"What's wrong with you? A medical robot is trying to treat your child, and you won't let it? Are you trying to let him die or what?" Someone nearby tried to help get the child away from her, but the woman seemed like a rabbit cornered, her eyes red as she screamed, "Nobody touch my child!"
"Who's trying to touch your child? He's so sick—let the robot examine him before it gets worse!" The speaker was getting angry too. "Are you paranoid or something?"
But the woman still wouldn't let go. The robot tried to approach several times, but couldn't do anything. Then someone in the crowd suddenly cried out, "Could he be regressing?"
A large number of people nearby backed away in alarm.
Regression, becoming an alien, and Evolution Aftereffects were all terms used to describe cases where someone was poisoned and couldn't be cured, developed certain animal features, or lost their reason and attacked people indiscriminately. Simply put, Evolvers who couldn't adapt to Evolution developed extreme symptoms. These symptoms varied from person to person. Some seemed sick or poisoned, with their bodily functions rapidly declining. Others developed animal-like appearances or features, along with extreme aggression. The former posed little threat, but some of the latter were as dangerous as Aliens.
Normally, when an ordinary person showed signs of being an Evolver, people first considered whether they might become a Player. But in a relatively mature game Sub-district like District 001, almost every ordinary resident underwent genetic screening, so it was determined early on whether they could become a Player. When ordinary people developed these symptoms, it usually wasn't a good sign. And this was a child of only six or seven. There were no Players this young in the game.
So when someone suggested that the child might