The hallway bustles with activity as nurses, doctors, and patients prepare for the day.
No one is paying much attention to each other. The routine is familiar, the faces unremarkable.
Nothing to see here.
"Not secret, exactly. What's left of the US government is aware of us. Our patients aren't, because reminding them about the fungus would exacerbate it, which in turn triggers the drug. We don't like to wipe their memories more than necessary."
Izakin's memories are still there. They just don't link up to the rest of his mind.
"It's entirely reasonable to be afraid of people messing with your head. How much do you trust other people's accounts on magic? Because without magical effects and given the... uh, constraints of your lack of sight, it's hard to give you strong evidence unless you have time to prepare. Like, I can absorb heat in my vicinity, but without the visuals it isn't as impressive."
Fascinating, in the most horrible way possible.
Temple takes copious notes and then says. "Okay, this should be treatable with my magic. I am going to devise a spell to counter it. Do you have anyone that can be used as a test subject for something more dangerous than being magically stared at?"
"Volunteers," Ezra starts ticking off his fingers, "In order of the more to the least likely: the most obvious thing is that it could fail and then you would suffer the normal fatal effects from the infection," the ticks another finger, "or could be something less than that, from brain damage to nothing at all," third finger, "or the fungus could have some trait or adaptation that kicks in once a this thorough disinfection is attempted. I trust Temple's skills as a sorcerer so I doubt any problem will arise from his lack of sorcery knowledge, or even regular biological knowledge, but the fungus is an entirely new thing."
"At this stage we are just searching for volunteers and giving them some information so they can have a minimal capacity to give consent to the experiment. Aside from that, when the time is ready you will need to stand still for the casting and then wait in observation so we can detect any ill effects. I believe in my stepson's capabilities. But you still should be warned that if something goes wrong it might kill you or damage you permanently."
He blinks and stands up. He looks at his surroundings and doesn't know what to do nor how he got in here.
....The room was already chilly, but it gets colder. He looks at his hands and is surprised they're aren't the pale blue.
He takes a few moments to calm down, because he knows this cold isn't something he can just announce to the world.
Can he leave the room?
"Unfortunately, yes. There may be some details you can remember- so far, other patients have mostly remembered the parts of their life that they considered most generic. You understand how hospitals work, for example, and may remember being in one many times before- but you may not remember any particularly emotional experiences you have had in hospitals."
Fratres remember a forest with very tall trees and large animals. He remembers a city in the distance and he remembers that he should run away from it. Looking up to the sky he can see the stars going out one by one.
Brigadier remembers he should move his white knight to- no, wait, both white knights are out already. Then his next movements should be- no the queen is not there. She is- she is there. Then Brigadier blinks and he experiences an odd sense of double-vision. Two chessboards. One cheat and made of plastic. Another fancier and made of hardwood.
Infrared remembers drowning, waters filling her longs and her legs kicking in pointless panic. She needs air. She needs air. She needs air.
"Sure thing."
And assuming the doctor cooperates. He starts inspecting. "I am not good enough at this to be sure that I won't make the fungus worse," he says after a few minutes, "I think I can fix at least one of your eyes though. It might feel weird when the nerve ends start to grow."