"Doctor, what do we need to do to confirm whether a drug is behind it and identify it?" Fynn fully concentrated on the case, tuning out Levi's sourpuss antics.
"If the cause of all this is a drug, and a drug that would be detectable via my scanning ability, then for me to be able to detect and isolate it, I would need a blood sample that had been taken before the drug had fully dissolved. In other words, if it is a fast-acting drug, it should be a blood sample that has been taken shortly after the drug had been administered."
"And how would such a drug be administered?" Fynn leaned back in his chair. "Orally? Intravenously? Inhaled, perhaps?"
"I don't know the properties of the drug, so at this point, none of the methods can be disregarded. However, there is one thing you should keep in mind while searching for the method of administration." Shaw paused to take a breath, "If the drug is inhaled or injected directly into the bloodstream, its effects would be near-instantaneous. However, if it was eaten or drunk, it would take significantly more time before its effects show. We are talking about seconds versus more than 20 minutes."
The room fell into heavy silence for several long seconds.
Noah, who was, just like always, especially sensitive to the mood in the room, figured that a change of topic might liven up the atmosphere. Thus, soon enough, his lovely voice broke the silence, "Shaw, have you seen sister today? How is she?"
Shaw lightly sighed and slid his glasses further up his nose, "As usual, overworked. We received several people with their limbs vaporized today, and even for a high-ranked Healer, regenerating limbs takes a lot of time and energy."
"So, she'll be working long hours today as well?" Noah furrowed his eyebrows, concerned.
"I'm afraid so," Shaw shook his head helplessly. "These rampages have really picked a bad time, with the upcoming wedding and all."
"You can say that again…" Noah's shoulders slumped as he took a sneak peek at Levi's dark face.
Shaw, too, was getting increasingly more uncomfortable under Levi's chilling stare, "Is there anything else I can help you with? If not, I really should be going."
"No, that's alright. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us." Without further ado, Fynn stood up from his seat.
After exchanging a few more sentences of pleasantries, Shaw left to continue his work, and the four men were left standing in the hallway in front of Shaw's office.
"Do you think the terrorists are acting out due to the upcoming wedding?" Noah broke the silence. When Shaw mentioned the specific timing of these incidents and the upcoming wedding, his mind couldn't help but ponder over if they could be related.
"It's possible. But if they were against the wedding, wouldn't it be more effective to target the bride and the groom instead of random passersby?" Fynn side-glanced at Levi. "Though one could argue that today's incident might have targeted the groom, what about the first?"
Blackie & Levi: 'Ah, naturally, the first had targeted the bride, yo!'
Bride Noah: 'Scram!!!' (ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻
***
Since the men were already in the hospital, they took the opportunity to visit the Blazer, who was still recuperating inside. They had some follow up questions to ask, such as:
"Were you sprayed by something before you went berserk? Did you smell anything strange?"
The Blazer shook his head.
"How about pinpricks? Did you feel anything prick you before the incident? Did you touch something before it happened?"
Blazer shook his head again. "Not that I remember. But my memories of right before the incident are vague."
"I see," Fynn paused to give the man some breathing room, "In the hour before the incident, did you consume any medicine? Eat or drink anything?"
"No medicine. I've drunk water from my water bottle. Also, ate a snack bar."
"Was it a personal water bottle? Did anyone have access to it? What about the snack bar, what type? Where did you get it?"
"Yes, it's a personal water bottle. I brought it from home, filled it with tap water. I live alone, so no one had access to it. The snack bar was a Jiffy Jaunt. I bought it from a vending machine at the Magcart stop near my home."
After the questioning, they were no closer to understanding how the drug had been administered. And the Fluxer was still comatose.
"It shouldn't be airborne," Levi proclaimed after some thought, "My seat was facing the Fluxer. I would have noticed if someone had sprayed something in his face."
"Why DID the second attack take place in a restaurant?" Noah suddenly spoke up, "If the terrorists wanted to cause a massacre, wouldn't it be more effective to trigger a power rampage in a densely populated public place like the first incident? Why choose a random restaurant?"
"It was either because they had chosen the Fluxer to be the next power rampage target, and he happened to be in a restaurant at the time, or their goal was something more than just aimless slaughter." Fynn mused.
The four men shared a look.
"Then the next thing we should be investigating is the Fluxer, no? What was he doing in the resort? Why go have lunch at that specific restaurant? Who was he with?" Noah listed out on his fingers.
Fynn stiffened, "The Fluxer was with someone at the time??"
"Yes. A Caucasian white-collar worker." Levi grunted a grudging response.
"Was he among the victims?!"
"No, he went to the toilet right before the accident– " Noah halted, "…and now that I'm saying that out loud, I realize how suspiciously coincidental that was."
Fynn nearly jumped up like a hyperactive hare, "We need to find that man!"
***
Unfortunately, finding the Fluxer's lunch companion wasn't a straight forward matter.
The Fluxer was still unconscious, so they couldn't just ask him who he had been with. They didn't have a picture of the man so they couldn't run a facial recognition on him. And of course, the man hadn't been among the witnesses on the scene that peacekeepers had questioned afterward.
Their best bet was to backtrack the Fluxer's movements; to find out where he had been and who he had been in contact with.
Thus, they started from the Fluxer's identity. He was a high ranked Fluxer well known in the pharmaceutical industry. He had been working for Pharmath pharmaceutical company for many years and was very valued there.
"Our suspected means of causing the incident is a drug, and the victim is from a pharmaceutical company? Coincidence? Or not?" Noah's amber eyes narrowed.
"There indeed might be a relationship there, we just need to find out what it is." Fynn didn't miss the implications ether.
Since the Fluxer was a family man with a wife and two kids, the person who made the top of their "to question" list was the man's wife.
Conveniently, they were currently in the hospital, and so was the said wife. She was busy wiping her teary eyes and runny nose while waiting next to her husband's hospital bed for the man to wake up.
Unfortunately, after asking her whether she knew who her husband had been with earlier today, the wife shook her head, "My husband rarely talks about business at home, so I don't know who he was meeting for lunch today. However, it is most likely one of his coworkers from Pharmath."
The woman blew her nose in a handkerchief, "My husband left home today for work just like usual. His coworkers from the company might know something."
"I see," Fynn noted down the information in his notebook.