Chaos;Child ~Children's Collapse~ 8

Chaos Child 8

1: ========================================================
Chapter 8: Keep going 02

2: ========================================================
I’m terribly sorry I couldn’t show you around after you came all this way to observe.
/ But what do you, a neuroscience researcher at Viktor Chondria University, think of our little Coleman Institute?

Let me think…

To be honest, I expected a more theoretical approach.
/ But I see you put a lot of weight on experiments.

That’s right.
/ The Institute exists for the children, after all.

Also…
It feels incredibly warm here.

p3: ========================================================
Mio, it must have taken a lot of work for you to get used to it.

Mind your own business.

I confess, while I did want to see inside here,
/ I mostly came to check on Mio.

…You did?

Yes.
/ All of us in my lab, myself included, expected her to come work with us.
And we did in fact make an offer, but she brushed it off to come here instead. I was curious to see if she was doing well.

p4: ========================================================
Hence, given your focus on experiments, I would hope I could have the pleasure of witnessing one.

!

…Miss Makise, what you ask is—

Absurd, I know. But I swear I will keep everything I see and hear to myself.
And of course, you needn’t show me anything you aren’t comfortable with.

p5: ========================================================
…All right.
/ We do owe you a debt for the care you gave to Beth.
Whoa, hey—

However, to be perfectly clear, the experiment we’ll be carrying out today is one commonly performed in any laboratory.
/ A routine follow-up.
That’s fine.

…I see.

p6: ========================================================
The experiment will begin this evening.
/ Mio, you’ll take charge.

Huh…?

Miss Makise is here to see you. It would be silly, then, to have you absent.
/ In exchange, I expect you to spend your time until then showing her around.

--Oh, right. There’s something I have to apologize for.

p7: ========================================================
…Oh.

This is a picture of my son, yes.
Nevertheless, “Miss” will do.

…I see. Then I’m sorry to bring it up, Miss Coleman.

p8: ========================================================
<jp>
The heck was that?!

“That” was exactly what it sounded like.
As long as I’m already here, I would like to see whatever I can.

…

You don’t have to worry. It’s your research; I won’t butt in.

p9: ========================================================
Though I did happen to spy a few things while you were in the shower.

She suffers from a temporal lobe abnormality and hyperacusis.
She’s your charge?

…
</jp>

p10: ========================================================
Mio?!

p11: ========================================================
Huh? Why?!
Hey, what’re you getting up for? Lie down.

Come now, Beth! Control yourself.
/ Did you take your medicine?
Yes, yes.

Then close your eyes.
/ Do I have your attention? This experiment is to—

To fix my ears.
/ I know, I know.

p12: ========================================================
Okay, Mio. Good night.

…Get to sleep already.

[sfx]: Giggle

p13: ========================================================
Beth, was it? She seems rather used to this.

I’m sorry events aren’t more dramatic.
/ But we’ve done this dozens of times.

You must be gathering data while she sleeps because—

Because the fMRI’s noise bothers her, I bet.
Gotta do it while she’s asleep.

…That’s right.
It’s the latest technology, but ultimately, that bit still nags at her.
[sfx]: hummmm

p14: ========================================================
…That concludes the observations?

Yes. That’s all there is to it. Did we disappoint you?
No, it’s just what you told me to expect.

Claire.

Why administer her a drug that increases her dopamine levels?
Her hearing’s already sharp. Won’t that do the opposite of what we want?

It’s—

p15: ========================================================
It’s to raise her baseline.
/ Rather than suppress her oversensitivity,
the idea is to achieve balance by aggressively raising the baseline of her other senses.
[graph, from top, clockwise]: Sight / Sound / Touch / Taste / Smell

Exactly.
/ Mio, this is a standard application of the drug to treat illnesses such as hers.

[sfx]: Tch.

…

p16: ========================================================
What about this?
You’re not gonna use it? It’s ready and waiting.

[sfx]: Twitch

That drug is currently undergoing animal trials in other facilities. It’s not yet been approved for human use.
But if it’s data on dopamine levels we want, why’re we settling for second best?
/ It meets safety standards.

There’s still so much testing to do. You must know that!

p17: ========================================================
[sfx]: Flap

[sfx]: Step

…Mio?
[sfx]: Grab

p18: ========================================================
Wh—What are you doing?!

The basics: drawing blood before administering a drug.

And I’m not on my period. There’ll be no noise in the data.
[sfx]: clink

p19: ========================================================
Hold on. You can’t possibly—
[sfx]: Punch

Don’t!

…Mio?

p20: ========================================================
[sfx]: Smirk

[sfx]: Gulp