March 13, 2054 – 2:44 a.m.

“To understand the ideas and beliefs that are germinating in the masses today, ready to blossom tomorrow, we need to know how the ground was prepared.”

It has already been a year since Jin became a normal citizen thanks to the microchip inside him, and for the moment he continues to live in the Gotha building, studying hard every day, all day, including weekends. Right now, Jin is in bed trying to get as much rest as possible, as he has an important exam for his university course the next morning. A hooded figure enters his room, which Jin has gotten used to leaving open, being careful not to make any noise that might wake him up. That same person puts a few drops of an unidentified substance into the glass of water that Jin keeps on the bedside table next to his bed. Once this is done, the hooded individual leaves the room without anyone noticing.

The next morning, Junna is running through the corridors of the Gotha building. At one point, she throws open the door of an office without warning and bursts into the room, stunning the person inside, namely Tsuji, a 66-year-old man with white hair and brown eyes.

"Member of Logic Miura! Is this any way to enter my office?"

"Please follow me, it's an emergency! Jin is feeling ill!"

A few minutes later, the two are inside Jin's room, although Medicine Member Tsuji seems rather annoyed by the whole affair. 

"Logic Member Miura... know that I have no intention of hiding my disappointment." Junna looks at him disconsolately, but Tsuji's complaints are not over yet. "You rushed me here when I had just started working... and for what? A simple case of indigestion. I understand that the boy is not feeling well and needs medical attention, but I remind you that I am Japan's leading authority in this field, I am not his family doctor!"

"But you were the closest one available, and Jin has an important exam this morning. That's why I thought I'd ask for your help."

The doctor continues to express his disappointment, but agrees to check on the boy's condition anyway.

"Fine... look what I have to do..."

Tsuji turns to Jin, who is in pain in the bathroom. "Hey, kid! I'm coming in to check on you." Immediately afterwards, the doctor opens the door and closes it again, leaving Junna outside listening to Jin's screams, who did not expect anyone to enter in the middle of such a situation. "Who are you?! And what are you doing here?!"

"Shut up and get up for a moment."

"B-but how... please get out of here, I don't feel well..."

"Shut up, brat. Move and let me see."

"H-Help! Please go away!"

Shortly after, the doctor came out of the bathroom and returned to Junna, who had been waiting anxiously outside the door.

"Well?"

"As I suspected from your description of the symptoms, it's just a simple case of diarrhea. Let him rest and give him some hot tea. I don't think he needs any medicine for a situation like this."

"Okay." Junna replies, relieved by the doctor's response.

Tsuji is ready to leave the room, but before doing so, he wants to make his point clear once again. 

"I hope you won't bother me again with such nonsense, Member of Logic Miura."

"Stop, Dr. Tsuji!"

"Member of Medicine Tsuji, please."

"Come on... there's no need to be so formal" says Junna, going to retrieve the empty glass from the bedside table next to Jin's bed. "I know the boy and his diet, I know for a fact that he hasn't eaten anything strange. When he called me this morning in pain, I immediately thought something was wrong, especially because it was so sudden. He told me he hadn't even had time to eat breakfast."

"What are you getting at?"

"I think he was poisoned, and I believe this glass is the incriminating evidence. Every morning when he wakes up, Jin drinks a glass of water that he prepares the night before. It's an old habit of his."

"So you're suggesting that someone could have come in here and contaminated that glass."

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

"I see... then file a report." Once again, Tsuji seems uninterested in the matter and wants to leave the room as soon as possible, but Junna stops him again. "It's not that easy. Last night, the satellites were replaced by our men invited into space, under the orders of Engineering Member Satō, remember? He informed us of this activity in the Council two months ago."

"Yes, that's true. He managed to develop even more accurate models and wanted to replace the old generation ones... Engineering Member Satō is proving that he fully deserves his position."

"In practice, however, there was a gap of a few hours during which the microchip signal for the entire population was interrupted. Whoever broke into Jin's room was certainly aware of this and took advantage of it."

"So you think the culprit is one of the Gotha members?"

"Exactly... I see you understood immediately, Member of Medicine Tsuji."

"It's certainly a nasty business, but I'm confident you'll be able to solve it."

"Perhaps, but I would need your assistance. Look at this... I found it in the hallway." Junna says, showing her colleague a bottle.

"I recognize this bottle. It's a colorless, tasteless laxative in drop form with an almost immediate effect. I know this well because I was one of the people who took part in the project to create it..." Tsuji stops, as if realizing he is about to make a mistake. Junna, however, looks at him with a reassuring smile.

"Were you saying that you were one of the researchers who developed this drug? There's no need to hide it, after all, it's the plain and simple truth."

"Now you'll think I'm involved in this business."

"No, not at all. In fact, you might think the same of me, since I'm always the one who finds the incriminating items. A few months ago it was the letter, today it's the drug. In short, I could be the one carrying out these attacks on Jin."

"A letter?"

"Forget it... the only thing you need to know is that someone is threatening Jin, and logic dictates that it could be me."

"You would never do that... I know perfectly well that you are the person who cares most about that brat, both today and when he wasn't a brat." Junna smiles for a moment, then Tsuji continues. "On the other hand, I also voted against his salvation at the Council meeting a year ago, so I can understand your suspicions about me."

"I'll say it again... I know it wasn't you, but why did you decide to follow the proposal of Physics Member Domon to condemn Jin that time?"

Tsuji chuckles. "Because we Gotha Members have a duty to keep Japan safe, to keep it in order, in every respect. A person who is already dead cannot come back to life at a later date; human life follows a precise process of birth, growth, and death. All this is immutable and must remain so... if there is a mistake, it must be eliminated, right?"

"I think you're just afraid of death. People who work in the medical field like you always have that reverential fear, perhaps because you know it better than anyone else. That's why I understand that such an event could have upset you."

"Are you talking about Jin's return from the past?"

"Yes... a man who died in 2052, who appears a few months after his death in the guise of a boy from 2025. It is logical to think that those who study human beings cannot accept such an event."

"It's true, I find it hard to understand, and in a way, this also makes me realize that medicine, the subject to which I have dedicated my entire life, cannot always give us comprehensive answers. When you think about it, it is a rather basic discipline compared to others in the elite, and with it we cannot, nor do we want to, understand much about the world. It is more of a subject that selfishly leads us to seek ways to live longer and healthier lives, yet we often fail to achieve these goals. Did you know that Jin's parents died shortly after the death of their only son due to a long illness? It seems absurd, but they both had cancer, the same type, in fact. I promised the Jin we knew that I would save them. After all, I was working on studying that very disease... yet... yet... I failed. To date, despite some progress, I have not found a way to save people with that type of disease, and I am very ashamed of that. Perhaps I am not worthy of this position... compared to the other Council Members, I have always been one step behind."

"Unfortunately, we can artificially create peace by imposing rules and punishments for those who do not respect them, but we cannot prevent people from getting sick and suffering. Perhaps in the future, thanks to the work of individuals like you, we will be able to break down this barrier as well. That is why he also included medicine among the 11 disciplines of the Gotha."

"In any case, I can't help but think that I have disappointed him. Despite the promise I made to him, I was unable to prevent his parents from dying."

Junna tries to cheer him up. "Don't worry, Member of Medicine Tsuji, I believe it's all part of a higher plan that involves us all. Jin has always had great respect for you, ever since the day you saved him from that nasty accident he had in the abandoned factory when he was young."

Tsuji, who until now had had a hard and gloomy expression, feels comforted by Junna's words and lets out a smile. "I remember that day... I was a novice doctor and he was a badly injured boy, but I managed to save him. The only consequence was the large scar that ran across his entire face. To be honest, I'm still surprised he survived such a fall."

"Do you understand now? Someone like Jin could never feel resentment towards you. Without you, Gotha would never have seen the light of day."

"Thank you, Member of Logic Miura, I think I understand. Although, as I said, I have nothing to do with this story, I assure you that from now on I will be on your side, or rather on the side of that brat... I mean Jin."

Junna is pleased to hear these words. "I'm glad you understand."

"I entrust him to you... I trust that your love for him will open the doors to an even brighter future."

Junna's face turns purple at what Tsuji has just said and she momentarily loses the self-control that usually distinguishes her. "L-love?"

"Look, I'm not an idiot. I know you had feelings for Jin in the past... in fact, it was obvious to everyone."

"W-what are you talking about? Have you been poisoned by some drug that makes you talk nonsense?"

Tsuji laughs, then suddenly approaches Junna, placing his right hand on her chest and making her even more uncomfortable, as she really wasn't expecting such a gesture. "W-what the hell is wrong with you now?"

Tsuji signals Junna to be quiet with the index finger of his left hand, and only after a few seconds of total silence does he resume speaking. "Can you hear it?"

"W-what?"

"Your heart is beating wildly, it sounds like it's about to explode."

"It's just because you're doing this weird thing!"

Tsuji chuckles and removes his hand from Junna's chest. 

"Maybe... but I think it happens every time you talk about you and Jin together. We can lie with our words, but not with our bodies. They always tell the truth."

At this point, Tsuji, the member of the medical team, walks away, leaving Junna speechless. She puts her hand on her chest to feel her heart beating incessantly. "Goodbye, member of the logic Miura. As for Jin, as I said, a day of rest and a hot tea will be enough to get him back in perfect shape."

As soon as Tsuji leaves the room, Junna takes her hand away from her chest and looks at it with a smile. "I hate that man..."

Meanwhile, Jin comes out of the bathroom in obvious distress. "Hey Junna, who the hell was that maniac?"

"The member of medicine Tsuji. Come on, lie down for a while, and I'll make you some tea."

"Okay, thanks."

Jin sits down on the bed. "What do you think caused this?"

"I'm afraid someone broke in here last night and contaminated your glass. Considering the threatening letter you received a few months ago, it would be best if you started locking your bedroom door again. In the meantime, I'll do everything I can to find and punish the culprit."

"I understand, but I also have an exam today," Jin replies, trying to get out of bed.

"Don't even try. Look at yourself... you're a wreck."

"I can't waste time, I have to finish as soon as possible, so you can tell me everything and maybe I'll understand why I ended up here and where my friends are," Jin retorts, revealing his total determination to achieve his goal.

Junna sits on the bed and tucks the covers around Jin. "Don't worry, I'll talk to the professors. Yours is a personalized course designed to allow you to take all your exams in the shortest time possible, so there will be no problem postponing it for a few days. Besides, you've already completed almost three years' worth of the program in just one year, and I know that in your free time you even study time travel in depth... This may not be the best situation, but you really needed a day off."

Junna's words manage to calm Jin's restless mind. Reassured by the fact that he will still be able to take the university exam without losing too much time, he finally accepts his situation. "Okay... then I'll take a day off today."

"Perfect, Jin. Sweet dreams."

Junna kisses him on the forehead, which makes Jin slightly embarrassed, and immediately leaves the room.