Chapter 5
Ralph asked M, "What happened? I remember waking up and feeling terrible, and then I was in, believe it or not, Merlin's body for weeks."
M said, "You contracted the Xenomonic flu from the Zerpods. All the MIB agents are inoculated against it, but you are not. We think you had an out-of-body excursion. Look at these brainwave patterns." She turned the screen around and showed him.
Ralph looked at the patterns and said, "Yep, that looks like an out-of-body episode. I guess that explains being in Merlin's body for so long."
M said, "But it doesn't because you only had the flu for two days. You said you were there for weeks. How could the time difference have happened?"
One of the doctors piped in, "Perhaps it is because of the alien DNA he has reacted to the flu differently."
Ralph said, "I don't know. I don't understand how it happened. But I was in a very old Merlin, and I think he died when I left him. Simon told me he had been having many problems for several months."
M asked, "Who is Simon."
Ralph answered, "He was Merlin's apprentice. Merlin was going to give him a suit, but he waited too long and didn't have the energy to perform the cloning. I feel sorry for Simon—he really cared for Merlin."
A few days later, as Ralph was waiting to return to the Hero League timeline, he thought he felt something familiar. He couldn't tell what it was, just a fleeting feeling. He stood and looked around but couldn't determine where it came from. Then it disappeared. He sat back down and continued to wait for the portal to open.
M asked C, "Should we tell Ralph about Merlin's suit in the archives?"
C replied, "Not yet; we'll see how these trade agreements work. We may need a larger bargaining chip at some point."