The Cat's Tail

"Looks like you're in good spirits now."

Raymond chuckled in response to his friend's statement.

"Yeah, I am," he said. "Oh right, didn't you say during the board meeting that you wanted to discuss something with me?"

"Yeah," Phillip answered, his relaxed expression became serious. "It's about the thing you mentioned about Callisto when you summoned me this morning."

After they talked about Phillip's wellbeing, Raymond mentioned how Callisto was able to decipher a foreign language despite the lack of taking language lessions.

Raymond recalled how Callisto read the foreign letters out loud.

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"Calli, can you read it?" Raymond asked.

Calli nodded as she turned to the back cover to read it.

"Not only that, I feel like I could speak it, too."

Returning to the front cover, the girl began deciphering the kanji for her and her father.

"The seventh part of JoJo enters a new universe. Set in the 1890 United States, it stars Johnny, a former jockey who desires to regain the use of his legs, and Gyro, a disgraced former executioner who seeks to win amnesty for a child on death row." 

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Recalling that exact moment, Raymond's expression stiffened.

Believing that it was only possible due to the operation that saved Callisto's life, Phillip came to the conclusion that this ability to decipher foreign languages without prior knowledge might not be the only thing they missed.

Phillip didn't want to say it or even think about it, but although Callisto seemed well at the moment, it was possible that he and Raymond might have missed something that could have a negative effect on Callisto in the future. They just weren't aware of it yet.

And so, during the first time the topic was brought up early this morning when they talked one-on-one, Phillip suggested running some tests on Callisto to see what the Mutated DNA Fusion did to her besides what they already know about.

However, Raymond only mentioned it to Phillip because he wasn't sure how his daughter was able to read and understand another language until he and his friend came to the consensus it was because of the MDF.

Having no intention to find out to begin with, Raymond declined his friend's proposal.

The father's refusal did not sit right with Phillip. Ever since they talked about it, it had never stopped bothering him until now. That was the reason behind Phillip's desire to have a discussion after the board meeting.

"Are you sure we don't need to do anything at all, Raymond," Phillip asked in concern, a glint of worry in his eyes.

Raymond understood Phillip's concern very well. After all, the possibilities were limitless. For all he and Phillip knew, Callisto's life might still be in danger despite the MDF's successful operation.

But...

Raymond looked at Phillip dead in the eye and inquired; "Let's say we conducted a test on Callisto and we did find something, but the possibility that we might have overlooked something else remains there, what do you think should we do?"

Phillip frowned, thinking how weird it was for Raymond to ask something they both knew the answer to. Still, his friend asked a question, and so he must give his response.

"In that case, we just have to conduct another...!"

At that moment, it hit Phillip. Raymond wasn't looking for an answer from his friend. He was seeking Phillip's understanding of his own concern.

A dark expression loomed over Phillip.

"If we run a test on Callisto, knowing that we might still miss a lot of things at the end of it, we'll end up doing the same thing again and again without knowing when to stop."

Raymond nodded silently.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

Raymond understood the reason behind Phillip's concern for his daughter very well. However, he did not spend the last decade and a half finding a way to save Leona and Callisto's lives from their incurable genetic disorder just for them to become experimental subjects.

He tried to save them because...

"I want them to live. That's it."

"Yeah, I know," Phillip replied solemnly. "I was the one who helped you all the way, after all."

The idea of Callisto being treated like an experimental subject didn't cross Phillip's mind until his friend helped him realized it. It was a concern driven by the fear that the MDF wasn't as successful as he thought.

But now that he understood Raymond's own concern, a swirl of differing thoughts cloud Phillip's mind.

Unable to reach a compromise and figure out what to do himself, Phillip looked at Callisto's father and asked;

"... Is there anything we can do besides my initial idea?"

Raymond closed his eyes for a moment, as if rummaging through his thoughts.

"... I've thought about it a lot, but..."

From the moment he and Callisto went from the Megaverse book store to Oner's apartment building, to then making his way back to the hospital in Manila, Raymond thought about what he could do to ensure his daughter's safety without compromising her freedom.

With all that time he had to think about things, he could only come up with just one thing.

The question Phillip raised just now gave his friend an opportunity to go through the same ordeal one more time. Unfortunately, just like his previous attempts, Raymond could only think of one way to ensure his daughter's safety.

"Right now, our only option is to simply keep an eye on Calli."

"I see. Keep an eye, huh."

"..."

Raymond noticed how calmly his friend took his answer to his question. It was almost as if Phillip already saw it coming from miles away.

"I guess that's also the only thing you could come up with," said the father curiously.

Phillip chuckled lightly.

"Yeah. Frankly speaking, I was hoping we could do more than just that, but..."

Immediately after hearing his friend's answer, Phillip realized how pointless it was to cling on to such hope.

"Oh well, I guess we just gotta do what we can."

"Yeah. In fact, while I was on my way back here yesterday, I already hired a guy to do the job."

Raymond took out his smartphone and placed it on the table next to his empty can of coffee.

"Should something comes up, he'll contact me immediately."

"Then we can respond accordingly," Phillip followed.

Raymond nodded in agreement. Then suddenly, a sly smile sprung up from his face.

"Last night, the guy contacted me."

Phillip looked surprised.

"Already?!"