popka

My mom and dad sit in front of a desk all day.

Oh...

Oh yeah, Miss Orchid is like that. The folks at Medical also sit in front of a desk every day to write reports.

Yeah, people who sit in front of a desk are important.

Elwin, there you are. The other doctors told me you snuck out again.

Oops, they found me.

Oh... so you've been coloring with Popukar here.

It looks nice.

This is... a Felitubby in a protective suit?

Yes! Felitubby's going on a mission. He's really important.

This Felitubby sits in front of a desk all day drawing. He's really important too.

Sits in front of a desk all day...?

Yes, Popukar says that people who sit in front of a desk writing and drawing are important.

Like my mom and dad, and the doctors and nurses here, and, and—

And Miss Orchid, and the others!

I see...

Can I borrow this page? I'll save it for you.

You're confiscating it?

No, saving it for you. That way, you can look at it anytime you want to.

Like Rhodes Island's filing cabinets?

Something like that.

Our drawing is awesome, Elwin! Rhodes Island's filing cabinets are awesome too.

Mm... okay.

Now it's time to go back, Elwin. You've been outside for a long time today.

Can I come and play again next time?

Well, it depends on whether you're a good boy in your blood check, which you need to go to now.

I'll be good!

Bye, Popukar! See you next time!

Alright.

There's still a lot of the coloring book left.

Hm... I'll wait until next time Elwin's here. Lemme do my homework now.

Your squad always wears proper protection when you're in the field, right?

Of course.

The scratch on Popukar's arm...

Just a small scratch, no sign of infection. Don't worry.

A tactical error. My fault.

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.