for me. A sudden and rather heavy snowstorm is supposed to hit the area tonight (??? Yeah of course it's sudden how the hell are we getting snow???), so all attention is given to our meteorologist for today’s broadcast.

Not that I’m complaining, of course. The less labour I have to endure, the better.

But either way, this leaves me with a lot of free time on my hands. Originally I was going to make use of that time by heading down to the entertainment department to see how A████’s work was coming along, but as I got up and started to head over to his desk, I noticed that they were, in fact, already here within my area, talking to another member of the news crew as the two of them sipped on bottles of water from the work cooler.

“... Can’t seriously be real,” I recall having picked up on the tail end of a sentence from A████, spoken in disbelief.

“I went there! It’s real!” The other guy insisted. I had inferred from those words that they must have been talking about a location of some kind.

“Well then explain to me why I’ve never seen this ‘Hyper City’ on a map anywhere,” A████ had inquired of his peer.

“Oh yeah, that. I think a local told me that it’s a sort of realm between dimensions? So you can get there from wherever, so long as it’s your intention to get there!” The other guy tried to explain himself, but it only seemed to make A████ even more skeptical.

“Yeah, you’re making this shit up,” It scoffed, ready to take off elsewhere.

But before he could, I inserted myself into the conversation. I couldn’t help it, I was horribly curious. Something had beckoned me to get to know as much as I could on this strange topic the two were speaking of.

But what else is new?

A████ was pretty happy to see me, usually is, so he was more than happy to give me the details. Though, part of me suspected that part of it was A████ being forced to do the ‘honors’, since the other guy seemed to be a starstruck newbie and/or low level that completely froze at the sight of me.

According to A████, he and the new guy were talking about some fantastical town called “Hyper City” that can access any and every dimension and world and that is filled with humanoid animal beings. Yeah, can’t blame A████, that is pretty out there.

But I have seen stranger, experienced stranger. Despite our closeness, A████’s pretty new to what we do here as well. Kiddo’s still on their first life and everything. So while I can’t blame it for not believing the story, I also don’t agree with it.

Without even thinking about it, an order for the two of them to go out to this ‘Hyper City’ and retrieve a souvenir from there slipped out from my lips. I only realized I had said it when A████ questioned if we should run that plan past the Big Bear first.

Whether I had just forgotten to think before I spoke or if it was something deeper than that I never really cared to look into, to be honest. Makes no difference to me.

But yeah, I should probably get to writing that email to D████. I still have a lot left to get done before I go about kicking another bucket, you know?

> What’s this about you dying now? It is much too early for that.

Oh, hey babe! Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Just a little joke, LOL.

> Good. Make sure it stays that way.

Sigh. Only you would threaten me to not die. <3

By the way, why are you in my notes?

> Nearly 35 years, and you’re only asking that now? You really are a dumbass.

“Why”, not “how”. Who’s the dumbass now?

> You never hesitate to make use of your special privileges, do you?

> But to answer your question, I must remind you that you have a meeting with S████ and Doctor K████ at eight o’clock.

Oh shit that’s right! Thanks hun.

Now I really should get to that email, huh-?

> Yes.

Remind me to update this document with the results of the little chase I’ve sent A████ and that other guy on.

> As if you even need to ask me. Your “inspiration” will surely beat me to the chase. 100%.

Love you too.

---

January 9th, 2025

The storm came just as strongly as predicted, leaving us with a couple inches of snow on the ground.

I honestly couldn't believe it. Snow? This far south? I'll be honest, when I wrote that part down yesterday I thought it was some sort of joke. But the current way the world's been going has left the weather all sorts of fucked up.

Despite the nearly once in a lifetime experience going on outside, I had stuck to my usual morning routine of getting ready to go to work. Sure, it may be unusually cold out today, but I always wear at least two layers of clothes anyways.

But apparently I was taken off of the work schedule for today regardless.

On record they wrote that it was because I live too far out from the station, and they didn't want me driving across town. But honestly, I just think they're pampering me.

I can't tell if that thought makes me feel flattered or insulted.

And A████ laughing about it when I called him earlier didn't help me decide, either. Yeah, of course this is typical for his hometown back in New York, but we certainly aren't up there, are we?

But either way, that means that instead of going to work and getting to report about the first snowfall I've ever gotten to see, I'm relegated to just writing a follow-up to what I was talking about yesterday.

I did actually get an email back from Mr D████, like pretty much right after I sent him my message! I know, pretty surprising, right? The old man usually takes like a week to respond to any emails sent to him at the earliest.

But apparently he had already heard about this ‘Hyper City’ place. Didn't know about the weird dimension part of it though, only knew it as a place S████ had told him and everyone else about wanting to take a vacation to.

Suffice to say, that was a pretty interesting bit of information to have with me during that meeting with her and E████ K████.

Speaking of, here's an excerpt from that meeting, recounted to the best of my ability. Why? S████ brings up something pretty interesting about Hyper City, I think. Also, because I was told to.

–

“Oh, just so you know, I'm gonna be going on a bit of a vacation next week. So don't count on me being available during that time, okay~?”

“I'm aware.”

“Wait, what??”

“Care to explain how, L████?”

“Heh, sure!”

“But first, what if I told you that I also know where it is you plan to go?”

“That'd be…”

“That'd be so cool!!”

“S████, you're planning a vacation to Hyper City, right?”

“Yeah!! How'd you know?”

“Well, you see, it seems you're not the only one around here who knows of that strange place.”

–

I then proceeded to explain to S████ the conversation I had inserted myself into yesterday.

It was her response to this explanation of mine that had truly captured my attention.

–

“Well I definitely hope it's real!! I'm traveling out there in the hopes of getting my hands on some Cat HRT!”

“... Cat HRT? Like… Hormones for… cats???”

“Not quite! Apparently, it's HRT that’s supposed to turn you into a cat!”

“And before you ask how I'm gonna still do my duties while being a cat – you can apparently stop before a certain point and you'll stay an anthropomorphic animal rather than going full feral! The ‘crossroads’, I think it was called?”

“... I'm putting you into the souvenir venture group as well. If it's alright with E████, I'd like for you to join A████ and B████ in their expedition, and for your souvenir to be that ‘Cat HRT’ you so desire.”

“Well who would I be to defy that decree?”

“Can do!!”

–

And after that, we moved on to other topics of discussion.

But you can see why what she said interested me, right?

> Once more, you are not beating the ‘catboy’ allegations.

THE CAT PART IS NOT WHY I'M INTRIGUED, YOU CALCULATOR.

> Surely.

> Allow me to predict what you are about to type; It is the general idea of transforming the human body into something it was ‘not supposed to be’, yes?

Pretty much, yeah.

Turning into a cat is cool and all, but I think this technology could go to a much more important use if we got a hold of it, wouldn't you agree?

> Certainly.

I think I need to put these notes - starting with yesterday's - into a document of their own. I have a feeling that this may grow into a story of its own at some point.

So I'm going to do that now.

---

January 18th, 2025

After giving out today’s report, I was called to the break room to have a bit of a chat. That much isn’t too unusual, happens to me a lot. What can I say, people wanna hear what I have to say!

What was unusual was that it was E████ of all people who had requested my presence.

When we met up just outside the break room, I had asked them what they were doing here – why they were not back at their lab like usual.

To that they had just a simple response.

–

“Whenever there’s something I need to tell you, or anyone else that works here at the station, I usually send S████ out to deliver the message for me. But since now S████ has something she must say to you, but is… scared to, I figured I’d play fair and do the honors for kit.”

–

I understood their words quite well, but I was a bit surprised to hear that S████ would be scared to tell me something.

I had a feeling it had something to do with the ‘Cat HRT’ thing, but she does know that I wouldn’t be mad at her if things fell through just this once… right?

Well, if not, then I should set the record straight and make it clear that she’s okay – that’s what I figured at the time.

So I asked E████ outright if S████ had failed to obtain the ‘Cat HRT’.

She had.

Apparently, the doctor that gives that stuff out over in Hyper City is a strict one, making the people who come to him to jump through so many hoops just to start treatment that it makes us look like a free-for-all. The current supporting claim for this is that ‘Animal HRT’ is still experimental, so it’s ‘best practice’ to limit the amount of people who can have it.

What a load of bullshit, whatever happened to unleashing a substance into a small town to roam free so you can see what happens?

> Hah.

<33

But anyways, once I had that explanation from E████, I made my way inside the break room where S████, as well as A████ and B████, were waiting for me.

A████ stood at the front of the group, confidently holding his souvenir – a branded pen from the Hyper City Municipal Zoo.

B████ stood just off to the side of A████, looking a bit less confident in my presence. In his hands he held a printed photograph of himself, A████ and S████ in the streets of Hyper City.

Clever boy, that one.

And then there was poor S████, cowering behind the other two as she refused to look me in the eyes. Within their shaking hands, I could just barely make out a snow globe, containing within it a miniature model of the city – one that lined up very well with what B████’s photo depicted.

After looking at each of the souvenirs, I handed them all back to their respective owners and thanked them on a job well done.

A████ and B████ looked delighted to have my approval, but S████ was instead confused. She asked me why I wasn’t upset at her.

After all, it had not done as I asked. They did bring a souvenir, yes, but it was not the one I instructed kit to get.

I informed her that I was very much aware of the fact that they had indeed tried to get a hold of a ‘Cat HRT’ prescription, but the plans fell through. And so I had said to her;

–

“Why would I be mad at you for trying?”

–

That did seem to make her feel better, though not entirely. So I went for another swing;

–

“And besides, you’ll have some to show off in about 48 months right? That’s a pretty short amount of time in the grand scheme of what we’re promised.”

–

But that one was unfortunately a miss.

As it turns out, S████ was not in fact just put on the waiting list for getting her desired ‘Animal HRT’.

She had been outright rejected.

She had explained - tearfully - that no real reason had been given to it, just some vague bullshitting about a “sketchy result in a background check”.

I remember seeing red then, and I still do now as I write this down.

I knew right then and there that I would have to face this doctor himself. Doctor Erian is his name, apparently.

But whoever he is, I’m going to make him fess up to the real reason he denied S████ treatment.

> May I accompany you?

You? Asking to do something? That’s new.

But yeah. I was already planning on it.

> Of course you were, gayass.

BITCH???

So mean to me, for no reason at all. </3

But anyways.

My memory of what happened next begins to become a bit fuzzy at this point, but I know I took off from the break room and wordlessly made my way to Mr. D████’s office. I knew I’d need to get another bit of approval to go to Hyper City myself. That certainty was the only thing in my mind at the time outside of the all-consuming rage I had felt.

Once I entered his office, however, that one driving thought had faded. I had gotten where I needed to in order to get what I wanted, so all that was left was my anger.

It’s at that point where my memory cuts out completely for a bit.

We pick back up some time later, with me still sitting in the office, and Mr. D████ walking in on me being there.

Understandably, he asked what I was doing in there – which snapped me out of my daze.

I had been seated in a chair placed right in front of his desk, gripping on a teddy bear that had been placed on his desk, ████, I think his name is, with such force that it could probably kill if the guy was still human.

After recollecting myself, I had managed to explain what had happened with S████, and gave out my request to go to Hyper City on my own to confront Doctor Erian.

I was approved for February 9th. “Don’t kill the guy”, I was told.

No promises.

–

The following is an email correspondence between Doctor Theodore H. Erian and Doctor Mirai Fortune.

To: Dr. Mirai Fortune

From: Dr. Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Follow Up on “Notes on Animal HRT”

Good afternoon Doctor Fortune.

Or whatever time of day it is for you where you are.

I have finally gotten around to reading through the PDF file you sent to me, and I must say, first and foremost, that I apologize for brushing off both our face-to-face meeting in my office some months ago and your first few emails as baseless fear mongering. It seems I have no reason to regret turning Miss Holmes away after all.

That is, I assume the person described as seeking Cat HRT in these notes is her, right?

I ask because while I am not sure if you are aware of this, parts of the file are redacted. Specifically, all names mentioned in the text aside from my own.

I personally find this quite troubling, as I believe that having as much information on this group of people is priority here, especially when it seems that the writer of the notes, who I only know currently as “L” due to the redactions, threatens to harm me.

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: PDF Error

Hello, Doctor Erian.

The redaction on some parts of the PDF I sent you is not intended, and the fact that it is there is something that deeply troubles me. I apologize for whatever confusion it may have caused. I really thought my assistant had successfully decrypted the encryption put on the document.

You see, Doctor Erian, the people that we are dealing with are very committed to their secrecy.

But the two of us will continue to work on this matter, and will send you the decrypted files as soon as we can.

Thank you for informing me of this matter.

And by the way, yes. The apparent “S” mentioned in the files is Serena Holmes. I appreciate you taking my advice to refuse her treatment.

I understand you may see it as cruel to deny a patient on such grounds, but I promise you that she is not nearly as innocent as she seems.

None of these people are.

Again, thank you for working with us to ensure the safety and sanctity of humanity across the dimensions.

Mirai

To: Doctor Mirai Fortune

From: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Response To: “PDF Error”

Good morning Doctor Fortune,

I understand that the redactions were made in error, but can I at the very least have the name of the person who wrote these notes? Again, it seems that they intend to hurt me, and I would like to have the necessary information to keep them out of my office.

By the way, shortly after you left that picture of Miss Holmes at my desk, I tried asking a friend of mine that is more familiar with other dimensions and supernatural things about that symbol that was on the back of the photo. Unfortunately, the two of us got a bit… distracted talking about something else that was going on at the time, so I was not able to get an answer from her.

Could you tell me what it is? Thank you in advance.

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: Names and Symbols

Hello Doctor Erian.

The symbol on the back of the photo is the emblem of the organization Serena is a part of. Refuse service to all that wear it.

You will find that the name of these note’s author will be easy to find. Fortunately, it seems the title of the document itself was successfully decrypted by my assistant in the copy you have.

What is the name of this “friend” you speak of? Is she an assistant of yours?

Mirai

To: Doctor Mirai Fortune

From: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Assistant

Good evening, Doctor Fortune,

The name of my friend is Iris – she calls herself “Iris the Dark Witch”. I suppose you could call her an “assistant” in a sense, as she is the one I worked with to develop Animal HRT (Humanity Removal Therapy), in the first place.

I’ll forward her this email chain to see if I can get her opinion on all this.

Aside from that, I must admit I am not fond of your vagueness when it comes to the author’s name. Again, I ask, what is their name?

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: [N/A]

Hello Doctor Erian.

If it does not come to you now, then it will when he shows up in your office.

I trust you to act accordingly.

If he asks to have you view anything on his computer, refuse immediately.

Mirai

40 notes · View notes

nuggetofthesea · 13 days ago

Text

ALTERNATE HUMANITY A Field Guide to "Humanity Removal Therapy"

Part 1: Introductions

This is a complimentary series to this system's other Animal HRT series; Black Arms HRT

This story is NOT written by the system's host, Aikshlin (🌹). To keep with the mystery of the story itself, the author of this story has chosen to simply go by "Penpal" (🖋) for the time being.

WARNING: This story currently contains Swearing, Mild Mentions of Death, Implied Reincarnation, and a perhaps Untrustworthy Narrator

[The Beginning (You are here!)] [Next (Coming Soon)]

But there are a select few that say that the true danger lies within the patients themselves.

And with it, the existence of ‘Humanity Removal Therapy’ as well.

Doctor Erian was dismissive of the message at first, regarding it as either something already addressed or simply an attempt at ‘trolling’.

But once he saw the entries included in the email, he saw the situation unfolding just under his nose to be quite the troubling one.

And perhaps you will too.

---

January 8th, 2025

Not that I’m complaining, of course. The less labour I have to endure, the better.

“... Can’t seriously be real,” I recall having picked up on the tail end of a sentence from A████, spoken in disbelief.

“I went there! It’s real!” The other guy insisted. I had inferred from those words that they must have been talking about a location of some kind.

“Well then explain to me why I’ve never seen this ‘Hyper City’ on a map anywhere,” A████ had inquired of his peer.

“Yeah, you’re making this shit up,” It scoffed, ready to take off elsewhere.

But what else is new?

Whether I had just forgotten to think before I spoke or if it was something deeper than that I never really cared to look into, to be honest. Makes no difference to me.

But yeah, I should probably get to writing that email to D████. I still have a lot left to get done before I go about kicking another bucket, you know?

> What’s this about you dying now? It is much too early for that.

Oh, hey babe! Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Just a little joke, LOL.

> Good. Make sure it stays that way.

Sigh. Only you would threaten me to not die. <3

By the way, why are you in my notes?

> Nearly 35 years, and you’re only asking that now? You really are a dumbass.

“Why”, not “how”. Who’s the dumbass now?

> You never hesitate to make use of your special privileges, do you?

> But to answer your question, I must remind you that you have a meeting with S████ and Doctor K████ at eight o’clock.

Oh shit that’s right! Thanks hun.

Now I really should get to that email, huh-?

> Yes.

Remind me to update this document with the results of the little chase I’ve sent A████ and that other guy on.

> As if you even need to ask me. Your “inspiration” will surely beat me to the chase. 100%.

Love you too.

---

January 9th, 2025

The storm came just as strongly as predicted, leaving us with a couple inches of snow on the ground.

But apparently I was taken off of the work schedule for today regardless.

On record they wrote that it was because I live too far out from the station, and they didn't want me driving across town. But honestly, I just think they're pampering me.

I can't tell if that thought makes me feel flattered or insulted.

Suffice to say, that was a pretty interesting bit of information to have with me during that meeting with her and E████ K████.

–

“Oh, just so you know, I'm gonna be going on a bit of a vacation next week. So don't count on me being available during that time, okay~?”

“I'm aware.”

“Wait, what??”

“Care to explain how, L████?”

“Heh, sure!”

“But first, what if I told you that I also know where it is you plan to go?”

“That'd be…”

“That'd be so cool!!”

“S████, you're planning a vacation to Hyper City, right?”

“Yeah!! How'd you know?”

“Well, you see, it seems you're not the only one around here who knows of that strange place.”

–

I then proceeded to explain to S████ the conversation I had inserted myself into yesterday.

It was her response to this explanation of mine that had truly captured my attention.

–

“Well I definitely hope it's real!! I'm traveling out there in the hopes of getting my hands on some Cat HRT!”

“... Cat HRT? Like… Hormones for… cats???”

“Not quite! Apparently, it's HRT that’s supposed to turn you into a cat!”

“Well who would I be to defy that decree?”

“Can do!!”

–

And after that, we moved on to other topics of discussion.

But you can see why what she said interested me, right?

> Once more, you are not beating the ‘catboy’ allegations.

THE CAT PART IS NOT WHY I'M INTRIGUED, YOU CALCULATOR.

> Surely.

> Allow me to predict what you are about to type; It is the general idea of transforming the human body into something it was ‘not supposed to be’, yes?

Pretty much, yeah.

Turning into a cat is cool and all, but I think this technology could go to a much more important use if we got a hold of it, wouldn't you agree?

> Certainly.

I think I need to put these notes - starting with yesterday's - into a document of their own. I have a feeling that this may grow into a story of its own at some point.

So I'm going to do that now.

---

January 18th, 2025

After giving out today’s report, I was called to the break room to have a bit of a chat. That much isn’t too unusual, happens to me a lot. What can I say, people wanna hear what I have to say!

What was unusual was that it was E████ of all people who had requested my presence.

When we met up just outside the break room, I had asked them what they were doing here – why they were not back at their lab like usual.

To that they had just a simple response.

–

I understood their words quite well, but I was a bit surprised to hear that S████ would be scared to tell me something.

I had a feeling it had something to do with the ‘Cat HRT’ thing, but she does know that I wouldn’t be mad at her if things fell through just this once… right?

Well, if not, then I should set the record straight and make it clear that she’s okay – that’s what I figured at the time.

So I asked E████ outright if S████ had failed to obtain the ‘Cat HRT’.

She had.

What a load of bullshit, whatever happened to unleashing a substance into a small town to roam free so you can see what happens?

> Hah.

<33

But anyways, once I had that explanation from E████, I made my way inside the break room where S████, as well as A████ and B████, were waiting for me.

A████ stood at the front of the group, confidently holding his souvenir – a branded pen from the Hyper City Municipal Zoo.

Clever boy, that one.

After looking at each of the souvenirs, I handed them all back to their respective owners and thanked them on a job well done.

A████ and B████ looked delighted to have my approval, but S████ was instead confused. She asked me why I wasn’t upset at her.

After all, it had not done as I asked. They did bring a souvenir, yes, but it was not the one I instructed kit to get.

I informed her that I was very much aware of the fact that they had indeed tried to get a hold of a ‘Cat HRT’ prescription, but the plans fell through. And so I had said to her;

–

“Why would I be mad at you for trying?”

–

That did seem to make her feel better, though not entirely. So I went for another swing;

–

“And besides, you’ll have some to show off in about 48 months right? That’s a pretty short amount of time in the grand scheme of what we’re promised.”

–

But that one was unfortunately a miss.

As it turns out, S████ was not in fact just put on the waiting list for getting her desired ‘Animal HRT’.

She had been outright rejected.

She had explained - tearfully - that no real reason had been given to it, just some vague bullshitting about a “sketchy result in a background check”.

I remember seeing red then, and I still do now as I write this down.

I knew right then and there that I would have to face this doctor himself. Doctor Erian is his name, apparently.

But whoever he is, I’m going to make him fess up to the real reason he denied S████ treatment.

> May I accompany you?

You? Asking to do something? That’s new.

But yeah. I was already planning on it.

> Of course you were, gayass.

BITCH???

So mean to me, for no reason at all. </3

But anyways.

Once I entered his office, however, that one driving thought had faded. I had gotten where I needed to in order to get what I wanted, so all that was left was my anger.

It’s at that point where my memory cuts out completely for a bit.

We pick back up some time later, with me still sitting in the office, and Mr. D████ walking in on me being there.

Understandably, he asked what I was doing in there – which snapped me out of my daze.

After recollecting myself, I had managed to explain what had happened with S████, and gave out my request to go to Hyper City on my own to confront Doctor Erian.

I was approved for February 9th. “Don’t kill the guy”, I was told.

No promises.

–

The following is an email correspondence between Doctor Theodore H. Erian and Doctor Mirai Fortune.

To: Dr. Mirai Fortune

From: Dr. Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Follow Up on “Notes on Animal HRT”

Good afternoon Doctor Fortune.

Or whatever time of day it is for you where you are.

That is, I assume the person described as seeking Cat HRT in these notes is her, right?

I ask because while I am not sure if you are aware of this, parts of the file are redacted. Specifically, all names mentioned in the text aside from my own.

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: PDF Error

Hello, Doctor Erian.

You see, Doctor Erian, the people that we are dealing with are very committed to their secrecy.

But the two of us will continue to work on this matter, and will send you the decrypted files as soon as we can.

Thank you for informing me of this matter.

And by the way, yes. The apparent “S” mentioned in the files is Serena Holmes. I appreciate you taking my advice to refuse her treatment.

I understand you may see it as cruel to deny a patient on such grounds, but I promise you that she is not nearly as innocent as she seems.

None of these people are.

Again, thank you for working with us to ensure the safety and sanctity of humanity across the dimensions.

Mirai

To: Doctor Mirai Fortune

From: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Response To: “PDF Error”

Good morning Doctor Fortune,

Could you tell me what it is? Thank you in advance.

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: Names and Symbols

Hello Doctor Erian.

The symbol on the back of the photo is the emblem of the organization Serena is a part of. Refuse service to all that wear it.

You will find that the name of these note’s author will be easy to find. Fortunately, it seems the title of the document itself was successfully decrypted by my assistant in the copy you have.

What is the name of this “friend” you speak of? Is she an assistant of yours?

Mirai

To: Doctor Mirai Fortune

From: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

Subject: Assistant

Good evening, Doctor Fortune,

I’ll forward her this email chain to see if I can get her opinion on all this.

Aside from that, I must admit I am not fond of your vagueness when it comes to the author’s name. Again, I ask, what is their name?

Dr. T. H. Erian

To: Doctor Theodore H. Erian

From: Doctor Mirai Fortune

Subject: [N/A]