Against the Clock

Chapter 5 | Symptoms

I was dead asleep, until I felt myself being poked in the arm.

Jolting awake, I'm kept still by the Assistant, who is injecting another test cure into my veins. Finishing, he looks up at me while slowly taking the syringe out.

"Good morning, moron. Keep still." He says.

"Waking me up first would've been appreciated..." I grumble.

"I was not ordered to, therefore I didn't."

He leaves the room, and I groggily sit up and look at the clock on the opposite wall. Hold on, 11AM? Even when I'm being an insomniac some nights, I never wake up that late. That's strange... I get out of bed and stretch, still a little half-asleep. I walk over to the window to check outside again, even though nothing has changed. Don't know why I was hoping something did, but I look at the flower Time brought me to take my mind off my predicament. It's really nice he did that for me.

Suddenly I feel a little dizzy, and lean against the window's frame to balance myself. I hold my head in my hands as I wait for it to pass, and eventually, I'm able to stand again. O-kay, another weird thing, not good. I then hear a rapid knock at the door.

"Yo." I say, turning to face the person entering.

"Oh my goodness, finally, you're awake." Professor Red says, rolling his eyes. "You were out cold earlier, I was able to test cures on you twice before the Assistant came in."

"Wait, what?" I ask. The Professor then grabs my arm and leads me out of the room.

"ANYWAY. I need to look at how the virus has progressed, if it has at all, and I needed you to be conscious for that." He says. "So, let's go."

Alright, at least I can be out of my temporary room for a while. The Professor takes me back to the analysis room, and the Assistant is preparing the IVs again.

"Oh great, this again." I groan.

"Oh shush, it's not that bad." The Professor says. "Now sit back on the table."

I don't really have a choice, as the Assistant pulls me onto the table himself, attaching the IVs in the same places they were yesterday. Well, that, and I'll die if I don't do this. And I dunno about having to spend eternity in the same place as Void.

As the machines activate, the Professor is already typing on the computers in the other room while the Assistant is monitoring screens next to him, having joined him in the room. After a while, the Professor seems to get some results.

"Hm. As I suspected..." He says.

"What?" I ask.

"The virus is already spreading." He answers, not looking up from the screen. "Looks like the cures didn't do anything to stop it or at least slow it down."

I sigh. "All those needles for nothing..."

M walks in the room, holding a few books. Entering the room the Professor is in, the scientist looks at him.

"Ah, M. Hello." He greets him. "Any luck?"

"Couldn't find anything describing this virus specifically, but I did find some things that share some similarities with it." M says, running his hand through his hair. "Maybe that could help?"

"It could... thanks." The Professor says, taking the books.

"Did the cures do anything, by the way?" M asks the Professor, looking at me.

"Nothing, apparently." I say.

"Either the cures weren't strong enough, or the virus just absorbed them." Professor Red adds.