Hidden Abnormality

5. Story of a Meteorite

Chapter Five
 

  Doctor Inquiridor had, in fact, noticed this pattern. He had been waiting for our appointment to discuss just this information. I told him of David's idea, and he seemed to like it. I wasn't sure if he liked that he couldn't tell 3y specifically how far he will be going. However, the doctor was willing to test this theory.

  3y was sitting with his arms crossed on his cot. He didn't look very happy. When his doctor tried to coax him off the bed, he refused to acknowledge our presence.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  Doctor Inquiridor shrugged. "I've never seen him act like this. He was so happy earlier that he had finally figured out the mechanism to your puzzle."

  I tapped the button under the microphone and spoke to the dark-haired boy. "Is something the matter 3y?"

  He showed no recognition. He didn't even blink. I looked at the doctor. His concern for the boy was showing. I wasn't sure what he was thinking of doing next.

  "Has he moved since this morning? Why was he brought here?"

  The doctor looked away from the glass. "He was said to have had a meteorite fall on him. His parents were distraught and thought they had lost their son. However, he crawled through the meteorite without a scratch. He was merely covered in some dust. With further inspection, they found the shape of his body inside the meteorite where he had been crushed."

  "So we think he might have great strength?"

  He shook his head. "No. We think the meteorite opened up for him. If you ever got the chance to look, his eyes look just like the meteorite. The supervisor thinks there was some creature in the fallen object and lives inside his eyes."

  I blinked at the man. How had I not heard that before? No one made it their job to explain why any of these people were here. They just were and we were to take care of them and put them through a series of tests.

  The doctors were told what brought them here; I was not. The only way I was to know how they got here was by the doctor who had authority over them. If they thought it would be useful information, they would inform me of their unfortunate mishaps that landed them here.

  Almost all of them deemed their tales unworthy to tell.

  After all, why did the man who merely made puzzles to test their brain development need to know anything about their upbringing and backstories?

  I stared at the boy behind the glass. There was a certain glow about his eyes. Something else caught my attention. "This creature. Have you been able to study it? Is it indeed a real thing?"

  Doctor Inquiridor nodded emphatically. "Oh, yes. There is a creature behind those corneas."

  "And it needs to breathe, does it not?"

  Once again, he nodded. "As far as our study has gone, I do believe it needs to breathe. Possibly not as much as we do."

  I tapped the glass. 3y didn't move. "That boy is not breathing."

  The doctor jolted to the glass. He focused on the boy's body. He pressed the emergency button beside the door. "You're right, Mr. Mestiere."

  Before I could utter another word, he was outside the room. I followed him. He was outside 3y's door, searching through his many pockets for his key card.

  "You should probably wait for security. What if the creature is doing this to him?" I reasoned.

  The doctor disregarded me. "They will get here soon enough. I am not waiting- Aha!" He finally found his key card and frantically swiped it against the scanner beside the metal door.

  It opened and we rushed inside. I wanted to make sure the doctor was going to be alright. It wouldn't look very good for me to be standing around, waiting for security while the doctor was in here getting beaten by a compromised teenager.

  The doctor snapped his fingers in front of the boy's eyes. One of his hands was on his shoulder. It felt wrong to be in here. There was an observation room for a reason. "The creature isn't responding either."

  "Are they dying?"

  "If they aren't already, then they are extremely close to it."

  I stepped beside the doctor. "How can I help?"

  The door was opened once again and four guards walked inside. "What is going on, Doctor Inquiridor?" one of them asked.

  "Pick this boy up this instant. We need to take him to the operating room."

  The guards did as told as I stepped back. The last thing I needed was to be in the way of one of these people. They started to file out of the room quickly.

  I wish I could stay and study the room. See if there was anything I could find in here that would help. But I wasn't sure if my key card would work in here, and I don't believe it would make anybody happy to find me locked in this room.

  I followed them out but branched off once they left Hallway Y. I returned to my office. David smiled at me as I opened the metal door and entered my office.

  Never had I ever been so happy to sit in my chair before. I could sleep I was so relieved. Instead, I looked in the files on my computer.

  The clips hadn't been sent to me. I wonder if Doctor Opus is going to dig his heels in this one for as long as he could. Supervisor Z saw no reason I shouldn't be able to have the files. There wasn't going to be a long period of time that the doctor could keep his claws on the files.

  I tapped around some more as I waited to hear something, to see something. Something that would give me something to do as I waited.

  Nothing happened.

  So I started making plans for 12z's next puzzle. I could always make modifications after I saw those videos. I'm sure there wouldn't be much I would have to change.

  My phone started to ring, pulling me out of my auto-pilot. I checked the ID before answering. It was Jaz's school.

  "Hello?" After a moment of some chirpy lady talking, I frowned. "I'll be right there."