Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

14 - Fake Solutions and Missing Memories

False took out the needle with care once the press had pushed all the way down, the fluid medicine inside having run out. Jimmy would've rubbed his wrist at the odd feeling in his hand the injection gave him, but had to wait before a small drop of blood was wiped away by a cloth and patched with a bandaid. The odd feeling had gone just as quickly as it came.

"Now, we do have to get blood samples as soon as we can, so you'll have to stay in here for at least thirty minutes to let the cure kick in," False explained, "but after that, you should be good to go."

Jimmy nodded. It disturbed him a bit how the researcher kept calling it "the cure," as if this was for sure going to be the end-all be-all, but he figured it was just rubbing him the wrong way. Maybe she liked to stay positive about its success. He knew a few people like that.

What False knew, though, was not what Jimmy was thinking. She knew this wasn't the end-all be-all, not in the slightest. She didn't need it to be. Both her and Iskall, and maybe some of the other researchers if she was lucky, knew the end-all be-all wouldn't be anything physical. It relied on mentality. It relied on life and death. It relied on soul.

The cure for soulboundness was somewhere in the soul. It had to be. And no kind of medication could reach the soul.

Perhaps there was something she could do to reach it, but, as her examined blood samples showed, only 2 of the 7 she'd tested so far actually came up with any results. Technically it was 3, but Grian was a very confusing discussion on his own, so she'd have to do much more research on his behalf, and she didn't find it worth her time.

There was no pattern to who it worked with. She wished there was, because then she wouldn't have to bother with the injections on every single person, but she reminded herself that it was better than nothing. This could've gone much worse, they were lucky it did something.

"I was told you suffer from a Flower Connection, and you have a prescription for medication, right?" False asked, going to her computer to update her notes. She pasted a check by Jimmy, where everyone above him also had checks, and all but Ren and Bdubs were crossed out completely. A few question marks lingered around Grian's name, but he was ultimately scratched out. "While you're here, I can order more for you if you're running low. The pharmacy you get them from should've been notified of your volunteering here, so whatever you need, they'll deliver it directly to us,"

"Oh, thank you, I was just about to ask about that," Jimmy said. "Do they need any info, or?"

"No, just a legal name and ID which we already have in our database, you don't have to do anything," False said, waving her hand dismissively. Jimmy nodded.

"And, by the way, some of the others told me you were all going to the fountain later," False said.

"Yeah, we figured we all lit up the symbols around it, and Doc told us the old story," Jimmy explained. It was False's turn to nod.

"I'll be there, and I know Doc and Zedaph are too, but I'm sure plenty more are gonna show up," she said. "A word of advice, be careful. If there's one thing I find impossible to research without a firsthand account, it's Watcher magic. And Doc is no Watcher, I know that for a fact,"

Jimmy wanted to say something about their fireside talk about that just the night before, but he wasn't sure if it would really add to the conversation at hand, so he just stayed silent. After the thirty minutes passed by, False took the blood sample she needed and sent the blonde on his way. She slid on her purple-tinted goggles, looked closely at the sample and...

Nope. Nothing. So the tally was still at 2 for now, but she also still had 6 more to go. She crossed out Jimmy's name on her digital list.

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