IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE
Chapter 2: "Dancing in My Sleep"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
In Queen Serenity's room in the palace infirmary, Palla-Palla sat as close to the antiseptic containment field around the Queen as she could. Her hands were on her knees and she peered anxiously at her second most favorite person in the universe. After a few minutes of fretful waiting, she saw Serenity's eyes crack open.
"Palla-Palla," the Queen croaked. She offered a wan smile. "Oh, I hope I haven't worried you too much."
"Palla-Palla is glad to see you awake, Usagi-Mama," smiled the blue-haired youth. Though eighteen physically, mentally she was and would always remain five. "She made you a get-well card with her own hands!" Bringing the card up, Palla-Palla displayed it proudly.
"Oh, thank you!" cooed Serenity. "I'll put it on the night stand so I can see it all the time."
At first nothing happened. Her smile dimming, Serenity concentrated harder on what she wanted to do: telekinetically place the card on the night stand. But instead of grasping the card, suddenly the night stand shot up into the air and launched. Palla-Palla was able to duck out of the way with a frightened squeal as the night stand shot past her. It impacted loudly with the wall on the far end of the room and then slid to the floor. Palla-Palla looked back at the Queen in shock and saw her shock was shared by the Queen.
"OH MY GOODNESS! Palla-Palla, are you hurt?" rasped Serenity.
"Palla-Palla is fine, thank you very much," the teen replied, still shaken. "The table missed Palla-Palla."
By now, an infirmary nurse and an attendant were in the doorway to the room. They both saw the night stand in the far corner of the room and the broken plaster on the wall.
"Queen Serenity, what happened?" the nurse asked urgently.
"You!" the attendant said, eyes locked on Palla-Palla. "Did you do that?"
"No, Sir!" Palla-Palla exclaimed.
"It was me," exhaled Serenity, the incident draining her vitality. "Somehow my mind must have grabbed the wrong thing. I don't know how to explain it. I'm very sorry for all the distress and damage I caused."
The nurse came over and checked the virtual display of Serenity's vital signs. Palla-Palla watched her with mounting dread.
"Temperature's still elevated," the nurse said. "White count, too. I suppose your illness is interfering with your mental abilities." She turned to the Queen. "Maybe you shouldn't try something like that again until you're well."
"Yes, Ma'am," Serenity replied contritely.
The attendant moved to pick up the night stand and replace it by Serenity's bed. The nurse turned to leave.
"Oh, just a moment," Serenity said. Her voice sounded weak, but coherent. "When you put that back, is there some way you could place Palla-Palla's card on it where I can see it?"
"Yes, Ma'am," the attendant said as the nurse smiled. After replacing the night stand, he took the card from Palla-Palla, momentarily disengaged the antiseptic field, and placed the card in a visible spot. As he returned the antiseptic field, he received a warm smile from Serenity.
"There now," Serenity said to Palla-Palla after the attendant left. "Doesn't that look nice? Thank you once again for the card." Through her fevered haze, Serenity noticed the dour expression on Palla-Palla's face. "What's wrong? Are you still frightened by what I did?"
"No, Usagi-Mama," Palla-Palla replied. "That man - - still thinks Palla-Palla is a bad person. Palla-Palla heard it with her head. Why can't people see that Palla-Palla isn't bad anymore?"
"Most people do," Serenity said softly, her voice dying out. "But first impressions are sometimes hard to shake. I know it can be frustrating. All we can do is keep being the best person we can be and hope that other people will see that. If you live down to their expectations of what you are, all you're doing is making them right."
"Palla-Palla will keep trying," the teen vowed. "Palla-Palla will prove to them that they're wrong about her."
"That's all anyone can ask of you," Serenity smiled.
With their gear loaded onto their air car, the company of zoologists prepared to disembark from the nature preserve. After changing out of their anti-contamination suits, the scientists were discussing their findings as they climbed aboard the air car. Jun, while not consciously eavesdropping, couldn't help but overhear.
"The 66c variant is spreading a lot faster than was anticipated," noted Keiko Fujima.
"Yes, that was my determination, too," replied her colleague, Dr. Takashi Shinozuma. "I'd hate to have to recommend extermination, but I can't see any other way."
"Wait a minute," Jun spoke up. "Extermination? You want to kill all of those birds?"
"It isn't something I want to do," Shinozuma replied stiffly. "But this disease is spreading faster than anticipated. And if it's somehow transmitted to other birds outside of the preserve, it could spread over the whole island. Maybe even to the mainland."
"Yes, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of birds could die," added Keiko.
"Isn't there some medicine?" Jun asked.
"And if there was, how would we distribute it to every bird in the preserve?" Shinozuma argued. "There are several hundred species of bird in this preserve. Probably close to a hundred thousand individual birds in this area. You saw how time consuming it was just to trap and examine the hundred odd birds we sampled. You can't just set up an inoculation center in the middle of the preserve and expect the birds to line up for a shot."
"You can't even get some humans to do that," huffed Keiko.
"It's just," Jun scowled. "It seems wrong."
"It is wrong," Tomohiro said, sitting next to Jun. "But it's just as wrong to allow a disease to wipe out tens of thousands of birds, possibly whole species. If exterminating a few thousand can save fifteen thousand from dying, it's the lesser of two evils."
"But couldn't there be a way to mass distribute an inoculation? Maybe spray it or seed the clouds so when it rains? I could help you manufacture a cloud burst that could cover the entire preserve!"
"And dilute the inoculation in the process so that it was useless," said Keiko.
"I just don't like killing things for no reason," Jun frowned. "You kill for food. You kill to defend yourself or your young. You don't kill just to kill." She glanced at Tomohiro. "Maybe you think I'm naive."
"No," he replied. "That's actually a pretty good rule. Killing because it's fun or because it's the easy way out isn't honorable. And maybe if you think of extermination as defending the birds who aren't sick, it's a little more justifiable." He glanced over at Dr. Shinozuma. "But maybe she does have an idea there. If an inoculation could be transmitted in mist form, sprayed over the entire preserve, it could bring the infection rates down."
"Well," Shinozuma replied thoughtfully, "it would have to be determined that the drug could maintain potency in mist form - - and if there's possible side effects on other species." He glanced at Tomohiro's anticipatory expression. "I could look into it. No promises."
"It won't hurt to look into it," Tomohiro replied. He glanced back at Jun and smiled encouragingly.
And Jun found her heart fluttering.
Serenity woke up and found Ami standing at the virtual reality vital signs panel near her bed. She was pleased to see her longtime friend. As usual, Ami wore her medical anti-contamination suit, covering her slim body like a second skin.
"Good morning, Ami-Chan," croaked the Queen. "That is, if it's morning. I'm not sure anymore."
"It's two fifty-six pm," Ami announced, her eyes never leaving the display.
"Great. When am I going to get out of here?"
Ami turned to her friend and patient. "How are you feeling?"
"Would you believe me if I said I was fine?" offered Serenity. Ami raised an eyebrow. "OK, I feel hot and I ache all over."
"That I believe," Ami smiled.
"So? How am I?"
"Your temperature and white counts are still elevated," Ami told her. "And I'm concerned with what happened this morning."
"What happened this morning?" Serenity asked. Ami nodded to the broken portion of the far wall. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ami-Chan. I guess I just grabbed the wrong thing when I was reaching for the card Palla-Palla made for me. Isn't it lovely?"
"Serenity, this is a little more than just grabbing the wrong thing," Ami judged.. "You hurled a piece of standing furniture across the room. That seems like more than just a simple mistake."
"I said I was sorry!" whined the Queen.
"Has anything like this happened before?"
"No. I've always been able to control my tele-whatsis," Serenity told her.
At that moment, the portable medical computer Ami used to diagnose patients in the field rose out of the belt around her hip that it was clipped on. The device levitated to Ami's eye level and began dancing back and forth before her. When Ami reached for it, the device skittered away. When it reached a distance half way between Ami and Serenity, it began dancing again. Ami shot Serenity a disturbed glance.
"I didn't do it!" rasped Serenity. "At least I think I didn't."
Ami glanced at the vital signs virtual board again.
"Your EEG is showing a spike in your brain wave pattern," Ami said. "So you are likely doing it. Apparently you're doing it without your conscious knowledge."
"I am?"
"How does your head feel?"
"Like it's wrapped in a towel," moaned the Queen. "It's hard to think of anything besides the fact that I'm hot and I ache all over."
"It could be a manifestation of the fever," Ami mused out loud. Serenity gave her a curious look. "The brain will, under conditions of fever, sometimes suffer temporary memory loss or hallucinate as a result of the fever. I don't know of any recorded incidents involving involuntary telekinesis - - but then no one has ever had a patient quite like you." Ami reached out and grasped the dancing med computer.
"What do I do?" asked Serenity.
"Try to rest," Ami suggested. "And keep calm thoughts. I'm guessing, I'm afraid. I've never run into anything like this before." She typed in a command to the VR computer. "I've ordered a series of brain scans, just to see if there's any organic anomaly at work here. Don't worry, Serenity. You won't feel a thing."
"Whatever you think is best, Ami-Chan," Serenity replied.
"So, feeling hungry?"
"Not really," moaned Serenity. "Boy, I MUST be sick!"
Ami smiled and adjourned to the outer care center. There she found two dozen small objects levitating in mid-air and dancing.
Helios was in the chambers he shared with his wife. He was, as usual, sitting in a lotus position, monitoring the dreaming. His wife remarked recently that she once saw him sit unmoving for nearly seven hours at a stretch. While he noticed that her chief concern seemed to be his health and well-being, he also noted that Usa had an undercurrent of peevishness. From that point, he limited his monitoring to shorter intervals.
When he heard the door to their quarters slide open, Helios opened his eyes. He already knew it was Usa, since he could sense her dream light. He also knew she was holding her little sister, Mamoko, as Mamoko had a dream light, too. Occasionally it was difficult to tell it from Queen Serenity's, since Mamoko was a clone of the Queen, but he could usually tell.
What surprised him when he opened his eyes was the child, now fourteen months old, sitting on Usa's lap, engaged in conversation with her. Mamoko had recently said her first word and while baby-sitting, Usa had taken it upon herself to try to coax more words out of the child.
"Cat," Mamoko said. Her first word had been cat, a fact Luna constantly reminded the Queen of. Mamoko stared up at Usa, eager either for approval or for more words to stimulate her mind.
"Very good, Mamoko-Chan," Usa said gently. She smiled warmly at the child and Mamoko's face lit up. "You know who I am, right? Say Usa."
Makoko stared up at her in wonderment.
"Usa," the pink-tressed princess repeated.
"Brat!" Mamoko said.
"No," Usa said patiently. "Usa."
"No!" Mamoko said joyously.
"Usa."
"Brat!"
Usa sighed. "You've been hanging around Mom too long." The child cackled. She glanced at Helios, seeking help, and noticed his expression. "What's with you?"
"Maiden," he whispered in awe. "Seeing you with young Mamoko - - I was struck by how wonderful an image it is. It sparks within me a desire to see you so with our own child."
"Yeah?" Usa responded, at once touched and intimidated.
"I think you will make a wonderful mother, Maiden," he smiled gently.
"Brat!" Mamoko chimed in.
"That's enough out of you," Usa said with mock ire. Mamoko cackled again. "Well, it's not like we haven't been trying. Although I have to admit the prospect scares me down to my toes."
"Why? You saw how our daughter will turn out. What frightens you so?"
"What usually frightens me," sighed Usa. "Will I be good enough? I've failed so many times in my life . . ."
"And succeeded even more often," Helios told her. "A fact you always seem to conveniently forget when it suits your mood."
"I just," Usa began. "I'm not ready."
"No one is pushing you, Maiden. I least of all. I am committed to you for life. Whether we bring a child into the world tomorrow or a thousand years from now will not affect my feelings for you." He shrugged. "Mother, on the other hand . . ."
"Oh I'll bet," smirked Usa. "Candide been throwing the guilt?"
"She means well," Helios replied with a small smile. Suddenly Mamoko began wailing and fidgeting.
"What's wrong?" gasped Usa. Mamoko continued to cry.
"I believe she wants down so she may relieve her boredom by crawling around," Helios suggested.
"All right!" Usa hissed and placed the child on the floor. But Mamoko just sat there and cried. "Boy, you're Mom's clone, all right!"
"Perhaps she wishes you to play, too," Helios said. He eased out of the lotus position and got down on the floor with Mamoko. Attracted by the movement, she looked up at him and fixated on his crystal horn. "I seem to please her."
"Well, Mom always was a sucker for a handsome face," smirked Usa.
In the infirmary, Hotaru reported to the head nurse for her work study. Though just a nurse's aide now, the slight young woman aspired to be a doctor as half as good as her mentor, Ami Mizuno. The head nurse, Homura Tetsuhama, greeted Hotaru with a smile.
"Well, Tomoe-San, how did you do on your exams?" Tetsuhama asked.
"I scored an eighty-seven," Hotaru replied with mild disappointment. "Some of those chemical names still confuse me. If only they didn't have twenty syllables to them."
"I know what you mean," Tetsuhama smiled sympathetically. "Well, ready to get to work?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Hotaru nodded. "How many patients do we have?"
"Just four," the nurse told her. "Including 'the big one'."
"How is Queen Serenity doing?"
"Well," Tetsuhama paused. "Based on her vitals, if she were anyone else, she'd be home in bed loaded up on analgesics and decongestants. Because she's the single most important person in the world, she's here with Dr. Mizuno watching her like a hawk." Hotaru noticed the woman pause for a second. "Based on other things, maybe it's good that she's here."
"What other things?" Hotaru asked, her concern rising.
As if in answer, a writing stylus on the nurse's desk suddenly rose from the counter. Balancing on its point, the stylus began gliding around the desk top in looping arcs, as if it were a figure skater on an ice rink. Hotaru's eyes popped as she watched it. Tentatively she extended her hand and caught the stylus as if she were afraid it would attack her. When it didn't, she examined it. Finding no reason for it to act that way, Hotaru looked to her senior.
"Apparently it's a side-effect of the illness," Tetsuhama said. "Stuff like that has been happening all day. Usually it's small stuff like that, although a couple of hours ago a crash cart was flipped over."
"And the Queen's doing it?" gasped Hotaru.
"Look for yourself."
Hotaru ventured into Queen Serenity's room. The Queen was sound asleep, breathing through her mouth since her sinuses were clogged and swollen. Around the room, everything that wasn't attached to something was levitating in mid-air, dancing gaily in circles.
Continued in Chapter 3