Chapter 9 NEURO

Louis finally managed to get all his residents together - at least all who had been present when Malva was brought in. For lack of a better word, the doctor can say these men are, basically, thugs in uniforms. None of the six men was fit for even a small conversation. They were all muscles.

"You might be wondering why I called all of you here," Jimenez starts, as he looks at each one of them. "The reason is simple. You've proven to be quite handy in situations where the patients are uncooperative, and I have a friend who is in need of your service if you're willing to help."

The men all look at each other before one of them speaks;

"What's in it for us, hm?" He's tall and has dark eyes and hair. He remembers him as one of the two people responsible for getting Malva under, the night they brought her to Dr Vern. He's one of the ones the other man wants.

"This friend of mine is willing to pay you well. Even more, if the matter is kept a secret."

"How well?"

Louis laughs, humorlessly.

"Three thousand a week, for each one of you." He says, pinching his nose. "And you'll work at dawn, so this will not interfere with your job here at the hospital. The subject is well known to you. You've worked with her before."

There's another moment of silence, and then the same man from before speaks again:

"Who is it?"

Marcelo shrugs.

"You'll know when you see her," He hands each man a piece of paper with an address. "Meet me tonight at this place."

He dismisses the men and goes to his desk. Louis fishes his cell phone from one of the drawers before dialling his partner's number. It only takes a couple of rings for the other to answer;

"They accepted, we'll be there around 1 A.M.," Louis informs him. "I hope you know what you're doing."

As soon as Jimenez hangs up, there's a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door opens slowly and a nurse, accompanied by a young albino boy, walks in.

"Dr Jimenez, this is Meir. He's your new patient." The woman said and let go of the boy's hand. He seems young and so obviously afraid. He keeps trying to hide behind the woman. "Come on Meir, Dr Jimenez is a good man. He won't hurt you. Right, Doc?"

The nurse sends him a blazing glare when the man doesn't respond, and he nods hurriedly before looking back at the boy.

"Everything is going to be okay. We can be friends." Louis offers as he walks slowly towards the boy Meir. "I'll help you."

Meir doesn't particularly seem to understand what he means. The boy just looks around, mumbling to himself.

"Help. Help. Help."

"I've been thinking about that report nonstop... It bothers me to no end, and I don't even know why." Cathy is leaning against the doorframe in Tanya's room. Her friend is getting dressed for work. "Wasn't that the girl you said Marcelo took her files or something? She died years ago, right?"

Tanya looks at her friend for a brief moment as she works on putting her shoes on.

"She was called Malva, but maybe it's not the same person." Tanya takes her purse and starts walking towards Cathy. "Look, I know NEURO is already taking care of Marcelo and his research, so you can't help but get involved. But try not to get too involved. You'll only frustrate yourself."

Cathy doesn't say anything, so Tanya continues:

"Several boys have died because of this CORTEX thing already. All you and I can do now is hope that they've moved past that and can just work with dead people. Let's hope those two boys were the last ones."

"I doubt it, T," Cathy states quietly. "As long as there's no one to stop this, these children will continue to die! What if they faked this girl's death and she's been kept as their lab rat all this time?"

Tanya shakes her head and takes Cathy's hand in hers."

"Don't get carried away, Kidman." The brunette has a serious expression on her face. "This machine NEURO wants might change people's lives. All of these young boys that died were dangerous. Some even killed innocent people."

"That doesn't mean they can be tortured."

"I'm not saying it does. I'm just trying to help you see it as a fair sacrifice, I guess," Tanya lets go of her hands. "As soon as you accept that you have no choice, it will be easier for you."

"Those kids were martyrs. And maybe Malva was too." Tanya starts on her way out of the room, leaving Cathy behind. "Have you read the applications of the system Jimenez is working on?"

Cathy doesn't respond.

"It can help cure serious mental illnesses. It can help interrogate criminals." Tanya looks back one last time before she leaves the apartment. "It will help NEURO make a better world."

Make a better world? Cathy questions herself. By killing children?

"Of course. I bet it's totally going to work." She whispers. "I can already see the beautiful dawn of this new world already."

Her cell phone vibrates in her back pocket just in time to stop her moping. When she takes it, there's a message:

"Something's happened at a Mental Health Institution that needs our attention. Meet us at the station." -Oda.

"Perfect..." She mumbles to herself and goes to get her gun and badge.