Chapter 33
"Care to explain this?" Came the monotone of Doctor Ellis.
Looking nonplus at the Doctor and the object he idly bounced up and down in his palm, Sergeant Collins replied evenly "It appears to be a Psychic Suppression Bracelet"
"Yes, Collins. The bracelet we took off of Max after we found him… I'll be honest, that whole episode still has me confused. We are still looking through the bases camera footage and the last details from his personal AI Walter, but what we gather so far is this." Ellis said, dropping the bracelet onto his table and standing from his chair.
Now on his feet, the two stood inside the Doctors office. It was a tiny room, by the doctor's own wishes, containing just enough room for the doctor's own chair, two others for visitors and a desk. Even the desk was oppressively neat, holding only a computer, some neatly piled papers and a small hexagonal weight from the cadets training room, acting as paper weight. Not a single cubic foot of space was wasted, for what space the room had to offer, the room as sparse and lifeless as every other corridor in the base.
"We know from Walter that Max failed his test due to, in his own opinion, a faulty bracelet. And because of this and sheer bad luck I do not want to start calculating, wandered the restricted section of the floor and stumbled open George and Janis and happened upon Jacobs operation…" Ellis said before sighing.
"We very nearly had a security breach on our hands… but before we go through exactly how Max found himself where he was, I need to know why he was, as it turns out, wearing a faulty bracelet. A specific fault which kept the blocking procedures active constantly, ignoring commands from our server control. I believe, from the footage I have gone through that his device was looked at by you before his failed test. So, I will phrase my question differently…"
And now Ellis loomed over the Sergeant asking simply. "Why did you tamper with Max's bracelet…?"
There was silence in the tiny room as Collins and Ellis locked eyes.
"… Max was the first gifted youngster I was asked to bring in" Collins said finally.
"I read the report. No one was available to check on and test him and you, the only other Sergeant with the security clearance, was asked to investigate… and?"
"And that's it. I liked the boy. I felt sympathy for his situation. How his gift had affected his life. I wanted to change that… and then I find out he is going to the zero level… and that his days are already numbered"
Ellis just raised an eyebrow. "You had no problem with the others"
"The others I could distance myself from. But meeting Max and seeing him again… I knew I couldn't spare him, not with all the others getting processed, but I thought I could give him one more week at least…"
"And that's it? Just a small offering?"
"That is it… the whole truth. And knowing it, what do you plan to do?" Collins asked, no fear evident in his voice.
"Oh nothing. I just wanted clarification on your actions and motives. I see no reason for a reprimand or anything more severe" Ellis answered coolly, retaking his seat and indicating Collins to do the same.
"Giving an extra week is hardly a problem for us, for the one moment of sympathy you had to vent off. But when it came down to it, you did hand Max in. I am aware you could have just remained quiet, given me the Bead and left him some chance of escape. If he had gotten the bracelet off… who knows."
Both Collins and Ellis then turned on the third occupant in the room, taking up the remaining seat adjacent to Ellis' desk. Limbs hanging loosely off the edge of the chair, head slumped to one side and a faint trail of drool escaping a corner of his mouth, Max sat there silently staring ahead at nothing.
"Did you bring him here to our meeting to gauge my reaction then?" Collins asked finally
"Oh no. He is here for a very explicit reason, believe me." Ellis said, standing up once more and circling his desk the other way. He carefully sat on the desk's corner and took out a cloth handkerchief. With gentle, slow motions he carefully wiped away the spit from Max's chin and mouth.
"We still need to explain his disappearance to the other cadets" Collins added, not looking at the doctor or the vacant eyed Max.
"We will do what we did with Tim. Wheel him out to the students, tell them he did some late night training or something of that kind and took things too far. One look in his eyes and they will know. Just remember to have their bracelets active as usual."
"I still don't know why you need to block them. Surely as soon as they enter his mind they will see… well…"
"They will see many of the aspects of his mind to be gone" Ellis finished for him, carefully folding the cloth and pocketing it. "But do not mistake the condition caused by Psionic Rupture with typical vegetation. He is still listening to every word we say, recording every image his eyes take in. His memories are still very much intact. There is just nothing there to comprehend this stream of data… usually that is"
"Usually?" Collins asked.
"Yes. From all our past subjects, the removal of the gland caused what appears to be permanent damage. There were no signs of recovery from any of the patients despite any stimuli we provide. And that is what we expected going into these operations, as you know"
Collins just nodded. "Yes. You told me what to expect on my first day, and I believe there were no victims at that point?"
"Victims?" Ellis inquired.
"Would you prefer unwilling volunteers" Collins answered back bitterly.
"I will assume that is a joke" Ellis said uncomprehendingly. "In any case, it appears we have an exception"
"Pardon?" Collins asked, looking genuinely confused.
"Max. We did some tests last night, only three days since the operations… and we read actively in sections of the brain which should be dormant. We did a scan this morning and guess what we found?"
"Just tell me" Collins replied tiredly.
"His Gland has grown back" Ellis said simply.
"…You're joking"
"You know I am incapable of jokes Collins. The scans were conclusive. His gland is back. It is… empty though" Ellis said, sounding almost awkward.
"…What? What do you mean, empty?" Collins said, looking from Ellis back to Max, obviously looking for some sign of life. Max for his part just kept looking ahead, unresponsive.
"We call it a gland because from our limited vocabulary, that is what it is. It is considered an organ as it was grown by the body and is synthesizes the substance which the brain absorbs and transforms into psionic energy." Ellis lectured, turning back to Collins as he took Max's limb shoulder in one hand to steady him.
"But its structure is like nothing we can imagine. It secretes a liquid into the brain but the gland itself is somehow both solid, shaped into a perfect sphere, and yet also gaseous. If we did not contain the glands in hermetically sealed units, they would lose their structure and disperse into the air."
"And what does that mean for Max?" Collins asked, hope obvious in his voice, though ignored by Ellis.
"A pocket of this gas has formed into his mind, but it is like a soap bubble. Empty and from what we can see, very unstable, but the fact it is there, unlike all the others we have processed… "
"So you believe he might recover?" Collins repeated.
"Well there is hope. The empty gland's presence offers us hope that possibly we have found someone able to regenerate their lost powers after our invasive operation. And the readings we have been receiving… speaking about that" Ellis said before getting off his seat and returning to his desk, quickly typing out a few commands on his computer.
"You wanted to know why I had you here for our meeting whilst I had Max present, correct?" Ellis asked.
"Yes, I was wondering if we would return to that, though I assumed it was to tell me the news on the gland." Collins questioned.
Ellis just shrugged. "There was no reason for you to know all this. But it did give me an excuse to test something… which appears to have paid off I believe" and with that Ellis turned the monitor to his computer around to face Collins.
On the screen seemed to be a 3D model of a Lagomorph's brain. Collins, seeing the name in the corner, saw that it was some readout for the mental activity for Max's mind.
"This is his current activity" Ellis said, indicating the model.
"I can see some activity" Collins said, noting the odd red splotches on various parts of the brain slowly pulsate.
"That is correct. Nowhere near the activity of someone like me or you, which would have red flashing areas all over the mind, flaring up all over the place, but certainly more than any of the other cadets we have processed. But look here." Ellis said, typing in a quick command and watching the screen with Collins.
What followed was a serious of red flashes flaring up all over the mind. Nothing dazzling but certainly more active than the previous screen showed.
"This is a sped up video of Max's mental activity during our meeting. Specifically during the time we spoke about Max and yourself… He's subconsciously responding to us."
"He can understand us?" Collins said, once again looked over at the 3rd silent person in the room.
"Understand is a strong term. I would say there is association of some kind, with the words we use and something in his mind able to cobble together some meaning. He definitely responds to the word Max… see?" Collins said, going back to the live feed and showing the quick flare.
"So… what does this mean?" Collins said, again unable to hide the tone of hope in his voice.
"It means we might have a renewable source of Beads we can harvest" Ellis said simply.
Collins only stared at Ellis, mouth open.
"You would… you would just operate on him… again?" he asked, outraged.
"Does his recovery change anything? His powers will still be of more use and able to do more good in our equipment then in the cadets hands. That formula is still the same. Even if Max can provide us with a continuous source of power, it is not unlimited. We will still need to harvest from him… and the others we find of his level."
Collins just shook his head, looking lost. "When will this end?"
"When our species is not at war Sergeant. And considering how long this war with the Khail has been going on for, it looks to end no time soon"
Collin stood silently in his chair, looking from the doctor and back to Max. A look of revulsion passed over his mostly hidden features as he turned back to Ellis.
"You truly are heartless"
Ellis just shook his head at the comment. "No… just emotionless Collins. You are free to go" saying this as Collins was already out the door, slamming it on the way out.
Ellis, looking unperturbed at the outburst just looked back at Max, still not making intentional eye contact with anyone.
Seeming to come to a decision Ellis went back to his desk, sat down and took out a small PDA.
"Hello Walter" Ellis asked.
"Yes Doctor Ellis" Walter replied, an AI mirroring the doctors own voice, only adding a strange accent to the tone, making him sound more warm and welcoming.
"Please set aside two hours a day in my schedule please. Try to make the time consistent for each day"
"Yes sir. You have a free time slot in the evening, 5:30 to 7:30. What name would you like for your repeat appointment?" Walter asked pleasantly.
"Therapy with Max" Ellis said simply, staring off into the wall of his office, ignoring the younger Lagomorph still sitting and looking dead to the world. He was lost in his own thoughts, muttering about the advancements that could be made by being able to see and properly record a gland being developed from nothing. Such data had proven impossible to gain as the gift for Lagomorphs seemed to hold no noticeable pattern. It was not genetic or hereditary in any way. It just seemed to pop up in random people throughout the species.
"To be able to see a Gland grow… we might finally find the clue in creating our own synthetic Beads… who knows" Collins said idly.
And so he kept pondering, so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Max, whilst has back was turned, slowly stand up, look around the room with the same vacant stare he had throughout the meeting, spotting the paper weight on the desk and simply taking it.
He was already sat down, weight in his grip before the doctor turned around, still staring blankly ahead.