Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.
"Hm, sounds like a temporal lobe seizure," suggested Rose.
"A what ?" asked Carrie. "Some kind of brain thing ? You mean we're going nuts ?"
"No, that's very unlikely," said Rose. "Especially not both of you at once. There must have been some kind of external influence. We need to speak to Frank."
Down in HQ, Carrie and Oscar had to repeat what had happened. Frank was interested in the types of shape each of them had seen. He asked them to wait while he contacted the medical branch of MI9. On his return he had a frown on his face.
"It looks like Rose is right. All the symptoms you describe match with a temporal lobe seizure," he explained. "It's not a dangerous type of seizure, merely unpleasant. Subjects get an intense feeling that something terrible is about to happen and they see an amorphous misty shape. The brain tries to apply meaning to the shape and it is interpreted in different ways according to the culture of the person experiencing the seizure. Americans see aliens, French people see the Old Grey Hag who is a portent of death, and British people tend to see a ghost. I've discussed it with one of the doctors and it is quite hard to induce a temporal lobe seizure. You would both have to have been affected by a massive electro-magnetic field of some sort.
"Why wasn't Rose affected then ?" asked Oscar.
"Different people are susceptible to different degrees," explained Frank. "Rose is clearly not susceptible. Hence Oscar was affected, but not Rose and then Carrie was affected but again Rose wasn't."
"I didn't see anyone else in the canteen acting strangely though," said Carrie. "Surely it wouldn't just be us would it ?" she asked.
"Now that is odd," agreed Frank. "There must be some way in which you three were being targetted. Rose, I need your help in setting up a detector for any kind of electro-magnetic field. I want a mobile one for each of you three and one for HQ. We need to get to work immediately."
Oscar and Carrie weren't needed, so had to return to afternoon classes. Oscar had a French test which he breezed through as usual. He inserted a few deliberate mistakes so as not to draw attention to himself, but he still finished ahead of everyone else in the class. He sat staring out of the window. It was a grey, overcast day. He guessed it would be raining later. Hopefully he would get home before it started because he'd forgotten to bring a waterproof.
Carrie was sitting in geography, wondering why anyone needed to know about oxbow lakes. She'd never seen one in London and since they took donkey's years to be formed it wasn't like she was suddenly going to find one appear in front of her on the way home. Find one, walk round it. Sorted. She stared out of the window at the lowering grey clouds. Looked like it was going to rain later. Lucky she'd brought an umbrella.
By the time the final bell rang, Frank hadn't contacted either of them. Carrie met Oscar by the lockers, collecting his stuff. "You doing anything this weekend ?" she asked him.
Normally, he said no, but this time she was surprised when he said yes. "Illya and I are going to see the new Bond film," smiled Oscar. He grinned widely, obviously delighted.
"Wow, I mean, that's great !" said Carrie, stunned. "Isn't that a bit like the day job ?" she asked teasingly.
"Come off it. It's so unrealistic," laughed Oscar. He didn't care whether it was any good or not. He had never left the house on an evening to do anything except attend an assignment. Going out on a Saturday night was something he had simply never been allowed to do. He was ridiculously excited.
"Well, I hope you enjoy the film. I'm off to a gymnastics competition on Sunday," said Carrie.
"Good luck then," said Oscar. "You'll be terrific."
"Thanks, see you Monday," said Carrie setting off for home.
Oscar set off in the direction of his house. He'd been living with his guardian, Simon for nearly two years now. He'd hated it at first and didn't really want to get to know yet another guardian. He had had so many. It was painful every time he had to leave again and he couldn't face getting close to someone else. Eventually Simon had given up trying to bond with Oscar and the two lived separate lives in the same house.
Everything had changed when he met Illya on an assignment. Frank had discovered Oscar had been living on his own for two weeks because Simon was away on a mission. Oscar had been struggling to cope with his everyday responsibilities on top of his spying work, so Frank had arranged for a housekeeper to stay at the house and for Illya to come and live in the same house. Since Aggie Madison had been cooking for everyone and looking after the two teenagers, Oscar had become much more relaxed and had got to know Simon a lot better. The two now got along well. Having Illya as a friend who was also a spy was perfect for Oscar. He had someone his own age to talk to and share experiences. He wasn't so lonely any more. Instead of feeling isolated and unwanted, he felt part of a little community.
He reached home and the door was opened by a grinning Illya. "Hey Oscar, I've already got the tickets for Bond," he said in Russian, letting Oscar in. "I want to see the gadgets and see if they're any better than ours. If they are, I want an upgrade !"
Oscar laughed. "OK, OK. Let me in first will you. I want to see what car he's driving this time. I've heard the Aston Martin is back," he answered in Russian.
"Oh, you and cars," complained Illya. "Why don't you get the tech ? Rose likes the tech," he added.
"Yes, and you like Rose," pointed out Oscar.
"Yeah, well, who wouldn't like a smart, cute girl like that ?" asked Illya.
"All right you two. Enough of the Russian thankyou," said Aggie, leaning out of the kitchen door. "Dinner is in ten minutes. Get yourselves ready !" she instructed.
"Hi Aggie," said Oscar on his way upstairs. Ten minutes later, Oscar, Illya, Simon and Aggie were sitting down to another delicious meal. There was silence for a minute as everyone appreciated the lovely food.
"Aggie, you sure know how to make a mean hotpot," said Simon. "I'm sure I've put on four pounds since you came here."
"That's not my fault," laughed Aggie.
Oscar looked at the others sitting round the kitchen table. It was his family in many ways. He was daring to be happy again. A thought suddenly struck him. "Simon, do you mind us all living in your house ?" he asked.
"No," said Simon. "Well, strictly speaking it isn't my house. It's an MI9 house. I just live here. There's no reason why you can't all live here too. To be honest, I like it how it is now. It's fun," he smiled. "And the food is much better too." The others all laughed.
After dinner, Oscar and Illya helped to clear up and then went up to Oscar's room to chat. Oscar always spoke Russian with Illya to make him feel more at home. It was hard work talking a foreign language all day, so Oscar thought Illya deserved a break. In any case, it was a good way to keep his Russian up to scratch.
"Have you heard anything about your assignment yet ?" Oscar asked. Illya had completed his probationary period after succeeding in an assignment with Rose, Carrie and Oscar. Now he was waiting to hear where he was going to be assigned. Oscar really wanted to know that Illya was going to carry on living at his house. He didn't want to lose his new friend.
"Nothing yet. The Head says she doesn't want to add me to your team. She said she didn't want to upset the dynamic," said Illya, looking at the floor.
"Oh. Well, I hope you get to stay here," said Oscar.
"Me too," said Illya quietly.
Oscar suddenly had an intense feeling of doom. He couldn't describe it any other way. It took his breath away, literally. Illya looked shocked at the expression on his face. Oscar looked absolutely terrified. He was rigid with fear.