Left Right

Chapter 3: Separation (WIP)

Ninth Week of Steve’s Spring Semester

Overworked, Caelum thought to himself, “This is the fourth night Hugh’s kept me overtime. Sure we might drop dead without the guy but now he’s just pushing it! All the typos I run into don’t help either, can’t these neurons proof read?” He pushed his work aside hoping to think of something more productive. “I don’t have a single minute of my own! Not for my project, not even for Bae!”  He thought of a few neurons who still strove to live through Hugh’s strict working system. “Maybe I can find someone who needs the work more than I do. Like Scout, I heard Steve hasn’t used that neuron since his Cub scouting days.” Grabbing an armful of paperwork Caelum hurried to Scout’s cubicle in the Earth Science Department. “Scout, have I got some lifesavers for you!” there was no response but Caelum didn’t hesitate to round the corner and peek in. The second he did, his hands dropped every single sheet of paper work to find Bae in front of him. No, not in person but it was her image on Scout’s monitor. Steam released Caelum from his frozen state and he took no moment to express his thoughts. “You filthy, disrespectful little knot tying, bird categorizing, dirt trenching insect!” He placed a firm grip on Scout’s shoulder. With a jump, Scout looked back to see Caelum red as an apple. “Oh, I am so sorry, Sir!” Scout squealed as he reached for his ears. A moment later and earbuds were in his hands. “I didn’t realize you were there.” Caelum looked back to see it wasn’t just a picture of Bae, it was a headline in progress. “Right, Scout’s in charge of the weekly news.” Caelum thought to himself. Clearing his throat, Caelum regained his composure and stared back at Scout who was clearly confused. Calm as he could manage, Caelum resumed,“Music isn’t allowed here, you could get in trouble.” With a snort Scout rolled his eyes and countered, “Oh these? Don’t worry Sir, they were issued to me. Hugh passed them out to a few neurons if they agreed to keep tomorrow’s headlines a secret from some neuron named Caelum.” Caelum quickly shifted his eyes toward the monitor then back with a glare.  It was clear Hugh wasn’t being as honest as he thought so Caelum inquired, “What’s the headline?” Scout looked back with an eager grin, ready to lay out his discovery. “Sir, you won’t believe it! A neuron’s gone rogue on the Right side. She’s been defacing everyone’s art. Even caused their world to go on red alert! If it wasn’t for Hugh our world would have been affected too, but don’t worry, the neuron was captured an hour ago and her execution begins tomorrow.” Caelum felt hollow as the pieces came together. Bae was the rogue neuron but she wasn’t this way the last time Caelum had seen her. Why hadn’t she come during the past four days, what did Hugh do to control the situation, why did he want to keep Caelum in the dark. Hugh was the one that first discouraged going to the Right, Hugh was the one that gave Caelum the extra work, Hugh was the one that didn’t want Caelum knowing Bae’s whereabouts.  It wasn’t a coincidence, and Hugh was the answer to it all. This entire time, he’d been keeping them apart! Caelum said no more and began to stagger away from the cubicle. Now that the truth had been revealed, Caelum understood he had to find Bae immediately. He would need to get past Hugh, which meant travelling incognito through the Cerebellum and even worse, the Medulla Oblongata.