"Aunt Zoe, I'm back!" Zara called as she came hurrying in, lagging the books wiht Aileen and Edie right behind her. It had been so nice to ride with people who didn't panic the moment the passing vehicles turned into nothing but a blur, and who didn't take the shouting all around her the wrong way. "I ran into a couple of people who are friends with those poor little agents too. They're here to help. How are the poor things?"
"Your uncle was able to hook the comm up to the television." Zoe said. "At least we could all see and offer some support that way. Were you able to find anything at the bookstore?"
"I hope so." Zara said as she followed her aunt into the living room again. Everyone from the party was still there, and it looked like they had invited even more people over, if that was possible. They were all clustered, on every available surface, watching what was going on in MIB headquarters and offering suggestions to X on what he could do to insure the humans' comfort.
"Kay." Aileen whispered as she caught sight of the familiar figure, crumpled up in a heap by Jay and Zed. She blinked her eyes hard, somehow forcing back tears. Kay didn't need her falling apart on him now. "Agent X?" she called after thinking for a minute to recall what Kay had said the alien field agent's name was. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know. They were planning a surprise party for Zed, and Frank the Pug demolished the ice cream." X said as he looked up to the big screen for a moment before turning his focus to the agents once more. For a change, he didn't mind having his mother and all of his aunts and cousins looking over his shoulder. At least they had been able to tell him how to make up beds for the sick agents. For a moment he wandered who the blue alien that was questioning him was, thinking she looked suspiciously like Jay's description of Kay's girlfriend, before deciding it didn't matter. He would take any help that he could get. "I went out to get more ice cream, and the worms stowed away. We were only gone two hours. That's got to be some sort of record for shopping with worms. When we came back, they were all collapsed. Zara, please tell me that you know what to do! They're freezing, and I've got every blanket that we could find around them!"
"Calm down. Calm down." Zara said as she dug through the books before sighing as she found one she thought would be helpful, an illustration out of What to do When a Lunatic Gets Their Hands on Complicated Machinery that looked suspiciously like the alien who had tampered with things at the hospital, messing up the equipment to the point that it took three days to figure out how to turn the lights on on a couple of floors once he left. And there was someone that looked alarmingly similar in appearance on the screen, in a lab coat. "X, please tell me that the blue alien in the lab coat isn't one of your doctors?" But hadn't her cousin said that their other doctor was a loon?
"Zealtor, oh yes." X grumbled. "Why?"
"Because, I think I know his brother, or some relative. Why am I not surprised that those machines were messed up like that? Can you get down to the lab again? I think I can tell you how to get enough on to figure out what was used on those poor humans anyway."
"Okay, Worms, watch them!" X shouted as he unhooked his communicator. "I know how many humans there are here, and they better all be alive when I come back!"
"Zara, please, help me fix this." X said as soon as he got to the lab, and waved the comm around so that his cousin could see. "What do I do? They're getting worse every second!"
"Okay, that one on the table." Zara said after a minute. It would be the best one to use, since she seriously doubted she could walk X through drawing blood. "Get that, the one on the left, and get it back to where those poor humans are. I'll tell you how to turn it on and scan one so we can figure out what this is."
"You're sure that this won't hurt them? You should see some of the things that Zealtor's cooked up before. What if it blows one of them up?" X questioned as he picked up the device and started back.
"It shouldn't. That would be out there even for a member of that family." Zara said.
"I'm sure that Zealtor's the nuttiest one on that tree." X grumbled. He debated making U into the test subject when he reached the main room, but after a moment, he decided to risk Elle. The little human was so sick that he was sure she needed treatment much more urgently. "What do I do?"
"There should be a bunch of buttons on the side. You hit the top left, bottom middle, and then the tow right and the very middle at the same time. Then point it at the human and push the scan button."
"Okay." X pushed the buttons and then turned it towards his partner, closing is eyes and he hit the scan button, not wanting to see if it blew her up.
"X, you can open your eyes." Zara sighed. It isn't dangerous. I need you to show me what the scan said now,"
Okay." X cautiously opened his eyes, sighing when he saw his partner in one piece. He held the reading on the monitor screen up for Zara to see. "Just tell me what to do to fix this!"
"Let me check the databanks." Zara entered the poison's name in her handheld, and sighed when the name popped up a match. She had been afraid that the poison used would be something truly exotic. A moment later, she gasped, though, when she saw what the information said.
"What? What's wrong?" Something that made his cousin gasp couldn't be good.
"Little problem here." Zara said. "According to what's in the Jeedangian medical banks, the poison that was used on your little friends doesn't have an antidote."