Everything is fine today, that is our illusion ~ Voltaire

Two Weeks Later...

          There was a clamour outside Bennett's room. All of the curtains to the other sections of the room were pulled back and the rooms empty with the door flung open. He slowly got up and squinted his eyes against the sudden light. There was something off about this. The noise seemed some of joy...

          He went out as the noise began to drain. He swung around the corner to watch a crowd of children squealing in glee. He was too far to see what they were excited about but as he got closer he realized. The front gates were open and beyond them were the the Transport Pads that bought them there. Pilots were on board and they were ready for transportation. Those Pads were taking children home.

          "Calm down everyone!"

          Multiple of the teachers and doctors were trying to control the rioting kids. They ran at the exit like maniacs. This is what happens when you hold hundreds of kids in a single facility. Bennett walked slowly as to not get trampled. If Donella was in the crowd then he couldn't see her. Once he was out the doors--so politely dumped onto the pavement--he looked for Douglas. He stumbled out of the crowd as they filled the Transport Pads. It took him a few minutes to find Douglas. He figured that he'd be able to find him easily since he stood out from a lot of people, even the ones he was grouped with. He realized he passed him a few times in his back-and-forth search. He was the kid with the wild, dark hair that begun to grown out. The kid with a tick... the kid walking on two legs.

         Ben wrapped his hands around Doug's arm and stared at him. "What did they do?"

         "I told you." Doug said--his speech no-longer betraying him, "Chemo."

         "You're walking!"

         Douglas's disabilities were a part of him and this was just unnatural. Ben heard of chemotherapy removing active cancer but never reversing entire visible and invisible disabilities. Douglas walking around like a "normal" person was wrong as it was unnatural. If Bennett suddenly had a natural body then Douglas was sure to find that weird and Bennett said so.

          "Yeah." Doug said, "Your entire body is mechanical, you can't replace that with something natural."

          Hearing his true voice was awkward. It held the same accent as his but was unfamiliar--young and sure of itself.

          Ben began counting on his fingers "You were autistic, dyslexic and you were partially immobilized!" He cried, "That can't be gone in a few days!"

          "It's been a week." Doug began pulling Ben with him towards one of the Transport Pads, "I'm fine, really."

          Bennett sighed, "I've got pajamas on."

          "So. Your parents won't mind."

          The courtyard was practically empty now. Ben and Doug got on the third Transport Pad and the dome closed around them. The two of them pressed themselves away from each other and Ben turned to his friend.

          "How come they weren't doing this to all the children?"

          Doug shrugged as if he couldn't care less. Ben knew it was maybe a little wrong to be so harsh. He had just been given a gift that he'd never been able to experience before--not even for a moment. He should be happy for him, and he was but he didn't know if that was going to give him side-effects. He still looked like Douglas aside from not being cripple. His face was still blotchy, his hair still a mess, Ben was even willing to bet that he still liked chess.

           Noticing his face Douglas scrunched his, "It's not like I'm a walking disease." He knew Bennett's greatest fear.

          He might as well have been, "I know." He sighed, "But if you die..."

          Douglas snorted and began to laugh. Ben rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh as well. The two of them began laughing for no reason whatsoever. They got a lot of weird looks which only made them laugh harder.

          "That's checkmate." Bennett said smugly.

          Douglas hit the board and it flipped, spraying the pawns in every direction. One of them splashed into his drink Bonnie had set on the table for him. He gingerly picked it out and drank it. Bennett had learned his moves and created his own algorithm to get around him. That was the first time he'd won against Doug and he now found that his friend was a sore loser.

          Ben chucked, "You can't win all the time."

          "You guys OK in there?" Ben's mom called.

          "Sure!" Douglas called.

          It had been a few days. Doug had no problems and he seemed to be developing fine. He never regressed or had stroke. Actually no reports of strokes had been made since they left the facility. All the parents that had gotten a stroke never had one again. Everything seem fine, just fine. For a while Bennett had actually been worried about what his file said, that he was dangerous and causing strokes. But a lot of the world caught it... he wasn't everywhere. The day before he had thrown away the papers he had snuck and forgot all about it.

          Bennett had been installed in a new and updated body. It worked smoother and he much less glitches than with the last. He didn't know how a natural worked or felt like but this was much similar to the visual of one. He, of course, didn't have genitalia but it was similar. The outer layer was supple like Douglas's skin and it wrinkled and moved as if it had true joints. Douglas had said if he didn't know better he would've thought his entire body was natural. Bennett was sure that he was just being a good--lying--friend but appreciated it anyways.

          Douglas and Bennett's heads snapped towards the door as it flung open. Two men walked in without consent and trained their hand-held weapon up at Douglas. That's right they were holding guns. Ben's mom walked out of the kitchen and into the scene. Bennett knew a smooth life was too good to be true. He wondered if his body would be fatally damaged by the bullet--most likely. Another man walked in and stood between the two, he was dressed in eccentric clothing and stood with dignity and pride. He didn't have a visible weapon on him but was most likely just as dangerous.

          "I apologize for the intrusion,"--liar--"Mrs. Wenmore I'm afraid your son is carrying a lethal disease and we have to quarantine him."

          Douglas shook in fear as he held his hands up in a stereotypical fashion. Bonnie immediately reacted to the man's information, "This is illegal!" She cried, "Get out my house!"

          The two men with guns faced their guns towards Bonnie. Bennett feared she might do something to get herself shot, after all they did have guns for a reason. He stood up and walked slowly towards them. "Don't hurt her." He begged, "Please."

          "We have no intention of hurting your mother or you." The eccentric man reassured, "If you cooperate."

          "He never asked for this!" Douglas interceeded.

          "We know," The man said solemnly, "We will treat both of you with the utmost care."

          "Both of us?" Bennett repeated.

          "If you both will just follow me to the vehicle."

          "Why him?" Bennett's voice strained.

          "He was our next target." The man said knowingly, "He just so happened to be here. Two birds with one stone."

          When he said it like that it made him seem like a serial killer.

          "They're just kids." Bennett's mom said, "You need not pull guns on them!"

          "Like I said, we apologize." He motioned to the men and they lowered their guns but just a fraction. "Now please, follow us."

          The facility was much more comfortable than the one they'd previously been in but it was a facility nonetheless. They were once again prisoners. 

          Bennett was left with Douglas in a sort of waiting room. It was like Douglas's old care center. Bennett felt weird knowing he was in a non-lethal situation and his mother wasn't waiting for him outside. He stood up impulsively and grabbed Douglas. The door to the back was open and unoccupied. Douglas spied his line of sight and sighed.

          "Really Ben?" He said, "They aren't trying anything malicious."

          "So what." He growled, "Can't hurt to look."

          The two of them, unsupervised, marched towards the door and slipped inside. Douglas exasperatedly closed the door behind them as Bennett moved to the back of the small room. He was looking through injection on a table. They were laid out like medals on the undignified table. Bennett lifted one up and looked at it.

          "Tyrese Greene." He read, "They're injecting people with this stuff."

          It looked like each was specifically designed for a specific person. Bennett kept looking through the vials. The liquids inside each varied from clear to colourful and glittery to neon. Tyrese's was a clear liquid like water.

          "They're saving people." Douglas hissed as he peeked out of the window in the door, "Come on, this is unnecessary."

          Bennett held up a vial triumphantly. The contents were oozing on the inside and sliding around. It was a colorful mixture of green and pink and the label read Bennett Wenmore. "Well this isn't Malicious at all is it?"