My name's Henry and sometimes I wonder whether the future of technology is humanity's hope or just for the idiots who thought giving dogs a way to communicate was a good idea. I could walk outside the door and hear curse words from a creature that’s no taller than my suitcase. But can one simply decide that humans are simple-minded beings from a reason as dim-witted as that? No, but the situation that I saw showed that the hypothesis might just be true, in the most atrocious of ways.

“Good evening, doctor.”

“…Evening.”

An isolated man was sitting in front of me, feeble and scared. Theodore Apollo worked at a hospital, the only one in a wide area. Dr. Apollo was timid and would give the assumption of goody-two-shoes, in the past at least. Three people were found dead, all in possession of a small bottle leading to Lilaville Hospital. The other staff had conveniently went into hiding, and perhaps only god and Apollo knows why. But I knew too well that he wouldn’t talk until he’s had all of the information drilled nicely into his head.

“Now, Doctor, would you like to explain the first death?” I asked. He looked downwards breathing heavier each second.

Joseph Ambrose was found in his apartment facing south with a strange substance running out of his mouth. Autopsy revealed that an alloy fused into his body and electrocuted his organs one by one. He died in a locked room, and witnesses saw no sign of any intruders or visitors. No one was sure how did the near-pensioner die, what sort of incident can cause an electrocution from inside the body? Thankfully, the forensic department gave the answers to that. They’ve managed to shape some sort of pill from the materials mixed in the substance near Ambrose’s mouth. First thought to be some sort of drug, this pill turned out very different from usual. There were many leftover wires found, so the pill was sent to technology-based examiners in hopes of extracting more information. They revealed that it functioned as a device, somewhat like a robot controlled by remote. They tried their best to locate the remote but their efforts ended fruitlessly. Joseph Ambrose’s case was filed as a homicide. a

“I believe I’m not related to Ambrose’s murder,” the man said. “Well that is true, we’ve only found the link to the hospital after the second case,” I said. “Perhaps it’s time to remind you of the second case.”

 Phoebe Nithercott was an altruistic person who lived a couple of roads away from Ambrose. Nithercott had lots of neighbours, most are people whom she’d get acquainted with often. Imagine how appalled everyone was to know that charming sweet old Phoebe exploded in her own room during the afternoon. Nithercott’s pill had the same shape and features as the first, with the slight exception of it being able to detonate. After she was electrocuted, the pill let out a small eruption that caused her body to burst into pieces. There was a key evidence in this case, that being the discovery of a Lilaville Hospital-prescribed bottle. The only odd thing is that none of the staff was seen since a week before Ambrose’s murder. The fact that no one filed a missing person report was even more dubious. The last thing everyone heard was that Lilaville was going to temporarily shut down for ‘special purposes’.

“The second pill had more advanced technology than the first one, almost as if the murderer is experimenting with the structure of said pills,” I said. “But he left quite an array of evidence after.” I knew why I had to add that, and why I have to brief Apollo about the murders again. He might doubt as much as he wants, but he knows who the murderer is. It’s crystal clear, he’s searching for an alternate reality where the murderer isn’t who he thinks they are. “So?” Apollo brushed it off.

“The fact that the second murder was sloppier than the first showed how the murderer doesn’t know what he’s dealing with.”  

“How so?”

“He didn’t knew the consequences, and hadn’t prepare enough to hide evidence of the messy murder.”

“…I suppose we’re discussing the third case?”

The third case wasn’t a murder, nor was there any pill involved. It was the murder of Isaiah Berry.

A young man with great ambitions, Berry was one of the only black nurses in Lilaville Hospital. Many were very hesitant to hire him at first, but that certainly did not stop Theodore Apollo from supporting him. Soon enough, Apollo and Berry were known as the best pair in the whole hospital. During the Lilaville’s temporary shutdown, Berry told his parents that he’ll go on a special training trip with the other nurses.

After the murder of Phoebe Nithercott, an officer reported seeing Berry going to a hotel near Gerome Bridge, quite far away from Lilaville. The hotel announced that Isaiah Berry was last seen two hours before midnight. It was twelve o’clock, officers surrounded at the bottom of Gerome Bridge, where Berry was found hanging from. A note in his pocket tells the truth about Lilaville Hospital.

‘To whom it may concern,

                The deaths of Joseph Ambrose and Phoebe Nithercott were more than just murders, they were the experiments of humankind’s cruel side. Dr. Apollo had managed to create a pill, pharmacy combined with the technology today. The pill was for people suffering dementia, it acted like a hard drive of the patient’s memories. Araminta Fleuroy took one, who managed to remember every single bit of her life from the first time she went to kindergarten. I wasn’t very interested as I have a hard time understanding technology, but the whole hospital was very impressed. A bit too impressed.

                I don’t remember when, but Dr. Apollo taught everyone until they had a diverse understanding of how his invention worked. Everything went downhill after that. The doctors found some sort of new power, a tool that deceived that into thinking that they are unstoppable. Animals were tortured, people were tortured, I was tortured. As a black man in a predominantly white neighbourhood, I was certainly disliked. Dr. Apollo was perhaps the only white man to support my medical career. I care deeply about him, but I wished he had more control in choosing his life decisions. He made the pill that killed Joseph Ambrose. They wanted it, and he delivered. I always did thought that his need to please overweighs his freedom and individuality. At the news of Ambrose’s death, he cried in the janitor’s room. He couldn’t believe that they would kill a widowed 64-year-old-janitor. The directors of the hospital forced the staff to go into hiding, saying that they will continue the research in a deserted town that they’ve already prepared with facilites. Dr. Apollo and I managed to escape somehow, I only remember that I got shot in the knee. We hid in Ms. Fleuroy’s house, but immediately left before Nithercott’s death.

I am writing right now from Luminescence Hotel. Dr. Apollo is asleep, but I have a meeting with a certain Lilaville member. I don’t have any wishes to die at his hands, I’ll kill myself if I have to. If the situation arises, please take care of the people who should represented humanity as a whole. Inspector Henry Apollo, I leave my senior to you.

                                                                Best wishes,

                                                                                Isaiah Berry’

“Dad,” Theodore said. He finally called me, after months of searching for him and doubts slithering in my head. “I don’t know how it happened,” he squeaked, tears falling down again. “I was visiting Ms. Fleuroy and I felt so bad for her so I-I just-” he coughed and sniffed more and more after every word. His voice was quieter than before, he was sputtering mixed up words that I can’t understand.

“It’s okay, Theo-”

“-and I don’t know why I did it, but I just did! And Mr. Ambrose was watching an-and he said-”

“Theo.”

Theodore looked at me, his eyes red and nose full. His body was so disrupt that he couldn’t sit still properly. “He said that I was an inspiration.” He wiped his tears. “But how could an inspiration do this? I killed him.”

In front of me was my son who knew who the murderers of the cases were. The first was himself, his beloved hospital and finally the boy he took under his wing, Isaiah Berry. He didn’t want to believe that three of the most important things in his life had gone either crazy, vile, or breathless. He was just trying to help everyone.

My name’s Henry Apollo, and sometimes I wonder whether the future of technology is humanity’s hope or its pathetic demise.