Chapter 6: Echoes of a Nightmare (everybody)

[aine]

Nat realises that not all is well and becomes much more subdued as he watches the staff take over. He feels relief as the girls' eyes return to normal but Nat still has a gnawing worry. When the Doctor has stopped rushing around for a minute, Nat asks,
"Doc, er, what happens when they need to sleep again? Will they be okay? Shouldn't they see a specialist immediately? I'm really worried."

[evil_scientist]

Julie finally snaps out of it. She is surrounded by doctors and nurses. There's a bunch of flowers and cards next to her bed - she doesn't remember them being there when she fell asleep.

She carefully climbs out of her bed, and goes over to Elizabeth. She looks at Julie - and it seems that it takes her a second to recognize her friend.

"So it was you..." she says, finally, with a faint smile. "They tell me we were in a coma for several days... But I don't remember much before that." Her smile disappeares. "You told me when we were... there... that my friends from the circle are... dead. Is that true? What happened to them?"

"Doc, er, what happens when they need to sleep again? Will they be okay? Shouldn't they see a specialist immediately? I'm really worried."

While the orderlies check the girls' blood pressure, Dr. Jacobson steps aside with Nat.

"Their blood cell counts are very low, due to the radiation damage. Especially Elizabeth's. But we couldn't demonstrate any traces of that unknown black substance. In my opinion, the crisis period passed."

Dr. Jacobson sighs.

"But this is in regards of their physical condition. I am afraid that their mental condition was also severely damaged. I talked to Mr. Sandoval, Elizabeth's father, and he says he has the financial means to provide quality mental care to both Elizabeth and Julie."

The doctor starts scribbling something on his notepad.

Nat notices that while he was talking to Dr. Jacobson, a man and a woman arrived, and are now seated outside the room in the corridor. They are waiting patiently... but Nat can't help but see them as vultures circling their future prey.

Nat,It is the two FBI agents, [b]Holmes[/b] and [b]Russo[/b]. How did they learn about Julie and Elizabeth regaining consciousness and get here so quickly? The girls' parents aren't even here yet, although they were notified as soon as it was possible!

[aine]

In a low voice Nat says,
"Thanks, Doctor Jacobson, that's good news that they'll both get good treatment. I see the Feds are back soon as. Have they been hanging around the canteen waiting? I bet they want to interrogate the girls; are you able to minimise the interview time?
Those jackals don't care about the girls' health, just answers and the girls need no more stress. I'll field them as best I can now. You've been great, Doc, thank you for saving Julie and Liz."
Saying that, Nat takes a deep breath and goes out to face the FBI, closing the door quietly behind him.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm sorry, Liz, I only know what Dr. Jacobson told me before I went back to sleep to bring you out," says Julie, hugging her friend. "He told me that Cavendish and some of the others were already gone by the time emergency services got there, and everyone else was dead. I think Cavendish and that woman N' must have been responsible, but I don't know the details."

[evil_scientist]

"I'm sorry, Liz, I only know what Dr. Jacobson told me before I went back to sleep to bring you out," says Julie, hugging her friend. "He told me that Cavendish and some of the others were already gone by the time emergency services got there, and everyone else was dead. I think Cavendish and that woman N' must have been responsible, but I don't know the details."

Elizabeth's reaction is... strange: "So --- and 'N are not dead!" Her eyes light up. Then she drifts off for a few seconds. "I don't understand... Why would they want to hurt us? They always took care of us..."

In a low voice Nat says,
"Thanks, Doctor Jacobson, that's good news that they'll both get good treatment. I see the Feds are back soon as. Have they been hanging around the canteen waiting? I bet they want to interrogate the girls; are you able to minimise the interview time?
Those jackals don't care about the girls' health, just answers and the girls need no more stress. I'll field them as best I can now. You've been great, Doc, thank you for saving Julie and Liz."
Saying that, Nat takes a deep breath and goes out to face the FBI, closing the door quietly behind him.

Dr. Jacobson shakes his head. "No, there will be no questioning. As the doctor in charge, I won't allow the interviewing of my patients. They are not in that condition, neither physically, nor psychologically.

"These two have been hanging around here. I gave them the information I must - but they need to come with a court order before I even consider showing them medical documentation or test results. Because that's what they wanted, which is out of the question."

Nat,Nat walks out into the corridor. The two agents stand up, but when Nat shuts the door, they take a step back. [color=#800000]"Ah, Mr. Waldon! Nice to meet you again,"[/color] says [b]Agent Russo[/b]. [color=#800000]"How are your friends?"[/color]

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't really know," says Julie. "I think they were just using everyone, and I think N' was using Cavendish. I saw her face when she confronted me. It looked just like the void."

[aine]

"Agent Russo, Agent Holmes." Nat nods to the FBI. "They are alive, just. Which is more than can be said for the other poor cultists. What was going on there- did you find out? And Cavendish and the 'N' woman have you caught them yet?"

[evil_scientist]

Julie,Elizabeth shakes her head. [color=#00BF00]"No, no, it wasn't like that. True, [b]N'[/b] is strong. But ---"[/color] Elizabeth pauses, breathing out, as always when [i]not[/i]-uttering their leader's name. Then she hesitates for some time, clearly going through some inner conflict. [color=#00BF00]"...the man you know as [i]'Cavendish'[/i]? I was so stupid to believe him. He preyed on us, used us. He was our guiding light. The center of it all. "N' gravitated towards this center. She achieved a deeper state than most. She is the first of us to enter the inner circle... But her face being like the void? I don't know... Are you sure it wasn't just you, maybe, uh, hallucinating? I've never seen her like that..."[/color]

Nat,[quote]"They are alive, just."[/quote] [color=#800000]"Well, we are glad to hear that. Actually, we were hoping to talk to them, you know, get a first-hand account."[/color] [quote]"What was going on there- did you find out?"[/quote] [color=#800000]"This is still an ongoing investigation. Forensics have turned up some rather... interesting details. But so far our guess is as good as yours. By the way... What is your guess? You know, strictly off the record? I'm not judging you if you, you know, have 'weird' ideas. I have a holistic approach,"[/color] Agent Russo says, and Nat recalls her taking meticulous notes during every second of their initial interview. She took in every detail with equal interest. [quote]"And Cavendish and the 'N' woman have you caught them yet?"[/quote] "Cavendish and Anne Spencer - oh, by the way, that's N's real name, are still on the loose. They went underground. But don't worry. There's a nation-wide search going on. Some departments of the FBI have a long-going interest in Mr. Cavendish's activities... But this is not something I can disclose. Sorry."[/color]

[Mr. Handy]

Julie,[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Spenard_Itch_1.jpg/120px-Spenard_Itch_1.jpg[/img] [color=orangered]"That's what I saw,"[/color] says [b]Julie[/b]. [color=orangered]"I didn't take anything that would cause me to hallucinate. Maybe I'm going crazy, but that's what it looked like to me. And there's more. She weakened me and robbed me of my speed somehow. I was like an old woman trying to get away from her, not a star jammer."[/color]

[aine]

Nat,Nat scratches his head, "Id like to help but I don't know that much; I was on look out mostly. You could speak to Ray. All I know is that a whole heap of people got ill from that radiation. There was something else funny going on though. That Anne Spencer was really strong, you know, like a weight lifter. And she did some odd hypnosis thing on Julie so Julie couldn't walk. And then Julie had a dream about a big black void and she saw Liz there and then they both woke up. I haven't spoken to them either so I don't know exactly what happened. Can you meet someone in a dream if you're sleeping next to them?"