The Shrink Program

Chapter 85

"Damn it Apollo...if I ever get my hands on you, you're dead." I hissed, believing that Peri and Winkle would be too busy laughing to notice.

That's why I nearly fell out of my seat when the laughter in the room cut to a sudden stop and two sets of blue eyes focused on me.

Silent and Intense, all laughter gone in an instant.

"Crap. Don't do that." I hissed angrily, completely creeped out.

"That's the name you said on the train," Peri commented.

"Yea..."

"Tell us the full name." For the first time since I had met him, Peri sounded authoritative, startling me into giving him an answer.

"Um...Apollo McValium..."

Without another word, Winkle began typing on the glass square thingy, causing blue symbols to fly across the screen rapidly.

Even as I tried to make out what he was doing, my side of the glass frosted over, becoming completely white.

"I heard that you are friends with Alexander and Alan Floid," Peri said conversationally, startling me into looking at him.

Not really knowing where he was going with this, I nodded warily.

"What are they like?" He asked curiously, leaning eagerly towards me.

"Um... Well, annoying mostly. Alex is overly grumpy, and Alan is overly cheerful." I shrugged. "Why do you want to know...?"

Peri stared blankly for a moment, then smiled ruefully. "I'm not sure I should tell you, Maddy. It's... Kinda shocking."

"What, that their mother did experiments on them?" I muttered darkly. "That cat's already escaped the bag, found a wife and had a few kids."

Peri tilted his head, his bright blue eyes blinking at me eerily.

"The experiments their mother did were ground-breaking, you know." He said, his voice completely void of its usual enthusiasm. "She was the one who discovered the secret to linking two minds together, and Alex and Alan were the... Prototype."

I stared at him, beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. "Prototype...? To what..?"

"Us." Peri and Winkle spoke as one. At the same time, with the same tone.

I blinked. "Well. To put it frankly. Holy Crap."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg kid," Winkle muttered, not looking up from whatever he was doing on the glass.

"I think that you should leave it at that gentlemen." Mr Folics murmured quietly, breaking his long silence. "Some things shouldn't be spoken of easily. If you know what I mean..."

"Fine." The two interrogators replied in sync, continuing to creep me out.

Probably on purpose too...

It's a relief Alex and Alan couldn't do that... Or at least didn't do it in front of me...

"We've found it anyway," Peri said with a shrug.

"Found what?" I asked, starting to get sick of being confused.

"The Answer." Peri sat forward in his chair.

"Don't worry, it has been decided that you will not be punished for your actions. After you leave this interrogation, you will return to your room and resume your program. Do you know why we have chosen to do this?"

"Obviously not," I muttered sourly, causing Peri to sigh

"We are letting you off the hook because we know for certain that there will be no repeat of this incident. We know this because the cause of your behaviour does not exist."

"What?" I sat up straight, utterly confused.

"The Apollo Mc'Valium you mentioned is not at this Facility," Winkle informed me, still glaring down at the glass in his hand. "Despite what you thought you saw, it is certain that Apollo Mc'Valium is not part of the Shrink program."