Page 330 of Mercy Written in Blood

"I know them better than you."

"The technique was classified after the Takahara massacre."

"You classified a technique you did not understand."

"We understood enough."

Renji looked at the officers. Both carried weapons beneath sterile coverings. Absurd. They had entered an operating theatre prepared to kill the surgeon.

"What do you intend to do?" Renji asked.

Mori's expression remained grave.

"If you cannot disengage voluntarily, we will separate you."

Haruki's heart skipped. The blood circuit tightened reflexively around Renji's hands. Every monitor changed. Renji became still.

"Do not approach the table."

Mori heard the warning. So did the officers. Sakamoto stepped between them.

"I do not care what law he is violating. My patient is alive because of it."

"The patient may no longer be biologically independent."

Sakamoto looked towards Renji.

"Is that true?"

"No."

Mori said, "You cannot know that."

Renji's calm deepened. The emotion disappeared from his voice not because it had left him, but because it had become too large to waste on expression.

"I can feel every vessel in his body."

The theatre became silent. Renji looked towards Mori.

"I can feel yours as well."

One officer reached beneath his sterile coat. Renji did not move his hands from Haruki. He did not need to. The officer froze. His arm remained half-raised. His fingers opened. The weapon fell beneath the gown and struck the floor. A small sound. Metal against tile. The officer's face went pale.

"What did you do?" Mori asked.

"Interrupted perfusion to the muscles of his forearm."

The officer tried to move. His hand did not respond.

"He is unharmed," Renji said. "For now."

Mori looked at the red channels running from Renji into Haruki. Then at the officer. Understanding entered his face fully. The depot had shown them force. This showed discipline. Renji could continue surgery while disabling a threat without looking at him. No rage. No loss of judgement. A physician managing two bodies according to different needs. One required blood. The other required temporary restraint. Mercy and violencedid not contradict each other. Both were decisions about consequence.

"Take your men outside," Renji said.

Mori did not move.

"The First Law—"