"Everything important."
Kai nodded.
"...How long?"
Dr. Z smiled.
"Not long."
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a folded piece of paper.
An address.
He handed it to Kai.
"When you're discharged..."
"Come here."
Kai unfolded it.
The address pointed toward an ordinary district inside Muscle City.
"...That doesn't look like a clinic."
"It isn't."
"It blends in."
Kai slowly looked back up.
Dr. Z grinned.
"When you arrive..."
"Knock three times."
He demonstrated against the wall.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
"Then twice."
Knock.
Knock.
"And finally..."
He pointed dramatically at Kai.
"Say..."
"'A Doctor a Day Keeps an Apple Away.'"
Kai stared.
"..."
"...Seriously?"
"Absolutely."
Kai wasn't sure if he was joking.
Knowing Dr. Z—
He probably wasn't.
Kai slowly nodded anyway.
"...Alright."
Dr. Z stood.
Walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
Without turning around—
He waved lazily.
"Don't die."
"Hahahahaha."
The door closed.
Kai sat alone in the room.
Silence returned.
His thoughts slowly settled.
Magic Circuits.
The surgery.
The mysterious organization Dr. Z almost revealed.
The Cult.
None of it fit together.
Not yet.
But for the first time—
He finally had a path forward.
Kai leaned back against the bed.
"..."
"...What a weird guy."