panacea (5)

“Par, hurry up! They’re annoying me,” Red complained.

“Alright! I’m coming!” Par sighed, and shoved Arch’s leg off her lap. Red held the door open for her.

A man stood outside, a few feet away from their shack. It was impossible to tell his age from the thick sunglasses he wore beneath his bushy, furrowed brow. He could be in his sixties or twenties, depending on who you asked. And he was wearing a lab coat.

In this weather?

Out of curiosity, Par glanced more closely at it. There was a strange red logo on the front, looking like a bird perching in a cage with an open door. 

Strange. An ageless, lab coat-wearing man standing outside their shack, which only four people knew the existence of, in this heat. And he wanted to meet her?

Par moved forward, forcing a cheery smile. No use trying to scare away one of Bryce’s potential customers. “Hi! If you wanted a metal part, you’re going to have to contact my boss—”

The man smiled, cutting her off. “No, that’s all right. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Uhh…” Par looked over her shoulder at Red, who shrugged. She turned back to the man. “I mean, as long as you make it quick, I suppose I can spare a few minutes.”

“Thank you. Can I come inside? It’s rather hot out here.”

You certainly don’t seem like you feel the heat, Par thought to herself. Maybe he was a bionic as well? The man moved forward, and Red opened the door.

“Sorry. It’s a bit of a mess in here,” Red chirped. She didn’t seem to feel any of the unease that Par had. Perhaps Par was just overthinking this. She tried her best to shrug off the anxiety. “And we don’t have any food, so I can’t offer to make you a drink. Is water fine?”

“No. I’m quite alright.” The man smiled down at Red, and Par couldn’t suppress a twisting feeling in her gut. She led the man over to the couch, where he sat down next to Arch, giving him a self-assured smile. Arch’s eyes flickered over to her. She gave a tiny shrug back.

Par leaned on the chair across from them, her gaze never leaving the man’s smiling face. Red perched on the only other chair, watching with curious eyes. She was glad that the girl seemed to be oblivious to the anxiety she was feeling.

“Um.. Sorry, sir, but was there something you wanted to talk to me about?” Par couldn’t deny the off-putting feeling the man emitted, and from Arch’s glances, he felt it too. There was something off, and Par wanted to get the man out as soon as possible.

“Right.” A bright smile. The man really was fond of smiling. “I apologize. I’m Doctor Barrow, but you can call me Scott. I’m here on behalf of the Headquarters for Disease Quarantine to talk to you about some strange circumstances regarding your surgery.”

“The Headquarters for Disease Quarantine?” Arch turned to Scott with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t that an organization in the Valley? What are you doing in the Slums?”

“So many questions.” Scott let out a chuckle. “ACK7310, wasn’t it?”

“That’s—that’s my surgery code. How do you know my surgery code?” Arch’s voice carried an uncharacteristic stutter. He shifted away, standing up.

Scott turned to give Red a chilling smile. “RED0135 was yours, wasn’t it?”

Red stared at the doctor. “Well, I actually don’t know my code, since I never bothered to memorize it, but based on the look Arch is giving me, you’re probably right—”

“And you.” The man turned to Par. She narrowed her eyes at him. “PAR5877.”

“I think you should leave now,” Par stated, hoping her voice came out as firm as she intended.

“Except that code is fake,” Scott continued.

Arch had moved across the room to stand behind her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Par snapped. “I got the Disease, I signed the contract with Bryce Bellman, and I got my surgery. Are you saying I didn’t have a surgery?”

“No. I’m saying that the surgery was faked.” The man stated simply. He seemed remarkably well-composed for someone who just decided to tell Par something that shocking/jarring. of that importance. Hey there, how’s the weather? Oh, by the way, the majority of your life has been wasted because you don’t have the disease.

“Excuse me,” Red injected. “But I don’t think Par faked anything. I mean, she did have to get half her spine replaced with metal.”

“Yeah, what she said.” Par nodded, almost as if she were convincing herself. “If my surgery was fake, which is impossible, then why do I have a metal part?”

Scott smiled patiently at them, as if they were just children who didn’t yet understand the rules of a new game. “Oh, but that’s exactly why I’m here. To investigate why someone was trying to hide you.”

Red got up from her seat, shifting backwards so she was standing next to Par.

“Sir, I think you should go.” Arch’s tone was harsh, but it was as if the doctor didn’t notice.

“Par, let me make this very clear to you: you never got the Disease.”

Par laughed. The sound was strange in her ears. It reminded her of the tornado sirens they had to listen to during school drills, back before her when she wasn’t being quarantined and when she still had got to go to school. – maybe she saw school as a priveledge? or does she dislike it? But there was also a hint of relief in it. That was it. This self-proclaimed Doctor Barrow was stupid. There was no way she didn’t get the Disease. If she didn’t, that meant the last three years of her life had been wasted doing free work for someone that she didn’t owe anything to.