The Boy Who Knew Too Much

Jaden

Jaden groaned. His eyes opened to a bright light. And the pain...everything hurt. His body felt sore and stiff. He shivered as he tried moving his head. The world spun and Jaden fell back onto a pillow with a stabbing headache.

"Good evening," a woman said. Her voice sounded oddly synthetic. "I'm glad to see you awake. I've notified Dr. Young, and she'll be with you shortly."

He looked around. "Who said that? Is someone there?"

His voice sounded dry and hoarse. And he found himself alone in a strange room. To his right, a beeping vital monitor, two empty chairs, and a window with fading sunlight shining through. To his left, a door, his only exit. But Jaden didn't know what was on the other side of it. The woman talked about a doctor. Was he in a hospital? Why? And how did he get here?

"I did," the woman replied finally. "I'm Nina, your friendly virtual guide. Here to help you with any task."

A virtual guide—that explained her voice. A virtual guide was a highly sophisticated program designed to improve computer usage while maintaining critical systems within a community. Every town, business, and institution had one running thing. And Jaden knew all of them. This one—Nina worked for a city called Lake Hill. Was that where he was? A hospital in Lake Hill?

There was one way to be sure. "Nina, can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in a recovery room at Lake Hill Hospital. The doctors brought you here after your accident."

Accident? That didn't sound familiar. Jaden searched for anything about it. But his head started pounding as if his skull was being smashed against a brick wall. Was this some kind of head injury? It would explain the headache and memory loss. But was this temporary or more permanent? Jaden didn't know. Nina might. He was about to ask when the door slid open.

A slim, petite woman entered the room. She was obviously a doctor with a long white coat, blue dress shirt, and gray slacks. Her light brown hair dangled over her shoulders. And her brown eyes studied the digital tablet in her hands. She looked up from it. "I'll take it from here, Nina." Then the doctor. "Hello, I'm—"

"Dr. Phoebe Young," Jaden interrupted her. He didn't mean to, but her name blurted out. A tidal wave of data flooded his mind, and it was all about her. "You graduated from the University of Chicago Medical at the top of your class. Then you moved here with your husband, Warren, seven years ago."

The doctor frowned. "How do you know that?"

Jaden shrugged but knew more. He knew everything about her; her family, social security number, and bank account like a dossier in his head. Yet he didn't know where or how. The bed propped him into a sitting position as Dr. Young rushed to the bedside. She pulled a penlight from her pocket and clicked on it. Then she leaned over and shone the light in Jaden's eyes.

"Do me a favor and follow the light with your eyes." Dr. Young moved the light from side to side. It stung him a little. "Have you felt any dizziness or shivers?"

Jaden confessed. "Yeah, I also can't remember anything about the accident."

"Ah, yeah. About that," Dr. Young clicked the light off. "Your accident is a little more complicated." They were interrupted by a knock on the door. The doctor sighed and excused herself.

Complicated? What did she mean by that? Jaden's mind raced with questions. What happened? Did anyone else get hurt? How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was that his head started throbbing again. Then he heard the door slide open. Dr. Young returned, but she wasn't alone. A muscular, dark-skinned man followed behind her, wearing a khaki-colored police uniform with a sheriff's badge pinned to his shirt. His belt had weapons. Jaden also noticed the officer's metal prosthetic arm and a doll-like cybernetic eye. Civilian-level tech, but still dangerous.