Once Again

Chapter 3

They were scientists, scientists who had heard of Merle's unfortunate predicament. Scientists who were somehow so curious about it that they had deemed it necessary to go to Merle's home and ask for her. Personally.

People didn't do things personally often anymore, so this was either a very nice and less shallow scientist group or a poor one that couldn't use instant messaging. Either worked. Or maybe they're here on a top secret mission that they want you to be a part of, said Merle's increasingly unrealistic mind.

"Merle Albeon, I presume?" said the white-coated woman. Merle's mind, which by this point had convinced itself that Merle was going to die and get kidnapped by these evil looking people, gave a traitorous little giggle. Merle had at one point read about Dr. Livingstone, a person who had gotten himself lost and the person who had greeted him with "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Funnily enough, she had seen plenty of adults who happened to greet others in the exact same mannerism, so she supposed it was one of the relics from long ago that still survived. Merle gave a nod, gritting her teeth when the delay occurred once more and forced her head to bobble up and down—twice.

"Alright. So, Merle, you may be wondering why we might be here today," began the man in the patronizing tone everyone higher than their second life adopted when talking to Dewws. "Some strange things, contrary to the letter you may have been sent, did show up. The doctor who dismissed them as ordinary, Doctor Lloyd, I believe, has been... dismissed." Merle felt a shred of pity for Doctor Lloyd, as no matter the euphemism, everyone with half a brain could probably tell what exactly had happened to him.

Merle assumed that it would never be particularly nice to be fired. Especially as the one time her mother had been in the same predicament, she had cried dramatically into Merle's father's expensive suit while he patted her sympathetically and glared over her shoulder with a tortuous look on his face. Kill me now, his expression had seemed to say that day. The Albeon family was never in any particular trouble, of course. Merle guessed that her mother being fired just made her feel more useless than she already was.

No offense intended, of course.

"The strange circumstances your body seems to all match up with a particularly rare disease that we haven't seen for a long time," continued the man. "We kindly ask you to return with us to a specialized hospital so that we may investigate further." At those words, Merle's parents glanced at her and back towards each other simultaneously. Merle hoped that her parents were part of the population with more than half a brain, but at the moment it didn't seem like it. They turned back, all cheery and completely ignoring the fact that Merle would be gone on a moment's notice.

"Of course. Merle would be happy to, wouldn't she?"

Merle surmised later that had she refused, maybe nothing would have happened and she would continue her fantastic, mundane life, but unfortunately Merle was socially retarded at the worst times. So all she did was nod numbly, act like she was 100% compliant with the events taking place, and run to her room when Merle was told to pack. She took her time in going upstairs, noting everything once again standing where she had last saw them.

Her room she passed a couple times on purpose, to look at the rest of her house. For some reason Merle felt like she would never see her house again, but she knew that she would. It was probably just her brain trying to make her feel like something worthwhile was going to happen in her life and being unrealistic like it always was. Once she legitimately got to her room, she pulled open her closet. The typical stacks of t-shirts and jeans, hung dresses, and scarves perched on hooks on the inside wall sat inside. The sad remnants of an attempt at art lay miserably on the ground. Merle sat down in front of it, relaxing momentarily in the carpet of her room. Specks of black lint and hair was on the ground, left over from the last time the vacuum and visited her room. Her bed was messy; she hadn't had time that morning as Merle had woken up late.