The Soulmate System

25. A Theme of Resolutions

Dylan nearly crushed his pencil and pen receptacle out of sheer anxiety; if he had succeeded, he'd have revealed the small, old picture of his parents. Standing slowly, fingers twitching against the frame of the computer monitor, he asked, voice shaking, "B...is he okay?"

"He's fine, but we're not completely sure where he is in regards to the Asch Effect."

"Wha – " was Dylan's whimpered response.

"He's staying in observation for the present time, but you are able to come and visit, if you so choose to."

"Ye – yes, I do so wish to visit!" he spat into the phone, his whole being shaking. Dylan had yet to realise that his shouting had brought to attention everyone within twenty feet of his cubicle. "I-I, I'll be right down!" And then promptly hung up.

And that's when Dylan's attention was brought to everyone around him, their eyes wide and watching with concern, or surprise, for the young Soulmate. Dylan straightened his back, cleared his throat in trying to be nonchalant, and stepped briskly to Stevenson's office.

Interrupting a meeting with Stevenson's boss, Dylan unthinkingly announced, "I'm going to go see my Soulmate."

Stevenson glanced away from the well-dressed man sitting across from him and asked, "He's waking up?"

"I don't know; he might be." Dylan's feet stabilized him as his centre of gravity seemed to shift. "Please, sir, let me go."

"I'm sorry, Matthews, but you can't go. You have work to do."

Dylan's hands curled into fists. "Sir, my Soulmate's shut down. I want to be there for him."

"Matthews, you've missed too many days for me to just let y – "

"For God's sake, Jacob, let the man go!" the other man declared loudly. Shrugging following his proclamation, he added, "He's not in violation of the rules."

Stevenson tilted his head, eyes telling of his deception for his act, and sighed, gesturing his hand for Dylan to leave. "Tell him we send our thoughts."

Dylan nodded, and excused himself. He hastily returned to his desk, his co-worker's eyes still on him, and packed his things quickly. Throwing his bag haphazardly over his shoulder, the man sprinted down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and headed towards the nearest transit.

~ ~ ~

His body betrayed him. Even if he was walking slow enough to keep his breathing steady, his lungs decided that it would shrink about 70%, and resulted in Dylan wheezing repeatedly and quickly. Tremors shook his whole body the closer he got to the Soulmate Institute, along with the overpowering, overwrought feeling of longingness in his chest. It was made all the more worse by how tight his chest felt.

He was only really hyperventilating. Delirium subsequently made him feel even worse.

But in his mind, Dylan crashed through the front doors of the Institute, gasping Bryce's name. He stumbled up to the front desk, quickly spat Bryce's name, and proceeded towards 1013. In reality, Dylan had walked into the lobby, his legs struggling to keep him upright. Dylan thought he spat Bryce's name, but instead wheezed heavily over the reception's counter. Without waiting, he stumbled into room 1013.

The room was black, save for the controls.

And Dylan's heart sunk.

Worst-case scenarios played easily through his head. Bryce on a coroner's table, a blank expression on his face while he was sprawled out with a pale cloth covering his naked body, suddenly became clear in his mind. Bryce in a glass case, perpetually frozen in molasses-like goo, or even encased in amber. Used as a science experiment in order to understand how the Soulmate System worked.