Chapter 72: Patient Interviews

The team of researchers had a few objectives they needed to achieve by the end of the study.

On the first day, as per their itinerary, the team would visit the local medical centre for patient records and interviews.

They needed the original documents rather than the report that had been sent. Interviews with the health workers there were crucial.

Who was the very first reported case? When did symptoms first appear? How many patients were affected? Were the symptoms similar or vastly different? Were there any unusual findings?

Miss Xin split the group into two, with one handling the interviews for the health workers while the other group set up the equipment they brought in an assigned space within the hospital for the next day.

Adam was a part of the second team.

And as a precautionary measure, everyone had to wear nose masks and gloves while interacting with the hospital environment. They needed to make sure they didn’t become susceptible to the Sparkblight themselves.

Miss Xin, on the other hand, headed for the town administration office with another technician and the captain.

Her job was to gather data on the town’s statistics. Questions pertaining to any unusual happenings and visitors during the festival were put forward. Were there any new industries or major construction projects ongoing? All this data needed to be collected to paint a coherent picture.

The day that followed was the day for patient interviews.

A few of the patients had refused to attend, but after hinting at a reward for appearance, they all made an appearance. After all, they were only to be asked questions and have a few blood and tissue samples taken.

***

Adam, Michael, and Riley were made a team to handle one of the interview stations and collection. The other team was in another room, with arrangements made for privacy and relaxation in mind.

Sitting behind the interview desk were Adam and Riley. At a distance from Adam was a partition where Michael sat beside sample collection equipment.

Close to the door, where Adam and Riley faced, was Davis. Although their primary duty was to ensure the safety of the team, they could assist the researchers when they worked. He would be opening and guiding the patients in.

"What’s with the glasses?"

Riley asked as she glanced at Adam on her left. Aside from the standard lab coat, nose mask and gloves, Adam wore a pair of glasses, looking all professional.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked as he pushed the glasses up. "I always wear glasses whenever I get busy."

"You do know that glasses are just decorative in this day and age, right?" she pointed out smugly.

"I know," Adam nodded with a soft smile. "But professionalism requires a certain kind of appearance."

"So those who don’t wear glasses aren’t professional enough?"

"Your words, Riley. Not mine." Adam retorted.

"You’re a strange one." The silver-haired girl shook her head.

"Get alive, people. It’s almost time." Michael chipped in from his partition.

Riley glanced at the clock. Only a minute remained before they officially began. Once a minute had passed, Davis nodded at them and opened the door. The security personnel called their very first patient inside.

A young woman with blonde hair and a short stature walked in. She looked no older than twenty. The woman looked at them and then at the room before approaching the table.

"Hello," the woman said, waving.

"Hello, miss. Please, have a seat." Adam gestured to the seat opposite him as he grabbed the tablet and digital pen.

"Why don’t we begin with a short introduction?" Riley proposed as she introduced herself and Adam. "My name is Riley, and this is my colleague, Adam."

"I’m Thalia Lake," said the young woman.

"Miss Lake, my colleague here will be asking you a few questions. Will that be alright with you?" Adam asked.

"Yes. We already received a copy of the questions before we came here."

"Wonderful." Adam turned to Riley and nodded.

He would write down the young woman’s response while doing the extra.

"Okay, Miss Lake." Riley began. "What do you do for a living?"

"I’m currently a student at the local college," Thalia replied. "But I have a part-time job at a convenience store."

Adam recorded her response, the digital pen streaking across the tablet’s screen. He then activated the skill, Cognitive Partition, splitting his attention in two.

While Riley continued asking questions, his unique perception came alive as well, focusing on the young woman’s microbiome.

’Standard microbe community with a few variants.’ Adam noticed as he studied the woman. ’Excluding other microbes that are not bacteria and Gram-positive, we’re left with...’

Focusing only on the Gram-positive bacteria revealed a colony of several microbes. Adam continued eliminating those without the characteristics the academy had found, soon zeroing in on one particular bacterial strain.

The strain looked like a gleaming cluster of microbes to his perception.

’Sparkblight.’ Adam realised. ’I see... They absorb the host’s Spark, thereby attaining the same signature. And they’re clustered around nerve tissues and Spark-rich places.’

The observation wasn’t too strange.

’And the symptoms she mentioned correlate with what we’ve gathered.’

Thalia reported symptoms of fatigue, headaches, mild fever, muscle soreness and difficulty in concentrating. That was normal, as the bacteria absorbed Spark to fuel their growth.

’But that seems to be the end of it.’ Adam deduced. ’After a few days, the symptoms disappear while the microbes become a new addition to the biome. They don’t seem to be doing anything else.’

It was as though the microbes simply wanted to be a part of the host’s microbiome, which wasn’t strange. The microbiome constantly changes depending on the environment and lifestyle, after all.

"When did the symptoms first start?" Riley asked one of their most crucial questions.

"Just a day after the festival," Thalia replied calmly. "It began with a mild headache..." she continued.

"Was there anything that happened during that time?" Riley asked the follow-up.

"Well, I wasn’t there myself. But I heard a rabid beast caused quite a commotion at the Everflow River. The explorers around at the time battled the beast before it ran."

Adam and Riley exchanged looks. The young woman’s response was the same as what Miss Xin had gathered at the town’s administration office. And unsurprising was the fact that those very explorers were among the patients.

’Looks like we know our source.’

"Thank you for your time and patience, Miss Lake," Riley said and then gestured to the partition. "Our colleague in there will take care of the rest."

Adam watched her move towards the partition. ’Miss Xin was right. This is simply routine. But a strain like this couldn’t have gone undiscovered for so long, right?’

He clearly saw how the bacterial strain interacted with the woman, and they looked harmless. Even their cellular composition wasn’t too different.

’Ha... Let’s get this over with.’