"Gentlemen, please disperse. You cannot talk sense into foolish brutes. The death of hundreds couldn't dissuade them, what effect could your words have?"
Bishop Farnsworth might have harbored a great deal of ill will toward Priest Vincent, but he wasn't irrational enough to cause drama inside the consolidation chamber of the Church. Facing his passive aggression, even Priest Vincent chose to maintain his silence. A couple more goading remarks floated out of the crowd, but they ignored those. A little disappointed at not being able to watch the showdown escalate, the young Deacons and Priests slowly returned to minding their own business.
Glances were still being thrown at them, particularly Murray, as Father Vincent escorted them out of the chamber. Mir looked back one last time before the automated doors closed and noticed Bishop Farnsworth interrogating technician Jean while examining the report on the monitors more closely.
"Father, should we...uh, ask? I mean- if it's something sensitive–"
"No need to toy with your doubts, Mir, my boy. Since the questions have come up, I'll naturally provide you with an explanation. But first, let's make sure Murray is in the right state." Father Vincent sounded relaxed. Murray patted Mir on the back confidently, as if to placate his suspicious heart. He did know something, it seemed, unlike what he had claimed inside the Consolidation chamber.
They had to practically carry Murray to the medical center. On the way, the old priest began to look rather worried. "It's not usual for mutants to be so weakened by a successful consolidation, at least not for so long! People usually recover within minutes."
"I'm not feeling weak, actually," Murray said. "It's more like I have experienced how much stronger my body could be while the streams of energy flowed through me, and now my limbs are refusing to revert to their original ordinary selves."
Priest Vincent became even more worried to hear that. The medical center of the Church wasn't too far away, and they managed to get Murray quick check-ups, one for his body and another for his mutation. On his report sheet, two simple stats stood out before all else.
Extent of Infection: 31%
Extent of Saturation: 31%
"Wait... What? That doesn't make sense." Father Vincent seemed utterly confused as he plopped on Murray's bed with the sheet in hand. Mir had done his own calculations before coming to the Church. So even he realized that something was wrong when he saw the two numbers. They didn't match his calculation of what Murray's stats would look like after the first mutation.
"What's wrong?" Murray asked, unable to peek at the report sheets from his bed.
"If I remember correctly, your Extent of Infection was at 39% before consolidating, right? And at least 10% of it belonged to a singular source, the pocket-bunny meat."
Murray nodded. Father Vincent continued to analyze. "In that case, your total infection rate has been cut down by 8%, now standing at 31%."
"Eight percent?" Murray scratched his head with a smile. "That's just one percent less than the normal cutdown rate. What's so unusual about it? Maybe I am a one-in-a-million genius like Bishop Farnsworth says."
"One percent...is still a lot. But yes, that's not the unusual part. Sometimes consolidations do end that way. The reason for this usually is the awakening of the target mutation. When the accumulating energy manages to saturate the cells faster than normal, the body enters a lethargy period and stops the breakdown of virus bodies temporarily. You did end your consolidation much faster than usual. So it makes sense. Buuut..."
"But?"
"Your saturation rate," Mir answered. "It went from 25% to 31%, increasing by 6% only. So you wasted 2% of the total energy generated from killing the virus. Both of these numbers are problematic. I have heard of no Transcender who can waste so much energy and still awaken his mutation. And it is even more problematic to see a mutation being awakened after just 6% saturation. Doesn't that mean you have the potential to unlock more than a dozen mutant abilities as long as you can keep up this success rate?"
"Exactly," Father Vincent remarked. "I've been working for the Church for 30 years till now. And even I have not heard of such a record."
"...Oooh!" Murray finally caught on. Mir felt a little suspicious about how thickheaded Murray appeared since the consolidation had come to an end. Was it just another aftereffect? Or was Murray faking it?
Even eight or nine mutant abilities were enough to recieve national recognition. To outstrip that number by 30% was less of an achievement and more of a problem.
"This has to be kept a secret for now," Father Vincent said, glancing around the wide cabin they were sitting in. Most of the occupants here had come for quick medical tests. There wasn't much attention coming in their direction.
"What about Murray's physical test report? Did this unusual consolidation harm him somehow? Is that why he's not recovering fast?" Mir asked.
"Oh, that's just because he wasted too much energy. Some of it is still stuck inside his body, and not for a beneficial purpose. He needed to make sure to disperse all of it. He now has to rest and undergo a small purification to recover fully. Doesn't he have that red diary? Yeah, bask in the sun for a few hours and then use that diary to expel the newly activated viruses. The purification will drag away the remains of the energy streams."
Despite the uniqueness of their situation, Father Vincent gave a plausible solution relying on his experience. Mir and Murray exchanged a quick, sharp look at the mention of the diary. But it didn't seem like Father Vincent's words carried any implicit meaning.
"Do I have to bask in the sun for the extra infection? The diary can still purify me for that 31% Infection Rate, right?" Murray asked in a tone of complaint. Mir immediately became sure that Murray was intentionally acting like an idiot. Anyone who had done a little bit of advanced research about consolidations would know that one's saturation rate constituted a major share of the Infection rate. No matter how clean one's body was, reducing the extent of infection below the extent of saturation was a pipe dream.
Father Vincent looked at Murray with both pity and envy in his eyes while he shook his head. Faintly, Mir heard him mutter, "Stupidity and blessings must come hand-in-hand."