Chapter 19

"TJ, it's not just that you will stay in your current 'normal' body forever."

"Well, that's good!"  I couldn't see the problem here.  This is the opposite of a problem!

There was silence, and for anyone else, he would have sighed.

"Well, I'll be right back."

This time, his eyes didn't roll back into his head when he teleported.  This time, I was able to see it occur without being apart of it.  The way I saw it, it was simpler than I thought teleportation should be.  He simply was there one minute, gone another.  There was no artificial light, or 'time winds' or anything.  It was as if he was never there.

I held onto my arm and moved up in my seat, staring at the ceiling.  I didn't know how I was supposed to feel.  Alone.  Sure I've been alone before, that's a given, but I've never been this alone.  I was in an enormous room with two living chairs and a table.  That was all.  There wasn't even any lights in the room, yet the white was rather blinding.  My heart started pounding, panic ensued in my veins.  What would happen if he never came back?  Is it true I could be trapped here and not die since I don't age here?  Surely I would starve first- but if there was no time...

There was no sound emanating what-so-ever in the entire room.  At home, even if there was no one else around, I'd hear the hum of the fridge and the heater or AC.  Maybe the occasional bird chirping, and cars going by.  There was always some type of noise.  But not in here.  What would make the noise? 

I started hearing a constant beeping in my ears that I don't remember hearing in such a long time, just from the lack of noise.  I started to close my eyes and hum to myself.  Any tune I could think of, it didn't matter.  Anything would be better than this white room of nothing.

Just a few minutes later (though it seemed like hours), Merlin came back, but he wasn't alone.  Brianna accompanied him.  When they teleported in, he still had his same blank face while she was the opposite.  Her mouth was wide open and her hands were over her face.  

Right when she got in, she said, "oh my llama, why did you even take me here?  What do you want from me!?"

He simply nodded to a seat over near me.

That's when I realized: now there was a third seat.  I looked at it with wide eyes, I knew it wasn't here before.  And yet, I leaned over to touch it, and of course it was real.

I simply brushed the thought away, since overly thinking it over wasn't going to help my situation.  This guy is clearly not normal, so couldn't he have teleported in the same seat from somewhere?

I shrugged my thoughts off, thinking that was the best solution.

Brianna was willing to cooperate- what else could she do, anyway- and she sat in her seat.  Our conversation began the same way it initially had with him and I.  'Where am I?', 'what are you?', 'how is this possible?', were all asked but given insufficient responses, besides the first one.

"So, now for why I brought you here-".  I was expecting his response... "you are not the Brianna.. you once were," he said vaguely.

She raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah, you're right."  I was surprised that she agreed.  "Now, I support... someone who has the right idea to make our dreams come true."

I chuckled to myself.  Here goes her crazy brain damage talk.

"This 'someone' makes your dreams come true?" He tested.

"Oh certainly!  I agree with her dream fully and completely, therefore it is my dream as well."

"What if I told you that these aren't your true feelings, and that this 'someone' is just using you?"

Rage came across her face and she got up.

That was the last straw for her.  She got up and rushed to Merlin who looked not scared of the animistic expression on her face.  She went over to him and breathed down his neck, "you take that back."

"I will not take back what is true."  She put her hands around his neck.

"You better fucking take it back, or you'll be sorry!"  He still didn't look very concerned.  When she started to constrict him, he seemed unaffected.  She tried with all her might to suffocate him, but he still looked fine.  He showed no signs of fighting back.

But then I thought that I was wrong, he was dying before my eyes since his eyes were rolling into the back of his head.  But when I saw my reality changing before my eyes, I knew that, no, he wasn't dying, he was just teleporting us somewhere.

When we got to our destination, I grinned since I was just so happy I was away from that creepy place.

But then, I had a moment to look around at my new surroundings, and I simply blinked a few times, unbelieving.  The first strange thing I noticed about the room was that it was all metal.  Then, I noticed these weird glasses floating around everywhere.  Three people were wearing them.  One was standing up and looked rather excited.  I had no idea where we were.  At all.

"Um... Merlin, where are we?"  Brianna was the first to be broken out of her confused and amazed trance.

"We are in a hospital."

Brianna and I exchanged looks and I shivered simply looking at her like this.  This was the lady who didn't want me to tell anyone how I was able to become like this, she didn't want me to tell anyone who she was, or anything...  It was strange to have something... can I say 'in common', with her?  We were both totally clueless.

I looked around the whole room, and turned my head.

"And this is the front area?"

"It is indeed."

"What are you talking about?"  Brianna was addressing me.  "Of course this is the front area!  See, there's the check in machine right there!"

Sure enough, Merlin was walking over to it.

He pressed a button on it and said, "this is Merlin, and I'm here with two new patients."

'Names?' The machine said.

"Brianna Meyer and TJ Evans."

'Listing confirmed.'

Question marks went up in my head.  Why did I need to be here?  How could that... thing know who I am?

'Please wait a few minutes, Merlin.'

I sincerely wondered why he simply referred to himself as Merlin and how the... computer thing... understood him and didn't specify a last name.

'Please wait a few moments for someone to assist you.'

While we waited, I stared in wonder at the glasses.

"Um, what are those?"  I automatically asked Merlin since it seemed like he had all the answers (even if he wasn't always willing to share them), but he didn't say anything.

Brianna rolled her eyes at him and looked at me.  "Those are virtual reality glasses.  They're in waiting rooms all the time."

Then I noticed that some of the glasses were moving in the air.

"But...?"  I pointed to one pair of glasses that was moving away from someone walking.

"They move away when someone is coming...."  Like I was supposed to know!

"But they're floating..."

"Oh, right!  That happens from high power magnets repelling.  The floor is a big magnet."

"Then, why are they at different heights?"  I looked at the dozen or so glasses in the room with continued wonder.

"Oh, they're all at different settings, depending on when they were last moved, and the general air flow of the room."

Soon enough, a doctor showed up to greet us.  When I first saw him come into the room, I thought, 'surely he wasn't coming to see us?'  Since, don't doctors have better things to do?  Why wasn't someone else going to greet us?

"Ah, Merlin!  It's great to see you again.  Who do you have this time?"

"TJ Evans and Brianna Meyer."

"Ah," he said nodding.  "Nice to meet you folks.  The way he talked to Merlin, it was like they were old friends.  Now, I just want to be told where we are... and why!  And when he nodded- it was as if he was expecting our names to come up. Why...?

"Now, let me take you to your rooms."  The doctor started to swivel around for us to follow.

"No, allow me."  I saw the whites of his eyes and knew he was planning to teleport us somewhere.

He teleported us into a hallway and the doctor took us first to my room.

"This is where you'll be staying for the durration of your time, TJ.  We'll come when you need us."

He walked out of the room and I could hear him say, "alright, let me show you to your room, Brianna..."

I looked around the room with stunned amazement.  It was so... pretty.  And this was a hospital!?

With the doctor gone, I looked at Merlin who was surprisingly still with me.

"Well?!"  

"Well, we're in Pulver."  Recognition instantly fell.  That was the futuristic town in the present day that people of the future inhabited...

"For what reason?"

He gave me an unsatisfactory response, "you will find out soon enough."

I rolled my eyes and settled onto the bed.  It was extremely comfortable.  I held my body up with my arms and looked at the head of the bed to find the button.  I could really use some futuristic drink!  Man, had this strange day made me parched!

But when I clicked it, I noticed the clock from the wall was drifting off the wall and coming toward me.  I smiled with delight.  A clock that comes to you when you want to see it, I don't even have to strain myself to see the numbers!  That would be quite handy in the morning.  I wouldn't doubt if it glowed in the dark too!

And then Merlin looked at me and started to speak.  With my attention turned toward him, I noticed for the first time there were two of those glasses floating around in my room.  I'd have to play around with those later!

"Well, bye for now TJ.  I will be back when your operation is complete.

"Hey, wait!  What operation?  How can I possibly be here alone?"

"You'll be fine, the doctors and nurses know just what is on the agenda.  I'll be back as soon as you're healed.  You don't even have a single idea of what the operation could be?"

Then, he was gone in the blink of an eye.  My questions would just have to wait.