No Such Thing As A Hollywood Ending

chapter 52

Jessica sat quietly, her wide eyes watching Dr. Mathis as he stared at the results displayed on his portable x-ray devices His brow furrowed, and every few seconds he muttered something under his breath, clearly puzzled by what he was seeing. Henry and Lucy, standing nearby, exchanged concerned glances.

"So... what did you find?" Henry finally asked, breaking the silence. His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable tension behind it.

Dr. Mathis hesitated for a moment before he spoke. "Well, to be honest, I've never seen anything like this before. All the tests show that Jessica is perfectly healthy. But there's something strange—her brain is producing an unusual chemical. A chemical that, until now, I've only encountered in my research on... well, let's just say, it's not something you'd expect to find in a human."

Lucy's face paled. "What do you mean? What kind of chemical?"

Dr. Mathis exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples. "It's something that I recently came across while studying a peculiar town in the middle of nowhere. This town is... notorious for strange happenings. Unexplained events, odd behavior in people who live there, things that just don't add up."

Henry frowned. "What does that have to do with Jessica?"

"Everything, actually," Dr. Mathis replied. He walked over to a chair, sitting down as if trying to gather his thoughts. "Years ago, a spaceship crash-landed near that town. It's been kept quiet for obvious reasons, but the crash itself caused a significant disruption in the area. The main issue was that some sort of alien chemical got released into the river system. Over time, this chemical started altering the ecosystem, and in particular, it created a new species of mushrooms."

"Mushrooms?" Lucy repeated, incredulously.

"Yes," Dr. Mathis said. "But these weren't ordinary mushrooms. When consumed, they caused a noticeable increase in intelligence—temporary, but significant. Brave—or foolish—individuals who ate them would become smarter, think faster, process information more efficiently. Some people believed it was a gift, others thought it was a curse."

Henry folded his arms, his mind racing to connect the dots. "And what does this have to do with Jessica?"

Dr. Mathis looked directly at Henry and Lucy. "The chemical that caused those mushrooms to develop—the one released by the alien spaceship—is what Jessica's brain is producing. It's almost identical, down to the molecular structure."

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed, taking a step back. "But how? She's just a baby, and we've never been near any of this—this town you're talking about!"

"Exactly," Dr. Mathis said, shaking his head in bewilderment. "All the DNA tests we've run show that Jessica is one hundred percent human, as we expected. There's no sign of any alien influence in her genetic makeup. But for some reason, her brain is naturally producing this chemical—the same one linked to the mushrooms from that crash. It doesn't make sense."

"Are you saying she's like those people who ate the mushrooms?" Henry asked, glancing down at Jessica, who was still sitting quietly, looking up at him with her unnaturally intelligent eyes.

"In a way, yes," Dr. Mathis said. "But it's different. Those people had to ingest the mushrooms to experience the effects. For Jessica, it's internal. Her brain is manufacturing this chemical on its own, which is why she's so advanced intellectually. The real question is why and how. There's no logical explanation for this, at least not yet."

Lucy felt a chill run down her spine. She knelt beside Jessica, gently brushing a lock of hair away from Jessica's face. "So what does this mean for her? Is she going to be okay?"

Dr. Mathis softened his tone. "As far as I can tell, she's physically fine. But I can't say what the long-term effects of this will be. It's possible that her intelligence will continue to grow at an accelerated rate, or it could stabilize. The problem is, there's no precedent for this. We're in uncharted territory."

Henry ran a hand through his hair, trying to process everything. "You said this chemical came from an alien spaceship? Does that mean... I don't know, that Jessica could be connected to that in some way? Is there any way we can stop it?"

Dr. Mathis sighed, standing up and pacing the room. "That's the thing—I don't know how or why this is happening. She has no genetic link to the crash or the mushrooms as far as we can tell. But the fact that her brain is producing this chemical naturally—it's unprecedented. I need more time to study this, to understand how it's even possible. As for stopping it... I wouldn't recommend trying. We don't know what the consequences would be if we interfered with her brain's natural processes."

Lucy looked at Henry, her eyes full of worry. "What are we going to do?"

Henry took a deep breath, reaching down to lift Jessica into his arms. "We're going to take care of her, just like we always have," he said firmly. "Whatever's going on, she's still our child. We'll figure it out together."

Dr. Mathis nodded, packing up his equipment. "I'll continue my research and keep you updated. In the meantime, just monitor her. If anything changes, let me know immediately."

As Dr. Mathis prepared to leave, Jessica looked up at him, her small face calm and contemplative. "Thank you," she said, her voice steady and clear. "I appreciate your help."

Dr. Mathis gave her a faint smile, still baffled by the sight of a talking infant. "You're welcome, Jessica. I'll do my best to help you."

As the door closed behind him, Lucy and Henry sat in silence for a moment, the weight of everything pressing down on them. Jessica snuggled into Henry's chest, her small hand grasping his shirt.

Henry kissed the top of her head. "Whatever this is, we'll figure it out."

Lucy nodded, her hand resting on Henry's arm. "We'll protect her and Madeline"