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The audience members, almost exclusively nervous, serious young medical students, also found themselves laughing appreciatively. Faust smiled. "There, see, this isn't so bad!" he said encouragingly. "Now, you're not being graded on this, as far as I know. Most of you are here because you want to be. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming tonight. Some of you might be familiar with African trypanosoma, an endemic in a part of Africa that over 60 million people call home. There are two forms of the disease that are known, and the one I would like to discuss is carried by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, and it is the quickly developing acute form of the disease. So far, the treatments for this disease have been somewhat primitive, and lives have been lost as a result of neglect. But through a combination of sterile insect technique and a newly truncated version of apolipoprotein L-1 and nanobodies, I believe that the African population is in for a healthier future...." Faust continued in that vein for about a half-hour, the students in the audience either listening raptly or scribbling furiously in note books.

"Sh!" A girl next to Shizuka hissed. "Quiet... he's right, he's completely right... I'm trying to get all of this..."

Faust paced back and forth across the stage, flicking on the power point program and explaining, in dizzying detail, particulars that hadn't previously been known about the disease. His eyes shone, and there was a vivid energy in his voice that won over even the audience members that couldn't keep up with his rapid-fire taxonomy. He was in his element.

"That's not bad," Lyserg said, leaning over and looking at Netsubo's picture.

Most of the students at least looked like they understood. They were all trying their darndest, like Netsubo had been, to keep up.

Faust paused, slightly breathless. "Do you all need a moment to finish taking notes before I go on to the next aspect?"

"Doctor? Maybe you could repeat the part about a person's deoxyribonucleic acid contributing to the likelihood of infeciton?"

"Of course... sorry about that..." Faust said. He obligingly repeated his sentences, slowly and careful without being patronizing. "Actually, I think that my time is almost up... any questions, before I conclude?"

"Yes... you? Down in center-left?" Faust asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"What are you going to do?!" Lyserg whispered.

"I think I'll cure AIDS next," Faust answered, amazingly without arrogance. "And I'm actually here today on the suggestion of a very good friend. Anyone else?"

" 'High hopes?' " The girl next to Netsubo asked. "No, he could do it... he's legendary! He cured Weismiller's! He's a modern-day miracle worker."

"He probably could," admitted Lyserg. "I'm sure he's already working it through, now that you've got him thinking about it."