The Lost

Worries

Annabeth was still holding her head when she was able to finally respond. Esper and The Curator were standing around her. "W-what happened?" She asked, a little confused.

The Curator went to speak, but it was Esper who spoke. "You were singing, and then you suddenly stopped, and cried out. When I reached you, you were on the tiled floor of the shower curled up into a ball." She was frowning as if she were sad, but she was just concerned.

The Curator was then able to speak. "You had another Flashback, Annabeth. It would seem that singing triggered a memory in you that was deep seated, something very valuable to you to have caused a flash back of this magnitude." He looked at the data on his tablet, and then watched Annabeth closely.

She tried to get up, and keep herself covered in the towel. Esper grabbed one of her arms, and helped Anna to stand, and then sit on the built in bench the showers had.

She sat down and thought about what they had both just told her, and thought about the memory that had forced its way through. She could barely believe it, but she knew it was the truth. She could feel the accuracy of what she had been told. Music coursed through her mind, and she felt the urge to sing, but she held back. She wanted to make sure, and to do that, she fist needed privacy in order to practice and maintain her composure so she wouldn't fall again to something like that.

To take an example from Esper, she had to practice. Her head rested in the palm of her hand, and she looked at the two of them. "I am sorry to have startled you both." She tried to smile and winced as pain lanced through her mind momentarily.

Esper grabbed her hand. "You have nothing to apologize for, Annabeth. Your voice is beautiful," She said as she looked into Anna's eyes.

The Curator looked between the two. "Really, Esper? I thought you hated music." He noted as he was doubtful of what he was hearing.

Esper looked at The Curator. "While I may dislike most music, Curator, it would be a lie to deny that Annabeth's voice is wonderful to the ears."

He laughed slightly and made a note on his tablet. "That remains to be seen. I have never heard her sing myself, so, I guess when she is ready, I would love to hear it myself." He shut his tablet off again, and put it away. He turned to Annabeth and spoke one more time. "Finish your shower, Anna. I will remain outside unless I am needed." And he walked back out of the door.

Esper and Annabeth watched him walk out of the changing room, and then looked at each other. "Seriously, Anna. Your voice is amazing." She said before she put her helmet back on, and she walked away, back tot he door to resume her post and her duties as a guard.

Anna sat there for several more minutes and her vision faded in and out a few times before she felt normal enough to finish her shower. Once she could stand, she placed the towel she had been covered in on the hook and closed the curtain again. This time when she turned the water on, and stepped under the stream of hot water, she didn't feel the urge to sing. But she did feel a sense of completeness she had been lacking.

Her shower took her another ten minutes because she didn't want to get out of the hot water. Once she was finished she took the time to squeeze out her hair and then towel dry it off before drying the rest of her body off.

Once she was dry, she pulled her dress out of special storage along with a strapless bra, fresh underwear, thigh high socks and her knee high boots. Once she was dressed, she put the towel in the bin labeled for towels, and stopped in front of Esper. "I'm ready to go now. Back to the facility." She specified.

Yes, The Curator had wanted to take her someone special to eat, but she wanted to be in her room. She suddenly felt the need to sleep, and to be alone. She didn't know what to think about what had just happened. Did she take it as a sign she was regaining who she was? Was it going to be just one more way in which to control her? To give her a sense of false freedom?

Esper held the door open for Annabeth and they both walked through it. "Back to the facility. Annabeth wishes to return there." Esper stated to them and kept walking, heading towards the elevators. Barrius fell into step behind her and didn't look back. Annabeth and The Curator brought up the rear. Annabeth was rather sedate in her demeanor at the moment, and The Curator made sure to note this in his files.

They reached the elevators and got in He entered the code for the facility, and the elevator zoomed all the way back to where they had started. Once at the facility's main floor, he dismissed Esper and Barrius and walked Annabeth back to her room. She thanked The Curator for walking her back, and then closed her door, and asked Georgina to seal her room for the next few hours while she other sleep, and tried to come to terms with what had happened and what it might mean, or to decide if she wanted to sing.

The Curator went about his duties, and he did stop to get something to eat, and largely left Annabeth to do whatever she was doing. He respected her privacy, and for what she had just been through, he decided it was best if he gave her some space alone.

He poured over the data, and shook his head. "Oh dear. It would appear my earlier statement to her was wrong. With each flash back, the pain will get worse and worse. Hopefully she doesn't have many more." He said, and noted his findings, and sent them to Elder Rich's personal files. Other scientists could benefit from this knowledge, and only time would tell if Annabeth would ever have another flash back, and if she did have another flash back, how bad it would be.

He sighed to himself, not happy with the results, but glad to have the data. All information in regards to these projects was valuable in progressing the saving and enhancing of lives. The Curator was working on a new sub routine when he got a message in regards to synapse control, and overload.

He opened the message and read what was inside, and he nodded. Yes, the neuroscientists were able to isolate the sections of the brain that controlled how fast a memory surfaced when a breakthrough, or a flashback was taking place. He opened the video link that was attached, and watched it in earnest. There was some trial data based on the information he had sent to them from the incident with the flash back.

"Curator, thank you for sending us this information. Upon further examination of the data provided, we were able to determine through the neural pathways, where the synapse overload occurred, With the previous data on the pathways that had to be reconstructed in Annabeth's brain, we believe we know where the issues lie, Curator. But we would like a deep scan to confirm a few things before we give you a complete synopsis and a workable testing method."

He sent a short response back to them:

Once Annabeth has awoken, or decided to unlock her room, I will gather the necessary data from the scans. I will coordinate with you further so one of your scientists can be present.

He sent the message, and then he turned off his data pad and his work station and went outside to take a walk.