Enjoy, and thank you for the reviews (I enjoy reading them.)
***
I bolted down a long corridor, sliding across it in my bare feet. As I took another step forward, I realized that the walls were beginning to spin...I felt the world fly away beneath me as my body refused to move an inch further. What kind of a horrible place was this??
***
" She
can't have gotten far." Sarie remarked. " Our air isn't right for her.
Even with that increased lung capacity."
" Well,
I guess we found a weakness. I wonder if there's a way to keep her restrained."
" Well,
we know now that we can't just flood the room thick with it Chem. N. That's like
dropping a human into a room filled with cherry pie."
" Cherry
pie?" Paul looked amused.
Sarie just shrugged. Meanwhile, Talen had walked ahead. The girl had collapsed on the floor, ironically right in front of his brother Harrey's room.
" It's
funny."
" This
isn't supposed to be, Talen."
" No,
not her...well yeah, her, but I was thinking of my brother Harrey. Both
of them are in the same sort of situation."
" Your
brother's suffering from a bad case of asthma, Talen, it's not the same
thing."
" Actually,
Paul, he's right." Sarie piped up," Basically, our little patient here
is having nothing more than a fairly strong asthma attack. Though in her
case it's a little more complex because she's also getting nutrients from
the air..."
" But,
basically, she's just huffing and puffing like Harrey." Paul cut in," Yeah,
I gotcha."
Talen gave Paul a smug glance, almost as if to say 'who's the doctor? You or me?'.
" We should set up the gas room for her. I think," Sarie ignored the two, and did a mental calculation," A thirty-thirty-thirty mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and Chem. N, maintained at a constant, should keep her from gaining enough strength to escape."
" Thirty? That sounds a trifle high, Sarie."
" It sounds like it, but it's not a lot. Just enough to keep her awake and moving. So, unless she can store the chemical, which we'll soon find out, she shouldn't be able to do much, but sit up and any other slow motions she can manage."
******
Talen
and Paul watched as Sarie returned from putting the girl in the new security
room. The glass that separated them was one way, she'd see mirror, while they
saw her. The door was locked,
and Sarie returned, taking off the breathing mask she'd put on. It covered her
mouth and nose, so when she talked, it was with almost like through one of those
antiquated walkie-talkies.
" Can
we enter the room?" Paul asked.
" I would
suggest a breathing mask, because the air would be extremely thin, but yes,
it should be safe. The acid is neutral as a gas, so there shouldn't be
anything harmful about it."
Talen listened carefully through all this. Slowly he made his way out of the room. Paul held up a hand.
" Hey,
whoa! Where do you think you're going, pal?"
" Leaving.
Not much to see. Harrey's surgery should have been finished, I should be
there to meet him."
" This
isn't a zoo. She's not on display just so you can come and go as you choose.
You CHOSE to see what we were doing. You're going to stick to it. No buts."
Talen frowned.
" You're
a part of it now, Talen. And your brother too."
" What
does Harrey have to do with this?" The boy hissed, eyes narrowed.
" Well," Sarie cut in, trying to avoid anymore
arguments," we were hoping he could come in when he's feeling better and talk to the
girl. Maybe make her feel more at home."
Talen was silent for awhile, then slowly, he nodded.
" He'll
have to wear a special breathing mask of course, but that shouldn't hinder
anything."
" He has to wear one anyway."
****
" I get to what?"
Harrey was gasping from excitement. Talen carefully strapped the breathing mask to his brother's small face. This one wasn't as portable as the one Sarie had, because that only had a few hours of oxygen in it. This one carried a week's worth, it was connected by a hose which was attached to a large oxygen tank at the far end of the room.
" Whoa, calm down there. You're going to need to be conscious if you want to meet your new 'friend'." Talen turned a dial, and immediately, a soft misting sound could be heard flowing from a different tube, into the mask - asthma medication. Harrey's breathing became steadier.
" Friend?"
" She's
new to the hospital, and she's kind of like you. Sarie and Paul were hoping
you could make her feel more at home."
" Oh.
Ok."
Talen had started having a few doubts when they'd ask him. But, now he was sure. Harrey was the one to do it. If anyone would make a good friend, his brother would.
" When
do I get to meet her?"
" In another month or so, when the swelling goes down in
your lungs.
You'll be going into a special room, and they're going to give you a different mask."
" But,
my asthma isn't so bad...it's only temporary isn't it? I promise I won't get excited."
" It's
not that. Everyone who goes in has to wear that mask."
" Oh.
Ok."
" Go
to sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."
****
Harrey could barely contain himself as he walked down the hall. They'd stopped using the oxygen tank last week, but he still needed a mask for short distances, and that mask was heavy. Slowly, they made their way down the corridor, Harrey breathing slowly, and stopping every few steps to take a deep gasping breath. Finally, they made it to the gas room. Sarie met them in the hall.
" Hello, Harrey. Sayakuri's ready to meet you."
" Sayakuri,
huh? Whatever happened to patient?" Talen smirked.
Harrey looked in the gas room curiously. Sarie handed Harrey a small mask.
" Here Harrey. It has about 5 hours of breathing air in it. Take slow breaths,
and don't worry, it's five hours of deep breathing, so don't try and conserve.
If you need medication, just tap this little button on the side, but don't use
it unless you have to. That medication is strong, and it's easy to become
addicted if overused."
" Alright."
Harrey put it on. He felt exhilarated, being able to breath without the bulking inhaler. The door closed behind him, and the door before him opened. Immediately a veil of light purple mist enveloped him. With a careful step, he stuck his head into the room.
" Hello?"
He could just make out the slight form on the bed in the corner. Carefully walking towards the bed, he poked the covers experimentally. Nothing.
" Hello?"
He heard a slight rustling behind him, and turned. Sayakuri sat huddled in a corner, throwing a strange ball against the wall. Carefully, he approached her, sitting down near her. His gray eyes were wide with curiosity, and he did his best not to gasp in the air.
" Hi. My name's Harrey."
She didn't say anything.
******
" Hi. My name's Harrey."
I couldn't understand everything this T-453 was saying. He was using words that my mind couldn't seem to translate at all, and there was a strange thing covering his mouth and muffled the words. But, I didn't care. He was too young to be of any use to me, and I figured, perhaps, if I ignored him he'd go away.
***
" Hi. My name's Harrey." He repeated, " What's yours?"
***
He was
staring at me, that was obvious. 'Don't show any fear' I thought, continuing
to bounce the soft sphere against the wall. He talked for a little, and
slowly, I began to recognize the repetition of certain sounds. One in particular,
'human', popped up every now and then. I came to understand that this was the
name for his species. Well, I would always know them as T-453.
Soon, I could make out approximately what he was trying to say to me. He was telling me about himself and his fellow T-453. I assimilated most of the information, thankful for the boost intellectually that mother had provided. If he kept babbling like this, sooner or later, I would get something useful from him. Unfortunately, I underestimated his cleverness. After awhile, he stopped talking, and simply sat - watching me. I started feeling uneasy. What was he doing? Was this some sort of torture method? I tried to ignore it for awhile, but it seemed that whatever I did, that stare broke through - probed my mind, my thoughts. Finally, I broke the silence with an irritated severity.
" You won't get any information from me." I spat.
***
Harrey blinked. It had seemed like she hadn't understood a word he was saying. For the first few minutes or so, she'd just cocked her head to one side, hearing the words, but not registering any meaning or importance. He took another slow breath, then spoke.
" Beg your pardon?"
Sayakuri continued to bounce the ball.
" It's obvious you're trying to get tactical information from me, by trying to befriend me. It won't work." She tended to mispronounce words, but other than that she spoke perfect English, with hardly an accent whatsoever. Maybe she was a foreign child.
Harrey blinked again. He took another gasping breath. Sayakuri gave him a strange look. He narrowed his eyes defensively.
" Something
wrong?"
" No."
She finally said.
******
He looked at me for a long time. Finally, he spoke.
" I wasn't
always this way you know. I used to be just like you."
" You
were never like me." I said harshly, catching the little irony in that phrase.
" Of
course not..." He laughed mockingly, " I'm different. I'm...disabled. I'm
useless."
He'd caught me by surprise. Had I insulted him somehow? I replayed my conversation in my mind, but I found this rather puzzling.
" I never said that..." I murmured, caught up in my thoughts.
" You implied it."
" You assume too much! How would you know what I implied or not?!"
" Because that's what most people think..." Harrey murmured.
The gall! No wonder these creatures were such a pest! To believe that he can know my mind, simply by using the opinions of others?! The idea was appalling. My mind was not as inferior! What gave him the right to speculate?!
" Well, for your information, I'm not like most people. I'm not like you, human!" She retorted. He didn't respond to that and I was pleased. Good. Caught you there.
As I sat in silence angrily brewing over him, a horrifying realization had come to me. This boy, had just managed, without any type of contact, to discover my identity as a non-human. Suddenly, it had all become clear. They'd tricked me. By working off my emotions, this human had managed to tear out the vital confirmation they'd needed to determine a spy amongst their ranks. And I, like the fool, like the fool I was, had fallen right into it...
******
Harrey watched as the ball's pounding against the wall became more insistent. Suddenly, with a surprising amount of force, she threw the ball against the wall, leaving a huge crack up and down it.
******
" Holy cow!"
Paul and Sarie stared through the glass. Paul looked down at the readout.
" You said she wasn't going to be able to do anything but slow movements."
" Apparently, it doesn't apply when she's sufficiently angered." Sarie whispered.
" Can you lower the dosage?"
" I'll have to. But, Paul, I don't know if that'll help." Sarie's face is pale," Let's get Harrey out of there, and hope she's not as quick to anger as we hope."
******
" So, how'd it go?" Talen looked up from his computer.
Harrey didn't answer. The heavy mask felt like an iron ball, but his hopes dragged even lower. ' How am I supposed to make friends when they're all mad at me?'