You'd think that with the billions Disney makes everyday, they could afford to throw me a couple of their smaller properties. But NO. They keep it all to themselves. I don't get anything that will make me money. CURSE YOU DISNEY! Oh, and please don't sue me.
Prodigy
Chapter 4 - Barefoot Geese
From the personal files of Dr. Domovoi Troskey:
"Madness is the vaguest illness ever known to man." One of my psychology professors used to say that. Unlike other health problems, the "cure" for madness doesn't follow any concrete rules. What makes a person insane? How do we define insanity? I remember reading about a test case where one patient got a hold of a marker and wrote the words "I am sane" on the walls of the lounge area. This man's case was particularly difficult since he refused to believe he had any problem. He kept insisting that he was sane and everyone else was crazy.
I didn't pay too much attention to the case, but a little voice in my head kept asking the question, "What if he was right?" How do we know for sure that someone's apparent insanity isn't really just a different perspective of the world around us? And how do we know that our perception isn't wrong? I have been called a "remarkable man", even the word genius has been used. What if genius was just another form of insanity? Think of how many "geniuses" have died young; burnt out. And there is always the close connection between the genius and obsession. The genius' single-minded pursuit of a goal or theory; blinded to all else except for the completion of their work.
I am feeling this way now. I have perfected my drug. I can now unlock the psychic potential of anyone with a brain glow. The executives can't be happier, but I am still worried. This new drug needs to be tested and not just on rabbits and monkeys. This is a line I fear to cross. I do not know how to proceed on this since it is rather unique in the history of medicine. The NDC executives have seen me personally and insisted that I not worry. They assure me that they will find suitable volunteers and take care of all the paperwork. It sounds like a researcher's dream come true, but I am beginning to be uneasy. I pray that it is just nervousness over the testing of the drug, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going on and I'm falling deeper and deeper into the middle of it.
For a few minutes we all just sat there, looking at the ground. Then the other two suddenly followed Greta's example, the boy offering a hand to help me up.
"I'm Terrance Watts," he said gently, pulling me to my feet. "Sorry about all that. I'm just a little paranoid after all this time."
"Yes, I'm afraid we've both become a little hard lately," the dark skinned woman stepped forward. "My name is Naru James. I am pleased to meet you 'Kim'."
"Don't worry about it," I replied, "After all; better safe than sorry." They nodded in agreement. An awkward silence fell over the room during which we all once again found the floor very interesting.
"So, what do you do?" Greta asked, finally breaking the uneasy atmosphere.
"Sorry?"
"The experiments," Terrance clarified, "what ability did it give you."
"I'm telekinetic," Naru explained, "I can move stuff around with my mind. Greta got all the internal stuff. Reading minds, astral projection, psychic suggestion... stuff like that."
"And you?" I raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of me.
"Pyrokinetic. I make fire."
"You guys seem really well informed on this stuff. This is all new to me." They rattled off technical names like it was nothing where I would have been speechless.
"Well," Terrance shrugged, "spending day after day with scientists who talk about you like you're not there, you start to pick up the lingo."
"Oh, well I'm not really sure," I said, scratching the back of my neck, "so far I've only moved stuff around. Except...," I trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
"What?" Terrance looked at me curiously.
"Well... in the hallway; just before Greta talked to me. I threw some guards around, but... it didn't really feel like I was moving them. At least not like the other things." I noticed that Naru and Terrance suddenly seemed very interested in what I was saying. I frowned a little, trying to put it into words. "It was more like I shot something out of me that hit them."
"Hmmm," Terrance rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. The guy, while younger than Naru, seemed to be the brains of the group. "Was anything else in the hallway affected?" he asked me.
"Yeah, the windows all broke," I answered.
"Sounds like some sort of telekinetic projection," he said after another spell of vigorous thought. "No psychic or mind reading incidents?" I shook my head. "You know, I'd like to see what all you can do. If they really did use some different treatment on you, who knows what the full effects are."
"Quite so," Naru said, stepping forward, "but perhaps you could save your tests for another time, Terr. Perhaps first, we should worry about getting out of here."
"Well, after my little scene in the hall I'm sure they know someone's in the building," I admitted, shaking my head a little, "I don't think the method we had planned is going to work."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Terrance smirked at me, "escaping the building will be easy. We could have done it anytime. You'd think they'd be smarter than to leave us in the same room." My look of disbelief caused his smile to grow a little. "Well, we had three people here with psychic powers. Hell, Greta could get out easily by herself. All she'd have to do is fiddle with the security guards' minds until she was invisible to them."
"Well, why haven't you already escaped then?"
"We had no idea exactly where we were or who we could trust," Naru answered. "We did not know if this was the work of some government, whether we were near a city or in the middle of the wilderness; nothing. Much as we disliked it, we had little choice but to remain."
"Now that we have someone who knows what's going on," Terrance continued, "we can finally get out of here. Greta," he said, turning to the little blonde girl, "can you keep all four of us invisible?"
"Yes," she furrowed her brow in thought, "but I'll have to concentrate real hard. I won't be able to walk on my own."
"Okay, I'll carry you," he turned, pointing to the black girl, "Naru, you stay ready in case anything goes wrong." They turned toward the door, preparing to leave. I remained in the back of the small group, having been given no task to perform. Not that I minded, of course. The others seemed to have picked up on the fact that my control over my abilities was tenuous at best. I, for one, was relieved that we wouldn't have to rely on them to escape.
"We have to stop by the storage room," the small, German girl's voice interrupted the activity in the room.
"Greta," Terr sighed, "we can't go looking for your necklace now. Getting out of here is more important."
"Not to me," Greta replied, stubbornly. "I want my necklace or we don't go." It was obvious from the looks on the other two's faces that without Greta's help, the escape would be far from simple.
"Perhaps it would not take too long," Naru said calmly, placing a hand on Terr's shoulder. "I'm sure we all would like to retrieve our things."
"What's going on?" I asked, not really understanding what they were talking about.
"All our personal belongings were taken from us, including a necklace that Greta's mom gave her," Terr explained. "She spent time looking through some of the guards' minds and found where everything was kept."
"It's not that far," the little girl looked up hopefully at the older boy. Sighing, Terr finally relented and we all slipped quietly out the door. Terr had Greta riding on his shoulders while she squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on making us invisible to everyone else. Naru and I walked close behind, the African girl keeping a sharp eye on every guard or doctor we passed, looking for any sign that they had seen through Greta's deception.
None of them did though, and we arrived at our destination without incident. The small room was at the end of an isolated hallway. Inside metal shelves lined the walls, white boxes stacked randomly on them. Greta finally relaxed, slipping down from Terr's shoulders as the three walked over to the shelves and began reading the labels on the boxes. There were no names on them, just numbers. The others must have known their numbers already since they all seemed to find their boxes rather quickly.
As they opened them and began rummaging through their lost belongings, I walked idly around the room, until I caught a glimpse of one of the labels. The number on it was #173, the same number that had been given to me in the computer files. It had never occurred to me that anything that was taken from me would be here as well. Shaking a little, I pulled the box from the shelf. Sitting down on the floor I slowly removed the lid and looked inside.
A heavy, winter army jacket was on top, its hood and inside lined with fur. A pair of heavy pants and boots went along with it. A gray, long sleeved shirt was next, which I almost cast aside until the stains on the front caught my eye. Looking again, I could see the holes near the bottom of the shirt and the dark red color that seemed to stain most of the bottom half.
"Oh my god." The whisper of amazement drew my attention to the others who had gathered behind me when they saw me with a box. Naru, the one who had spoke, had a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. Terr grimaced painfully at the sight while Greta's eyes moved around the room, looking at everything but the shirt. There was nothing to say, really, so I silently laid the shirt aside and looked at the remaining item in the box.
I had hoped for a wallet with an ID, but the pants and jacket had been empty and the only thing left was a pair of military dog tags. I doubted they were mine since I didn't look old enough to be in the army. Holding them up I read the name, Rosalyn Peters. Images suddenly flashed through my mind. I was standing in a room with a woman. She wore military clothes and had her hair cut very close to her scalp. Somehow I knew her name was the same one that was on the dog tags. She was smiling at me in a knowing kind of way.
"Tough isn't it?" she said, smirking at me.
"What is?" I replied, putting as much attitude as I could behind the question.
"Perfection." Her answer caught me off guard. "I know what it's like. I went through much the same thing once."
Another flash and I saw her again, some blood smeared on her face, but that same smile on her lips. She whispers something to me that I can't remember and puts the dog tags around my neck. The sound of splintering wood rips through the air as a door behind her is kicked in and gunfire fills the room.
As quickly as they had come, the images were gone, leaving me back in the present. The others looked from me to the pile of clothes to the dog tags in my hand.
"Rosalyn Peters," Terr read the name over my shoulder, "could that be you?"
"No," I said, knowing it to be true, "she was a friend, I think. Something... happened to her... or us. I can't quite remember." I was still trying to force more memories from my brain when I felt the temperature in the room suddenly rise. Glancing around I noticed Terr starring angrily at the bloody shirt.
"I've had it with this place," he hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. Looking around the room he snatched up a duffel bag from one of their boxes and walked over to a row of filing cabinets. Opening up a couple of the end drawers he stuffed some of the files into the bag. "That should be about two or three years of these creeps' history," he said, zipping up the bag, "might have some information on you, Kim. Not to mention just what these jerks might be up to."
Motioning us to follow, he headed out of the room. I left the shirt and pants behind, grabbing the coat and putting the tags around my neck along with the Doc's ring. We followed Terr into the hall where Greta resumed her psychic trance thing and we hurried to the elevators. As we descended towards the basement we suddenly heard news of our escape announced over the speakers. Terr, however, didn't seem too worried about it.
"They're too late to stop us now," he said, adding in a whisper, "and in a couple minutes they won't even matter anymore." I'll admit that the tone in his voice sent a slight shiver down my spine. Upon reaching the basement, we didn't head immediately for the exit, like I thought we would. Instead, Terr led us towards another doorway in one corner of the room. Inside there was a small flight of metal steps leading down to a large room containing what looked like the buildings heating system.
"Kim?" I looked up at Terr's question. "Is there anyone between us and the door?" I ran a little ways back into the other room, looking towards the metal curtain that led to the loading dock. The basement appeared to be empty. Terrance nodded when I told him and set Greta back on the floor. "Okay, Greta you can stop now." The small girl seemed to relax, looking up expectantly at the older boy. "Everyone get ready to leave in a hurry." His brow furrowed in concentration, his eyes narrowing at the machine in front of him. A wave of heat suddenly hit me in the face, as if I had been standing in front of a blast furnace. Flames erupted from the walls and floor, scorching the bricks and setting everything else ablaze.
"Let's get out of here," Terr yelled over the roar of the fire. We all turned and ran towards the outer door. Alarms were going off all over the place and the sprinkler system in the room was making a futile attempt to extinguish the flames. Throwing up the metal curtain we ran out onto the cement of the parking lot, no longer bothering to hide our escape. I glanced Naru gesture towards something just as a dumpster flew from the ground and crashed through the fence surrounding the building.
Behind us the NDC building shuddered as the heating system exploded, sending flames shooting through the ventilation system. After we had put some distance between us and the building we turned back, standing there as each floor caught flame. Soon the entire structure was engulfed, thick black smoke pouring from the windows. There was no cheering, no pats on the back or relieved talk. Just silence, only the distant roar of the inferno breaking the utter stillness. We finally turned away and I led them to where the Doc would pick us up.
There was an old dirt road running through the woods that flanked one side of the property, well hidden from the outside, but not so much that you could get lost looking for it. The cold winter air was cutting through me like a knife and I hoped that the Doc would already be waiting. The coat I had taken from the box helped, but my legs were still covered by nothing but the flimsy hospital pants. Luckily we only had to walk a little ways down the road before we spotted the car. I waved at him as we approached and heard the answering clunk as he shifted into reverse and drifted back to meet us.
Troskey got out of the car and I suddenly found myself scooped up into the biggest bear hug I had ever seen or felt. Laughing heartily he lifted me clear off the ground, the heavy coat he was wearing added to his sheer size almost swallowing me up completely.
"Doc," I gasped, though I couldn't help but chuckle a little myself, "I can't breathe." Smiling hugely he set me back down, apologizing for his exuberance.
"Forgive me," he chuckled, "I often tend to forget my size." I laughed back, somewhat surprised at how glad I was to see the old scientist. Looking back, I noticed the somewhat nervous expressions of the others.
"Sorry guys," I said, turning back to them. "This is Dr. Troskey. He's the one who helped me escape." There were some mumbled greetings from Terr and Naru who still seemed a little startled by the scholarly giant in front of them. It didn't really surprise me, I had much the same reaction when I first met the Doc. What DID surprise me was the look of anger coming from Greta. I might have expected her to be a little wary of the huge man, but she looked like she positively hated him.
"You did this to us," her small voice was like ice, and as soon as it was out of her mouth I realized I had made a huge mistake. "You're the one who did the experiments. You made them. You put the stuff in our heads." Terr and Naru's looks of confusion slowly turned from realization to more anger as Greta continued. Terr's eyes narrowed in the direction of the Doc and I could feel the air around us begin to heat up.
"Wait," I shouted, stepping in between the Doc and the others, hoping to diffuse the situation quickly, "it's not like that..."
"Move Kim," Terr cut me off, "He kidnapped us and pumped chemicals into our brains. He turned us into a bunch of damned lab rats."
"He didn't mean for that to happen," I insisted, though it didn't seem to make any impression on the others.
"That does not excuse what he has done," Naru shot back. Looking at their faces I could see that I wasn't going to reason with them. This wasn't about Troskey anymore, it was about revenge against anyone they could find to hold responsible. I understood how they felt. Months locked up as nothing more than a guinea pig, who wouldn't need to blow off a little steam. I was feeling much the same way, which is probably why I started acting hostile right back.
"Leave him alone," I said flatly, narrowing my eyes at the others. "You want to do anything to him, you'll have to go through me first."
"Kim, I..., " Troskey started to protest, but I cut him off before he could go further.
"No," I snapped, "that place used you the same as it did us. I'm not letting them hurt you just so they can feel better." I felt Greta poking at my mind, trying to talk to me, but I pushed her thoughts away roughly. The snow around us had started to melt, the temperature continuing to rise as Terr got angrier. My feet suddenly scraped the ground and I could feel something pushing at my arms and legs. Naru was obviously trying to push me out of the way, not too violently though; they still seemed loathe to actually hurt me.
I could feel the buzzing covering my brain and I let it flow around me, focusing on the feeling of Naru's mind. With a bit of effort I managed to push Naru's mind away from me, instantly bringing the pushing to a stop. Greta and Naru still seemed to be reluctant to attack me outright, but Terr looked like he might not be quite so reasonable.
"I'm warning you Kim," he growled, "move now or I WILL do it for you." My first impression of Terrance made me suspect he had a short temper and one look at his expression told me he was just angry enough to go through with his threat. But like I said, I had some unresolved anger of my own to work out and with the rest of them threatening the Doc, I was more than happy to direct it their way. Terr made the first move, fire sprung up around me and Troskey, not close enough to burn, but the heat was almost too much to stand.
The buzzing reacted, shooting out around me. The flames flickered and were pushed away, only to be replaced with stronger ones, as Terr doubled his efforts. I kept pushing at the growing flames, mostly instinct directing the heat away from the Doc and myself. Terr was getting angrier by the second. It was obvious he was on the verge of losing it altogether and trying to flat out incinerate me and the Doc. With an angry cry he suddenly sent a wall of flame directly at us. I brought my arms up, desperately pushing the fire to either side, creating a small pocket within the inferno. Heat washed over me, blistering my arms. If I had any hair left it would probably have ended up singed. I was shaking with the effort and I could tell Terr was trying just as hard.
"STOP!" The mental scream lanced through all our brains, shocking everyone into inactivity. Terr's flames died away, leaving the trees and ground smoking as we turned to the source of the cry. Greta stood near Naru, tears running down her face. Her expression was pretty much the same as always, but her voice shook slightly as she talked.
"Stop fighting," she yelled angrily, "I didn't mean for you to fight. I wouldn't have said anything if I knew you'd all get so mad." She sniffed a little, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "He IS sorry," she said pointing to the Doc, "and he was the one who..." she trailed off, glancing briefly at me. I knew what she was talking about, but I had been loathe to tell Terr or Naru about it.
"He was the one," I continued for her, "who really rescued you. If it hadn't been for him, I... wouldn't have come back." I couldn't look at them as I said it. I knew they probably wouldn't blame me, but I felt ashamed anyway. "Look," I said after a moment's silence, "I'm sorry. I should have told you who the Doc was."
"Yeah, you should have," Terr answered back immediately. "But I overreacted," he continued, his voice softer, "I should've listened."
"I am sorry as well," Naru walked over to us, "I, too, was angry and would not listen to reason. Perhaps we can all try again."
"Sure," I say, my voice almost a whisper. The next few minutes are used for introductions. I can tell the Doc is beating himself up over this whole thing as he fusses over each of the others, apologizing profusely to all of them several times. Eventually we all load into the car and head for the motel. The ride back is a silent one, though not really too uncomfortable. Once we're back at the room the Doc shoos the others inside, instructing them to wash themselves up and rest while he gets us all something hot to eat.
After dinner (pretty much the same thing the Doc and I had last night) there was a unanimous decision to make it an early night. Troskey suggested that he sleep in another room, but I wouldn't let him, insisting that he stay with the rest of us. I could tell he was still nervous about the others' reaction to him, but I refused to let him feel like an outcast. Troskey ended up in one bed while Naru and Greta shared the other. Terr and I got some extra blankets and took the floor.
The dreams came almost as soon as I'd closed my eyes. I was running from someone. That man from my other dream, with the thin face and cold, dark eyes. He wasn't behind me, but I could see his face in my mind, those dead eyes glaring at me. Then, suddenly, I was in my room, lying on the bed. A noise made me jump. Walking out the door I moved to the top of the staircase, peeking around the corner to see what was happening downstairs. My blood froze as I saw our front door wide open, the one side of the doorframe splintered and cracked where it had been kicked in.
My breath caught in my throat when I saw him. Standing in the middle of my living room. He was shouting, telling the others to search my house. The sound of heavy boots filled the air as the others searched the rooms. They were dressed like soldiers with black masks and body armor. Two of them returned, dragging someone with them.
"Where is she?" the leader asked, his voice thin and menacing. The person wouldn't answer, yelling at them to get out. Without hesitating, he pulled his gun from his holster, brought it up to the other's head and...
"MOM!" My scream split the still air of the apartment room as I sat up abruptly, now fully awake, sweating and shaking severely. I could feel tears on my face and realized I was crying. The others woke up at my cry, quickly crowding around me, asking if I was okay.
"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?" Troskey sat at my side, gently rubbing my back as he talked.
"I-I'm okay," I stammer, my voice still a little raspy from crying, "it was... j-just a bad dream. I could use a g-glass of water, though." Naru immediately volunteered to get it and was back in seconds. They sat by me until I had finished the glass and insisted that I was fine. One by one they withdrew to their beds, each asking once more if I would be okay. I lay back down, curling into a tight ball under my blanket. I hadn't wanted to worry the others, but the truth was that I wasn't okay. Ever since I had woken up in that room, my over-all goal had been finding out who I was. I figured that once I found my past that would be it. This was the first time it occurred to me that perhaps I had nothing left to go back to.
The next morning Troskey laid out the next part of his plan to us. He knew someone in town that ran a small boating business, running tours and fishing trips, and had arranged for him to take all of us across the Atlantic to a small island near the coast of Scotland.
"You'll all be safe there while I try to get things sorted out here."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Terr asked, looking over at him from the armchair.
"Since I'm not sure who all's involved with the NDC up here I'll head down to the states," the Doc explained, packing a duffel bag on the bed. "I'll give the authorities there all the information and evidence I have. Those files you four took should make it a lot easier to convince people."
"We still haven't looked through those things," I said, shrugging on my coat.
"I'll go through them later, after you are all safely away," the Doc answered as he got ready to go. Taking a deep breath I prepared for the inevitable resistance to the announcement I was about to make.
"Actually," I said, pausing a minute before continuing, "I'm not leaving with the others." There was a brief second of silence before every person began to ask me why or to tell me how much of a mistake this was. I waited till they had quieted down a little before attempting to explain it to them. I hadn't even told the Doc about my conversation with the hacker, Wade, but now I went over the whole thing. I told them about the supposed military investigation of the NDC, about the three members still missing, and about the young man in the mental institute.
"And after seeing that shirt in my belongings," I concluded, "it seems even more likely that I may be one of those missing people. And if I am, that guy must know who I am."
"But he's insane," Terr protested, "and he's on trial for murder."
"Yeah, for high ranking members of the NDC," I reminded him. "What if they're setting him up? Maybe he isn't crazy and the NDC is behind it. Besides, if he was with this team of soldiers who were investigating the corporation, he probably knows more about this whole thing than any of us." The others still didn't like the idea, but had to concede that last point. Terr, Naru, and Greta offered to stay and help, of course, but I refused adamantly. I agreed to join them right after I saw "Ron" and got any information he had.
"Don't worry guys," I tried easing their fears, "with the Doc along, getting into see this whacko will be easy. Hey, after that fire at the building, these guys might think we're all dead anyway." It took a little to convince all of them to let me stay, especially Troskey. I was only able to get him to agree by swearing to never leave his side. Everyone finally relented and we finished packing and loaded into the car.
The Doc dropped us off at another motel a few hours away. He said it would take a day or so to set everything up so we were to stay in the room and lay low. Leaving us money for food and maybe a little shopping ("don't go anywhere too public" he lectured) he left to fix everything with his friend. It took about two days for him to return. We did go get a couple changes of clothes since we were all pretty sick of wearing the hospital outfits. A local thrift store was our only stop where I got a comfortable flannel shirt and some jeans that turned out to be a little too big. The rest of the time was actually spent practicing using my "powers" with the others. By the time the Doc got back I had gotten pretty good at moving things around and had even started doing some empathic stuff.
The ride to the docks was rather quiet save the instructions from Troskey. Once they reached the island they would be taken by the captain to a nearby inn. From there they would get a taxi to a secluded house near the shoreline.
"It belongs to a colleague of mine," Troskey explained, "though he doesn't really use it. He gave me a copy of the key a couple years ago in case I wanted to use it as a vacation house. I've told him you'd be staying there and the refrigerator is fully stocked. There will be a debit card waiting for you with a considerable account. Also, an account has been set up with the local market in case you need more groceries." He mentioned a few more little things about the bedrooms and over-all furnishings, but it was mostly just nervous conversation. After about 45 minutes of driving the docks came into view.
The good-byes were relatively brief. Terr and Naru made one more offer to stay and help, but I once again insisted that I would be fine. Greta's expression was neutral as always, but the waves of emotions she was sending me made her feelings clear. Terr and Naru both hugged me tightly, which I appreciated even though I felt a little awkward about it. Greta merely returned my gaze, sending me all her sadness at leaving directly to my mind. I smiled a little, nodding at her as I sent back a promise to see her again. Troskey and I stood on the docks, waving to them until the boat was nothing but a speck on the horizon.
The Jean-Paul LeBeau airfield was easily located with the help of a phonebook and, just as Wade promised, the mere mention of his name got us a free ride to an Indiana airstrip. The Institute where Ron Stoppable was being treated was about two hours away, but it was a simple matter to call for a taxi. I had sort of planned on parting ways with the Doc once we were in the U.S., but he insisted on coming with me.
"I am a brain specialist, my dear," he chuckled as he brushed aside my protests, "it will be simplicity itself for us to see Mr. Stoppable if I am along. How were you planning on getting in alone?" I felt a little foolish at that. I had thought briefly about saying I was a friend who wanted to visit, but without any identification I wouldn't have been able to see a normal patient let alone one on trial for murder. So I finally gave up and agreed to let Troskey come with me. Truthfully I was rather relieved to have the Doc along. I still wasn't sure I was ready to be on my own again so soon.
Troskey, of course, was absolutely right. All he had to do was flash his credentials and the staff arranged a visitation for "an examination of heightened electro-chemical disturbances in the left hemisphere". We were led to a plain room with four chairs. The orderly showed us in, telling us he would be right outside if we needed anything. We didn't have long to wait for them to bring in Stoppable. He looked quite like he did in the news report if a little worse for the wear. He wore regulation hospital pants while a straight jacket restricted his arms. He didn't look at us as he was led in, but kept his eyes on the floor, a vacant expression on his face as he muttered some sing-song melody to himself. As the two orderlies sat him down and left the room there was a moment of silence with no one saying anything except for the quiet singing of Stoppable.
"Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot. Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot. Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot."
"Mr. Stoppable," Troskey finally spoke, though getting no response.
"Cree craw toad's foot..."
"Mr. Stoppable, my name is Domovoi Troskey."
"... geese walk barefoot."
"If we could just ask you a few questions..."
"Cree craw toad's foot..."
"Ronald?" I finally spoke, getting rather frustrated with the unresponsive kid.
"... geese wa..." he stopped abruptly as soon as I spoke. He was silent for a second, his head slowly starting to shake back and forth. "No," he finally muttered, his head rising almost reluctantly to look at me. His eyes narrowed, his face taking on a pained expression. "No," he croaked again, turning away and falling out of his chair, pushing himself back against the wall. "No," it was louder this time, his voice taking on a panicked edge, "you're dead. I saw it. You're dead. They're all dead. All dead." I was frozen in my seat at his reaction, but Troskey was out of his chair in an instant, kneeling beside the frantic boy.
"Calm down son," he spoke calmly, trying to stop the boy's violent shaking. Suddenly he paused, looking carefully at Stoppable's face as if examining something. "His pupils are dilated," he noted absent mindedly, "and the edges of his cornea are red." He placed both hands under the boy's jaw, feeling around a little. "Slight swelling," he mumbled. "Kim, this boy is drugged. I would say he's been being drugged for quite awhile."
"Wouldn't they have done that in here," I asked. "Sedatives or something?"
"That's not what I mean," he said, checking over Stoppable's symptoms again. "It's some kind of lithium base drug. Most likely lithium-dioxin." Seeing my blank stare he clarified. "Kim, litium-dioxin is a hallucinogen. It's used in small amounts in some sedatives, but by itself and in the amount that this boy seems to have been given... it would drive a person insane." His words were a catalyst, causing pieces of the puzzle to fall into place in my mind. Wade said that Ron had been a part of the team that was investigating the NDC. Suppose, just suppose, that I was with that same team. The rest of the team was killed. I was kept alive for my "brain glow", and Ron was kept alive to confirm everyone else's death, but was kept drugged into insanity to keep him from revealing anything he may have found out about the company.
"Ron," I said softly, walking towards the cowering boy, but stopping when he started to tense up at my presence. "Ron," I called again, "can you tell me what happened? What did you find out about the Northern Drug Corporation? What are they doing?" Stoppable still wouldn't look at me, cowering against the wall, shaking. But his muttering ceased for a minute and he whispered a word, his voice hushed and fearful.
"Prodigy." The room lapsed into silence again, the Doc kneeling by Ron while I stood a short distance away, watching them and listening to Stoppable's resumed sing-song tune.
"Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot."
"Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot."
"Cree craw toad's foot, geese walk barefoot."
"Cree craw toad's foot... "
To be continued...
I apologize profusely for my tardiness in updating, but I've had a slew of problems. My internet was down for almost a month and then almost as soon as I got it back my monitor blew out. I've recently replaced it and am back in working order (for the time being). I will endeavor to update quicker next time. Answers will start coming pretty fast now.
Scarlet Azalea - Thanks for the continued interest in my stories. I always appreciate the feedback.
Yamal - Still here, eh? You ARE a glutton for punishment. Ha! Seriously though, reading back over the chapter I can see what you mean about it being confusing. I agree; flashbacks are great. Cryptic and spooky. I love 'em.
AngelOfBlades - Thanks for the kind words. I will most definitely continue. I'm rather attached to this story and really want to finish it. Especially since I got a couple others I'm eager to start on.
Thanks all for the reviews. The next chapter will be comin' soon.