Mr. Knoll was rather cryptic regarding what he had meant by that, so Himeko had had no choice but to follow him down to R & D.

Once entering the door, they were in a small, rectangular room, smelling strongly of disinfectant and decorated with hypodermic syringes by the thousands, all filled with the same fluid, which vaguely resembled antifreeze. 

"This," Mr. Knoll explained, injecting himself with one, "is something the boys down here have spent the last three years developing. It provides a temporary immunity to Unbound abilities . . . and, if used on an Unbound, permanently robs them of said immunity." He offered one to Himeko, giving a hand signal to inject herself with the fluid.

Every bone in the young woman's body screamed that this was dangerous, but complied. Suddenly, she felt very cold. Extremely isolated. Horribly, horribly vulnerable. 

"Don't worry," Mr. Knoll laughed- a horrible, raspy sound with no real humor in it, "it always feels bad the first time. You'll find that it bothers you less the more you do it." With that, he opened the internal door, and motioned for Himeko to follow. 

"You see," he said, pulling a pair of surgical gloves from the suit jacket's pocket and donning them, "I've come to a bit of an accords with the police department. I make rather generous donations, and any criminals who just so happen to be Unbound monsters are brought here, rather than prison. It is quite the merciful thing, really, as here they are guaranteed to be under the strictest of supervision- the best of care. And this lab can analyze every bit of what goes into making an Unbound."

Himeko nodded, keeping up just barely- not only was Mr. Knoll a full foot and a half taller than her, mostly in the legs, but he was going as quickly as he could in a fashion that could still vaguely be called "walking", and Himeko was in heels, as per her mother's advice. "Sir, I was just wondering what the damage could be. Everything looks clean, well-kept, and organized."

"Good question," Mr. Knoll said softly. "Hence why I brought you in. We've determined the Unbound that caused the damage, at least, but it isn't one we know the capabilities of, nor has it seen fit to cooperate. You, Ms. Takeda, have proven to have an excellent bedside manner," Mr. Knoll said, stopping in front of one of the large steel doors. "I learned this through surveying your coworkers. In any case, there is only one thing I must ask of you: get this Unbound to admit to the destruction it's caused. Get it to tell me how it happened."

Himeko nodded. "And how will I be compensated for doing something not within my job description?"

"Until such time as it seems necessary for you to stop, you are to receive double your current pay," Mr. Knoll said, his position offered.

"Agreed," Himeko said, walking through the heavy door.

She had standards, yes, but in an economy like this, double pay was not rejected. Himeko stepped into the room. 

Beyond the heavy metal door was a padded cell- or, rather, what remained of one. The white padding was utterly ravaged in many areas, leaving a sobbing form in the corner sitting on exposed cold steel.

"P- please . . . no more needles, no more pain, NO MORE BUZZER!" A young brunette in a straightjacket began slamming her body against the exposed metal of the floor, apparently trying to dig her way out with her face.

"I'm . . . I'm not here to hurt you. I just would like to ask some questions," Himeko asked quietly. Everything about this was disturbing.

Himeko turned the insane situation around in her head. Her options boiled down to either continuing here, doing her job, and getting out, or bailing and calling someone. 

The young woman couldn't believe how filthy she felt; she made the mercenary decision. 

"Questions?" The brunette asked. She rolled to the side, giving Himeko a look at her face- flushed with fear, cut and bruised by her earlier efforts, and misshapen, perhaps due to whatever the "buzzer" was. However, Himeko couldn't help but be drawn to her eyes- one orb of crystalline blue, the other a cloudy gray. "What . . . what questions?" Himeko couldn't help but take pity on the poor young woman. 

"Let's start with your name," Himeko said, embracing her humanity.

"My . . . my name? A- A- April. I was April," the young woman said. "They- I can't . . ."

"Was?" Himeko asked. "You can still be April. Hello, April. I am Takeda Himeko. I hope you can tell me everything I need to know."

"Hi . . . me . . . ko . . ." April said quietly.