Earth,
Beep
Beep
Beep
A mechanical beeping continuously sounded in an otherwise dark and quiet room, the sole light source coming from the slightly ajar hospital door.
A man in his thirties wearing a doctor's garb stood inside, hovering over the bed. He looked haggard and exhausted, as if he had just run a marathon. Dark bags hung under his tired eyes, and his posture unconsciously leaned forward.
Still, his expression was one of focus as he carefully checked some information on a small device in his hand while also closely monitoring the resting patient on the bed.
Finally, after an uncomfortably long moment, he heaved a heavy sigh, and walked out of the room, silently closing the door behind him , snuffing out the only remaining point of illumination.
Click.
Walking in a way that could only be described as dragging his feet, the man traversed the brightly lit hospital corridor while gazing out the windows at the full moon hanging in the black sky.
With nothing in particular occupying his mind, he eventually arrived at the staff cafeteria , only to be abruptly shaken from his empty, trance-like state by an annoying voice.
"Yo, Nomeo, what's going on? You 'sleeping' on the job again?"
The voice carried a hint of ridicule and sarcasm, especially on the word sleeping. Usually, such blatant provocation and disrespect among colleagues were frowned upon , at least outwardly , but the middle-aged doctor, Markus Edwards, didn't seem to take the words to heart.
Instead, after turning around, he straightened his posture with a suddenly rejuvenated stance and smiled as he chided the other man approaching him.
"Yo, Johny, still haven't been caught with your hand in the cookie jar, I see. You do know the medicine is strictly for patient use only, right?"
Markus winked devilishly at his best friend, John, while making sure to raise his voice and glance around the room filled with hospital workers.
John abruptly stopped in his tracks, awkwardly laughing as he scratched his cheek.
"Ha, ha, my friend, I didn't know you bought into those insane rumors. Ha, ha," John shouted in an overly exaggerated way, making sure everyone could hear.
Then, without missing a beat, he continued toward Markus and forced him to sit down at a nearby cafeteria table, close to the windows.
"Dude, are you trying to get me fired?" John whispered.
"No, but you deserved that one," Markus replied with a half grin.
John paused for a moment before breaking into his signature smirk.
"I did, yeah."
"Anyway, stay here. I'm going to grab us something to eat."
He was already gone before even finishing his sentence.
Markus, watching his friend's back disappear, shook his head and was almost instantly lost in thought.
Life for "Nomeo" , as he had been jokingly called by his best friend of twenty years , had been difficult lately. Having recently been divorced from his wife while also dealing with the relentless pressure of being an overworked orthopedic surgeon had taken its toll on him, both in body and spirit.
Spending countless hours taking care of everyone else's needs while neglecting his own surely wasn't the problem! he thought.
After all, hadn't he been doing exactly that every day for almost half his life?Wasn't that a doctor's duty?
Markus lightly shook his head, trying to rid himself of those pesky thoughts.
As usual, though, his efforts failed him. That ever-present knot in his stomach returned. Recently, Markus had been suffering from anxiety. Many times throughout the day, he would feel lightheaded and short of breath. At night, his symptoms manifested physically, with Markus feeling bloated, like he had eaten a world of food without the actual consuming part.
Because of that, it had been quite a long time since he'd gotten a good night's sleep. Constantly overthinking everything, trying to find the top solution for every problem, being a good person, a great doctor, and an all-around perfect human did not sit well at all with his mental health.
Markus quickly took a deep breath and tried to focus on the environment around him, which, in this case, was the cafeteria. His eyes darted left and right first. Before him spread out a long, rectangular-shaped room with large windows facing west. The middle space was reserved for white tables and chairs, while on the east side stood the serving counter.
The whole place was painted in white and yellow, while the counter itself had a minimalistic design and was made entirely out of wood. Finally, the ceiling was adorned with three rows of lamps hanging from steel wires, and many types of plants were strategically placed in the corners and between tables.
Gradually, Markus's rapid breathing started to subside, regaining its natural rhythm.
The busy sounds of the cafeteria began to register in his ears once again, his best friend's voice ringing in his ears.
"Hey, you alright? You look pale."
"Yes, all good," he said, taking another deep breath to calm himself further.
...
John set down two plates on the table.
"So, I was thinking…" he paused.
"What's up?" Markus asked his friend, noticing his thoughtful stare.
"Ehm, did you consider… going to therapy?" John quickly asked, averting his eyes while scarfing down a pile of mashed potatoes.
Markus, who had just started working on his pasta, paused mid-bite.
"What are you talking about?" Markus lightly flinched at the question, his expression growing complicated.
"Come on, you're obviously not doing too well. My sister's a psychiatrist, I know about this stuff. You have anxiety or whatever," John responded half-heartedly.
His special trait, as his sister would say. By downplaying his own intelligence and acting fake-embarrassed, he managed to breach a difficult subject regarding personal issues. And thus, instead of getting angry as he usually would...
"Well, you're right," Markus said seriously.
"Really?" John exclaimed, not bothering to conceal his surprise at his friend's reaction. After all, he knew his friend wasn't exactly the most logical person when it came to personal matters.
Or any matter, he thought.
"Yeah sure, dude," Markus said cheerfully, snapping John out of his thoughts. But before he could rejoice at his successful counseling attempt, Markus added:
"Yes, yes, I would love some doctoring from your sister. I will schedule an appointment right away."
By the time Markus finished his sentence, John had become speechless.
Seeing his friend's insufferably punchable face brought him back to his senses.
Blam
John slammed the table heavily.
"You—!@#%—stupid—&*$#!—I'm trying to help you, you absolute $#@&ing...
Laughter and cursing could soon be heard across the cafeteria, causing the people present to pay slight attention to the sound pollution duo, either annoyed or amused.
After about four rounds of huffing and puffing, John finally calmed down.
He leaned back in his seat, casually took a sip from his drink, and said with a grin:
"So, you're not as screwed up as I thought."
"What made you think that in the first place?" Markus asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you haven't exactly been your usual charming self," John replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Screw off," Markus said, not actually offended.
"I'll do that!"
...
John had been deeply concerned about his friend lately. Ever since a certain chain of events a couple of months back, Markus hadn't been in the best condition, or in any kind of, by his standards, acceptable state.
John had tried to support his best friend since high school in the only way he knew how, but turning the situation into a complete joke didn't seem to yield the results he was hoping for, at least not in the long run.
Instead, the stress had only continued to build, even to the point of causing physical discomfort. But thankfully, things weren't as bleak as they appeared. Markus was the strongest person he knew, he'd pull through eventually. He always did.
After a few minutes of cafeteria static, the duo resumed talking, mostly small talk.
"You got night shift?" John asked, already finished with his meal.
"No," Markus replied, nearly done himself.
"You?"
"Nah. Let's go for a drink."
"Let's go!" he said excitedly
...
...
...
???
A little girl, about 10 years old, could be seen sneaking through a long, scarcely illuminated hall, her face painted with cunning mischief. On her left-hand side stretched a row of large, crisscrossed windows that reached from floor to ceiling. The outside was dark, indicating the late hour. Meanwhile, on her right loomed a peculiar wall, its surface gave the impression of interlocking scales, dark green, leathery, and damp, like the hide of some slumbering beast turned to stone. It was a haunting sight, but she didn't seem affected in the slightest.
Continuing on her way, the little girl tiptoed as silently as she could, her bare feet chilled by the marble-like floor.
The hall stretched out gradually, and within a few moments, the girl arrived at an intersection. Up ahead, there was a closed door, light spilling from the gap beneath it. Snippets of conversation could be heard. Gazing toward it, the girl silently giggled to herself.
Next, she took a left turn and, shortly thereafter, arrived at her destination.
Immediately, a dejected sigh escaped her lips.
Closed! she thought.
Indeed, standing right in front of her was a humongous, metallic-grey gate adorned with strange, unruly shapes. Made of an unknown material, its presence completely dwarfed the girl.
Angrily puffing out a breath, she was just about to turn and leave when, suddenly, a low sound echoed behind her. Before she could react, she was instantly swept off her feet, her vision blurred, her heart jumped...
Ky—
Just as she was about to scream, a strong hand gently covered her small mouth. Her eyes had already shut tight from fear, and now she stood frozen, completely still, in the arms of the other person.
A short moment of absolute silence later, the girl hesitantly and slowly opened her eyes.
Medium-length blonde hair, mirroring the girl's own. Blue, slightly drooping eyes. A narrow nose with a subtle bump at the top. Prominent cheekbones. A wide mouth. Seeing her big brother the girl calmed down and as he removed his hand she spoke.
"Allishawn!!" she shouted his name.
The terror draining from her face quickly got replaced by anger, and almost less than a second later by... sadness?
Feeling extremely wronged by her brother's actions, wetness slowly started appearing around her eyelids. She soon broke out in annoying sobs, making Alishawn curl his lips up in a strange manner while also squinting at her, unconvinced by her obvious act.
After a whole two minutes of crying with no observable reaction from her target, the girl suddenly paused and then...
sob, sob
waaaa
She once again began crying, even louder this time. Strangely, this time around her cries seemed to travel less and less, like a sailor having fallen overboard, the storm and waves drowning out his voice, sapping his strength mercilessly. The scariest part about the girl's situation though was that there was no storm, the soundwaves just seemed to dissolve in midair, like they never even existed in the first place.
Noticing her performance bearing no fruits, the girl simply stopped and stared right back at her brother, who had been doing so since the very beginning of this weird interaction.
Seeing her finally giving up, Alishawn calmly asked, his voice slightly deep and irritating to the ear, like a broken piano chord.
"Phoebe, what exactly are you doing up in the middle of the night?"
Having understood by now that there was no point in lying or evading the question, Phoebe chose to outright speak the truth.
Puppy-eyed, she explained to her big bro.
"I-I was looking to enter Father's treasury..." she finished her sentence meekly.
"Why?"
"I was curious about the artifacts inside and..."
another pause
"...i wanted to see if I could bo-borrow one."
"I... see," Alishawn responded cryptically, while thinking:
It's not so much Father's treasury but the family's... but I guess I could help her out...
Having made his decision, Allishawn gently placed down his baby sister, and while softly patting her cute, fluffy head, he said:
"Tell you what, you run down that hall to check on Father and make sure he doesn't catch us in the act while I quietly open the door."
mhm
mhm
Phoebe nodded her tiny head, and without wasting a second, ran toward her post.
Watching her disappear around the corner, Allishawn walked unhurriedly to the metallic door and placed his hand on a strange-looking crevice, while muttering something under his breath.
Dim light flashed, and the door started to open groggily, like an old drunk struggling to get out of bed. Right at this time, Phoebe's delighted squeals sounded right behind him as she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him inside.
No sooner had the sibling duo entered the room than a domineering voice sounded inside Allishawn's mind:
"Don't allow her greedy little hands to steal anything too important."
Allishawn stopped to listen to the strange transmission while looking around the humongous room, not an ounce of surprise on his face.
"I understand." Allishawn answered, grinning happily