To Live Again, For the First Time!

Xander was quite confused during his conversation with the Master. He always knew that geniuses were quirky, as was he, but he was still shocked when M was talking to him about personal matters.

He ended up staring at his conversation log for an extended amount of time. Some of the other doctors around looked at him weirdly, but none of them took the initiative to ask. Even though they were of similar ages, if not older, Xander was still their superior. ​​

Xander was a young man at the age of around 25 and his gifts in the medical field were noticed at a very young age because his family was well connected.

His uncle was a member of the Board of Directors in the Medical Institute.

He had been learning medicine at the age of 9 and started interning at the Medical Institute to learn more at the age of 14. Only one year after his internship started, the people around him could no longer see him as a child.

He was more of a monster.

That was also around the first appearance of M. After his appearance, no one thought much of this M. His work had been left to be check later, and in the end, this job was assigned to Xander.

He was really upset. At the age of 15, he wanted to do something big to prove himself, he wanted to actually help people.

Though he had a lot of theoretical knowledge, more than people decades older than him, what he really wanted to do were actual procedures and surgeries.

Despite his young age, he was not at all scared to get his hands dirty. Of course, no one would actually let him do anything but learn on the side.

His dream was to be like a superhero who could save lives.

He thought that his talent was being wasted looking at a report submitted by someone online, this person didn't even have any noticeable educational background (the data was faked by 8-year-old Theo).

At least that's what he believed until he read the report.

It was about the treatment of an illness that he had once read about in his studies. However, he didn't seem to see more than a handful of these cases in the past years, that was because most died within a year or two after they were affected and only weeks after showing the symptoms.

It was a type of paralysis that occurred due to a genetic mutation. The cells in your heart were nearly completely replaced in around 3 years' time, and this disease would have settled in by then, stopping the patient's heart completely by the end of that time.

The amount of time the patient survived after the first cardiac arrest was not very long.

As for replacing the heart, that was not viable either, because by the time the disease had reached the heart it would have already infected many other parts of the body, which wouldn't have shown any visible effects. Unlike the pacemaker in the heart, which makes it beat properly.

When Xander finished reading the report he found it absolutely absurd and placed it on the side, completely forgetting it for the next months.

Then came the day things started to change.

A notable figure was rushed into the ward that was a part of the Medical Association. She was Mr. Lander's mother. The mother of a member of one of the Board of Directors. She rushed in with a cardiac arrest. Though she was saved at the time, she was diagnosed with Pacemaker's Heavy Paralysis which had no cure at that time.

Mr. Lander was devastated and Xander was shocked when he suddenly thought of that report. He hesitated for days, but when Mr. Lander's mother had another cardiac arrested she was already living with numbered days.

Xander decided to tell Mr. Lander who was desperate enough to give it a shot. The next days for Xander were spent with the heavy monitoring of Madam Lan's condition.

Everyone in the Association had heard about this incident at this point and most people believed that Mr. Lander had gone crazy for trying this procedure with no factual evidence of its success.

At the same time, they felt bad for the possible end of the career of this prodigy child. Life wouldn't be so smooth anymore if Mr. Lander started to oppose Xander's career progression, even with the help of his uncle.

Xander POV:

I really didn't know what I was thinking at that time. I had told Mr. Lander, whom I wasn't very closed to because I saw his desperation for a chance, but even I didn't believe it would work out.

I had to take care of Madam Lan because everyone else believed it was a waste of time. Actually, they just didn't want to be associated with her death.

I had no choice because I was the one that proposed using this method, which I then regretted. It would forever leave a stain on my reputation, but as a teenager, I just wanted to save a life.

I did however know that I had made a mistake when my uncle, who didn't have a very good relationship with Mr. Lander, came to scold me for my presumptions actions.

With each passing hour, I got more nervous. But when those hours became days, I couldn't help but get excited. Madam Lan's condition wasn't deteriorating as they had originally predicted.

After surviving 2 whole weeks without a single seizure, everyone who had been paying attention to this matter was shocked. With the Pacemaker's Heavy Paralysis, her heart rate would normally continue to fluctuate until she had a heart attack. If the patient didn't die in that heart attack they would eventually die in the next or the one following.

After less than 6 months of continuous monitoring and treatment as well as an increase of doctors working on the case to make sure everyone followed the procedure to a tee, she had a full recovery.

She didn't even need surgery or anything of the sort. Following her recovery, multiple studied that procedure time and time again, including me, yet no one was able to figure out what had saved the patient.

The International Medical and Procedural Association went into an uproar and everyone was trying to look into this M. Even so this wasn't enough to get the higher-ups to take note. This M had no other achievements and we still didn't know if the procedure would work for all patients. The illness also wasn't a widespread one.

I knew this because even my uncle was doing the same. Multiple people had come to find me for information about him and the report and how I got it. I had to make it clear to every single person who came to me that I had no real clue who he was except for the information already in the database. Which apparently wasn't much.

That aside, I finally felt like I had done something of importance. Just by handing this 'M's' report to a higher-up, I was able to save a life, and probably many to follow.

It was an amazing feeling.

Day after day I waited for any information about M. I checked thrice every day for any reports coming from him, though I'm sure they would have been intercepted before they ever reached me.

It was then, 3 months after the whole fiasco, exactly one year after the first report had been sent I got a message on my personal phone.

Unknow Number: [Hello Xander. I'm TWO. It's nice to meet you. I'm here to talk to you about M.]

I was a little upset because I also wanted to know about M. Yet here came another person asking me when I've responded countless times that I don't know.

Xander: [I don't know who you are, but I don't have the information you are looking for.]

Unknown Number: [I already told you, I'm TWO, you should add this number into your contacts under a different name though. As for the not knowing more about M, of course, you don't know, haha.]

'Why the heck is this guy laughing. What's so funny?' I didn't really understand, but he had already caught my attention.

'If he isn't looking for information about M then why is he contacting me? And he talks like he knows a lot more about him than I do.'

Xander: [Why should I add your contact? Why are you looking for me?]

Unknown Number: [You don't want to work with M? Then it seems I am indeed talking to the wrong person. Well then, I guess you don't have to add this contact, byeee. This chat and anything related will be deleted within 10 seconds. See you never!]

'SLOW THE F*CK DOWN! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST SAY! WHAT DO YOU EVEN MEAN?'

Unknown Number: [10]

Unknown Number: [9]

Unknown Number: [8]

My fingers stammer as I tried to send a coherent message.

Xander: [WAIT!]

Unknown Number: [??]

Xander: [Can't you talk like a normal person!? Who the heck talks like this?]

Unknown Number: [Me?]

At this point, my face was already buried in my palm in what one would call a facepalm (-‸ლ).

Xander: [Do you actually know M?]

Unknow Number: [Of course.]

I didn't really know if I should believe this person, he could have very well been a scammer, but the teenager me felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Xander: [If you're for real, then, of course, I want to work with M!]

Unknown number: [hehe.]

I didn't really know why, but even though a text, that last message seemed sinister. But what mattered more was the chance to work with M, so that scary gut feeling was ignored.

To this day, I still don't know if that was the best or worse choice of my life.