popka

You're doing good work.

The medical results are in. Not much change in the data compared to last time.

Still no significant drop in the cell assimilation rate... the suppressant is working, but there's no real improvement.

I stopped hoping for improvement a long time ago.

At her age, and based on where she started, though... the status quo is good news enough.

You'll be the one to tell her again?

Just the general gist. I don't think she should know the details.

I don't want to give a little girl a health report and ask her to consider how long she has to live.

Do you think she has a chance to make it long enough for a breakthrough discovery?

A 'chance' should not be how a doctor makes her bread.

But this is what we're fighting for every day, here at Rhodes Island.

Sometimes I wonder, is it better to be like Popukar, to contract Oripathy at a young age...

Or to be like me and the others, to contract the illness after we've lived our lives for a while.

...It's better to not get it at all, of course.

Heh... of course.

Would I have lived more freely and worried less, if I got infected at Popukar's age?

But the fact is, children like her live under so many restrictions once they catch the illness...

Limitations placed upon them by adults.

We tell them how they must not do this, how they must be careful of that.

Not to mention she still has to go on missions.

That's why I want her to live like a normal child outside of missions, to do normal things in a normal home.

After all, going on missions and understanding these restrictions are two different things.

All she needs to know is where to go, what to do, and that she'll be taken care of when she comes back. All she needs to be is a little bit more independent, on top of these things.

Yes. The rest is our job.

(I was going to ask Dr. Li how long I need to press the cotton ball against my arm.)

(I'll ask another doctor. I should remember these things.)

(I'll keep it pressed for a little longer.)

I think the bleeding's stopped.

I should throw the cotton ball into...

There, the medical trash bin.

I wonder if Miss Orchid is done with Dr. Li. I'll wait for her here.

I should finish writing the mission report.

I'll draw Miss Orchid, then Mr. Spot... he's raising his shield...

Hm, that's a little too round. Let's do this again...

Then a bunch of scary-looking bandits.

Mr. Midnight did this and this, then Miss Catapult did this and this, and the bandits went POW!

How do you draw someone flying off their feet?

Miss Catapult went boom boom boom... and then the mission was done, and everybody's happy. I'll draw some smiles.

Mr. Midnight was complaining about how hot the desert was. I'll draw some sweat on his face.

Should I draw how my arm got hurt?

I'll do that, then draw a Popukar wearing a thick protective suit on the side... and brum brum brrrrr spinning real fast.

That means I won't get hurt again!

Alright, report's finished...

Popukar! There you are.

Elwin? Did you sneak out of the ward again?

No! I got permission to come out for a little while today.

I'm done with all my checks today, so I told the doctor I wanted to play with you, and they let me come to the game room.

You completed a mission! That means you're all grown up.

What are you drawing? A new coloring book?

It's the report that I have to write after a field mission.

Field mission? What's that?

Going out to fight bad guys.

Oh, the 'work' that you were talking about!

You fight bad guys? You're awesome.

Did you draw how you were fighting them? Wow, you have a big saw!

Yeah, brum brum brrrrr is awesome too!

So this is a 'report'? I want to draw a report too.

You wanna do it? A report is recording everything that happened that day. It's really easy.

Lemme get you a piece of paper... here, this is your report. Draw the things you did today.

But all I did was get needles in me in the ward, then they let me come and play for a while.

You can draw that too.

Is that a mission?

Hm...

I think it is. The doctors told you to do something, and you did it. That's a mission.

Did you do what they told you?

...A little.

Then draw a little.

(Scribbles seriously)

But the only thing in the report is me lying on the bed getting dripped.

How about I draw how I sneaked out of the ward the last time?

You can't draw yourself sneaking out!

But... I guess you got caught anyway.

Alright, then draw it smaller, like really tiny.

Would that be okay?

Yeah, you can pretend it's not so bad if people can't see it well.

Hah, you're smart.

I want to be like you, going to work and fighting bad guys here.

Then you need to get better, and be really strong like me... or smart like Miss Orchid, or have a big shield like Mr. Spot.

But only if the doctors say it's okay.

Then you can write lots of reports.

But it's okay to think about it now.

Can I write it in the report, even if I'm just thinking about it?

I think it's okay. You can draw what you did today, and what you want to do.

That way, you'll know you were thinking about these things when you look at it in the future, and you won't forget.

I often draw everyone in A6 standing together and smiling happily, although what actually happens is that Miss Catapult is usually being scolded by Miss Orchid.

The boy in the patient's gown gazes at the blank sheet in front of him, then draws a small dot in a corner.

This is the 'future'.

So small?

Because I don't know how big it's gonna be, so I'll draw it smaller at first. That way, there'll be plenty of room for 'future' to grow bigger.

Then I'll draw a 'future' too.

Popukar draws a small dot in a corner of her completed report, then adds four small dots around it.

This way, my 'future' will grow too.

And the futures of Orchid, Catapult, Spot, and Midnight.

Sometimes they frown when they're reading the reports, sometimes they smile. Maybe they're thinking about the future too.

Will you draw them frowning?

Yes, but smaller. If you draw the sad things too big, they'll frown even more when they see it. That's not good.

When mom and dad came to see me, they brought a lot of folders, and they were frowning at those papers.

But they never tell me what's on the paper.

That means they put sad things on paper like the doctors here, and put them inside the door, so that we only see the things that are nice.

Don't you get mad that they don't tell you the truth?