This is a continuation of a section of the GAH: Hero in Black story.
Chapter 1
Ralph Hinkley fell ill two days after working with the Zerpods for the Men in Black. He woke in the night, aching with a high fever, and felt so weak he couldn't get out of bed. He called for help, but no one heard him; they no longer monitored his every move. He lay in bed, going in and out of strange fever dreams that were so real he thought he was actually in the body of the person he was dreaming of. He was dreaming of Merlin, the magician, from the picture that M had shown him. He tossed, turned, and moaned in his bed.
When he didn't appear for the usual breakfast meeting with M in the cafeteria, she became worried and went to his room. She opened the door and saw Ralph still in bed. M called, "Ralph, Ralph, are you okay?" and got no response.
She saw him tossing, turning, and moaning and walked over to his bed to feel his head. She could tell instantly that he had a high fever. M immediately called for medical assistance. The med techs arrived, transferred Ralph to a stretcher, and rushed him to the infirmary. The doctors determined that he had Xenomonic flu. All the MIB agents were inoculated against it, but not Ralph.
After a while, Ralph stopped tossing and turning and lay without moving a muscle other than breathing. The doctor said, "This is unusual; no humans with the flu have done this before." He opened Ralph's eyes, and they remained open and staring. The doctor checked the brainwave patterns and was shocked. The wave patterns were at the lowest levels he had ever seen. He exclaimed to M, "I've never seen patterns like this before."
M replied, "I wonder if this could be one of the out-of-body experiences Ralph mentioned during one of our debriefings?"