Sentinel's Call
Marcus awoke slowly. Cautiously, he opened his eyes, only to slam his eyelids shut as soon as the dim light reached his irises. He groaned in agony as the light that he had let through set off what seemed to be a chain reaction of tactical warheads inside his skull.
"Easy, take it easy," came a soft, whispering voice, cutting through his pain. "Just concentrate on my voice... Yes, that's it..." the person kept whispering softly, almost hypnotically.
Marcus concentrated on that soft, melodic whisper, using it to master the jagged agony echoing through his mind and senses. Slowly, the pain receded to the point where he had enough control of his body's systems to employ the calming and pain control techniques he'd first learned in EFI and then the more esoteric ones he'd learned in the Rangers. Soon he was able to filter in the now, for some odd reason, extremely muted sensory stimulus that told his he was in Steven's med lab - again.
Once the Ranger had almost complete control of both his body and mind, he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was at first a bit blurry, but soon he was able to focus on the face before him. He saw an unfamiliar, kindly looking, middle aged and dark skinned human man in a doctor's med lab coat leaning over him.
As the man obviously wasn't Steven Franklin, Marcus's danger sense kicked in and he quickly looked around to make sure that he was indeed in one of Babylon 5's med labs, and not somewhere he did NOT want to be; namely some clandestine EarthForce - or worse - research lab and starring as the main attraction. Soon, Marcus's quick perusal confirmed that he was indeed in residence in his so-called best friend's private kingdom yet again.
The Ranger sighed to himself. Oh, joy be unconfined! Steven was going be beyond angry at him for landing up back in here again so soon after he'd patched him up after that last little altercation with those Narn gunrunners. The dear doctor had been adamant about what would happen if he landed up in here again too quickly; Steven was going to make ABSOLUTELY sure that Marcus's stay was as... err... as "unpleasant" as possible as a deterrent! Panicked, Marcus tried to sit up as soon as he remembered what the likely consequence of whatever stupid stunt he'd pulled in order to end up back in med lab would be.
The new doctor reached out and stopped him with a firm hand placed on his chest saying, "Easy now, don't try to get up yet. You may have your senses back online, but you're still weak and still rather disoriented, which isn't surprising after actually surviving a two month Zone Out."
Marcus paled a bit while trying to process the information. His waking confusion and disorientation was with him still. "A two month what?" he asked. Did this doctor mean a two month long coma? "Doctor…?" Marcus left off his next question, as he didn't know how to address the man that was keeping him immobile.
The older man smiled kindly, understanding his patient's confusion. "Dr. Kyle, Dr. Benjamin Kyle to be exact. And you, young man, have been in a two-month long "Zone Out". It's similar in appearance to a catatonic state or a coma, but is brought on by excessive concentration on a single set of sensory inputs, and is a danger to any newly awakening Sentinel."
"A what?" the poor, gob smacked Ranger croaked out.
The doctor snorted at that question. "Don't play the fool, Ranger Cole. I've seen your complete services jackets – all three of them. You darn well know what a Sentinel is."
Marcus shook his head as if to clear it. "I… I know… But… But how can you be sure?" he asked in a soft and panicked voice, in one final and desperate attempt to have his fate reversed.
Dr. Kyle smiled gently in sympathy, knowing just how drastically this poor young man's life was about to change. "Yes, I'm sure, he said softly. "I'm not only the leading xenobiologist on Earth, but also the leading researcher on the human genome. I've run all the tests to confirm the genetic markers myself. They were all positive. Besides, my family has been dealing with Sentinels since the first "modern" Western Sentinel was documented in Cascade, Washington back in the twentieth century. I know a Sentinel, and a Zone Out, when I see one. And that's the reason Steven called me back here. That rebel wunderkind knew that he was WAY out of his depth with your case once he suspected your problem."
Marcus was very glad at that point that he was lying down. He would have collapsed otherwise. The shock of the revelation was almost too much and he had resort to the Minbari calming techniques again. Finally, after mastering himself once again, Marcus tried to reason it all out in his head.
He'd always had extremely quick reflexes and keen senses, but he'd NEVER - in all of his most crazed and paranoid nightmares - NEVER had he imagined this! So this was why EFI had been so unbelievably reluctant to let him go. It was a DAMNED good thing Marcus was as good at gathering… err… "non requested sensitive information" as he was, or he'd be in those bastards' hands even now, and God and Valen only knew what kind of walking horror they'd have turned him into. Then Marcus remembered the most important fact about Sentinels and groaned in agony again.
Dr. Kyle immediately responded to his patients perceived pain. "Easy! Don't zone on me again, kid. Just pull back on whatever sense is going hot right now," he instructed softly and gently.
Marcus shook his head. "It's not that. It's… Oh, God! I remembered… I… I'm going to need a Guide, won't I?" he asked, partly in fear, partly in excitement, his entire countenance telegraphing his mixed up feelings to the doctor.
To the bereaved lone survivor of Arisia Colony, the idea of always being in what amounted to a close spiritual, emotional and symbiotic relationship with someone was unbelievably overwhelming, frightening, painful and hopeful all at the same time. It hurt because it felt as if this person could somehow replace his beloved though dead family. It was frightening because the Ranger didn't know if he could even LET anyone be that close again, and it was hopeful because, even as emotionally wounded and traumatized as he was, Marcus truly did not wish to be as lonely as he was any more.
Kyle nodded, hoping his two edged answer could bring some kind of comfort to the rather overwhelmed Ranger. "Yes, you do, and once you do have one, controlling your senses will be far easier than it is now. Finding a Guide won't be that difficult since Guides have their own particular genetic markers. The fly in the ointment, though, will be in locating YOUR particular Guide; now THAT can be like looking for a needle in a hay stack," he said.
