The kidney let out another thump.

10.

"So that's why I need to see the young woman who received my wife's kidney. As soon as possible."

Toshiaki had decided to call the CCH from his lab. Eve 1 would surely make an appearance at the recipient's hospital. He had to get to her before Eve 1 did.

"I realize that, sir, but there's no way we can grant your request. I'm sorry. It's against legal policy."

Unfortunately, the receptionist was insistent on this point. Toshiaki raised his voice.

"This is a dire situation. If that patient is not evacuated to a safe place immediately, something terrible will happen to her. To h.e.l.l with the rules."

"Excuse me, sir, but what are you talking about?" The receptionist suddenly changed tone.

"That patient is in great danger! What don't you understand?" He was outraged.

"If this is a prank call, I want you to stop this right now."

"Don't be stupid. I just told you. I am the donor's husband, my name is..."

"I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I won't have you terrorizing any patients at this hospital. I take my job seriously and I'm not about to jeopardize it. If you keep this up, I'll report you to the police."

"d.a.m.n you!"

Toshiaki threw down the receiver.

He was at a loss for words, but refused to let it end there.

Stuffing his open shirt into his pants, he exited the room and rushed down the hallway.

Thankfully, the elevator was already at the fifth floor. He opened the doors, went inside, and beat the first floor b.u.t.ton with his fist. The elevator began its sluggish descent. He swore at the delay.

All he was concerned about was how far Eve 1 had managed to get. When Toshiaki had heard the gurgling in the sink, he went over it to see Eve 1's stains around the mouth of the drain. Sticking a finger inside, he felt slime, and knew she had escaped through the pipe.

Eve 1 could change shape at will, so it was nothing for her to travel underground. He was certain she was storing a fertilized egg.

It was impossible to look up every pipe that ran through the city. The only thing he knew for certain was that she would emerge at a hospital. This was all he had to go on to cut her off.

The elevator stopped with a clank. Toshiaki leapt out as the doors opened. He went through the dark lobby and made a dash for his car parked just outside. The key was still in the ignition. He got inside, stepped on the gas pedal as he started the engine, and broke into full speed.

The City Central Hospital was fifteen minutes away. He was not confident he would make it in time, but there was no choice. He had to do everything in his power to defend the recipient of Kiyomi's organ.

But even though she was in a hospital, how was he supposed to look for her? The CCH was the major kidney transplant hospital in this region. There would be many transplant patients there alone. How was he supposed to find the right one among them? Asking any staff was clearly out of the question, and no one would ever believe him if he told them the truth. Should he track down Odagiri, the transplant coordinator? Or talk to the doctor who performed the transplant itself? He thought hard. Both seemed to be dead ends. The hospital was doing its best to maintain its prized confidentiality.

He was convinced there was nothing he could do. But there had to be something. He didn't want there to be a single other victim.

Toshiaki gained speed, nearly skidding off the road as he curved downhill.

11.

Shigenori Anzai was alone, sitting on a sofa in the lifeless hospital lobby.

The lights were out. The window, normally overrun with patients, was covered by a beige curtain as if to reject him. A big clock on the wall tapped a rhythm as it ticked away the seconds. At noontime, this place was racked with so much noise that no one could hear a thing, certainly not the hand of a clock. Now, the ticking annoyed him.

The only light came from the yellow glow of a late-night drug pickup window. But there, too, a curtain was drawn and he could not see inside. Anzai saw flitting shadows of people moving behind it, but could not tell what they were doing.

He looked up at the clock. Over thirty minutes had pa.s.sed since he came to sit here.

Mariko's face floated before his eyes. She was clearly threatened by something. She had still not opened up to him, but occasionally gave Anzai a look that seemed to implore for help. Whenever he gazed back at her, she turned her face to the side, probably wavering about how to respond.

When visiting hours ended and Anzai got up to leave, Mariko sat up and stared at him.

Her eyes begged him not to go. He remembered her saying how afraid she was the night before.

He held her hand. She squeezed it tightly in return. He tried to pull away, but she held on tighter. He watched her patiently.

Before long, he said he needed to get going.

As he walked out, he felt Mariko's gaze upon him the entire time, and as the door closed, he sensed almost a scream of terror from her.

But visiting hours were over and there was nothing he could do. He rationalized his departure like any adult.

As he walked down the hall towards the elevators, he realized his error. Shouldn't he be by her side? He was trying his best to understand her, but maybe that was still just a front, and she had not opened up completely because she saw right through it. Anzai had felt like turning back on his heel but kept walking, against all instinct.

He had no strength to return to her room, but neither could he go home, so he had stayed in the lobby trying to calm his conflicting emotions.

"What are you doing over there?"

Anzai was surprised at the sudden voice.

An older nurse was standing there, carrying what looked like a shopping basket in her hands and eyeing him suspiciously. She had probably come to pick up some meds. Were it not for her uniform, he'd have mistaken her for a housewife on some errand.

He faltered for an explanation as she approached him.

"Visiting hours are over for the night. Why are you here?"

Anzai was silent.

He stood up sluggishly. The main entrance was closed. The only way out was through the service entrance.

"I wouldn't idle around if I were you," came the nurse's voice from behind, as he walked away. He was extremely worried over Mariko, but he could not just sit there forever.

Maybe it was best for him to leave.

The service entrance had a very different feel to it than the main one. There was no tree-lined rotary or even a taxi stop. There were no lights either and Anzai could hardly see a hundred feet in front of him. For all he knew, it was a dead end. Even where light did reach, the hospital walls cramped him on either side. There were numerous bikes and compacts parked outside. Water trickled from the drainage pipe that ran along the wall.

He walked a little and took a look around, wondering how to get out of this place.

Just then, he heard a low sound at his feet. He looked down to find that he was standing on a manhole. He felt a faint vibration underneath, growing in intensity.

At first, he thought it was water flowing through the pipes. But the sound was too unnatural for that. It was more like something moving in the sewers. A rat? No, bigger.

It was getting closer. The manhole cover began to clatter as the sound gained on him.

Anzai jumped back, startled.

He listened closely. Something was rolling in the sewers. If not rolling, then creeping.

He could hear no footsteps, nor was the sound intermittent. Whether it was a living thing or a machine was impossible to tell. Regardless, it was moving along with great speed. The manhole cover was vibrating visibly. Anzai lifted his face. He was directly in its path. The sound was coming right towards him. He looked back down to the manhole cover, then swallowed and turned around to the service entrance door. The direction of the sound, the manhole, the service entrance...all in a straight line.

What is this?

It's coming to the hospital?

He turned back towards the sound. He could see only darkness where the pale light from the ward window did not reach. Not even the silhouettes of telephone poles.

A sound like the voice of the earth itself came from the manhole. A great rush of wind blew out from around the rim. There was no denying now that something was coming. It was big, possibly bigger than Anzai himself. He could hear its breathing. He figured, just from the sound, that it knew exactly where it was going.

Anzai was shaking. He peered closely into the darkness in front of him and saw vibrations rolling wavelike along the ground. Fifty feet away. The darkness erupted with sound. Twenty-five feet. The asphalt quaked. Twenty feet. He stepped back. Followed the sound with his eyes. It was coming for him. Fifteen feet. He wanted to scream, but his voice refused to emerge. Ten feet. The manhole cover danced around madly. He heard a slimy sound. It was coming. Any moment now.

He held his head to fend off the noise.

A deafening roar ran under his feet.

His entire body was enveloped in sound. He shut his eyes.

The ground buckled beneath his trembling knees. He did not open his eyes until the sound was gone, but the feeling of its movement remained. His internal organs were shaken and refused to settle.

What the h.e.l.l just came through here?

Whatever it was, it was alive. He could hardly believe that something so large could navigate the city's pipes. It must have possessed intelligence to come here. There was no hesitation in its speed.

But why here?

Anzai opened his eyes. He turned around and looked up at the hospital walls. It was inside. It had reached its goal.

Silence now. All signs of its existence were gone. Had it gone into the hospital pipes?

...Mariko.

He did not know why, but he knew somehow that she was in danger. Whatever had been making that sound was after her.

Anzai turned back towards the side entrance.

12.

Upon receiving word that Mariko s condition had worsened, Yoshizumi rushed straight to her ward.

A nurse had discovered Mariko thrashing wildly in her bed, with no reaction to sedatives. She was still violent. Yoshizumi had banged down the phone and run out of his office before the nurse could even finish.

Because of Mariko's nightmares, the nurses had to wake her up every night to comfort her. They had used sedatives on her before; this episode seemed to be different. Yoshizumi was starting to fret about the whole situation.

Just what was going on with her? First her organ rejection, slight as it was, reused to settled down, and then this. In over ten years of transplants, he had never encountered such a strange case.

He reached the door to her room, short of breath, and was surprised to hear a violent pounding coming from the other side. A nurse screamed. Yoshizumi hesitantly put his hand on the k.n.o.b.

He went inside, then swallowed.

Mariko's body was bouncing up and down on the bed. Two young nurses were trying to restrain her, but to no avail. Her blanket flew into the air and the transfusion stand fell to the floor.

Yoshizumi stared in amazement at Mariko's abdomen, which had swollen up like a balloon under her nightgown.

The bulge was beyond what was possible for her skeletal structure; regardless, it kept shrinking and expanding, like rubber. It looked like something was trying to jump out of her body, and Mariko was being tossed about by it. Her eyes were rolled back to the whites and she was close to fainting.

"Doctor!"

The nurses called out for help.

Yoshizumi came back to his senses. He tried to restrain her legs, but she struggled with unbelievable strength and he failed to get a firm grip on her. Mariko's abdomen undulated right before his eyes, and yet Yoshizumi could not accept what he was seeing. He grabbed hold of her nightgown and forced it open. The two operation scars, one on the right and one on the left, both painful to behold. But the one on the left bulged out even as he watched.

His eyes widened.

Was it the kidney?

Was the kidney moving?

He bore down on her with all his weight.

"Quick, bind her hands! And put something between her teeth or she'll bite her tongue!"