Richard was at a loss and needed a few moments to assess what the doctor was looking for. He had entered the avatar in the midst of a conversation that had already begun taking place. “Can I have a cigarette, please?” The doctor handed Richard Hayes a flat beige box with the German eagle imprinted in red ink above the brand: “Regie 4.” The tiny cigarettes were Austrian. Richard took one and lit it from a box of matches that the aging doctor had taken from his lab coat. As he lit the cigarette and inhaled, Richard noticed green folders on a desk, just outside the room. Black and white photos of what appeared to be cancerous lesions and tumors spilled from their contents. Some had formed on the arms or backs of patients while some looked like they had been taken out of bodies during autopsies. The doctor noticed Richard’s glance. “A fixation of my colleague’s, Doctor Rascher.” the man remarked. “He’s new here, and they say he has some interesting ideas with regard to curing cancer. I wish I had the time to read more on his work.”
