One helicopter ride later, the medical examination began. All of the espers had gone through it at least once a year, and none of them looked forward to it, but some tolerated it better than others-- Hatsune, for example, had become nearly feral last time and had substituted Sakaki's leg for a chew toy.

For her part, Naomi vanished briefly, and returned just in time to see that Jolt had been stripped down to the bare essentials in clothing. Beet-red, she'd buried her face in her hands and remained that way until the preliminary X-rays and pokings and proddings had been done.

"Other than some bruising and scrapes from his fight, there's no harm done," Sakaki ultimately concluded. "From what I can tell, he's still able to use his abilities, but I wouldn't recommend testing them out for a few days, until his body properly adjusts to them. He'll probably have a fever tomorrow, but we can speed up the recovery by having him stay here tonight. That means resting and drinking plenty of water."

He paused, seeing Naomi watching her friend anxiously, and his expression softened.

"We'll be able to return him to his natural state in approximately a week. The synthetic power isn't above Level 6, but it's still powerful, and it would be too risky to have the director try to restore him now." When she nodded, he grinned and ruffled her hair, casting Jolt a glance. "Naomi's going to stay with you tonight and keep me updated if you begin to feel even slightly off in any way." Another pause, longer this time.

"... Try not to do anything that'll get Tanizaki in a homicidal rage. I like my workplace semi-devoid of blood."