Kai remained seated.
Dr. Z continued staring at him.
Neither spoke.
Finally—
Kai took a deep breath.
"...You're not going to believe me."
Dr. Z shrugged.
"I stopped believing normal things years ago."
Kai nodded.
"...Fair."
He looked down at his hands.
"...I've been having dreams."
Dr. Z immediately interrupted.
"Nightmares?"
"...More like memories."
The doctor raised an eyebrow.
Kai continued.
"I keep seeing places I've never been."
"People I've never met."
"...And you."
Dr. Z leaned forward.
"Me?"
Kai nodded.
"I've seen countless operations."
"Different patients."
"Different laboratories."
"Different outcomes."
The room became silent.
Then Kai quietly added,
"...One of them was me."
Dr. Z's expression finally changed.
Only slightly.
"You performed the operation."
"It succeeded."
Silence.
Dr. Z folded his arms.
"...Impossible."
Kai shrugged.
"I knew you'd say that."
"You don't have to believe everything."
"But..."
Kai looked directly at him.
"...I know things I shouldn't."
"You use mana stabilizers before opening the chest."
"You rotate the circuit alignment clockwise."
"You separate the conduits instead of connecting them immediately."
"You hate crooked surgical tools."
"You—"
"Enough."
Dr. Z slowly exhaled.