–Maddox Greyson, who was trying to sneak in, looked around cautiously, searching for an opportunity to slip inside.
“Mr Greyson,” Freya called out to him.
He turned around and saw her face. Maddox was so scared that he took two steps back, stumbling and steadying himself against the wall. Stammering, he asked, “Y-you, you, are you a ghost or a human?”
Freya realized that her face was covered and almost fully healed, which made her appearance about 80-90% normal. Maddox thought she was dead, so it was normal for him to be frightened upon seeing her.
Freya explained, “I’m not dead.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t have time to explain all this right now. What are you doing here?” asked she.
Maddox sighed and said, “Well, I’m not qualified to attend, but I wanted to come in and listen, so…”
“I understand,” Freya said. “Follow me.”
“You can bring me in?” Maddox was surprised; he had tried using his connections, but he couldn’t manage to get in.
Freya glanced back at him, saying nothing. She felt that the worst thing about her country was being overly strict and bureaucratic. As long as it was related to medicine, they wanted to know more and wouldn’t deprive themselves of the right to explore, even if they weren’t professionals in that field. Perhaps they might even come up with some good ideas.
There’s a saying, the more minds, the more solutions.
Freya went ahead and spoke with the director for a few moments, and he nodded in agreement, negotiating with the organizers. Mede carried some weight in the conversation. After all, they held the latest data on artificial heart development. Once they got permission, Freya came back and found him a seat.
Maddox said, “Thank you, oh, by the way, did Elijah know you’re not…”
The word “dead” didn’t seem quite appropriate, so he quickly silenced himself. Freya didn’t mind and said, “He knows I’m not dead. I have to go busy myself now.”
“Alright, go ahead.” Maddox laughed. He felt that Freya had changed compared to before. It must be because he knew about her relationship with Elijah; his attitude towards her had changed.
The seminar officially began, with the host from Country Z giving the usual opening remarks and slogans, thanking friends from all over the world for gathering here and warmly greeting them.
The theme of this seminar was “Life Knows No Borders,” discussing the progress of total artificial heart development. Through our relentless efforts, research, and exploration, we will eventually conquer diseases and save lives…”
Next, it was the turn of the foreign participants, led by Mede, to speak. They used a lot of exchange terms but there was no significant information shared. Then came the discussions addressing specific questions. This was the time for everyone to freely speak. Those who came today were well-prepared. Many domestic doctors involved in this kind of research shared their technical ideas and feasibility statements. Freya silently took notes, realizing that we had many talented individuals in our country.
Some of the issues raised were ones they had discussed internally at Mede during meetings. And the solutions they proposed at that time were not as feasible as what they were saying now.
Someone asked Mede a question. The director chose Freya, one of the two accompanying doctors, to speak. Freya stood up, her expression serious. “I am the chief cardiac surgeon at Mede. Through participation in numerous heart-related studies, we have made good progress. During this time, we have encountered many challenges. I have some personal opinions on this…”
Here, she emphasized “personal opinions.” In other words, her speech did not represent Mede at this moment. Because the prepared speech given by Mede had no substantial response to the questions, it was lengthy and lacked focus.
“Heart disease has a very high fatality rate. Although medical technology has advanced to the point where we can perform heart transplants, the availability of suitable donor hearts is extremely limited. Most patients don’t have the opportunity to receive a heart transplant. In today’s world of equality, it is cruel to be faced with such a choice.” At this point, she paused for a moment.
In reality, there was not much equality in this world. Heart transplants were something only a few could afford. Not to mention how difficult it was to find a suitable heart.
“I believe…” Freya continued.
She took her previous notes and refined them further based on the speeches of the domestic doctors. She pushed the feasibility to the extreme. This speech was a bit long and contained many technical terms.
Suddenly, someone burst into the room.