Genius

Chapter 3

(House)

I went exploring through the hotel, thinking how expensive it must've been to rent the whole floor. Also, I had a hunch that Ryuuzaki could command the whole hotel staff without a single complaint from anyone. I wanted something sweet, so I started searching for Ryuuzaki's stash, but to no avail. Not even a candy wrapping or a faint smell of chocolate. Hell, he hid this stuff better than the Pharmacy guys hid their prescription drugs. I found a very good Steinway, but I regretted not bringing any guitars, so I went shopping.

(W&L)

The phone rang.

'Watari?' I said.

'Ryuuzaki, a shop is asking for a payment of 5 000 euros. I am sure that it is Dr. House.'

'Allow the payment.'

'Are you sure? It is a lot of money.'

'Yes.'

'Very well, then.' Watari said and hung up.

(House)

I went home with my purchase, a very good and expensive guitar. I hoped that the price could pry some emotion out of Ryuuzaki.

'I'm home!' I yelled.

'Hello, House. Enjoying your purchase?' he said.

'Yes, thank you.'

'You know, I confirmed the payment.'

'Yeah, I could've imagined. I saw this golden credit card in a piggy bank that had "Expenses" written all over it, so I thought I could buy something.'

Just as I was exiting, a video feed was shown on a screen that was as large as Cuddy's house. It was a video call from the president of the USA.

'I guess he can't see us.' I said.

'No. Good day, sir.'

'Yes. Any advancement?' he asked.

'Yes, there has been some. My assisting doctor has arrived yesterday, and he will be fully informed about the current situation of the investigation and will start working as soon as possible.'

'Good. May I ask who the doctor is?'

'Unfortunately not. This is for security reasons, of course.'

'Very well. Good luck, gentlemen.' He said as the video feed closed, its place being taken by a dozen windows, showing news programs and charts of all kind.

'Wow, do all world leaders accept what you say, like that?'

'Yes.' L replied, shortly. 'Look at this. What does it tell you?' he said, showing me some documents about the virus.

'Hmm, very interesting.' I said, and we began discussing ideas.

A FEW HOURS LATER

(House)

'So, what have we discovered so far?' I said, reviewing our ideas one more time.

'We agreed on the fact that it was created somewhere with a hot climate. We still haven't established how it spreads. Death occurs in about 14 hours after contamination. So far, 24 000 have died worldwide, no area being obviously spared or presenting special conditions. Yet. There is probably some ethnical limit or difference that we will see in the future.'

'Yes. It shows slight signs of mutation. Any claims from terrorist groups?'

'There have been some, only a few credible enough for investigation. I have discovered the location of the slightly more credible groups and have given the coordinates to the right forces. Although capturing them, they haven't uncovered anything useful.'

'This virus is a real killer, not anybody could've developed it.' I completed.

'You are right. I think we should call it a day.' Ryuuzaki said.

'Feeling tired?'

'I rarely sleep. If I sleep, I sleep in this position for exactly 7.39 minutes, and then wake up. I hate wasting time on sleep. Your leg is hurting. It's from tiredness. Go to sleep.'

'You guessed from my position?'

'That, and from the very slight movement of your facial muscles that show pain in most persons.'

'Got me there. Good night.' I said, limping to my room.

Ryuuzaki didn't bother to answer and continued looking over some papers.