The Shocking Truth Book 1

Chapter 1

1 August

Alexander looked up at the sky and sighed. It looked like it would be a wet day, and he was being dragged to the pool for his sister’s birthday party. Despite being four years younger and a foot shorter, his father always forced Alexander to go out with his sister to keep an eye on her.

As one can imagine, neither sibling liked this at all. Elizabeth, Alexander’s sister, strongly preferred not having a pesky little brother spying on her. Alexander hated the almost constant abuse he had to endure, not only from Elizabeth but also from her rich, spoiled friends. Both siblings understood why their father had done what he did. Elizabeth was irresponsible, but was the apple in her father’s eye, while Alexander was irrelevant and disposable. In other words, they were as opposite as two people could be.

What made matters even worse for Alexander was that everyone strongly suspected he wasn’t his father’s son. While Tom Armstrong had black hair and brown eyes, Alexander had straw blond hair, blue eyes, and faint freckles across his face.

If Alex’s day couldn’t get any worse, he knew Elizabeth’s friends would be at the pool, meaning everyone would see how small he was. It was sure to get him plenty of verbal abuse and probably some physical abuse as well. At one time, Alex would have tried to fight back, but all that got him was an ass-kicking from the kids and a few hours of his mother and father lecturing him, telling him he had to behave and that fighting was bad.

Alex’s parents were extreme pacifists when it came to physical violence. Erin, Alex’s mother, pounded into his head that physical violence was a result of toxic masculinity. Since Alex was a white male, he was automatically assumed to be guilty. He had to constantly apologize and make his presence smaller while ensuring everyone around him who was “disadvantaged” had the upper hand over him. It didn’t matter when his sister was the one who caused most of the physical abuse Alex suffered. She was female, so if she said she didn’t do it, she didn’t do it.

By the time Alex was eight, he had learned to never fight back and to swallow his anger, which naturally led to a deep reservoir of resentment. After all, despite anger being a natural human emotion, Erin claimed it was a form of toxic masculinity. Tom backed up everything Erin said. He was so high up in his ivory tower that he needed a high-powered spy satellite to even see the ground.

Alex trudged out of the house wearing his trunks and a T-shirt. Under his trunks, he ensured he wore underwear because it was inevitable that someone, probably Elizabeth, would pull his trunks down. Of course, Elizabeth would complain to their mother that Alex was flashing everyone, and she would accuse Alex of being a sick pervert like every other male on the planet.

When they got to the pool, Alex was horrified when he saw the sheer number of his sister’s friends in attendance. That meant the abuse he would be subjected to would be far worse than usual. To make things worse, this was the first party where Elizabeth was allowed to invite boys, and she was very popular among both boys and girls in school, in bed, and in the back seat of cars.

Alex was further shocked when he arrived at the pool and discovered that his mother and father would be in attendance. Of course, that didn’t mean the abuse would lessen since Tom would be chasing barely nubile girls while Erin would be after some of the parents in attendance, since Elizabeth went to a private school where many high-ranking politicians, lawyers, and successful businesspeople sent their children. Erin chased them for the same reason Tom chased the girls; both had fetishes and wanted to fulfill them. It didn’t matter if they were married or not.

Alex suspected he was the result of one of his mother’s successful power pursuits. While his father was attracted to young teenagers, especially when he was their first, his mother took pleasure in her partner’s power. It didn’t matter if the person was male, female, or anything in between; Erin was attracted to them if they had political power.

Walking into the pool room, Alex ducked behind some other people to escape. There were times when his small size was an advantage. By looking like he knew where he was going, Alex reached another set of doors and slipped out. Alex kept going until he found an unlocked door and entered a storage room where he could hide.

There, he found a corner behind a mop bucket and slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, where he could wrap his arms around his knees. Finally feeling secure, Alex began sobbing. His sister had all the advantages in life. She attended an elite private school, while he attended the state’s worst public school. She attended parties and was friends with everyone. He never had a party and doubted his parents even knew how old he was. When Elizabeth went out, she was given plenty of money, and Alex had to “watch” over her; after all, he was a male, and that was his job, at least according to his father. While watching Elizabeth, Alex was expected to pay for everything the two of them bought with what little money he had. Again, the male paid for things, even though Tom seldom bought Erin anything.

This party was the last straw. He had plans to watch a live science seminar and had already paid for access. Now he couldn’t enjoy it, was broke, and forgotten. The tears streamed down his face as Alex wondered if anyone would miss him if he ended his life. It was not like his family would care, and he had no friends at school. Almost the entire school was black, and he was the only white face in the crowd. Even the few Hispanics ignored him while the rest of the students and faculty went out of their way to make his life miserable.

He couldn’t report the abuse at school because the one time he tried, his mother spent three hours calling out his “racist behavior” and explaining in excruciating detail why he was to blame for everyone’s behavior at school. After Erin was done, Tom piled on, accusing Alex of embarrassing him with his racist behavior. Alex was confused. He had never held anyone in slavery and had tried to treat everyone with respect. Why was he guilty?

Alex looked around the storeroom. There were enough chemicals to make killing himself easy. Alex grabbed a bottle of bleach and looked at it with a sigh. ‘If I kill myself here, then someone innocent will have to clean up, and my family will get away with everything,’ he thought. Then Alex had an evil idea. He would kill himself at home and ensure he died on the carpet his mother loved so much.

Before committing suicide, he would send some anonymous emails. The FBI would learn everything she helped her very wealthy clients hide. The university would learn of his father banging underage girls, and if there were any doubt, Alex would include pictures. To ensure the university did something, the pictures would also be sent to all the girls’ parents. Several of whom nobody in their right mind would anger. With their parents going to prison, Elizabeth would be in foster care, but that wasn’t good enough. Alex planned to send pictures of Elizabeth having sex with several of her friends’ fathers and her doing lines of drugs to everyone in her address book.

All this was child’s play for someone with Alex’s computer skills. All he had to do was get home. After everything was sent, he would use a knife to end his life and get blood all over his mother’s carpet. For once, Alex felt at peace with the world. Seeing the time, he stood up and exited the room.

While Alex was deciding his end, Tom, Erin, and Elizabeth were all up to their tricks. Tom was working on charming the pants off the 12-year-old daughter of a prominent politician. She was just his type, too. Tall, slender, completely inexperienced, and a daughter of good breeding. If he were lucky, he would get the chance to knock her up. It would be even better if he could turn her into a self-destructing whore. For all Tom went on about equity, he hated strong women and would go out of his way to destroy any young woman. It was better from his point of view to put them in their place while they were still young.

Ironically, Erin was working on the same girl’s father. He was the head of the state senate’s judicial committee, and with Erin involved in a case against one of the state’s largest employers and pushing an expanded lawyer bill through the house, having the head of the judicial committee in her back pocket would be quite helpful. While the man’s daughter was slender, graceful, and beautiful, he was short, plump, crude, and balding. It didn’t matter what the man looked like to Erin; it was his power that got her motor running.

Elizabeth was holding court by the pool and flirting with several boys. She wasn’t sure which one she would settle for, but they all came from wealthy families who provided them with substantial financial support. Since two of the boys were eighteen, they had cars, and, being wealthy, they were high-end sports cars. The minimum driving age had been raised to 18 several years earlier. Elizabeth knew it would be one of these two boys she would choose. By having a boy toy with a car, she could get away from her brother and get laid, drunk, and high whenever she wanted; the order wasn’t important. She was now 16 and officially allowed to party.

Just as Alex thought, nobody noticed he was gone or had slipped back in. To hide his leaving, Alex ducked into the locker room and showered while still in his trunks. After showering and drying off, Alex put his shirt back on and moved to some seats near the pool. From his vantage point, he watched his mother shamelessly flirting with a middle-aged fat guy while his father was working some jailbait; all while their daughter had a needle in her arm. ‘Yep, this is a great family,’ Alex thought sarcastically.

The power began flashing an hour later, and everyone decided it was time to leave. As everyone was leaving, Tom discovered his precious daughter was as high as a kite, and he was furious. Looking around, he saw Alex sitting nearby and stormed over while dragging Elizabeth.

“YOU IRRESPONSIBLE FUCKTARD!” Tom screamed at Alex. “WHY DID YOU LET SOMEONE DRUG YOUR SISTER?!?!”

“She did that to herself and has been shooting up for at least the last hour while you were trying to get into that poor girl’s panties,” Alex responded calmly. He didn’t care anymore; there was nothing anyone could do to him to change the future, or so he thought.

“Why didn’t you stop her?” Tom snapped.

“And where were you? Isn’t it the father’s job to protect the family?” Alex responded calmly.

“That is so old-fashioned and sexist,” Tom responded pompously.

“And yet you task me, the youngest child, a boy, to watch over the older child, who happens to be a girl. Do you hear your hypocrisy, or does your mouth move without anything going through your barely existent brain?” Tom was so furious that he backhanded Alex as hard as he could. The hit sent Alex flying from his chair, and several nearby people gasped. “Well, there’s another crime you are guilty of. Child abuse and underage sex. You will not last long in prison.” Alex stated while wiping a drop of blood from his split lip. Tom was red-faced but managed to check his fist. He stood still for a moment while trying to control his temper.

“Get the fuck out of here, you little prick,” Tom growled while Alex gave him an emotionless stare.

At that time, Erin returned from where she had been bent over a janitor’s cart. It hadn’t taken but ten minutes to bag her target. What took time was getting his thing stiff. After a thirty-minute blowjob, the politician was only half hard, but that was good enough for Erin. She moved her swimsuit to the side and sank down on it.

It was a good thing for Erin that she had a hair trigger when it came to dealing with power. She began cumming after only two minutes, while the politician lasted only a minute longer. He was thrilled to cum inside a woman as beautiful as Erin and was convinced he was a stud. If Erin hadn’t been blinded by power, she would have realized how cheaply she had sold herself for. All she had was a marker that she might be able to call in at a future date, but only if the politician stayed in power.

He was big on “family values.” Despite his daughter wanting to get laid by an experienced man and him constantly cheating on his wife. His wife didn’t care because she had her own affairs that nobody wanted to make public. She had a thing for little boys and liked to believe that she was teaching them to be men. In reality, she abused them so severely that some ended up committing suicide, while others came out as gay. Then there was a third set who hated women so much that they ended up murdering them.

Erin entered the lounge just in time to see her husband and son facing off. This was new since her son had no backbone; she had worked to ensure that. When Tom backhanded Alex, Erin sighed as she was forced to step in. The last thing she needed was a busybody looking into her family’s affairs.

“Oh, good. I see everyone is ready to leave.” Erin hoped some smooth talking would settle everything down. If not, spreading a little money around helped people forget what they saw. Erin saw the look in Elizabeth’s eyes and knew what had happened to her. She would have to discuss it with her worthless husband when they got home. There were many days that she didn’t know why she was still married to the fool, and if it wasn’t for the ironclad prenup, she would have dumped him long ago. If news got out that her daughter was drugged under her nose, it might make people wonder about her judgment. The one thing Erin wouldn’t tolerate was being questioned.

“Yes, let’s get out of here,” growled Tom. Elizabeth only managed to walk out because Tom held her up by an armpit. Erin pushed Alex to walk beside his father while Erin walked beside Alex. She didn’t want anything to do with Elizabeth, who appeared drugged. She would have made Tom drive Elizabeth home separately if it had been her choice.

“What happened?” hissed Erin.

“Your idiotic, irresponsible son cannot even keep an eye on his sister.”

“And where were you, father? Why were you not there to watch her?” Alex asked. Erin stared daggers at her husband. She knew as soon as Alex asked what Tom had been doing. The problem was that she couldn’t call attention to it without calling attention to her own activities.

As the family walked out, Alex felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Unfortunately, his family was too rushed to pay heed, and they continued. As they walked across the parking lot, there was a bright flash, and Alex briefly heard a BOOM before everything was dark.

CHAPTER 2

15 September

BEEEEEP … BEEEEP … BEEEP … BEEP …. BEEP

Alex groaned. He hated mornings, and his damn alarm was going off. “All right, all right,” he mumbled. Alex went to smack his alarm only to find his arms couldn’t move. It took a moment to realize they were tied down. Alex’s first thought was that he had been kidnapped. He knew some things his mother was involved in and wouldn’t put it past some of those “people” to use him as leverage. The joke was on them because his mother didn’t care about him.

Cracking open an eye, Alex realized he wasn’t being held prisoner; he was in a far worse predicament: he was in a hospital. At least with captors, he probably could have talked his way out of it. There was no chance of that in a hospital. Seeing the faded cartoon wallpaper, Alex deduced he was being held in the pediatric wing.

All Alex could figure out was that someone must have drugged him with something outstanding. He felt as if he was flying as high as a satellite. It only took a moment for Alex to give up and fall back asleep.

A noise to his left woke Alex. While it only felt like hours, it was actually three days later. Looking over, Alex saw it was a nurse working at a computer. Something was off, though. Alex could clearly hear her talking, but her lips were closed and not moving.

What’s more, what he heard wasn’t medical or even related to him; it was about the nurse’s girlfriend and how, if the nurse wasn’t home, she didn’t know whose bed her girlfriend would end up in. Male, female, trans, non-human, non-animal, it didn’t matter to the girlfriend. Her only care was that she had a good time.

Alex was thoroughly confused. Not only because he could hear others in his head, but also why anyone would put up with such behavior from a significant other. Listening, Alex began hearing background noise, which grew louder the longer he listened. Trying to figure it out, he tried to focus on the noise, only to discover that each part of the background noise would increase in volume before decreasing and disappearing. It took several minutes for Alex to realize he was hearing the thoughts of people walking past his door.

Armed with this new insight, Alex had to figure out how to filter or tune out the noise so he could only hear what concerned him. As he tried to figure out how to properly use his new ability, his movements caught the nurse’s attention.

“Well, welcome back, Alex. My name is Stacy, and I’m one of your nurses.” Alex took the nurse in. Standing about 5’6” with short black hair and caramel skin, she was cute.

“Hello. Where am I? What happened?”

“You are in the pediatric wing of University Hospital. As to what happened, what do you remember?”

“Ummm … not much.”

“Anything else?”

“Umm, not really.” Stacy grew concerned but figured he was suffering from amnesia.

“Okay. Let’s start with your name.”

“Well, you said it was Alex, but I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know where I live, how old I am, where I go to school, or who my parents are. Although I remember that my parents hate me, and my mother is involved in some very shady stuff.”

“Oookkkeeeyyy. Let me get your doctor. He is going to want to know all this.”

“Sure.”

Stacy dipped out, and Alex looked out the window. ‘How can I forget everything? Why do I think my parents hate me? Who am I?’ Alex was still blankly staring out the window when he “heard” Stacy returning with someone, the doctor, he assumed.

The doctor led the way through the door. He was a rather unassuming man, but from what Alex could hear, he was a devoted doctor whose goal was to see every patient walk out of the hospital happy and healthy. Alex didn’t realize any of these doctors were still around.

“Hello, I’m Doctor No, and yes, that is my real name. No connection to the James Bond villain.”

“Who?”

“Doctor No. Villain in the first Bond film. A Chinese-German criminal who set up base in the Caribbean and tried to knock down American space missions. Member of SPECTRE.” Alex had a blank look on his face. Seeing that, Doctor No sighed. “People have no respect for the classics anymore.”

“Ah, doctor. I might have seen it, but I don’t remember.”

“That is what Stacy was saying. Considering what you went through, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“What did happen to me?”

“You were struck by lightning after exiting the aquatics center. When you were struck, you were thrown fifteen feet and landed badly on a car.”

“How bad?” Seeing the doctor’s hesitation, Alex was angered. “Damn it! Just tell me, and don’t bother sugarcoating it,” he snapped.

“We don’t know yet, but you broke both femurs, your hips, and two of your lower vertebrae. We couldn’t run the test until you woke up, but given your injuries, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that you are paralyzed from the waist down. You’ve also been unconscious for six weeks.” Alex nodded.

“That explains the gizmos,” nodding to the traction device at the end of his bed. “Can we get the test out of the way?” Stacy and the doctor gave Alex a strange look.

“I must say, Alex, you are the calmest patient I have ever had. Depending on developments, I might recommend you speak with a psychiatrist.”

Alex shrugged as he didn’t care. If he were paralyzed, there was nothing he could do about it, and becoming angry wouldn’t change anything. He had been in literally the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time. Doctor No looked at Stacy and cleared his throat.

“Well, let’s take a look here.”

Stacy held a cloth up so Alex couldn’t see what the doctor was doing. That didn’t matter because Alex was reading his thoughts anyway. Still, he wanted to perform the test like a normal person. Doctor No brushed the bottom of Alex’s foot with a light touch. Alex didn’t react. Then, a needle came, and Alex still didn’t react. Doctor No looked at Stacy and cringed.

“Well, Alex. In light of your earlier comment, I will tell you straight up. Early indications are telling me you might be paralyzed.” Alex looked down at the doctor, who wore a worried expression. “Although it is still early.”

“Don’t worry about it, doc. You didn’t cause this, so don’t feel bad.”

“For your information, I always feel bad when a patient is so severely injured, especially one as young as yourself.” Alex determined from the doctor’s thoughts that the guy was sincere, so Alex cut the guy slack.

“Well, where do we go from here?” Alex asked to change the subject. From Stacy’s thoughts, Alex could tell that, while she was impressed, Stacy’s personal life was a significant distraction for her.

“Well, I would like to get a CT scan and an MRI of your lower back and head. Stacy said you don’t remember anything either, so I would like to see if there is any bleeding or other injury that might be affecting your memory. Additionally, results from your unconscious EEG show some irregularities that I’d like to investigate,” turning to Stacy. “Can you get these scheduled ASAP?”

“I can try, but you know the lab is only taking emergency cases right now.” Doctor No sighed.

“I know, but do the best you can. Damn socialized medicine. And it’s not even that we didn’t have plenty of warning, because we did. Despite everything, damn people are too fucking stupid to accept reality,” he paused, then added, “me included.”

Stacy smiled. Doctor No was famous for his rants against the socialized medical system. The quality of care had dropped so rapidly that it had taken everyone by surprise. But instead of course correcting, the government doubled down. They had even begun arresting people who criticized the system. Dr. No escaped this only because he was so good at his job. The idiots in power refused to accept that they had caused a major screw-up. But then again, they didn’t care because their health care hadn’t been affected. Only everyone else’s.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I know. Thanks, Stacy.”

The doctor left the room, and Stacy logged onto the computer to try to schedule Alex’s test while mumbling about lazy men and having to do everything for them. This was despite knowing how busy the doctor was, as he was the only one on the floor, whereas there would have been three before. She was surprised when she was able to get Alex scheduled for both tests the following day. After everything was scheduled, Stacy got Alex some water since his voice sounded rough. Alex sucked the first cup down without pausing, and Stacy smiled as she brought him another.

To Alex, the water tasted like ambrosia, which was strange because he rarely drank water before. Being a hardcore nerd, Alex had been hooked on Mountain Dew and drank it by the case. Now, Alex couldn’t remember any of that. After taking a sip from the second cup of ice water, Alex smiled at Stacy.

“Thank you,” Alex was so sincere that Stacy couldn’t make her usual rebuke when a male thanked her for anything. She couldn’t imagine losing her memory and ability to walk on the same day. But it was more than his memory Alex lost; he lost his entire identity, and there was no knowing if he would ever recover it.

Quietly, Stacy left, and Alex turned back toward the window. While she was a hardcore militant lesbian, Alex had shaken her to the core with the calm way he seemed to accept everything. She knew the true test would be after some time had passed and he had a chance to think about everything.

Alex was thinking, but not about his back. He was working on developing his new ability to read people from further away and block out the noise. It was interesting that he could read other people’s minds, and what he uncovered was fascinating. A couple of nurses at their station were discussing one of their colleagues’ upcoming dates, while a nearby orderly did his best not to ogle them. A different orderly was also watching, but in his case, it was to ensure they didn’t see him stealing medical supplies. Alex had to admit the man had a good reason, though. His sister was sick but couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment for the next three months. The only reason she was still alive was because of the supplies he was stealing.

Taking a break from eavesdropping on people’s thoughts, Alex looked around his room. The room was sterile. There wasn’t one thing that would have come from his family. No flowers, no teddy bears, no cards, no nothing. Not seeing anything certainly didn’t help Alex remember who he was.

Sighing once more, Alex looked back at the window. Something told him not to be surprised at the lack of well-wishes. It would have boosted his spirits if someone had given him any indication that they were thinking of him. Instead, he lay in his bed alone with his thoughts. It had become boring invading people’s thoughts, as most were not worth listening to.

Alex then had an idea and focused on his own mind rather than others’. Instantly, something happened that opened a whole new world for Alex, although he wouldn’t know the full extent for a while.

Looking around, Alex found himself in what could be described as a post-apocalyptic scene. There were papers scattered around, and sparks fell from the ceiling where the wires had been broken. Here and there, small fires burned as paper was ignited by the sparks.

Bending over, Alex picked up a piece of paper. At first, nothing was written on it, but the longer Alex looked at it, the writing began to appear. Slowly, what was there became known. At first, Alex didn’t know what he was looking at, but suddenly, it made sense. As soon as Alex figured out the papers, he began running around and putting out fires.

Those papers were his memories. The one in his hand was a memory of him breaking into a scholarly journal website to read the articles without paying. As Alex put out the fires, he gathered the papers so more sparks wouldn’t fall on them.

Once he had an armload, he set them down by an old chair where no sparks were falling nearby. Slowly, he cleaned up the mess and gathered his remaining memories. It took several hours, but eventually, Alex had everything together.

Sitting in the chair, Alex wondered if it was worth the effort. ‘Would it be better to start a new life?’ Alex wondered. Looking into a mirror, Alex knew what he had to do. He had to recover as much of his memory as possible because nobody just started over.

At least all the papers now had writing and pictures. Now Alex had to figure out how to get everything back where it belonged. Looking back on his hacking memory, Alex had an idea but wasn’t sure how to execute it.

First, Alex tried to set up a computer terminal using his willpower. That didn’t work and gave him a headache. Next, Alex focused on the equipment he wanted. Again, nothing. Sighing, Alex began working the old-fashioned way. He picked up each piece of paper, read it, and then put it in a pile. Each pile was for a different group of memories. One was for family, one was for school, one was for hobbies, and so on.

As Alex looked through the surviving memories, he realized how sad his life was. There was very little joy in it, and the joy had to be hidden because his father had a habit of doing whatever was possible to destroy Alex’s happiness. If his father didn’t, then his sister or mother would.

Suddenly, Alex heard someone calling his name. Looking around, he didn’t see anyone until he noticed the two screens on the wall. He realized those screens showed what his eyes saw. Seeing what was happening, Alex returned to the real world.

“Are you okay, Alex?” Stacy asked. “You looked like you were miles away.”

“Sorry. Just trying to remember.”

“Any luck?”

“Maybe. If those were my memories, my life really sucks, and it might be better if I never made it out of this hospital.”

“Umm, what are you saying?” Stacy asked, suddenly nervous.

“Based on what I think I remember, it would be far better if you could screw up my drugs so I can die.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Stacy was rattled again. She had never had a thirteen-year-old child ask her to end their life, although she had heard of that happening, and despite her hatred of males, she didn’t want to see Alex die. “Let me go get the doctor. I think you two need to talk.”

“Okay.” Alex shrugged. “It’s not like I can go anywhere.” Alex looked back toward the window. Something didn’t add up. He had been in his mind for hours; there was a clock. But looking at the clock on the wall of his room, only fifteen minutes had passed. It was something he would have to investigate.

Jumping back into his mind was easier than before, but this time, Alex watched the outside world and his internal clock. It didn’t take long to discover that for every minute in his mind, one second would pass in the real world. Having this knowledge, Alex could plan time to be alone with his thoughts.

He liked being in his head as he could walk around without problems. Knowing how things worked a little better, Alex returned to sorting memories while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Sorting memories was slower while keeping an eye on the surroundings, but it was much safer. Alex knew he would be interrupted, and five actual minutes after Stacy left, she returned with Doctor No.

“Hello, doctor. I see Stacy found you.”

“Yes. She is concerned, and if what she told me is how you feel, then she has the right to be.”

“Why would anyone worry about me? My parents sure don’t. I’ve been awake for hours, and while I have no doubt someone called them, I bet they didn’t answer, or if they did, they gave some non-answer.” From the look on the doctor’s face, Alex knew he was right. “Look, I’m sorry about feeling the way I do, but my family wishes I didn’t exist. They have been doing everything possible for years to hold me back or prevent my success. Do you know they enrolled my sister in the state’s top private school? They put me in Fremont.” Stacy gasped as it was well known that Fremont was not the place to be if you were white. “If my sister gets in trouble, it’s my fault, even though I may be miles away, and she is always getting into trouble. She’s only just turned sixteen and has had three abortions, with the first when she was twelve. My father does his best to stomp out any good feelings I have, while my mother does her best to make me feel guilty for being born white. I never had any slaves; why should I suffer for slaveholder sins? As far as I can tell, my family has never held slaves and, in fact, were anti-slavery activists.”

Stacy and Doctor No were stunned. Now they understood why someone would feel like Alex did. Still, that didn’t mean he should end things.

“Still, you don’t need to end your life,” started Stacy. She didn’t know why, but she really wanted to see Alex succeed. “Your sister will eventually run out of people to blame, and you’ll graduate.”

“Graduating from Fremont. Yeah, that’s not a diploma worth having. Did you know that last year, not a single student from the graduating class could write their own name? The students hate me, the faculty hate me, everyone hates me. I’ve got a broken back, so I’ll be confined to a wheelchair. People are already extremely rude to people in wheelchairs, so why set myself up for that? Why should I continue living when I have no future?”

Stacy and the doctor were stunned. It was apparent Alex’s memories had returned, and not for the better. They wouldn’t have pushed him to remember if they had realized how bad Alex’s memories were. Unfortunately, Alex’s memories had returned, and there was no going back. Doctor No added an urgent note to Alex’s file, hoping the psychiatrist would schedule an appointment soon.

“Well, young man, you are not killing yourself on my watch,” declared Doctor No. “I have put a lot of effort into your case, and I will not see it ruined by your short-sightedness.”

“Not like I can do anything.” Alex rattled the bed rails where he was strapped down.

“And you are going to stay strapped down until I am convinced you will not be a hazard to yourself.”

“That’s fine. Eventually, someone will let me up, and that will be the end.”

Alex stared into the doctor’s eyes, challenging him, daring him to offer a rebuttal. Doctor No couldn’t do it because he knew Alex was right. The bureaucrats would force Alex’s discharge so that a bed would be available for someone else. It was the worst way Doctor No could imagine operating a hospital.

Before, it was the insurance companies, but at least there was money to be made, so people became doctors, nurses, and technicians. Insurance companies also didn’t want patients dying because dead people don’t pay insurance, so they generally allowed doctors the freedom to treat the patient. Hospitals could also afford to invest in better tools because they would see a return on their investment. Now, there was no return on investment, so there was no investment. Instead of heartless insurance companies, it was now ruthless ideological bureaucrats, motivated solely by ideology and the urge to maintain and gain power.

Generally, the older the patient, the worse their care, because of the perception that they have less to contribute to society. Since they couldn’t contribute as much to society as a younger person, they received less care. There were times when Doctor No became ill, thinking about the state of the healthcare system. Worse, he had supported the move to a government-funded healthcare system, believing it would make healthcare more accessible to the poor. Instead, only the ultrawealthy or those connected received decent healthcare. Those who were capable of learning learned a valuable lesson: just because you have access to something doesn’t mean it will be worthwhile.

Doctor No turned and left before anyone could see him become emotional. Stacy stayed behind to talk to Alex for a moment.

“You know the doctor has done a lot of good here. He’s one of the best doctors in the state.” Alex looked at Stacy.

“I’m sorry, but that is how I feel. Tell me that I’m wrong. My last name is Armstrong,” Alex looked at his skinny arms buried in tubing, “talk about a misnomer. I used to stand 4’6” when thinking tall thoughts and weigh 85 pounds soaking wet. I’m paralyzed, attending the worst school in the state, and have a family that hates me. I’m a straight, white male in a world that hates them. So, tell me, what future do I have?” Stacy was stunned into silence. She had never looked at things from a white guy’s point of view. Thinking about it, she realized everything was stacked against them. They were blamed for everything bad and instantly put at the bottom of every promotion and job list. “Every deck is stacked against me, so why not check out early to avoid the pain? After all, didn’t the song say Suicide is Painless?”

Despite her personal feelings, a tear ran down Stacy’s cheek. Had things really gotten so bad that children were giving up on life? She didn’t know and didn’t think she wanted to find out. Seeing that Alex seemed to check out again, Stacy left, quietly closing the door behind her. Outside the room, she leaned against the door and tried to clear her face of tears. She was a hardened nurse, but Alex crushed her emotional armor. It seemed they didn’t want to stop, but eventually, Stacy got a hold of herself. She knew she would have to warn the other nurses about Alex, as a few were unstable. Shaking her head, Stacy returned to her duties.

Inside the room, Alex jumped back into his head, trying to learn everything he could. He had been serious when he said he would end everything. He didn’t see a way for him to survive the next few years, and if he did, he would never be able to get a decent job.

Chapter 3

19 September

Doctor Rebecca “Becky” Hastings sighed and opened the next file. Seeing that it was another boy threatening suicide, she put her hand up, rubbing her forehead to try to stem the oncoming headache. It seemed as if three-quarters of her work was with boys who saw no way forward. This file belonged to a boy in the pediatric wing who had been struck by lightning. When he was struck, he was thrown against a car, where he broke his back and legs. Worse, he was having memory problems, and what he could remember gave him no hope for the future.

Becky read the file, and her first thought was that if there was someone who didn’t have a terminal illness and felt justified in committing suicide, it was this kid. If what he said matched reality, she couldn’t believe any parent could do that to their child.

Slowly, she stood up and stretched. Despite being only 44 years old, Becky felt 104. Like most other medical professionals, Becky was overworked and underpaid. Nobody was willing to enter the medical profession, as it was guaranteed that you would be overworked, underpaid, and constantly worry about being sued for everything you had done. Most people graduating from medical school were barely literate. The bar was so low, in the interest of diversity, that it was impossible to fail unless you were a white male or genuinely interested in becoming a doctor. After all, the establishment couldn’t have a good, young doctor showing them up. All you had to do was attend class a couple of times a semester, and you would be guaranteed a diploma. A person didn’t even need to pass a test to pass the class.

Something about this new case piqued her interest, and she was looking forward to meeting with the young man. It had been years since she had looked forward to a case like she did with Alex’s.

It was a ten-minute walk from her office to Alex’s room, and during that time, Rebecca thought about various lines of communication she could use to get him to open up to her in a constructive fashion. It was apparent that Alex had no problems opening up regarding some issues, but Rebecca felt he was hiding far more.

In only a short time, Alex had gotten good at watching for others approaching while he was wandering around inside his head. After several days of brain time, Alex finally organized all of his remaining memories, and while there were gaps, he hadn’t lost as much as he had thought. He still retained about two-thirds of his memory from before the lightning strike, but nothing of that day.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Hastings, your psychologist.”

“Hey, doc.” Alex looked at her. “I would ask if I’m supposed to be on a couch, but …” he looked at his bed and restraints. Becky laughed.

“Sorry, I can’t do anything about those yet. But maybe together, we can get it to where you can move around again.”

“I highly doubt that will happen unless you have superpowers, in which case, why are you here? There is nothing you can do to improve the basic reasons for me wanting to die.”

“Why do you say that?” Becky asked while pulling up a seat. So far, she hadn’t been disappointed by this young man. He was certainly interesting.

“Well, let’s start off with the obvious: I’m apparently paralyzed from the waist down. That means a wheelchair, which means even more harassment at school.”

“Can’t you report the harassment to the school? By law, they have to protect you.” Alex laughed hard.

“My parents, in their infinite insanity, decided it would be best for me to go to Fremont. Something about learning what it’s like for the oppressed, or some bullshit like that. Anyway, the faculty is half of my problem. If I report any harassment, I’m racist and just don’t understand when the other kids are joking. Because giving you a swirly and then forcing you to eat shit is just a bloody fucking joke. Of course, they report that I’m causing waves to my mother, who promptly gives me a lecture on how I’m the oppressor because I’m a white male and I should atone for my sins. I’ve never had any fucking slaves. My grandparents never had slaves. From what I can tell, my ancestors were fucking anti-slavery activists. But yet, I must fucking atone for their sins on top of every other fucking problem in the world.”

Becky couldn’t close her mouth. In all her years as a youth counselor, she had never heard of such mental abuse. She had to do something.

“Can you write down all the abuse you have suffered? Maybe I can get you into a better home.” Alex tipped his head back and laughed. He kept laughing until he began coughing.

“Oh, thanks. I needed a laugh. Let me give you a word of warning: stay as far away from me as possible if you want to keep your job, house, or anything else of value. If you were to go through with this, my mother would be outraged and come after you with both barrels. She is a filthy lawyer, and by the time she’s done with you, you will be just another homeless, crackpot whore. If she can’t find any evidence of wrongdoing, she will fabricate it and ensure that it’s severe enough that you will never get another job. If you have family money, she will launch hundreds of lawsuits against you for everything you can imagine. Granted, most won’t stick, but it only takes one. Since she’s got several judges in her back pocket, you will be found guilty, and your family’s wealth will be confiscated,” Alex paused, looking at Becky. “I see that you don’t believe me, but I assure you. I have seen her do it before to lesser people. My mother will not tolerate anyone questioning her.”

Becky was shaking by the time Alex had finished. While his warning was outlandish, something in his eyes told Becky he was telling the unvarnished truth.

“What about your father? I saw him listed as Tom.”

“My father hates my guts. Actually, I would be astonished if he were my biological father. I have blonde hair and blue eyes, and haven’t really started puberty yet. My father has black hair, brown eyes, and claims he started puberty when he was ten. My mother has blue eyes and also started puberty early. My sister began when she was nine. Since my mother cannot keep her legs closed near anyone with more power than she has, I think you can figure out the rest.”

“Well, boys don’t begin puberty as early as girls.”

“My father was already well into puberty by this point in his life. He likes to brag that he picked his first cherry in the supply closet of his fourth-grade classroom.” Becky was desperate to come up with something to boost Alex’s outlook on life.

“But you only have six years to go, then you can leave home.”

“With a degree from the worst school in the state. Of course, that is assuming they don’t find “something wrong,” and I am blocked from graduating. That is also assuming I haven’t been murdered by that time. Of course, nobody would care, so whoever kills me will get away with it.”

“But I would care,” Becky said quietly. Alex smiled warmly.

“I believe you, and in a different world, I would agree, but there’s nothing you can do for me in this world. You should probably save your effort for people you can help. I suppose you could report my mother’s behavior to the Bar Association, but she sleeps with most of the governing body and has dirt on every one of them. After covering her ass, she would be after you. You could report my father for repeatedly sleeping with underage teens, but I doubt the university, which in this case is also your employer, would do anything. You would probably get fired for something. You could report both of them for child endangerment for allowing my older sister to leave the house to get high, drunk, and laid, but see previous statements regarding my parents.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Becky was desperate. Alex smiled.

“You can let me go so I can end everything.” Becky gave him the that’s not going to happen look. “Then can you get me a used laptop with internet access?”

“Why used?”

“It makes it harder to be traced. You should pay cash and do not put your name on anything.”

“I cannot be part of any illegal activities.”

“Shame. I could get my mother and father arrested and put in prison for the rest of their lives without getting you into any trouble. I could also give you a pay raise and eliminate all your debts.”

“How?”

“I got most of my memories back and found I’m a very gifted computer nerd.”

“Oh.”

Becky sat quietly next to Alex’s bed, her mind in turmoil. Alex had shocked her with the depth of abuse he had gone through, but he still seemed a well-rounded individual. He was definitely more intelligent than she had been at his age and far more mature. Furthermore, Alex told her he could get his parents locked up without putting her in danger. Becky knew that if Alex were to survive, he would need a drastic change of circumstances.

While Becky sat next to his bed, Alex slipped back into his brain. He was curious to see if he could slip into another person’s brain. For that, Becky was perfect. She was experiencing enough turmoil that Alex doubted she would notice if he succeeded. Knowing how he slipped into his head, Alex focused on Becky.

To Alex’s surprise, he slipped into Becky’s head with no problem. He found everything in her head neat and tidy, a complete contrast to his own brain. But in his defense, he had been struck by lightning and almost lost his entire memory. Alex didn’t try to manipulate Becky’s mind since he didn’t know what he was doing, and she seemed like one of the good ones. Flipping through Becky’s memories, he learned everything about her and why she had been so willing to help him.

Becky’s life had been sad as well. While her childhood had been happy, she had been devastated when her family was killed by a tornado that hit their house. Becky had been away at a friend’s birthday party, which was how she had been spared. In addition to her parents, she lost her older brother and younger sister in the disaster.

Since the disaster happened just after she turned 18, Becky had to deal with everything. Despite that, she still graduated at the top of her class and received a sought-after scholarship that paid for all four years of her undergrad. That allowed her to save her money for grad school, which she passed with flying colors and debt-free at 24.

The day after graduation, she married the man of her dreams, but fate once again interfered with her happiness. Three years after they were married, her husband and newborn baby girl were killed when their vehicle was slammed into by a drunk driver. The drunk driver walked away without a scratch, and because she was a “historically oppressed” minority, she got away with only a slap on the wrist, while Becky was left trying to pick up the shattered pieces of her life.

To compensate, Becky threw herself into her work and was instrumental in saving countless troubled children and young teens. She had a way of connecting with them that no one else did. Now, she had come up against one of her toughest challenges as her usual methods didn’t work and, worse, could be dangerous.

Seeing how a person’s brain was supposed to work, Alex could begin reorganizing his. He only spent about an hour in brain time in Becky’s head before slipping back into his own. Seeing the mess, Alex began organizing and cleaning. While not altering his brain’s wiring or general architecture, Alex was able to refine his approach.

Twenty minutes later, Becky stood and told Alex she would be back so they could talk some more. Alex nodded to her and told her to have a good night. Having time, Alex went through his memories and matched fragments. Essentially, he was defragging his brain. The longer he worked on it, the faster he got until the memories automatically defragged. By the time the night shift began, Alex’s memories were as good as they would ever be.

Realizing time worked differently in his head, Alex wondered if he could sleep in his head so he could have more time for other things. Looking around, Alex thought, ‘It would be nice if there were a bed here.’ To his astonishment, a bed appeared. A bonus was that the bed was the exact firmness Alex liked. He kicked his clothes off and passed out.

While Alex slept, he dreamt. The dreams were detailed and vivid enough that Alex could remember them. When Alex woke up, he felt completely refreshed and ready to tackle anything. It was the first time in many years that Alex had such an attitude.

The clock in his brain said he had been asleep for ten hours, which Alex knew translated into only a few minutes in the real world. As Alex opened his eyes to the real world, he knew the experiment had been a success and felt completely refreshed. If only he had something to do.

Looking at the computer next to his bed, Alex wondered and remembered a dream he had had. He hopped into his brain before focusing on the computer. Getting into the computer was only slightly more challenging than getting into Becky’s brain. Once inside the computer, Alex began experimenting with his new power. One of the first things he discovered was that firewalls no longer meant anything, and login procedures were easily bypassed.

Alex got into his home computer and rewrote the software, increasing the machine’s processing power to the hardware’s limits. When he rewrote the software, he removed all the old language that had limited performance since the invention of computer software. Instead of using brute force like all existing computer languages, Alex’s new language was far more graceful and worked with precision moves that didn’t waste energy. Once he went home, he would have to fix the hardware. To prevent anyone else from gaining access, Alex upgraded the security to the point where it was impossible to hack into.

Once everything was done, Alex looked to see what his parents had been up to. What he found left him more disgusted than usual. His father was in negotiations with a human trafficker to buy several toys while his mother was sleeping with several politicians to gain blackmail material. A pending bill would significantly increase lawyers’ power and the scope of what they could sue for, while also expanding their fee collection powers. She wanted to ensure that the bill passed and that even if the governor vetoed it, as he had said he would, she would have the votes to override the veto.

That was a step too far for both parents, and Alex wasn’t going to let their plans come to fruition. Using several VPNs, Alex sent several anonymous tips to the FBI regarding his father’s actions with underage teens, siphoning off research money, money laundering, and supporting hostile foreign powers by providing them with intel stolen from some of the university’s research into advanced materials and robotics. Tom would be lucky if he ever saw the light of day as a free man again. Alex would do everything possible to ensure he wouldn’t.

With his father taken care of, it was time to work on his mother. She would be more challenging to track down, since she was far more careful to hide. As he was about to get started, the night nurse coming in interrupted him, and Alex jumped out of the computer. He made up a quick story about being unable to sleep, so the nurse gave him a sleep aid.

Alex figured the sleep aid wouldn’t do him any good, but he was wrong. Within five minutes of taking it, he had been completely knocked out. What Alex didn’t realize was that while his brain now required far less real-time rest, his body needed more, as it had to support the increase in brain activity and was still recovering.

In essence, the total rest was a zero-sum game for Alex. While the lightning strike had sped up his brain, that increase in power had to come from somewhere. There were several ways to mitigate this effect: increasing the power flowing in, slowing down his brain activity, or enhancing the efficiency of energy consumption in his brain.

Alex didn’t wake up until Rebecca came into the room late the following morning, carrying a box and a bag. He looked up at her and tried to see better, but had heavy residue crusted over his eyes, and with his arms tied down, he couldn’t clear it. Seeing what was wrong, Rebecca used a damp rag to wipe Alex’s eyes clear. Her heart melted when he looked up at her with his eyes clear.

Rebecca wasn’t looking at Alex like a lover, but her son. The appreciation she saw in his blue eyes reawakened her dormant maternal instincts. At that point, she knew there was no reasonable request Alex could make that she wouldn’t try to fulfill.

“Good morning, Doctor Hastings.”

“Good morning. Please call me Becky.”

“Very well. What can I do for you?” Becky smiled.

“You can give up your suicidal thoughts and work with me toward a better future for you.” Alex gave her a curious look.

“Oh? You have a way I can avoid returning to the hell that was my life?”

“I have the computer you asked for,” Becky held up the box in her hand. “And lunch.” Alex’s eyes lit up when she said lunch, and Becky laughed. “This is my lunch. Sorry, but you’re on a liquid diet.” Now, it was the sad puppy dog eyes, which Becky had to admit that Alex was quite good at. “I know you are intelligent, so think for a moment. If you eat solid food, what will happen at the end of the cycle?” Alex thought and cringed. He had no alternative but to use a bedpan to go to the bathroom, and with the nursing shortage, it might take some time to obtain one or to empty it afterward. Still, Becky unboxed the used laptop she had bought. While not something she should have done, Becky was, at heart, a curious woman, and Alex piqued that curiosity. She wondered what he could do with it. “I will untie your arms if you promise not to try hurting yourself.”

“I promise,” Alex replied while keeping his eyes locked on Becky’s warm brown eyes.

Becky believed Alex and untied his arms. The first thing Alex did was stretch and cringed when his elbows and shoulders popped. Rebecca gave Alex the laptop that was now booting up, and while they waited, she plugged it in. Alex booted it up in safe mode and went through everything, looking for any traps left behind by the shop or previous owner.

Finding nothing, Alex rebooted the machine normally and then completed the initial start-up sequence. From what Becky could see, Alex knew his way around computers, as his fingers flew across the keyboard in a blur. It didn’t take long for Alex to connect with the hospital Wi-Fi and bypass the firewalls. Once he was around the firewalls, it was time to get to work.

The first thing on Alex’s list was to upgrade the computer with the software he had written the night before. To do that, he logged into his home computer and copied what he had done. The new software increased the laptop’s speed by a factor of eight, enabling much more efficient processing. Instead of everything being yes or no, as in the electronic on/off used in the first computers, Alex’s system was a version of quantum computing, allowing yes, no, and maybe to occur simultaneously.

With the new software, Alex was virtually unstoppable. Becky sat in awe as she tried to grasp what Alex was doing. While not computer illiterate, what Alex was doing was so far beyond her understanding that it almost seemed like magic.

The first stop was the hospital’s system to see if Alex could get Becky better pay. To his disappointment, there was no way of giving Becky a pay raise without raising red flags. It was something he would have to work on. While he could easily give her the raise, thanks to the endless layers of bureaucracy, someone would notice, and Becky would have to return everything extra and probably be fined even though she had nothing to do with it.

Alex couldn’t get rid of Rebecca’s debt because she had none. Being single and without a life, she barely spent any money, instead shoveling everything extra into multiple investment accounts or donating to charities. After hearing which charities she favored, Alex broke into them to ensure the money was spent wisely. One had good controls and spent only 15% on administration, which was much better than usual but still too high in Alex’s opinion. In contrast, the other charity was engaged in criminal activity. Alex found evidence of money laundering, theft, and drug cartel activity.

When Becky saw what her favorite charity was doing, she logged in to her bank account and halted all payments to the charity. Alex advised her to freeze her bank account instead. He didn’t want the charity to break into it and steal everything Becky had worked so hard for. By this time, if Alex had said water was dry and the moon was made of cheese, she would have believed him.

After gathering all the evidence and wiping Becky’s banking information from the charity database, he sent everything to the FBI as another anonymous tip. It didn’t surprise him to find his father listed among the top donors. That explained where a professor got his criminal connections.

Thinking of his father, Alex began wondering where all the money he seemed to have came from. He knew his mother refused to give Tom any money, but the evidence showed that he had access to substantial funds.

Breaking into his father’s computer was a simple task. What wasn’t simple was finding the money trail. Alex had to search for it for almost an hour and could only shake his head when he finally located his father’s money stash. In the past, when Alex asked for a few bucks, his father always told him they didn’t have money to give him. What Tom should have said was that they didn’t have the legal cash to give him.

Alex figured that since it was so hidden, the police wouldn’t find it, so he helped himself. Within five minutes, every penny Alex could find was transferred from the offshore bank Tom had hidden to another account Alex had set up. The problem was that Alex didn’t have the time to launder the money into the country.

With his father’s offshore accounts drained, Alex knew his father couldn’t escape and wondered how long it would take him to discover what had happened.

“Shouldn’t you have given at least some of that money to charity?” asked Becky. “There’s a huge number of people that money could help.”

“Sorry, but I do not feel sorry for people down on their luck. From everything I have seen, half of that bad luck was self-inflicted, and in their cases, they get what they deserve. I have been mentally abused by my hypocritical parents and self-serving sister all my life; I deserve something.”

“But $50 million?” Alex shrugged.

“Assuming I am allowed to graduate, what hope do I have of finding a job? I will need that money to last at least until I can undo the damage my parents caused.” Looking at the clock, Alex shut off the computer. When Becky looked at him, he explained. “I have some testing scheduled in a little while.” Becky nodded before strapping Alex back to his bed.

“I’ll talk with your doctor to get these removed. Unfortunately, I can’t give that order; I only advise.” Now, it was Alex’s turn to nod his understanding. He had expected that and couldn’t be angry at Becky.

After Becky ensured Alex was comfortable, she kissed him on the forehead, causing Alex to begin sobbing. All his life, he had dreamed of having someone who cared about him, and now it appeared he had found that person. Alex looked at Becky with tears streaming down his face. Becky’s eyes were moist at seeing the love and naked vulnerability showing in Alex’s. She knew he desperately wanted to adopt her as his mother, but she wasn’t sure that was possible.

As his counselor, it would present ethical issues, and housing him would present logistical challenges because she only had a single-bedroom condo. However, rejecting him could harm him. Something else Becky was concerned with was that if Alex decided to kill himself, and given his computer skills, he could cause a disaster if he chose to. Thankfully, she had some time to think of a solution.

While Becky was thinking about having Alex as her son, Alex was having much the same thoughts. He wondered what it would be like with Becky as a mother. She seemed much more willing to help him and, more importantly, listened. Alex already knew that if Becky became his mother, he wouldn’t be able to get away with everything he did; he had already seen that. However, unlike his biological mother, Alex wouldn’t receive an ideological lecture; instead, he would get a logical argument explaining what he had done wrong and what was needed to correct it. To Alex, it was paradise.

After Becky left, Alex was left to his thoughts, and he jumped into the room’s computer. This time, he visited the local library’s website and searched for books about what was happening to him. It was no surprise that all of them were fiction. Despite that, Alex decided to read them anyway. Maybe he could find trends to guide him. His reasoning was that myths were often influenced by actual events, so maybe by reading many stories, Alex could build a possible picture of what was happening to him.

Once again, Alex found his faster brain a great advantage, but with the sheer volume of material, he quickly realized he needed something even faster. After reading the first few stories, Alex was ready to try some things. First, he glanced over a page, not reading it but reviewing it. Once he had a picture of the page, Alex watched what happened inside his brain.

The page’s memory was moved from short-term to long-term storage. Once that was done, Alex found it easy to access, and he could recall everything written on the page. It surprised Alex how easy it was once he had an idea of how to do it. More surprisingly, once the fiction stories were combined, they proved helpful.

Having the procedure down, Alex began skimming page after page, spending only a second of mental effort on each one. He also discovered that storing information was much more efficient if the whole memory could be processed without interruptions. He discovered this when a fly buzzed his head. With the break in concentration, Alex had to start over. Overwriting the book’s memory, Alex wondered if he could defrag it like he had defragged his life memory.

To test the theory, Alex purposely broke his concentration. He then finished the book. Examining the memory, Alex removed the interruption and stitched the two partial memories together before storing them.

If he could have danced, he would have done the jig when his memory defrag worked the first time. Now was the time to get serious about gathering information. Alex looked through as many electronic books as possible, with his only real limiting factor being the available internet bandwidth. Alex heard someone coming and jumped out of the computer. He was still storing book memories, and from the memory logjam, it would take some time to finish.

Chapter 4

19 September

Stacy was headed to get Alex ready for testing. The staff was confused because the hospital’s internet had been acting strangely for the past few hours, but nobody knew why. The hospital IT couldn’t make heads or tails of it either. All they knew was that there was a sudden spike in data demand that was so large it overwhelmed everything. The spike seemed to have come from inside the hospital, but even if all the machines had been linked together, it wouldn’t have created a demand spike that large.

When Stacy entered Alex’s room, he smiled warmly at her. Something about his smile made her feel better, and Stacy couldn’t help but smile back. ‘Depending on how puberty does with him, I pity any female at his school. They’ll be dropping their panties as soon as they see that smile.’ She thought. The thought startled her when she realized she had also thought that if they had met in school, she would have done the same thing.

“Come on, Alex. Time to see what might have caused your memory loss.”

“Well, if my sister and mother are to be believed, there’s nothing up there so …”

Stacy tried to avoid laughing; she really did, but between Alex’s statement and his goofy smile, she couldn’t. The resulting laughter helped Stacy relax and forget the drama in her personal life. She smiled warmly at Alex, and he returned it with interest. Stacy caught herself just before bending down to kiss him. ‘GIRL! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!’ she screamed at herself. Alex wasn’t only a patient but was also a male and way underage.

“Boy, there should be a restraining order against you ordering you to stay a minimum of fifty feet away from any female past puberty. They won’t have a chance against you in a few years.” Alex snorted.

“I doubt any girl would date someone they can look down on.” Stacy’s smile didn’t diminish.

“Give it a year or two, and you’ll fill out. Trust me. By the time you hit sixteen, I bet you will have to hide to keep out of the girls’ hands. In the meantime, we need to prepare you for your testing. The CT scan is first, followed by the MRI.”

Alex watched as Stacy got him ready to move. She had given him some water, so he sipped it while she continued to work. Alex was excited to travel, as he was tired of always seeing the inside of the same room. It didn’t take long to discover the downside of traveling. Any jiggle sent shockwaves through the parts of his back that weren’t numb, reminding him of the damage done.

Despite the pain, Alex refused to say anything. That was because he had been conditioned to not show pain or happiness. Showing pain or crying was heavily ridiculed by Alex’s father and sister, while his mother refused to take any time to check on him. If Alex showed happiness, his family worked relentlessly to crush it.

By the time they reached their first destination, Alex had beads of sweat running down his forehead. Stacy had never noticed as she was again distracted by everything she had to do. Alex’s condition was first noticed by the tech, who gasped when she saw him.

“Oh my! What happened?” the tech named Samantha cried out. That was when Stacy noticed.

“Alex! Why didn’t you say anything? I could have gotten you some painkillers.”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.” Stacy checked his heart and found it racing. A quick check of his blood pressure found it highly elevated. Stacy called the doctor and asked him about painkillers. Instead of approving them over the phone, the doctor came to see Alex.

“I understand you are in some pain,” said Doctor No when he entered the room.

“Like I told Stacy, I’m fine, doc.” Doctor No had no problem seeing that Alex was lying through his teeth.

“Alex,” the doctor began, sighing. “We can’t treat you if you don’t tell us when you are hurting.”

“Why? Nobody ever cares when I hurt?” Doctor No, Stacy, and Samantha looked at Alex with open mouths.

“Well, we care, so please tell us when you hurt,” stated Stacy before she had time to think. Alex only gave her a calculating look, calling her out. “We do,” she insisted.

Just then, Samantha accidentally hit one of Alex’s feet, and he screamed in pain before passing out. She was stunned by the reaction, but Dr. No moved swiftly to check him. With Alex passing out, the doctor had no idea how much pain he had been in, but went ahead and gave him a dose of painkillers. It was one of the times Dr. No wished Alex had been an adult because that would have expanded the types of painkillers available. Since Dr. No or Stacy didn’t see Samantha bump Alex’s foot, they didn’t put the pieces together that Alex was healing.

Once the painkillers had been administered, aides helped slide Alex off his bed and onto the table for the CT scan. This woke Alex up with a groan. Seeing he was awake, Samantha bent over next to his head.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Alex groaned again as he patted her nearby hand. Samantha was stunned that she had been forgiven so easily; she knew that if the roles had been reversed, she wouldn’t have been so forgiving.

As everyone retreated to the control room, Dr. No wished they were back in the old days so he wouldn’t have to wait a few days for the results. He remembered some of his instructors saying they used to get test results back in hours or minutes. Now, they were lucky to get results back in days. However, Dr. No stayed in the control room; a little voice in his head told him these wouldn’t be standard tests. The doctor had no idea how correct that voice would be.

As the techs retreated, so did Alex, only he retreated into his head. He was still trying to learn everything he could regarding his new abilities. As the radiation began hitting his body, Alex noticed something strange. He could absorb some of the energy and use it in his body.

As the energy flowed in, Alex used it to further boost his mental capacity after his attempts to heal his injuries had failed. He reasoned that he might not be absorbing enough energy, even though the radiation was sufficient to increase his mental capacity by a third. Alex didn’t realize what effect that would have during the next test.

The CT scan went smoothly from the techs’ perspective, and they unloaded Alex normally before handing him back to Stacy and Dr. No for transport to the MRI machine. Alex was happy that the painkillers were beginning to take effect, as they made the trip only very painful rather than excruciating.

Again, Alex was slid onto a table, and he wondered when he would start feeling like a side of meat, constantly going from one table to the next. The techs, Dr. No, and Stacy withdrew to the control room to observe. Stacy was catching up on her girlfriend’s latest attempts to embarrass her, so she wasn’t paying attention to the testing. Dr. No was paying attention and would soon be very glad for that.

As the magnets began spinning, Alex again found he could absorb some of the energy. However, this time, the amount of energy he could absorb was significantly higher. Alex loved the feeling of power and quickly used it to heal his broken legs and spine. Once he knew how to do it, healing the bone wasn’t tricky. Healing the nerves was far more difficult, as each broken end had to be matched to its corresponding nerve.

Alex felt he had been working for hours, even though it had only been thirty seconds in real time. Instinct told him that if he didn’t get this done now, he would never be able to accomplish it. Sending an impulse of energy down each nerve, Alex had to watch carefully to see which nerve twitched. Once he had matching ends, they had to be rejoined and tested before going on to the next one. The work was slow going, but Alex was making headway. As his nerves rejoined, the feeling returned to Alex’s legs, and he twisted his feet to loosen his ankles. When Alex moved his ankles, he felt them pop, and at that moment, that was the most beautiful thing Alex had ever experienced.

Dr. No was just taking a drink of horrible hospital coffee, trying to stay awake after 34 hours into a 48-hour shift, when he swore his eyes were playing tricks on him. They had to be because he swore he saw Alex’s feet move like someone would if they were working kinks out of their joints. Dr. No looked at his coffee and wondered if someone had played a practical joke and slipped him something that would make him hallucinate.

“Did anyone else see the patient’s feet move?” the doctor asked the room. Stacy looked up from her phone to see what was happening, while the techs did the same. However, Alex’s feet didn’t move again. After not seeing anything again, Tech 1 turned to the doctor.

“How long has it been since you have slept?”

“What’s that?” Dr. No responded; however, nobody laughed. It was well known that the hospital was dangerously short of doctors, leaving the doctors they had dreadfully overworked. It wasn’t unusual for doctors to work 48 hours straight, with perhaps only an hour of sleep.

The doctor wondered if this was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life when the alarms began blaring as the MRI scanner began to dangerously speed up. In his haze, Dr. No could only freeze and stare at the alarm. The technicians were startled by the alarm but began rushing to determine what had happened. Stacy could only stare out the window at Alex and wonder if the machine would be turned off before it killed him.

Finally, Tech 1 screamed:

“HIT THE E-STOP!” Tech 2 hit the E-stop button to her right, but nothing happened. She pulled the button out and hit it again.

“IT’S NOT RESPONDING! THE E-STOP IS NOT RESPONDING!” she screamed, panicked as she tried to hit it repeatedly. Seeing what was happening, Tech 1 screamed back.

“FORGET THE E-STOP, WE HAVE TO SHUT OFF THE MAIN POWER!” As if to emphasize his point, the lights began flickering. By this time, Dr. No had forgotten about his fatigue as he stared out the window at Alex. He just knew he now had a dead patient, as there was no way anyone could survive the energy input that Alex was now undergoing. Knowing the amount of energy being unleashed also prevented anyone from rushing into the room to pull Alex out.

Suddenly, the flickering stopped, but only because the lights went out, leaving only the emergency lights on. However, the MRI machine was still spinning dangerously fast and getting faster. Tech 1 finally reached the utility room, where the main disconnect was located, only to find the door locked. Looking around, he saw a fire axe. Without thinking, he smashed the glass, setting off the fire alarm. With the axe in hand, he swung it as hard as he could at the door.

It took thirteen hits for him to break the door open. Inside, it was dark because the room’s emergency lighting had failed. The hospital was aware of the failed emergency lights in the utility room, but there was insufficient funding to replace them, as they were deemed non-essential. Thankfully, the tech happened to have his phone in his pocket and used its light to find the MRI disconnect.

Finding the disconnect, he realized he could have used his sense of smell and touch to locate it, as it was very hot and smelled of burned wires. Again, without thinking, the tech flipped the disconnect, and the lights came back on instantly. The tech stumbled backward as he tried to understand what had happened. Suddenly remembering the patient in the scanner, he rushed back to the room. During his rush, he knocked over several people who were trying to evacuate.

Alex had fixed his back and legs, so he didn’t think things could get any better. That thought went out the window once they began scanning his head. Knowing he could absorb power, Alex gathered all he could to see what would happen. He didn’t know that it started a feedback loop when he began gathering power while the scanner was looking at his brain. The more power Alex pulled from his surroundings, the more was available. Alone, it wouldn’t have done much, but when combined with Alex’s endless reservoir of anger, it had some unexpected results.

Suddenly, Alex saw a flash of light in his head. Once he recovered, a door appeared where none had been before, and he could hear voices. He had always been warned about voices in his head, and now there were voices in his head. In this case, however, the voices belonged to three boys who looked almost exactly like Alex, except for their attire and hairstyles.

“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my head?!?!” demanded Alex.

“Chill, dude.” The one with shaggy hair and tattered clothing said. “We are you.”

“What?” Alex was confused.

“I said …”

“I heard what you said.” Alex snapped back. “I just don’t understand what you said. How can you be me?”

“Oh, we’re your subconscious.”

“Okay. Let’s say I buy that load of bullshit. Why are there three of you?”

“You made the three of us.” Alex only continued to stare daggers at the shaggy-haired boy.

“Sorry about that, but you’ll have to excuse Emo. He’s not the brightest bulb in the pack.”

“And who are you?” Alex asked the second one, who wore a white lab coat with a pocket protector. Everything about him was neat and tidy, from his well-cared-for hair to his shined shoes.

“The brightest bulb.” The other two punched his shoulders, but he continued as if nothing had happened. “I’m Intell. Short for intelligence.” Alex would have guessed the guy’s name to be Nerd. “As you might have guessed, Emo is short for emotions. He represents all of your emotions. When you feel happy, sad, or angry, that’s this idiot being himself.”

“Hey! That’s not very nice.”

“Sorry, Emo, but I have to side with Intell on this one. You’re all soft, swishy feelings and can change at the drop of a hat, which is why you always seem frustrated.”

“And you are?” Alex asked the third one. The third wore a black, rawhide trench coat, which, when combined with the marine-style buzz cut, combat boots, and eyes that didn’t miss a thing, gave off a dangerous vibe. Alex had always liked the no-nonsense look of a Marine and had thought about enlisting. If nothing else, enlisting would piss his parents off to no end. Alex could see the bulge from a shoulder-holstered pistol and what looked to be a sword at his waist.

“The name is Guardian, Milord.” The man made a short bow while the other two rolled their eyes and struggled not to giggle. “It is my job to protect you. I represent your physical strength and battle skills.”