“Alright now 'John',” Katz looked through his wallet. “Or I guess your name is-.”

“Asher, it's Asher.” He managed to say.

“Well Asher. I should probably make this clear. You were dangerously close to the Syndicates territory.” Katz continued observing him from a distance, the man's eyes widened at the mention. “By that reaction I assume you figured out who I am now.”

“You’re the scientist guy. Are you going to dissect me?” Asher quivered.

“No. That's disgusting.” Katz shook his head briskly. “I'm a chemist, mostly. What the hell kind of rumors are circulating now?”

“Mms... he... said you....” The man was suddenly struggling to speak through the numbness he was feeling for a moment. “Rearranged his organs...?”

Katz took a very deep sigh. “First of all, that's not what that means. That's a euphemism.”

“Oh.” The man relaxed ever so slightly.

“Second of all, that did not happen. Or... maybe it did... That sort of memory doesn't belong to me...” Katz thought about it for a moment then shook his hand as if waving off the thought. “That's irrelevant either way. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” He groaned. “Why do you care?”

“Well, that's not very descriptive.” Katz wrote something down on a clipboard.

“Are you really going to sit there and document me dying? I would've preferred you uh, rearranging my organs.” He struggled to move again but nothing below his neck was responding correctly as he shifted around in place.

“Sapphire Syndicate doesn't make lethal compounds. They have other goals in mind.” Katz explained. “Also please don't say that again.”

“What? Rearrange my organs?” He asked.

“Yes, that.” Katz sighed deeply again.

“Why not? Why wouldn't you wanna rearrange my organs?” He tried to turn his head towards Katz, but it didn't work out very well.

“Organ rearrangement is not a medically recognized procedure.” Katz said flatly.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” He said finally managing to lock eyes with Katz again, “But why not...?”