MEMELAND

Kai knocked three times.

Then two.

Then paused.

"...A Doctor a day keeps an apple away."

There was a long silence.

Then from inside—

"Come in already."

Kai blinked.

"...Right."

He opened the door.

The clinic was exactly as strange as he remembered.

Medical tools.

Mechanical parts.

Glass jars.

Stacks of papers.

Egg cartons in the corners for reasons Kai still did not understand.

Dr. Z was bent over a table, adjusting a set of tiny metal clamps with surgical precision.

Without looking up, he said,

"You're late."

Kai frowned.

"...I came when you told me to."

Dr. Z finally glanced over.

"Then you're on time by Muscle City standards."

Kai decided not to argue.

That sounded like a trap.

Dr. Z tossed a clipboard onto the table and leaned back.

"How's the body?"

Kai hesitated.

"...Heavy."

"Hm."

"That is not a complaint I can fix."

Kai stepped further inside.

"...I can feel the circuits."

Dr. Z's eyes sharpened.

"Can you?"

Kai nodded.

"Sometimes."

"Not well."

"Whenever I try to push them..."

He pressed a hand against his chest.

"...it hurts."

The doctor folded his arms.

"Good."

Kai blinked.

"...Good?"

"Pain means feedback."

"Feedback means the body hasn't rejected them entirely."

Kai frowned.

"...That's your comforting answer?"

"It's the only honest one."

Dr. Z picked up a pen and scribbled something onto his notes.

Then looked up.

"Try activating them."

Kai stared.

"...Just like that?"

"Yes."

"No instructions?"

"You've already got the circuits."

"I gave you the tools."

"The rest is your problem."

Kai gave him a flat look.

"...That is not reassuring."

Dr. Z grinned.

"It never is."

Kai exhaled slowly.

Then closed his eyes.

He remembered the feeling from the surgery.

The impossible pressure.

The pain.

The strange sense of movement beneath his skin.

He didn't force.

Not this time.

He let it flow.

Just enough.

At first nothing happened.

Then—

A sharp heat spread across his chest.

Kai hissed.

"...Ngh!"

Dr. Z immediately straightened.

"Don't stop."

Kai's jaw tightened.

"I wasn't planning to!"

He focused again.

Not with anger.

Not with force.

Just letting the feeling exist.

The pressure built.

Flickered.

Then—

Thin lines glowed faintly beneath the skin near his wrist.

Barely visible.

Like blue veins made of light.

Kai's eyes snapped open.

"..."

The glow lasted only a second.

Then vanished.

Dr. Z leaned forward so fast his chair nearly tipped over.

"...Fascinating."

Kai rubbed his wrist.

"...That still hurt like hell."

"Of course it did."

Dr. Z was already writing.

"Interesting response."

"Short duration."

"Low stability."

"Better than expected."

Kai frowned.

"You say that like this is normal."

"No."

Dr. Z smiled.

"Normal is boring."

He scribbled more notes.

Then muttered to himself,

"With this, I can improve the next set of experiments..."

Kai's expression darkened.

"...Next set?"

Dr. Z looked up innocently.

"What?"

Kai stared at him.

"...Don't say things like that."

"I'm a doctor."

"It's suspicious when you say it."

Dr. Z laughed.

"Good."

"Suspicious keeps people alive."

Kai wasn't sure if that was true.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The doctor set the notes aside and leaned back.

"Again."

Kai sighed.

"...Already?"

"You want the circuits to obey you, yes?"

Kai didn't answer.

Dr. Z pointed at him.

"Then keep trying."

Kai closed his eyes again.

He tried to follow the flow.

A little more this time.

The lines returned.

Faint.

Controlled.

Then the pain hit harder.

Kai bit down on the inside of his cheek and forced himself to stay still.

The glow flickered again.

Then disappeared.

Dr. Z tapped the table.

"Hm."

"...Still rough."

Kai gave him an exhausted look.

"That's one word for it."

The doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"That's why you'll need time."

Kai exhaled.

"...Time and pain."

"Muscle City specializes in pain."

"That much is obvious."

Thunk.

Then another.

Kai paused.

"...What was that?"

Dr. Z didn't even blink.

"My pets are a bit noisy..."

He said it so casually that Kai stared at him.

"...Pets?"

Another thud came from beneath the house.

Something scraped across wood.

Not human.

Kai instinctively looked downward.

Dr. Z noticed.

Then smiled.

"...Don't ya think?"

Kai slowly straightened.

The memory of the desert laboratory flashed through his mind.

The experiments.

The monster-human hybrids.

The way the doctor had spoken about them like products.

Kai kept his voice even.

"...What if they escape?"

Dr. Z laughed.

"I have them under control."

His smile widened.

"Trust me."

Kai did not.

Not even a little.

He remembered the way Dr. Z had smiled during the surgery.

The way he looked at danger like it was a lecture.

The way he talked about lives and failures as if they were notes in a margin.

Kai slowly stepped back.

"...Right."

The doctor waved lazily.

"Now go."

"You're distracting me."

Kai stared.

"...I came here for help."

"And you got it."

Dr. Z pointed toward the door.

"Leave before I get bored and decide to use you for another project."

Kai immediately turned and walked out.

"...Nope."

"No thanks."

"Absolutely not."

Behind him, Dr. Z chuckled again.

"Good boy."

Kai pretended he did not hear that.

He shut the door behind him and stepped back into the street.

For a moment, he just stood there.

Breathing.

Thinking.

Trying to decide how on earth he was supposed to explain to Taai that there was a dangerously cheerful doctor underneath Muscle City performing god knew what on living subjects.

"...This city is insane."

A folded paper suddenly hit him in the face.

Kai blinked.

"...What?"

He pulled it down.

A notice.

MISSING PERSONS

His eyes narrowed.

There were names.

Too many.

And a sketch.

A rough one.

Several people had vanished.

Kai read the note once.

Then twice.

And then his expression turned serious.

"..."

He looked back toward Dr. Z's building.

Then toward the street.

Then toward the district beyond it.

Maybe this was connected.

Maybe not.

But if there was a chance—

Kai folded the paper and tucked it away.

"...Let's try to find clues about the missing people first."

"Then I'll go back and tell Taai what kind of dangerous idiot is hiding in this city."

He started walking.

The clinic behind him sat quietly among the ordinary buildings.

As if nothing inside it had ever been wrong.

As if the noises below had never happened.

As if the doctor inside was just another harmless resident.

Kai did not believe any of that.

And that worried him more than anything.