Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 13: The Ally

Zack (1st person)

"Alright, now if you'll just follow me back here I can analyze you. I promise I won't hurt you in any way," he said. "Okay," I said. He gently held my shoulder and guided me to the end of the hall. He brought me into what I'm guessing was his office. It looked like a pretty normal doctor's office. "...Alright. Do you mind if I do a blood test?" He asked. "No, that's fine," I said. "Alright," he said. He put an alcohol on my skin, then he injected a small needle into my arm. It didn't hurt that much. He took out what looked like a lot of blood. "I know it looks like a lot, but it's not really that much," he said. I liked the way he talked. There was a certain warmth to his voice. I noticed it, even through its distortion. "Alright..." he said. He handed me one of those things you put over toilets that look like hats. "Do you know how to use that?" He asked. "Yes..." I said. "Alright... There's a bathroom over there," he said, pointing to a door. I went to it, opened it, and did what I was supposed to.

He hadn't given me a separate container, so I just gave him the toilet hat. "Thanks..." he said, taking it and putting it in a plastic box with a lid. He stared at me with the blank expression that all of the humanoids with suits had. "Is something wrong?" I asked. "Oh, no... Where did you get your fire?" He asked. "Some aliens sucked the freezing genes out of me," I said, trying to make my answer as short as possible. "Hm," he said. "Okay, well, you can go back now, I guess..." he said. I didn't want to leave, and I'm not quite sure why. "...Do I have to?" I asked. "You want to stay?" He asked, sounding surprised and somewhat eager. "Yeah, if I can. It's better than being in that boring cell," I said. "Oh, yeah, and why don't we have any toilet paper?" I asked. "What?" He asked. "Toilet paper," I said. "...Oh, wait, I think I know what you're talking about... Is it that thin clothy paper made of wood fiber?" He asked. "Um... Yeah, I think so," I said. "Yeah, well, uh... Our goal here is to keep you alive, not necessarily to keep you comfortable..." he said. "Pff, okay, but what about infections?" I asked. "Good point, but there's not really much I can do to get that for you," he said. "Okay..." I said. "So, does it hurt?" He asked. "What?" I asked. "You're fire. Does it hurt at all?" He asked.

"Oh, uh... Not really. I get a bit of headache sometimes, but nothing that bad," I said. "Oh... What about smoke detectors?" He asked. "Hm? Oh, yeah, I can't really go anywhere with a smoke detector," I said. "Well, that must be hard. What about school? I'm assuming you guys must have school too," he said. "Yeah. School's fine. They have smoke detectors, but they don't pick up on the smoke from my fire, since it's pretty small," I said. "Hm. Don't you, like, burst into flames when you sneeze?" He asked. "Yup. Why did you take me to that room where they didn't feed me? I mean, you technically didn't take me, but still," I said. "Yes, I remember that... I don't have a medical degree yet, so I don't really know much about the disease you had, but anything's dangerous to us, since we hardly even have an immune system," he said. "What do you mean by 'us'?" I asked. "Me and the rest of my species. Say, have you seen any of us without our suits?" He asked. "Um... No?" I said. I didn't mean to sound uncertain, but I didn't want him to know in case he did something. Well, I wasn't that worried about him doing anything, I was worried about what would happen if he told someone else.

"...Okay. I have to analyze the yellow one now..." he said, making his way towards the door. "...I- I could get her for you! It might be harder for you to convince her to come back here," I said. "Really? That'd be nice," he said. "How would I get in?" I asked. "Use this," he said, handing me a detached glove that looked similar to his own. "Alright, thanks," I said. He gave me a small wave, then I left. I realized why I felt a certain fondness towards this humanoid. He sort of, somehow, felt like my dad. Not the one I have now, of course, but someone who'd I'd like as a dad. I went to the cell and opened the door.

"Hey, Zack! How did you get one of those gloves?" Phil said. "From the humanoid. Smiley, can you come over here?" I asked. "Um... Why?" She asked. "Yeah, you have a glove, can't we just get out of here?" Pico asked. "Um... No, we should wait a little longer," I said. "Why?" Phred asked. "...Uh..." I said. Smiley, Phil, Phred, and Pico all stared at me, waiting for a response. "...Well?" Phred said. "Please, Smiley, just come over here! It'll only take a second!" I said, raising my voice a bit. "Um..." Smiley said, her eyes widening. "Please, Smiley! I don't want them to hurt you!" I said. If she didn't cooperate, there was a chance they'd shoot her or something. "...Okay, I guess..." she said. She stood and came over to me. Smiley refused to look at me on the way there. Once I got to the room, Smiley seemed nervous. "It's okay, Smiley. I'm sure-" she cut me off. "What are we doing again?" She asked, sounding a bit annoyed.