The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020

Chapter 37

Penny returned to her drawing while Ramona opened a notebook and started writing. It wasn't long before Eric and Ody needed Ramona's help and Penny was left alone.

Staring at the paper that had a few abstract lines that failed to produce a coherent picture. Penny sighed. Slouching onto her hand, her eyes drifted from left to right over the whole lab watching the others excitedly examine electronics and study images.

Penny couldn't do anything except stare at the blank paper in front of her. The team didn't need her. The girl had known from the start of the adventure that she was no scientist. Her creativity wouldn't be of much use in a scientific lab.

As for Ody, he was all over the place. He hopped from one section to another. All the words he spoke sounded foreign to Penny. He was so caught up showing off his knowledge of the terminology.

The boy had never been happier. These people actually had the answers to his millions of questions. Not only that, but when he made a recommendation, they would listen and sometimes obey him. He felt on top of the world. However, he might not feel that way if he could see the strange thoughts going through his sister's mind.

At that same time, in another section of the fifth basement, sat Eric at Mae's bedside. Mae slept deeply as her body replenished its energy. After all was said and done earlier, Mae had calmed down and remained clear of symptoms of Technasma.

She was being watched closely. However, she was fully rational so she no longer resisted her restraints. While Eric waited, he stared at a newspaper in front of him.

It was a rare sight, hard-copies of newspapers weren't common anymore. Most were digitized.

In the paper, the content was unremarkable; there was a column for the weather broadcast and an article about an election for a political office. Eric's thoughts wandered back to the disease with one glance at Mae.

Even though he enjoyed the present drama-free country, he knew it wouldn't stay that way for much longer.

He had even felt this way before he knew about the Post Sunday Experiment and Technasma. It was like his mind craved the drama and he knew other people felt the same way too.

Folding the paper back up, he placed it back on the side table and leaned forward.

A red-headed man opened the door with an odd look on his face. His expression morphed into a huge, freckled grin.

"Mr. Bhurr, sir?" the man inquired.

"Please, call me Eric," Eric replied quietly as to not wake Mae up. He stood from the chair and walked out into the hall with the man. Eric closed the door behind them so they could talk in a regular volume.

"Sir—uh—Eric—" The young man was uncomfortably swinging his hands at his sides. "you're Eric Bhurr, correct?"

"That's correct," Eric replied as he held his countenance. He couldn't help but let his eyes twitch with the hint of a smile at the man's childish behavior.

"So, you're the new botanist at the New York branch, are you not?"

Eric nodded and the young man continued excitedly.

"My name's Benny- well Benjamin, technically, but they all just call me Benny because of Dr. Plomin," laughed the young man.

"It's nice to meet you, Benny," Eric spoke as he shook Benny's sweaty hand. Eric realized the man was shaking with excitement.

"Oh man, you have no idea how much I wanted to meet you Mr.— uh, I mean Eric. You were the one to finally do it!"

The air grew stale. Pins and needles poked at the back of Eric's neck despite his confusion about what Benny claimed he'd done.

"I'm sorry, but do what?"

"Figure it out of course," giggled Benny. He began to shift his weight in excitement at the news he bore. "What else do you think I mean?" He seemed oblivious to the fact that Eric had no idea what he was talking about.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I really don't know what you're referring to-" Eric liked this kid. He was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the stuffy, stuck-up, suited men Eric had seen in the past few days.

"It was you," the boy crossed his arms. "Nearly this whole time everyone was convinced the cure would be a form of plant or lab-grown chemical so that's what we focused on these past two years. But now, oh now, we know how wrong we were. Once that boy, Ody I think was his name, showed us the disease was caused by radiation that infected the frontal lobe of the brain and altered a person's thoughts-"

"What?"

"Oh just let me finish!" Benny's smile was bigger than his face now.

"Because the part of the brain that was infected was so close to a person's visual control, the Technasma caused hallucinations. But, in order to return the brain to normalcy, it had to be proven wrong."

"Benjamin, what are you talking about?"

"The cure! The Technasma cure! See, being infected is like living a dream. You can't feel things properly and sometimes you'll experience hallucinations that don't make sense. That was all caused by the radiation. The cure is to be woken up, Mr. Eric!

"The first stage changes a person's behavior in a negative manner. This means the person is usually more judgmental or rude. Stage two, the person falls into an alternate form of depression that simulates loss. That's when stage three begins and the eyes form slits on occasion. Stage four is where the brain hallucinates what it can't possibly want to do. That sight pushes the infected person over the edge to the point of considering self-harm. At stage five, the person completes their mission of demise.

"The whole thing is a simple brain malfunction, yet it results in the deaths of hundreds of thousands each year. In order to take that death-wish out of the person's brain, they have to be convinced that what they're thinking is a lie. They must be woken up!

"When you told that woman she was loved and that her family was safe, her overactive mind realized what it believed was wrong. You woke her up and because she trusts and believed in you.

"When you touched her hand, her brain released a hormone called oxytocin. We believe that also helped with the paralysis. It'll take time to understand fully but she's going to be okay.

"Now, we were lucky that Ms. Winter was easily persuaded. Otherwise, we wouldn't have noticed it. We believe that with the proper therapy we can cure thousands and, in the lab, right now, they are figuring a way to detect the Technasma before it's too late.

"Eric, it's over. We know about the paralysis and we're confident that we can create a drug to stimulate the release of the hormone. You and the Winters can go home."