Rabies

Straw headgear with a smile on it. It was not a deliberate design or a children's prank. The straw just grew in this shape naturally.

At least he doesn't seem so terrifying now.

A balloon that follows the interviewee everywhere.

If it lingers long enough, perhaps it too will learn to wear that same gentle smile.

A normal stethoscope casually dangled from his neck. Sometimes he forgets it in the field, so apparently it doesn't quite matter to the interviewee, but still it is a proof of some story.

The freshest part of the interviewee's outfit. We trust that, even without proper table manners, they won't spill food on it.

A bundle of rope commonly seen in the country, useless and valueless. No one wants it even if it's free. Why is he carrying something like this?

A prop box wrapped in straw. The items inside aren't expensive or particularly rare, but they're guarded by a scarecrow. It's drawn the curiosity of many, from wandering thieves to the circus prop masters themselves.

Rabies was raging in the city.

It was an incurable disease with a fatality rate of almost 100%. The patients could do nothing but wait in desperation to lose their senses or their lives.

For the doctors, it was an unbeatable nightmare: no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't save any of their patients.

For the patients, the disease was absolutely egalitarian: anyone infected would meet the same doom, regardless of their status or identity.

However, at that point, an exception occurred: the daughter of a rich man in town did not die of rabies.

Bitten by her own dog, she suffered from madness and was on the verge of death. However, the next morning, everyone read the breaking news of her cure instead of the obituary they had expected. The news mentioned a doctor who was a close friend of the patient and that he cured the disease all by himself.

It was the beginning of a promising future, where humans would finally overcome rabies. People called him the Young Doctor with Great Potential and wondered who he really was.

The doctor himself, however, has not been seen since.

Dear<space=0.15em> Alicja,

<line-indent=9%>If you are reading this letter, that means I am already dead, or I have become my own patient.

The two don't sound that different to me.

What I am trying to say is, it was my feeling for you that drove me to do this, and you are a good woman who deserves the effort. That's all I explain to you.

I can't get rid of the disease, just like how I failed to bring my patients back to normal. But I managed to negotiate with them and, believe it or not, we reached an agreement. This is quite a dramatic ending.

What exactly am I now? Whatever the answer is, I don't want you to worry about me. On the contrary, I want you to understand that this is not your fault, and I only did this for myself. It would hurt me deeply if you live the rest of your life in guilt. That will destroy me and all the things I did for us.

Remember to take the medicine on time. Your maid Cara will remind you of it. Do go to the dance class, no matter how much you hate the meaningless social life. Don't get mad at Mr. Kaczyński again, he's a great man. Finally, best wishes to you, from the bottom of my heart.

<align="center"> Love,

Adam Miłosz

Rabies: Ugh?

Pandora Wilson: Excuse me, that's my notebook, not your new toy. Please stop biting it ...

Pandora Wilson: Let's get started. Let me introduce myself first, I'm the editor of the magazine UTTU.

Rabies: Purr?

Pandora Wilson: I know, that is just my routine opening line. I didn't expect you to make any proper response to my questions.

Pandora Wilson: The interesting thing is, I have been meeting with a lot of incommunicable interviewees recently. They are really fun people, it is a pity that we couldn't communicate properly.

Pandora Wilson: And like you ... Mr. Rabies, you have something very interesting in you. We could have made a very intriguing interview.

Rabies: Oh! Oh! Oooh!

Pandora Wilson: ... Hmm? Sounds like you have something to say.

Rabies: Quack! Quack!

Pandora Wilson: I see. Could you introduce yourself again?

Rabies: Ra ... bies ... I am ... Ra ... bies!