Chapter 37: Medical Check

“My name’s Hiro, our ship’s captain. These are my crew, Elma and Mimi. We’ll be in your care, Dr. Shouko.”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. No need to be all polite with me folks. Let’s all take it easy, shall we?”

“That so? I’ll take you up on that then.”

I nodded while thinking the doctor’s heart was as broad as her chest.

“You’ll be getting a comprehensive physical examination today, right?”

Dr. Shouko asked to confirm as she took out a tablet terminal from who-knows-where. Just where’d it come from? That tablet. She had both hands inside her coat’s pocket earlier, didn’t she?

“Uh, I’m currently in a situation where I’m not sure if I’ve received all available vaccines for infectious diseases or not. And Mimi here only got the most common ones back on Termaine Prime. Since we’re gonna be flying around all over the galaxy during mercenary work, it’d be great if we could get all of that covered as well. How about you, Elma?”

“I’ve gotten most of the important ones. And the immune system of an elf-like me is way better than that of you humans, so I don’t really need shots all that much. But it would still be better to be safe than sorry, so I got the more important ones out of the way at least.”

“I see. Do you girls have any other concerns?”

“Um, how about the thing with your memory, Hiro-sama–”

“Sorry, Mimi. That was a lie.”

I interrupted Mimi, who was about to bring up my purported memory loss and denied her words. The moment she heard me, Mimi’s eyes widened as she stared straight at me. It seems she’s really shocked.

“The amnesia part’s not true, but I do have some complicated circumstances… To put it simply, my memories are a bit of a mess. I was suddenly thrown out onto Termaine Prime as a result of an accident during Hyperdrive you see. I have no idea what exactly happened though. I also couldn’t find any data regarding Termaine Prime on my ship’s databanks. It’s as if I just suddenly appeared in this world for God-knows-what reason.”

“……Hee? That sounds pretty mysterious.”

“It sure is. As a result of my memories getting screwed up due to that Hyperdrive accident, there are parts about this world I’m quite unfamiliar with. I’m taking this opportunity to have a check-up in order to find out if that accident had any other effects on my body apart from my memories getting messed up.”

“I see. There’s a possibility of your body getting negatively influenced when you lost consciousness during that Hyperdrive accident. I agree that you should have that checked out.”

Dr. Shouko nodded her head in agreement as she operated her tablet terminal. Was she preparing our clinical records?

“Do you have any special medical history I need to take note of?”

“I’m good. As far as my memory goes, anyway.”

“I’m also fine.”

‘I’m the same.”

I, Elma and Mimi all shook our heads. I don’t have any particular allergies, and I think I’m the very picture of health.

“Well, let’s start with the check-ups then. We’ll do a full scan on the medical pod first. We have the latest models installed in this facility.”

“They’re Inagawa Technology products?”

“Yep. Our shares in the galactic market notwithstanding, I guarantee our pod’s performance and specs. The fact that it’s a bit bigger than most models and costs a bit more are flies in the ointment so to speak. But we developed it with high performance in mind after all.”

We followed after Dr. Shouko, who was busy promoting their company’s products with a proud tone. Dr. Shouko explained about the technical aspects of Inagawa Technology’s medical pods, but it all sounded Greek to me. There were a lot of technical terms mixed in, so I couldn’t follow her explanations.

“There you have it.”

“I only understood about twenty percent.”

“I understand that it’s an impressive product!”

“Yeah, it sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it?”

“Un, anyway, it’s amazing. It’s fine if you get that much.”

It looks like she wasn’t all that affected by our lukewarm reactions. Dr. Shouko remained in high spirits. I think she’s actually used to people reacting just like we have to her spiel. Anyway, this person feels like she would be more at home doing medical research instead of actively treating patients.

“Well, you guys are basically my saviors. I’ll make sure to prepare the latest equipment for you all, so rest assured.”

“Saviors……? Were you one of the passengers of the ship we rescued?”

Dr. Shouko turned around and strongly nodded.

“Yep. I was thinking ‘Man, I’m so gonna die here.’ at that time y’know. See, even though I’m a woman, I’m just too plain-looking. If the pirates succeeded in boarding the ship, I’ll probably end up with the ones to be disposed of y’know.”

She shrugged her shoulders as she said so. Really? I’m not too sure about that. Once you get a better look at her, Dr. Shouko’s actually quite the beauty, and her assets were huge, so the pirates may have been tempted to abduct her for themselves. I can’t say whether or not that would be better than being disposed of though.

“Well, that’s how it goes. I was basically forced to be in charge of conducting check-ups for nobles and wealthy folk y’see. I was originally a researcher……. Oh, but don’t worry folks. I have a proper physician’s license, okay. And I’m confident that my skills as a physician are above those of common doctors.”

“I see.”

I could only nod in understanding. It’s not like I could suddenly demand a change in the doctor in charge, and doubting her skills would be rude as well.

I turned toward Mimi and Elma and found a trace of anxiety in their expressions. Well, it’s normal, I guess. Of course, they’d react this way. But the person herself claimed it would be okay, so we had no choice but to believe in her abilities.

And we can just go for a second opinion at another medical facility if we had misgivings about the result. It would be best here if we obediently got Dr. Shouko’s comprehensive check-up.

“Well, this is the place. Please go ahead and enter, everyone.”

“Alright…. Whoah.”

“Waa.”

“Hee.”

The room Dr. Shouko led us to was lined up with med pods which looked far better than the one on Krishna’s med bay. And they really did look bigger. The standard med pod on Krishna was only as large as a small sized bed, but the med pods here looked like they could take up Krishna’s entire med bay. Their heights were about 2 meters, their length was similarly 2 meters, and their width was 3 meters.

“They certainly are large.”

“They sure are. But these babies are installed with the latest positron computers for an ultra-detailed data analysis. We’re quite proud of what they can do. Now then, please take off your clothes and enter a med pod each.”

“Uh, how much should we take off?”

“E〜verything.”

“Everything huh.”

“Yep, everything. Oh, and I’m more or less used to seeing the naked bodies of patients. You don’t have to mind me one bit.”

“Uh, okay……”

‘Ain’t it the other way around? Maybe Dr. Shouko didn’t mind it, but we did……’ was what I thought. But I didn’t voice it out in the end. I started taking off my training wear and took a quick glance at Mimi and Elma–

“Oh no, you don’t.”

Elma threw her jacket and hit my head cleanly. The jacket blocked my line of sight.

“Hurry up, get undressed, and enter the pod, Mimi. And you mister. You stay there until we’ve both entered. Okay?”

“Aye, aye, Ma’am!”

I gave a crisp salute and obediently stood attention. But I’m already butt naked except for the jacket on my head girls. Isn’t this unfair? You don’t care? Alright then.

“They’ve both entered the med pods.”

Dr. Shouko called out to inform me. I took off the jacket covering my head and threw it along with the rest of my clothes inside the clothing basket nearby.

“Thanks. Sorry about showing you something unsightly.”

“No, no. I’m fine with it.”

I ended up bowing my head in apology. Since it would do no good to keep staring at the good doctor, I went ahead and entered one of the med pods myself. Un. It feels unexpectedly cramped. It resembles the time I once got an MRI.

It feels like that, you know. It was a peculiar feeling of the meds you took before an examination taking effect and warming up your body’s core. It felt a bit weird to experience something like a ‘My body’s getting hot all over!’ event for myself though. It sure was a peculiar experience.

『Can you hear me? I’m going to start the scan, so try to relax in there, m’kay.』

“Kay.”

『Please straighten out your body. Spread out your hands and feet more.』

“Gotcha.”

I did as the good doctor instructed and waited for the scan to finish. The inside of the med pod was bathed in rainbow-colored light, and my entire body was scanned. But I’m not a person from this dimension. I sure hope nothing weird turns up.

『Kay, all done! I’ll open up the pod, so come out and wear your clothes again.』

The med pod’s cover opened up with a *pushuu sound of air leaking out. It didn’t take long for the scan to finish. As expected of an SF dimension. The MRI takes a lot more time in comparison…… And your body would feel hot all over as well. It’s not something I want to experience often.

I quickly wore my clothes and handed the jacket back to Elma.

“I’m not worried about Mimi and my scan results, but I’m a bit scared about yours.”

“It would be good if nothing bad gets detected.”

“Don’t say that, girls. You’re making me nervous here.”

“Ahaha, you don’t have to worry that much– Nn?”

Dr. Shouko’s gaze suddenly focused on the results indicated in her tablet terminal. Her brows creased.

“No, hm? Eh……?”

“Now I’m really getting worried.”

“Uh, hm…… Can I ask you something, Hiro-kun?”

“Go ahead.”

“I actually have a lot of things I want to ask, but first things first… It seems you haven’t gotten a multilingual translation implant, haven’t you?”

“Is that so?”

I don’t remember getting one so I probably haven’t, I guess. But, judging from her reaction, it seems not having it was unusual. Mimi and Elma also had『Eh? Are you serious?』expressions on their faces.

“Uh, I guess it’s weird that I don’t have one, right?”

“It’s weird.”

“It definitely is.”

“It’s strange, Hiro-sama.”

The three of them all nodded in agreement. It seems that this multilingual translation implant has spread far and wide across the galaxy, and most babies had one implanted in them soon after birth. Since most, if not all folks, had one implanted in them as soon as they were born, someone like me, who hasn’t gotten the implant at my age was a true oddity.

“But Hiro-sama properly understands the words we’re saying, right?”

“He sure does. And that’s something I haven’t encountered until now. But he doesn’t have a lot of common sense though.”

“Is that so? Can we do some tests on you for a bit?”

“Please.”

Dr. Shouko proceeded to operate her tablet.

“I’m now going to start playing languages from different planets on this tablet. Can you repeat the words exactly as you hear them for me? This is a test program for the multilingual translation implant, actually.”

“Okay.”

“Here we go then.”

Sound clips of people making daily conversations played from Dr. Shouko’s tablet. I tried to recite them word for word. Although everything I’m hearing is in Japanese.

I managed to finish reciting everything on the test program without problems.

“It seems there’s no problem. Just what method did they use on you, I wonder?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

The heck? Is this something like that? A multilingual translation cheat for people transported to another world? But this is an SF dimension though? I’d have preferred to get an implant like everyone else actually… Rather, I really don’t get my situation here. How am I supposed to interpret this?

“Uh, since it seems there are no problems anyway, let’s just ignore the fact that I have no implant, shall we?”

“Eh…? I’m quite curious about it though.”

“No, I have no intention of becoming your test subject, Dr. Shouko. Please go ahead with the next test.”

“How unfortunate…… Um, here’s another thing I’m concerned about. Where exactly do you come from?”

“In my memory, I came from the Solar system’s third planet, Earth. Maybe it’s better to call it the Sol system.”

But I haven’t even heard of the Solar system or its third planet mentioned since finding myself in this dimension though. I’d just say I heard it from a game whenever I asked other people about them.

“Sol system…… I haven’t heard of it at all.”

Dr. Shouko looked toward Mimi and Elma. Both of them quickly shook their heads.

“What about my place of birth? Is that really important or something?”

“Un, it’s about your genetic data, you see. I’ve managed to get lots of values I haven’t seen until now.”

“Hm……?”

“Well, after checking, your body seems similar in function to that of a normal humanoid race, so I guess it’s fine. But it’s quite interesting though. Since your genetic data is different from all others, we might find some new factors we haven’t managed to discover until now within it.”

“Please make the explanation easier to understand, Doc.”

“Your genetic data is like an unexplored new frontier. Do you get it better if I describe it like that?”

“Huh……”

I turned towards Elma and Mimi once more and saw them displaying expressions which seemed unsure about how to react after hearing such info. I kinda get why though.

“And what merits can that provide?”

“A lot, actually. Your genetic data is practically priceless. An unknown genetic make-up is akin to this universe’s unexplored frontiers you know!”

Dr. Shouko closed in on me while sporting an excited expression. Close. Way too close. The gaze coming from behind her glasses was really intense. I put my hands on both her shoulders and gently pushed her away.

“And the demerits are?”

“I don’t think there are any. We’re proud of our information security protocols here, so there’s next to no chance of this leaking out. However, I don’t recommend getting another check-up at a different institution. There’s a risk of you turning into some lab’s guinea pig after all. We’re a proper institution here. I guarantee the safety of your personal data, and we won’t attempt to follow you around or restrain you in any way.”

“Okay.”

Looks like I managed to dodge a bullet huh. I had an inkling something like this would happen, but I had no idea it would turn out to be such a big deal. What to do……? Should I follow Doc’s suggestion and have Inagawa Technology handle all our medical needs from now on?

“I understand. Please give me some time to consider the thing about offering my genetic data for research. Considering the situation, I think it’s best we had Inagawa Technology handle our medical needs from now on. And I’d also like to hear more details about the price of my genetic data and what it’ll be used for, exactly. But let’s just finish the comprehensive check-up and vaccination for today……”

“It would be best if you got vaccinated after we’ve analyzed your genetic data. It’s because there’s a chance of an unexpected change occurring in your genetic make-up once you got them. We’d like your genetic code to be as pure and natural as possible after all.”

What’s the thing with vaccines making changes to my genetic code, Doc…? It sounds scary, man.

“So I guess I have to come here again huh……”

“Well, we can finish everything today if you handed over your genetic data right now, you know.”

“Like there’s anyone who’d hand over the goods before a proper contract’s been drafted!”

“You can hand it over if you really trust us, right, Hiro-kun?”

Dr. Shouko tilted her head cutely as she gave me a warm, sweet-looking smile. This lady doctor’s unexpectedly sly huh.

“We haven’t built a relationship based on trust yet, so that’s impossible.”

“That’s truly regrettable.”

“You have the data from the scan, right?”

They have data that would at least allow them to recognize that my genetic make-up was pretty unique from the med scan earlier.

“But it’s different from having the real thing. We’d prefer a sample of your blood or semen actually.”

“Please hold off on that until we reach a satisfactory agreement.”

Dr. Shouko sighed in disappointment. This woman really is a researcher. I’m positive she’s not suited for being a medical doctor out on the field.

“Oh well. Let’s just finish up everything that can be done today, shall we? I really want to get a hold of Hiro-kun’s genetic data after all.”

Dr. Shouko flashed me one of her sweet smiles again. Fine, fine. Just do whatever, Doc.