The Girl reacted to these chats of idle gossip with incredulity, doing her best to mask her distaste. The Mother should’ve been happy if that was the worst thing her boy could do. And Demons were just another name for Aliens, better known as ONEs, due to their faith being incompatible with accepting outside norms, even though they constantly dealt with Alien DNA on a daily basis.
She wouldn’t have minded wearing the headphones while those ladies were talking, but didn’t want to make her illegitimate acquisition known too early.
“Checking results of Sample #3456 with Sample #1094586... no Compatibility.”
The sheer repetition was driving her to distraction, and she sought escape the only way she knew how: small talk. “So, how was your night, last night?”
“Meaningless without my child.”
“There are other things than children, y’know!”
“Didn’t you sign up for impregnation?”
“I thought I’d be bumping uglies with beautiful uglies! Not doing... whatever experiments we’re concocting here!”
“It’s important to ensure that there’s a match first. Checking results of Sample #3456 with Sample #1094587... no Compatibility.”
The Girl dutifully marked the important impotent results down on her pad, along with hundreds of other failed experiments. “Isn’t there a faster way to get things done?”
“These things take time, and have to be cross-referenced with other sources to verify their authenticity.”
Even though the Girl had been foisted onto this job, she still felt increasingly out of her depth, being regulated to minor roles of little consequence where she had the least chance of causing damage. That also meant being excluded from anything potentially interesting. Out of boredom, she looked at the rows of her marked chart and noticed some squares had been skipped.
“Why aren’t we doing these??”
“We’ve already received word that they’re compatible. We’re checking the ones that haven’t made any connections yet.”
“Can’t we just do every combination at once and get it over with?”
“It’s better and safer this way.”
“What about my experience? I got pregnant from that tentacled thing, even though it had no sex organs.”
“Yes, and thanks to that, we have to redo all our previous experiments with that in mind.”, the Technician said with mild annoyance. “Checking results of Sample #1 with Sample #3456 and Sample #1094588... no Compatibility.”
‘No Compatibility’ was becoming a triggering slur word for the Girl. If repetition was so paramount, then why didn’t they repeat her experience with the Tentacle Creature so she’d have a better experience?
The routine continued on in that vein until they approached the last row of combinations where the chances of success was higher. Why they didn’t start from there, she didn’t know. But before she could even get started, a messenger came in saying, “Here’s the latest list of restrictions from Upper Management.”
“I’m afraid to see...” the Technician replied, covering her eyes, and lifted a finger, scanning the contents, then bellowed “Not again!”
Previously, the Technician had done some promising results with a combination between two subjects and was just about to take the next logical step, but she ran out of time. She was given assurances that she’d be able to continue tomorrow, but the continuous updates threatened to upset that harmony. It was like they kept restricting what they could do so they’d stay on longer, stopping their progress just as they were going to make a breakthrough.
The Girl confidentially leaned in and spoke in conspiriatial terms into the Technician’s ear: “You could still continue the experiment you left over last night. No one would ever know.”
“No. Upper Management put those limits there for a reason. I have to follow procedure.”
The Girl sulked back in disappointment. She was curious too, and was hoping for some excitement around these parts. But no one was willing to break the rules, let alone bend them, even if it might make someone happy.
Finally, it was time to deliver the meals, and since she arrived on time, the Patient was found hiding under the bed as usual. She leaned downwards to attract his attention. “Hello Sam! I’ve brought some scrumptious bland paste for you!”
“I... am... Greg.”
“I thought your name was Sam?”
“Yesterday... my name... was Sam. Today... my name... is Greg.”
“Well Mr. Greg-not-Sam, I’ve got something I think you’ll like.” She showed him the covert headphones that he looked dumbly at. “Put these over your ears,” she gestured.
When he made no move to do so himself, she decided to do it herself. She climbed on his massive lowered upper body and attempted to put the headphones between his head, but the sudden movement frightened the Patient. He started to panic, trying to shake her off, but seemed unsure how to do so, only moving from side to side and back to forth. Putting the headgear on him was a momentous task, involving clutching the contours of his skeletally back, but it was worth it. As soon as the device was implanted on him, a wave of relief fell on his face.
“How does that feel?”, she asked once the shaking had stopped.
“It’s......... quiet.”
The Patient went over to the prepared meal and started devouring to his heart’s content. He still made a terrible mess though, but wasn’t as rushed as before. The Scientist had explained the cause earlier, but the Girl hadn’t quite believed it until she saw the effects just now.
“There’s a prevalent noise that’s making him uneasy.”
“What noise? It’s pretty quiet in there.”
“It’s his heartbeat.”
She couldn’t imagine having hearing so sensitive you could be bothered by rushing blood in your own circulatory system. It had always been background noise to her - she wasn’t even aware it made a sound. To get an idea of what it was like, she tried blocking her ears with her hands, but strangely enough, found she could hear noises surrounding her body more acutely. As an experiment, she put the headphones on herself, and found they muffled the surrounding sound much better.
For the Patient, there was marked improvement not just in movement. With the headphones on, the speech that came in halting spurts before flowed more smoothly now.
“Feeling better?”
“This is... a noisy confusing world.”
“Tell me about it. Anything you’d like to know?”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be seventeen soon.”
“So old...”
That statement could’ve been considered dismissive and insulting coming from anyone else, but from this Patient, it was a disclaimer of awe.
“I’m not that old. There are plenty of other people working here much older than I am.”
The Patient gaped at this revelation. “How do you fill your lives?”
“It’s a struggle to find enough time to DO our stuff. No matter how much time I have in the morning, I’m always exactly five minutes late.”
Airing her grievances to someone who had no influence or control over her schedule made her feel better. After several minutes of ranting, she realized the Patient had just been patiently standing there. If she was troubled about whether she was spouting personal nonsense, she needn’t have worried. The Patient’s hearing was so sensitive he could understand what the Girl was saying even through the muted vibrations. Whether he could understand with those headphones on was debatable.
“Do you know where those headphones came from?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I got this from someone outside who looks a lot like you.”
“He looks like me?”
“Does that sounds familiar?”
The Patient stayed silent, contemplating in thought, as if trying to formulate an old memory long forgotten. “I’m not sure...”
“Well, this guy has a lot more stuff suited to your needs. Is there anything you’d like?”
“I can’t think of anything.”
“Come on! You’re holed up here all day. I can make your stay a lot more comfortable! I can bring amusing stuff to help pass the time! Surely there’s something you want??”
“I’m used to it.”
Amazing. The Patient was so deprived of stimulating distractions that the mere prospect of even wanting something was foreign to him. “I’m offering you an incredible opportunity here! You’ve got a sympathetic partner outside who can create all kinds of stuff like those headphones!”
“You choose for me.”
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