Author's Note: Wow, reviews. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much. Ready for some answers? So is Will.
Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to anything from the show, only my own work and creations. Mostly just Dr. Telares, Dr. Gering, Dr. Marks and the accolo-nexum. Oh, and the Oolues, which don't actually exist, even in myth.
Survival of the Fittest
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Part Three: Things Unknown
"It isn't a pregnancy." Dr. Gering stated, looking over the test results he had in his hands. "At least, not in the sense that I would normally use the term."
Four faces stared back in shock. Magnus was the only one not surprised and Will saw her with a tiny smug smile out of the corner of his eye.
"But the test results..." Big Guy asked.
"While they do show some indicators that are consistent with a normal pregnancy, we're not seeing the proper hormones or the right level of those hormones in her system, as Dr. Magnus has said."
"So what is it?" Will asked crossly. He was getting tired of not knowing what to make of this. He wanted an answer almost as much as Magnus.
"For now that is all I can say definitively from what I've seen. I'll have to run more tests of my own."
Magnus shifted on her stack of pillows. "Thank you, Elio. I appreciate you flying all the way here to render your assistance."
The man bowed, touched his fingers to his lips, and swept his hand toward her.
She smiled softly at the genteel gesture as he left the room. Alone in the room together with her team, there was a strained silence.
Kate was the first to speak. "I am so confused right now, I can't even think of anything to say."
"It's simple really." Magnus tried to explain. "Whatever is happening to me is mimicking some of the classic symptoms of a normal human pregnancy. However, I haven't had a suitor in quite some time, making an actual pregnancy unlikely. Elio- sorry, Dr. Gering- will run a battery of other tests far more specific than the ones we have been running. It could simply be a tumor, though I have my doubts about that."
"Why?" Henry asked.
"Because tumors aren't usually this difficult to diagnose, which leads me to believe we might be dealing with an abnormal's physical effect we haven't yet encountered."
"There's nothing at the Sanctuary right now that has ever had this kind of effect before." Big Guy grunted.
"It could be a new abnormality coming to the fore. Although, I can't imagine why it wouldn't have affected anyone else. I've not had any sort of contact in recent months that none of you have had."
Will blinked. "Except for Dr. Telares' whatchamacallit."
Magnus looked at him in surprise. "The Accolo-Nexum?"
"Yeah, that thing that cut you. You said it was rare, that Dr. Telares is the foremost authority and even she doesn't know much. What if it did this?"
"I suppose it's possible, but not very likely..."
"Could it hurt to consult Dr. Telares? Maybe if we ask her, she'll be able to advise Dr. Gering." Will looked her up and down. In the time it had taken Dr. Gering to arrive, her condition hadn't improved. Not much had changed at all except that now, she wasn't just pale, her skin had a gray tinge. "We need to investigate every possibility."
"Very well. Her contact information is in my office." Magnus leaned back into her pillows, obviously not having the energy to argue further. It wasn't a good sign.
In Magnus' office, he found the information quickly and soon heard Dr. Wilhelmina Telares' high soprano voice over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Dr. Telares, this is Dr. Zimmerman."
"Yes?"
"You might remember me? I returned your lost abnormal with Dr. Magnus a few months back."
"Ah yes, the psychiatrist with the glasses Helen brought with her."
"That's me. We've got a bit of a problem over here at the Sanctuary."
"What sort of problem?"
"Dr. Magnus is sick. I was wondering if it might have anything to do with the abnormal species you're studying."
"My Accolo-Nexum? Why?"
"Well, we were trying to hunt down the source, and I thought I'd check with you just in case. After that cut she received, I wanted to know if it was a possibility."
There was silence on the other end. "I wasn't informed Helen was injured during the retrieval."
"Yeah, that's sort of like her. If it's something she can handle herself, she doesn't like to worry others."
More silence, this one stretching so long that Will called out Dr. Telares' name several times before she answered. "Yes. Listen, Doctor..."
"Zimmerman." Will supplied.
"I'll be coming to the Sanctuary to discuss this with you and Helen. I have a hypothesis I wish to test. Please arrange to receive both myself and two abnormals I will be bringing with me. I'll be there in half an hour." She hung up before he could speak.
Staring at the phone that was emitting an annoying dial tone, a sinking feeling permeated Will's gut. He called down to Kate to get things ready for Dr. Telares' arrival. Then he went to get Dr. Gering so he could meet Dr. Telares.
Dr. Wilhelmina Telares was a short woman, with dark blonde hair and a rumpled look about her clothes that lent itself to Will's conclusion that she was as consumed by her work as he had first thought. She hopped out of the front of the truck she arrived in, acting for all the world like it wasn't ten o'clock at night. She had an air of excited apprehension, much like Magnus got when she was close to discovering something she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
Kate and Henry handled the transfer of the abnormals while Will introduced her to Dr. Gering.
"You're the one treating Helen?" Dr. Telares asked.
"Yes. What are the abnormals for?"
"I have a theory I would like to test. We can confirm the results afterward. Please, can we bring Helen down to the accolo-nexum?"
"She cannot walk. We'll have to bring her down in a wheelchair. I would prefer it if we didn't have to move her, she's very sick."
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was important." Dr. Telares answered soothingly.
"I'll call the Big Guy to bring her down." Will said uncertainly.
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When Magnus finally arrived, Will felt guilty. She looked even more haggard, if that was possible.
Dr. Telares greeted her gently, a worried look on her face.
Magnus greeted the woman back warmly as the Big Guy wheeled her in.
"Bring her right up to the glass please." Dr. Telares said. "And release the accolo-nexum into the room beyond."
Will did as she said.
Beyond the glass, a metal door was raised and two creatures loped out. Their eyes shone green in the dim light. Soft-looking fur curled around their bodies except around the eyes, the backs of their legs and the place where their backs dipped to meet their hips. Long claws retracted into the paws of their feet made a clicking sound on the concrete until they moved onto the turf. The second they entered, their ears turned toward the glass and their noses lifted as one. They reminded Will of a cross between a gorilla and a wolf. Suddenly, both the creatures stopped. They sat back on their haunches and tilted their heads in unison. Then just as suddenly they ran to the glass and got as close as they could, making an odd keening sound that sounded almost musical.
"I knew it." Dr. Telares breathed. She rushed to Magnus' side. "Helen, how do you feel?"
Magnus didn't look up but continued to stare at the creatures as they restlessly moved back and forth. "A little disoriented, but... better."
"What's happening?" Kate asked anxiously.
Dr. Telares smiled at them all, then returned to staring between Magnus and the creatures. "Dr. Helen Magnus, you are carrying a accolo-nexum offspring."
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"It would explain the lack of human hormonal changes." Dr. Gering stated.
"Exactly. As the accolo-nexum isn't human, her body wouldn't need to undergo the same changes." Dr. Telares said quickly, her excitement plain. "It also explains why my group has been acting so oddly lately. I thought that maybe one of them was sick."
"How did this happen?" Dr. Gering asked.
Dr. Telares turned to Will. "You said she was injured?"
"Uh, yeah. She had a gash that didn't require stitches and some pretty bad bruising. I think she might've had a broken rib or two also."
"But the skin was broken?"
"Yes."
"That is all that would be needed. Accolo-nexum are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction, meaning they can produce offspring without the need for a male and female of the species. Fragmentation in a form of asexual reproduction and all it takes is a small piece of DNA for this to happen. Pregnancies are rare and far between, and I've never encountered one such as this before. I've not been able to observe a pregnancy yet, as the youngest of my group was born shortly before I got them."
"Why is the Doc sick though?" Henry asked.
"Oh, Magnus said something about that." Will remembered. "The creatures are so inset as a family group, without all its members, the young don't survive."
"The baby has been dying."
It was the first time Magnus had spoken since those first whispered words and everyone turned to her in surprise. She still hadn't looked away from the window and in fact had a hand now pressed to the hard surface where the accolo-nexum were pressing the tips of their long, wide noses. "Inside my body, the fetus has been dying and taking me with it."
"Whoa, dying?" Kate asked, perturbed.
"With the accolo-nexum, there is something that each individual of the group provides the embryo. Something, though I haven't been able to determine what." Dr. Telares said. "I think it developed as a way of ensuring the offspring's survival. If the group isn't stable, it is less likely that the little one would survive."
"Sort of like a preemptive movement. Only using their resources on young insured of familial stability and survival." Will guessed, starting to catch on.
"Correct. In the past, this wouldn't have been a problem. The accolo-nexum have no natural predators, but the encroachment of human civilization on hunting and foraging territory has drastically effected that stability. It's the primary reason that the creature's are so rare now."
"So what do we do?" The Big Guy asked.
"We have a few options. I believe with the proper care and exposure to the group as a whole, that I can ensure the survival of both Helen and the little one." She put a hand on Magnus' shoulder. "It would be a large commitment. The accolo-nexum gestational period is estimated at six months. This could be longer given Helen's physiology is in play. It... could also be dangerous. We've no way of anticipating what complications could arise. Or..." Dr. Telares hesitated.
"Or?" Will encouraged.
"Dr. Gering and I could perform a surgery to remove the little one. It would die, but you, Helen, would be free of such danger and imposition. It's up to you."
There was an echoing silence that followed. Magnus still hadn't looked away from the creatures in front of her. Finally, she spoke in a barely audible whisper. "I would think you would know me better than that by now, Wilhelmina. Do you honestly believe that I could be responsible for unnecessarily killing such a rare abnormal, simply for convenience' sake? That I would be unwilling to risk my life to save even one?"
"You'll do it then?"
"Are you sure Magnus?" Will asked worriedly.
"Yes, Will, quite sure. Dr. Telares will be able to continue her research this way as well. Any new data on such a rare abnormal is priceless." She finally looked away from the creatures to those standing behind her. The accolo-nexum immediately began to whine. "Please arrange for medical transport, Will. I'll need to be exposed to the entirety of the familial group as soon as possible if the baby and I are to survive."
Will hesitated for several moments. "Alright, I guess. If you're sure."
She simply nodded and went back to staring at the creatures, which settled down a little once she did.
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