(A/N: I know that I left everyone in suspense about Layla's health and what happened to her. Like I've already said, she's fine, there's no need to panic. And Max is going to be appearing, though I can't say what the extent will be.
It won't be entirely explained in this chapter, but there will be an answer to a certain extent. Yes, I know, I'm making it too complicated and complex, but this wouldn't be a story if it was something that was easily explainable.
Anyway, I hope that you enjoy reading the new chapter. I don't know how it might turn out when it's finished, but I know I can make it good for you.)
0-O-*V-I-x-I-V*-O-0
Since Dr. Uril wanted to keep Layla in the infirmary for observation, Patelliday decided to get his own answers from Max. He hoped that his longtime friend would be able to help him with his adopted daughter.
He waited in anticipation for him to answer his communication device in his old Plumber badge. He knew it was the late evening hours on Earth, particularly in North America, there was a possibility he could have been asleep.
Finally, he saw the holographic figure of his friend. He smiled at him, "Hey, Patelliday. Little late, isn't it?"
"Sorry, Max, am I bothering you?" he asked guiltily.
He chuckled, "No, I'm just relaxing outside while the kids watch a movie in the Rust Bucket."
"Finally got a break from those trouble-makers?" he remarked jokingly.
"You don't know the half of it," he replied, his voice full of laughter. "So, what's going on?"
"You always were straight to the point," he muttered, a frown forming.
"Why? Is there something happening?" he questioned, starting to become serious.
"Yes, there's something going on with Layla," he informed him.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned. "Is she alright?"
"She passed out during her training earlier today," he explained. "She's going to be fine, but the doctor doesn't know what happened or why. She wants to keep her in the infirmary overnight to try to figure it out."
"Well, does Layla know what happened to her?" he questioned again.
"She said after she passed out she heard people talking," he responded.
"What were they saying? Did she tell you?" he asked him once again.
"I believe she said it was about a baby," he answered. "One of the parents didn't want a relative to hold her."
"Her?" he repeated. "The baby is a girl?"
"That's what she told me," he replied.
"Was she able to see any details?" he inquired.
"She didn't remember seeing anything, other than what she thought were knives or claws or something," he told him.
He hummed as he processed the information he was given by Patelliday, "That is certainly strange. Is there anything more?"
He thought about everything he knew about his adopted daughter's condition, "The doctor and I discussed all kinds of possibilities, including magic and repressed memories."
He chuckled, "I don't think there are any sorcerers in the base."
"I don't either, but she is part Anodite," he jokingly commented.
"That, she is." Suddenly, Max realized something, "Wait a minute, she's part Ectonurite, right?"
He was perplexed by his question, but answered nevertheless, "Yes, she is. About a quarter. Why?"
"Many Ectonurites have long, sharp claws, do you think it's possible the relative the baby's parents were arguing about could have been one?" he suggested.
"I… suppose," he responded. "But I haven't laid eyes on them in many years, not for over two decades. The Anur System is isolated, their allies are few and far between, and the Plumbers are not one of them."
"They have long lifespans and can survive within only a single strand of DNA, even if it's degraded," he uttered. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking out loud."
"Not a problem." He suddenly felt a light vibration on his arm and heard a soft ringing sound, he was receiving a notification, someone wanted to talk to him. "Sorry, Max, I have to cut this short, someone's trying to contact me."
"Don't worry about it, I'm about ready to go to bed," he assured, smiling. "I'll talk to you later."
"Bye, Max." He waved as he cut off their communication and answered the new one, "Hello?"
"Greetings, Magister Patelliday," Dr. Uril's face appeared on a screen, telling him that she was using her desktop device instead of a normal communicator.
"Hello, doctor," he replied politely, although he was secretly very worried about what she had to say. "Did something happen?"
"It's nothing serious, I can promise you that," she told him reassuringly. "I did additional tests on her and found something interesting that might confirm our repressed memory theory."
"Really?" he asked, surprised. "How? Why?"
"To eliminate the possibility of her condition being the result of something serious that may have been missed in previous evaluations, I decided to order tests on the epicenter of the issue, her head," she explained. "And I think I found something that might be of significance and could add credence to the theory of her condition being caused by potentially repressed memories."
He nodded, "Alright, tell me what you found."
"I found that certain areas of her brain were abnormally dark, in other words, it very likely indicates either missing gray matter or a traumatic injury. There's no easy way to say this, but I think I now have a diagnosis, dissociative amnesia," she claimed. "I'm going to conduct additional tests to be certain, but if I'm correct, she has no memory of her early life."
His mouth was hung open as he processed what she was telling him, he was speechless, completely enveloped in shock, disbelief, and concern. Nevertheless, he somehow managed to ask her, "Do you think there's a possibility that her Ectonurite heritage could have something to do with it?"
She pondered his idea for a moment, considering its practicability, "Well, it is possible that at some point in her life, she did have an encounter with an Ectonurite that left her with damage that caused her amnesia. Unfortunately, I personally don't have a lot of knowledge about them to say with absolute certainty."
"Alright, thank you anyway." He noticed that she had darkened skin under her eyes, which she did not have when he left the infirmary hours earlier. "I may not be a doctor, but I recommend you get some sleep here shortly."
She smiled, "Don't worry, I plan to in about an hour when my shift ends. If I don't get an emergency call, I'm going to be sleeping like a baby."
He smiled back, laughing, "No rest for the weary. Especially in our line of work."
"You're definitely right," she nodded to herself. "Well, I better get back to work, so that I'm not here any longer than I need to be."
"I'll see you tomorrow," he gave her a slight wave. "Have a good night."
"You too." She disconnected her end of their call, her face disappearing from the holographic screen.
With everyone he talked to that night either tired or preparing to go to sleep, he started to consider getting some rest himself. The life of a high-ranking Plumber was demanding and lucrative, definitely not wise to be exhausted.
He removed his armor, including the breathing apparatus around his neck. He would not need it, his 'bed' was actually a seven-by-seven foot tub of water. Technically, he didn't need to sleep in such a thing, he could sleep in a regular bed with his breathing apparatus feeding water into his gills the whole night, but it would cause a great deal of pain and stiffness in his neck.
When he was done and all he was left wearing were black skin-tight briefs under the loincloth-like scaly skin that became his tail when fused together. He stepped into the water and laid down, submerging himself until the ceiling became distorted.
He closed his eyes, but found himself repeatedly opening them, struggling to fall asleep. He slept without another person living in his quarters for many years, but now he could not, knowing that the adjacent room was empty. His concern for the health and condition of his adopted daughter was keeping him awake.
He covered his face with his hands, 'Crap.'
The water thrashed loudly as he sat up and got out of it. He didn't bother to put his armor back on, instead grabbing a garment similar to a robe before opening the door.
He walked to the infirmary, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from his fellow officers, those the same rank as he and subordinates. By the time he got there, he caught Dr. Uril as she walked out of a room with a cup in hand.
"Oh! Magister! What are you doing here?" she asked, startled. She noticed the way he was dressed, his bare, scaly chest exposed and the elongated flaps of skin revealing his legs. She blushed and tried to avoid eye contact with him, "Um, do I need to report this?"
He was not proud of his attire, he was embarrassed to be standing so close to her, "I- I tried to get some sleep, but I couldn't. It's hard when you're worried."
She seemed to understand what he meant, "Ah, you're concerned about Layla, aren't you?"
He smiled sheepishly "Is that obvious? But, yes, I am worried about her."
"As I said earlier, she's going to be fine. If you want, I can pull a string or two and you can see her for a minute," she offered.
"Really?" he asked, surprised.
"I don't see why you can't," she replied. "I was on my way to her room to give her a drink when you came here."
"She's awake?" he questioned, still surprised by the offer she made.
She nodded, "Yes, though I suspect that she will be asleep in a few minutes."
She led him to her room and opened it for him by touching a fingerprint-scanner pad with her thumb. The rooms in the infirmary could only be opened by medical staff in case there was a patient who had a contagious illness; the last thing that was needed on a Plumber base was an outbreak.
When Layla saw the door slide open, she thought she would only see Dr. Uril walking inside, but she was surprised and delighted to see her adoptive father come into her room with her. She didn't expect to see him until the next morning, but she was glad that she would be able to say goodnight to him before she went to sleep.
She sat up and stretched her arms out to give him a hug, "Hi! What are you doing here?"
He rubbed her back before they separated, "I came to see you."
Just like Dr. Uril, she too noticed the way he was dressed, "Were you in bed? You're not in your armor."
"Yes, I was," he closed his robe-like garment with his hand, covering his chest. "I couldn't sleep without saying goodnight to you."
"I'm glad you came. I probably wouldn't be able to sleep either," she admitted with a smile.
Dr. Uril gave her the water she brought, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," she answered, drinking a little from the cup.
"Wonderful." She started to attach what looked like electrodes to her chest, holding them down with medical tape. "Don't worry, these are just to monitor your vitals. There will be a nurse on duty to alert me if something happens. Fortunately, you've been doing good all day, so I wouldn't be worried."
She gently touched the small devices on her skin, "Great."
"Can't wait to have you back," he gave his adopted daughter a side-hug. "I'm sure you're eager to get back to training."
"How is Ceto? Is he alright?" she asked.
"He feels guilty about what happened earlier today. He thinks it's his fault," he told her. "I-
"But he didn't do anything!" she interjected.
"I never did, trust me," he assured. "I already talked to him about this and I'll be sure to talk to him again in the morning."
"Speaking of morning, I think we could all use some sleep," Dr. Uril commented with a yawn.
"Considering the schedules you and I have tomorrow," he smiled. He hugged Layla one last time, "Good night, I'll pick you up when the doctor gives you a clean bill of health."
"Good night," she grinned. "See you tomorrow morning."
Max was trying to find out as much as he could about Ectonurites by researching them in the Alien Lifeform Database. He heard Patelliday's theories and had one of his own regarding Layla's memories and the possible cause of her condition. He would have to talk to Patelliday about it when she was released from the infirmary, but he had a suspicion that all roads lead to her heritage.
For the most part, all he found were things he already knew about them - a plethora of powers that included telekinesis, intangibility, possession, tentacles, and electronic disruption among other things, longevity due their ability to retain their consciousness and memories in a strand of DNA, and a weakness to sunlight. However, he did find something very interesting, apparently it was possible for their sentience to be preserved in their descendants, no matter how distant they may be.
After he found that one piece of information, his theory was confirmed in his mind. If an Ectonurite could essentially store their memories in their progeny, it might be possible for them to have a memory of their ancestor's life, long before they were alive. He thought there could be a probability of her incident being caused by her ancestor, but he was unsure of how such a thing could happen.
He rubbed his head as felt a headache form, 'Layla, you are one complicated girl.'
He decided to go into the Rust Bucket after sitting outside for over an hour. Ben and Gwen were still sitting at the table, watching their movie on the TV.
Gwen noticed her grandfather come inside, "Hi, grandpa. Ben, stop hogging all the popcorn!"
He grabbed a handful of the salty, buttery snack before pushing the bowl towards her, "Stop complaining, there's more to make."
The television screen changed from the movie to a commercial, since it was airing on a channel. Ben and Gwen didn't pay attention to the commercials, they started to bicker over the popcorn.
Max changed the channel for a second until the movie came back on. He changed it to a news channel to see what the weather was going to be like.
The anchors started to report on a story that wasn't from the local area, but somewhere in a different part of the country. To his surprise, it was a story about Bancroft Academy, the school Gwen wanted to attend.
Apparently, the school had been vandalized and the top portion of a building disappeared. He thought the report was shocking, but what was truly alarming about it had to do with what building it was, the clocktower Ben fought his transformation, Ghostfreak, when he came to life through his DNA and separated from him. It was the place the Ectonurite transformation was destroyed, and where Layla nearly died as a result from prolonged exertion.
0-O-*V-I-x-I-V*-O-0
(A/N: Sorry if this is a little bit late and kind of short, but in my defense I've been super busy with my college stuff. I'm glad I was able to get Ben and Gwen in this, even if they have a very small role, I thought it was something everyone would like to see. I focused more on Patelliday in this because I think it shows how fatherly he is toward Layla, even though they've technically only known each other for a few weeks at this point.
I do plan to have a reunion between Ben, Gwen, and Layla very soon, but I can't say when that will be, all I can tell you is it'll probably happen after the next chapter. With that in mind, I think it's time for me to wrap this up, see you soon!)