A couple of days later, you receive a phone call from Dr. Manzoo. He bids you visit him in his "clinic". Since he invites you for 11 am, and Pops agrees to escort you one more time, you have no troubles getting there. In the meanwhile, Sissy is doing great in terms of recovering, HarleQueen gets uglier than before but shows signs of affection for both Riker and Lucky (or at least this is how you interpret her plump insults) and there was no further attack from Frozen Yoghurt (except from a single PN sent to Scipio who remembered him that his debt increased from 2 bullets to seven, but, seeing as it would be unfair to punish Scipio alone for the malbehavior of his Hive companions, he is going to deal the retribution strikes no longer to Scipio in person, but to the inhabitants of the Hive instead).
As you arrive, Dr. Manzoo's facial expression is grave. He meets you upstairs where you can sit on the crates. Since Bikki is excluded from the meeting, he specifically asked for Riker to come here, too. Scipio double-checks wether no diary products lie hidden in the shadow behind the crates, but as it seems, this place is secure enough.
Dr. Manzoo clears his throat.
"The news I have for you are not so very good. I examined him, and I examined him closely. To be honest, I spent more hours in it than reasonable and way more hours than the payment I received justified. But I did it anyway, because curiosity drove me, and because I see my debt towards you now as cleared.
What they did ... I'll try to explain it in simple words, but at some points it will be difficult. The change in behaviour in little Musaa does not directly depend on the chip. Rather, the chip monitored and altered his very brain. Thus, by removing the chip, we can prevent it from doing further damage, but what has been changed has been changed. Even after I explained him what had happened to him, I doubt he can face Riker again. Maybe - and this is a big maybe - behavioral therapy might help him to fight down the urge to kill him instantly, but this is a long, straineous and expensive procedure.
I'm not yet sure why they did it. I am quite sure it is nothing personal. I assume they are testing some kind of new invention. Properly tested and improved, this kind of technology might change almost any person's mind. The way they're doing it now, it takes weeks if not months to do so, but the results show. He tried to kill a person he once loved - and, I think, still loves in a way. I have no incling who's behind this, or what they do, but it is most cruel, and no child should suffer from something like this..."
He shakes his head and sighs heavily.
"There's more, though it seems to be small in comparison. They did not only connect the pre-frontal cortex to the datajack, but also several centers connected to firing a weapon. Its structure is similar to skillwires - are you familiar with the concept? - but it's different. It doesn't substitute the brain's function. It's monitoring and altering it. I can't yet decide what it is, but I made some tests with Musaa and - in regard of how little training he has - he is a brilliant shooter.
Do you have any questions at this point?"
