Santa Pyre: The Burning Solaris

7. A Miraculous Mystery

Sunday, October 18th, 10:54 AM. Saint Wesley Fire Hospital, West Flame City.

After my parents were gone, I looked around and spotted a mummified Daina Scotland on the bed next to mine. "Daina... you too... I hope you're just as fine as me." I went to her and stared at her face. She seemed to be in some sort of discomfort. "Please be okay."

There was a knock, and two people entered. One was a nurse and the other was a patient, an old man with silver hair.

"Oh? What are you doing... WHAT THE!?" the nurse exclaimed.

"What is it, miss?" I asked, a little scared by her reaction.

"How are you standing? More importantly, what happened to your injuries!?"

"Oh, boy... here we go again..." I thought. "Um, I don't know! I'm just as confused as you are, ma'am! I don't know what's going on!"

"Wait! Let's all calm down," said the man. We both turned to him. He looked at me. "Young man, do you remember me?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh my, it looks like you have a bit of amnesia."

"My father told me the same. So I take it, you know me?"

"I know your name, at least. Uh, I want you to listen to me for a bit."

"If you need anything, use the pager on the side of the bed. I need to go and take a rain check with my superiors." The nurse looked at the man. "Mr. Williky, I suggest you keep your business short. You still need more monitoring."

"Yes ma'am, and thank you." With that, the nurse left the room and Mr. Williky turned to me. "Let's have a seat. There's something I must tell you."

"OK." We went near Daina’s bedside and I sat on the bed I woke up on. The old man took a chair in the room and he made himself comfortable. "So, what's up? Who are you?"

"So you really don't remember, huh?" he asked in an amused tone. I nodded. "Okay. My name is William Williky..."

As he said his first name, a jolt passed, and a flood of memories washed through my brain. "Dr. William! I remember now! The field trip to Lava Side Island!"

"Well, that was quick! I'm glad to have you back. Bill Punjabé, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"Listen, you and your teacher..."

"Sister Daina," I cut in, pointing to her.

William nodded in acknowledgement and continued, "... were involved in an unspeakable incident."

"I now remember those intruders who broke into the PA room. I remember the moments up until the explosion."

"The explosion? You mean the Particle Accelerator blew up!?" I nodded. "I merely thought that the research center was destroyed; I just never imagined that the Particle Accelerator was the cause."

"How do you...?"

"I saw it along with everyone else during the escape. Let me tell you of what I remember before waking up here in this hospital. You see, after the shot, Keith got into a fight with the rifle wielder and I tried to evacuate everyone. I'm sorry to say that you, Miss Daina and Keith were basically left for dead..." He looked very sad at the thought of losing his friend.

"Wow... Um, I forgive you I guess. But listen, during the fight, I think there was an accidental shot which damaged the PA's Lead Shield. Not only that, it came on and unstable energy and radiation was leaking out. My skin felt itchy because of UV exposure..."

"Radiation...? Unstable energy...? Ah, it all makes sense now."

"Huh? What does...?"

"I think I know why you and Miss Daina are even alive right now, but I'm going to need samples of your blood to prove it. Bill, this incident has probably made the two of you..."

'BLEKK!!' Daina suddenly sat up, easily tearing apart her cloth wraps, and retched up a shiny silvery black substance all over her. Instead of soaking her wraps, it merely bubbled and oozed to the floor.

Joy overtook me. "Daina! Daina! You're awake!" I cried, ignoring the goop as I embraced her.

"Billy? Is that you?" Her voice was coarse and raspy, with traces of shock. "Are we dead? I don't remember a thing." I pressed tighter, ignoring the numerous tiny stings resulting from the contact.

"We're alive and well, Sister Daina!" I pulled back to look at her face and she smiled at the new way I had addressed her. She began to hug me again before turning her head as she began to salivate.

She finally threw me off of her before vomiting out more of the unknown substance. 'Bleck!!' "Ugh... That is seriously not improving. It tastes horrible!" She wiped her mouth and I got up to take a look. William was already studying it closely.

"If I had to take guess, then this mucky stuff looks like mercury..."

"Actually, I think it is... it does taste like it." Daina spat out exaggeratedly.

"Sister, how do you...?"

"I once had mercury poisoning, one of the joys not always being able to purchase a good meal back in the days... It was expired mackerel."

"Um, why would you even consider...?"

"Billy, you know my story. My life wasn't easy, remember?"

"Right, right. Sorry."

"I'd like to hear your story sometime, Miss Daina," said William, "but let us return to the matter at hand. I don't think you two will be cooped up here for much longer. I'd like you to visit me at this address." He handed me a piece of paper. "I have my own lab back home where Julie and I conduct our own research. I have a PhD in Chemistry and Biology, and she has a PhD in Physics and Electrical Engineering, so we make a great team. Maybe we can find out what is up with you when you come."

"Whoa, you guys are super smart!" I looked down at the piece of paper. "Chicken Great Lane, West Flame City," I read.

"Yes, right here in the city."

"Well, there is the midterm break coming up. We can visit you then," said Daina.

"I'll look forward to it." William turned to leave. "Okay, I believe I may have overstayed my welcome. I'll be seeing you."

"Bye, Dr. William!"

"Just 'William' is fine." He waved behind him before exiting through the door.

I looked at Daina, and she looked at me. Here we were, lucky survivors of a fiery situation, and our skins were without mark. My own skin felt as supple as a newborn babe's. It was as if I were a new person. "Sister Daina..."

"What is it, Bill?"

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Except for a small tummy ache, I feel more than fine," she replied.

I felt a smile creeping on my face, and Daina returned it with a divine equivalent. "The latter makes two of us."

Week 8, October 2043.

On Sunday afternoon, October 19th, Daina and I were discharged from the hospital, albeit reluctantly on the part of the staff. All kinds of tests were ran on us yesterday into this morning, but nothing was found to be amiss with us. Therefore there was no reason to keep us. Dad, Daina and I proudly walked out of the hospital front door and towards the parking lot with smiles on our faces.

"Boy am I glad to be out of there! I was getting sick of hospital food," I mused.

"Billy!" Daina gave my shoulder a playful flick. "You barely ate any of it!"

"Well then, why don't we get you two a proper meal at home?" suggested Dad.

"I'm already looking forward to it! What are we walking this leisurely pace for?"

"Well, well, I see you are still as voracious as ever when it comes to food, my son!" mused Dad. The three of us shared a laugh.

At home, Ameera crushed us into a hug as soon as we were through the front door. "Brother, Sister Daina! You're back! I missed you!"

"I missed you, too," replied Daina,

"Ameera, we were only gone for three days..., OK, I guess that is a long time."

"It's the longest!" my sister replied. "I was so worried."

"I'm sorry. You wouldn't believe what happened." I pulled away from her. "C'mon, I'll tell you all about it over dinner. I'm starving."

Twenty minutes later saw Daina, Ameera, Dad and I sitting at the table to platters of curry rice and chicken. "Wow, for someone who was just in the hospital, your appetite is still healthy," mused Ameera.

"Actually, my appetite is greater than before. Excellent cooking, Dad, by the way."

"Thank you, my son," replied Dad after he finished chewing a mouthful of rice. "So, are you ready to talk about... the incident?"

I stopped my next spoon of rice mid flight, 2 inches from my mouth, and placed it back to the plate. "I've been thinking all this time of how exactly I was going to say this, but I'm still not sure."

"Billy..." said Daina.

"But I decided I'll be honest. Dad, sis... Daina and I appear to be fine and normal, but under the seams we are anything but."

"Huh? Bill, what do you mean? Are you hurt or something? Did they tell you that you have cancer or something?

"Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses, Dad. They didn't say anything like that. The doctors and nurses told us that there was nothing wrong with us, and technically I don't think they were lying."

"Okay, but what are you getting at?" asked Ameera.

"Daina and I may..."

"Urk...!"

I turned to Daina in alarm. "Hey, are you alright!?"

"I think... urg... another one is... ugh! Coming up..."

"Oh, no..." I grimaced. We watched as Daina retched up mercury mixed with food onto the floor. "Ugh... this is getting annoying..."

"Miss Daina! What is that?" asked Dad in shock. "I have never seen black vomit before!"

"Dad, it's not vomit. It's a vat of mercury."

"Mercury!? As in, that poisonous liquid metal!?" affirmed Dad. I nodded. "That's not possible. To retch up this much would mean one is dying inside!"

"Dad, I need you to calm down. Daina and I would have been dead already. We are walking around from what was supposed to be lethal burn wounds. And I think something inside us is the cause. In order for us to know for sure what is going on, we need to see a man named William Williky."

"The husband of the CEO of SP Plasma Corp?"

"You know Dr. Julie?"

"No, but she is renowned in Santa Pyre." I nodded at that. "How can he help, though?"

"He has a lab in West Flame city. Daina and I plan to visit him during Midterm Break."

"Um, Bill, your mother and I would have to be fools to send the two of you back to school like this. I don't mind allowing you to go see him as early as tomorrow. Miss Daina, we're going to have to file you for some sick-leave or something." Daina nodded at thay

"Can I use the phone? I should let Mr. William know right away."

"Finish up your food first, Son. Then you may."

"Thanks, Dad."

"The world is truly vast," said Ameera in a joking voice. We all laughed.

After lunch, I went straight to the telephone and dialed William's number. The phone rang once, rang twice, and then I heard a click.

"Hello, good day! This is the Williky’s residence, how may I help you?" answered Dr. Julie's voice.

"Hello, you probably don't know me, but my name is Bill Punjabé. Can I speak with Dr. William?"

"Bill... Punjabé? Hi! Willie told me all about you. I'll get him quickly." I heard her call for him, followed by heavy footsteps.

"Bill, is that you? What's up?"

"It's good to hear you, Mr. William. Um, can we change our plans? My father wants Daina and me to meet up with you as soon as possible. Like, from tomorrow. He says it's too dangerous to allow us to go to school as we are."

"Hmm... Okay. It's a bit early, but I guess I can speed things up. Come on Wednesday. I should have everything ready by then."

"Um, what do you mean, ready?"

"It's a surprise."

"Alright, well, see you soon."

"You two should take care, especially Miss Daina."

"She vomited more mercury today... along with her lunch."

"Oh my... don't worry, we will get this sorted out. I promise. See you soon." With that William hung up.

I replaced the receiver and went back to the table. "He says we can come on Wednesday, Dad."

"Okay, good. Now, our next task is to keep you two out of trouble for the next two days. That shouldn't be too hard." I grimaced at the sarcastic tone he used.

"We'll be fine, right Daina?" I looked to see her covering her mouth. "Oh, no..."

"BLEKK!!" she retched all over the floor. "Daahhh!! I can't take this anymore!"

I grimaced exceedingly. "Aw, man..."

*****

Wednesday, October 22nd.

Two days later saw Mom was taking us to West Flame City. That was where she worked, at Saint Wesley Fire Hospital, so it was a win-win. Daina and I were actually operated on in Lava Isle Hospital before being sent to West Flame for further examination. If we had not been stabilized, we probably would not have survived long enough for whatever happened to us to take effect.

At the east edge of the city, Daina and I were dropped off onto 38th Chicken Great Lane in front of a large, normal-looking house. "I will pick you up at seven!" said Mom. "I'm out of time, so love you! Take care!" she sped away and disappeared from a cross junction behind some more houses. We just stared wide eyed.

"Well, bye Mom. Love you too..." I turned to my companion. "Are you ready, Sister Daina?"

"Yes, Brother Bill, I am. Let us go in." We held hands as we walked up to the front door. There was a buzzer button which I promptly pushed. A few seconds of increasing ruckus from inside passed and then the door flew open, scaring the daylights out of us. Doctor Williky stood at the entrance looking as if he had fallen over multiple times. Behind him, I could see with amazing clarity a lot of papers still fluttering about.

"You are here! Please don't mind the mess and come right in!" He ushered us inside and shut the door behind him. "Please follow me. We have much to do!" Daina and I exchanged glances before complying.

"Wow. Nice place you have here," I complimented.

"Thank you." He led us to a room far inside and down a spiral of stairs. At the end of the stairs was a blast door. "Ah, here we are." He entered a code, and the blast doors parted. "Welcome, you two, to the Williky Laboratory!"

Daina and I were rendered in shock. There were various equipment organized and labeled on the many lab tables, which were arranged in rows. To the left was a door to another room. A label on the door read "Dojo."

"What is that room over there?" I asked, pointing at the curious door.

"You will find out later," he said with a knowing smile. He started walking and we followed him to a certain table in row two from the blast door. Everything on this table appeared to be chosen just for today. I cringed at two syringes in a tray. "First, we need to get down to business. The best way to learn immediately about what we're dealing with, and thus how to best move forward, is to run a blood test."

"But why? The doctors didn't find anything amiss when they ran all of their tests," I brought up a point. I was merely afraid of receiving an extraction shot, though.

"Hmm..." William looked unsettled.

"Maybe things will be different this time. William, you can take mine first," volunteered Daina.

William nodded and washed his hands over the table's sink. He picked up one of the syringes and Daina held out her right arm. "Please excuse me." She made a small wince as William extracted a few milliliters of blood. He deposited it into the center of a Petri dish and went over to a giant contraption by the wall.

"Whoa, is that an electron microscope?" asked Daina.

"Not just any. This is an Atomic Microscope, capable of showing it's viewer what atoms look like."

"No way! How is that even remotely possible!?" replied Daina and I in sync.

"Allow me to explain. It has an powerful new type of lens made from pyrium SRT and glass. Combined with the principles of electron microscopy, a magnification strength in excess of a million is achieved! However, a viewable image is still impossible without a built-in supercomputer to process the information. Instead of a view piece, there is a camera and a monitor.

"Mind... blown..." was all I could say.

"Me too," said Daina.

"This is how we were able to learn so much about pyrium and all the other elements too. Now, Miss Daina, let's all have a look at your blood." William pushed a button and slot popped out like a DVD player, where he promptly placed the Petri dish and closed it back. The microscope machine began to hum, and air was briefly forced out from vent like pipes. "The camera area has to be vacuumed, as the process relies in part on electron microscopy. Air would further complicate matters."

Daina nodded, aware of this as she was a chemistry teacher. I just nodded along.

"Please direct your attention to the monitor. The processing is almost done." We all watched as a fuzzy yellow image formed. Yellow was the color of blood plasma, after all. Soon, we could make out many, many orb like things. "The small, single orbs with the tiny blue dots are protons of hydrogen with their single electron each. The large cluster type ones are carbon, nitrogen and oxygen..."

"Hey, what's that?" I pointed to something which reminded me of a bolt of electricity. It was streaming from a large atom that reminded me of the diagram of pyrium from the presentation.