by Lee Sau Woon
NRPG :
A little beam of light to what exactly happen. So are they going to collaborate with the Crosses?
RPG :
> Jim wasn't really up to speed on this whole thing yet. One thing made sense > to him, though.
> "If Chris saw someone dying on a slab, he'd save them - no matter who they > were. At least, I'd hope so. Wouldn't you?" he asked Vanessa.
> "Yes. He wouldn't stand by and allow someone's death."
> "Does he have any specialties? If not, then they took a risk to use him when > any doctor would do. Unless they wanted to piss us off at the same time, of > course," Jim ventured.
St Vincent's, same time
-----------------------
Chris walked into the staff cafeteria, tired. He was just two hours into the shift, but had already dealt with so many cases that he felt drained.
"Perhaps you had not readjusted to fast-paced lifestyle here," one of his favourite nurses suggested.
As promised, there was no questions asked to his return to St Vincent's. Initially, he was doubtful of the whole thing, wondering if he would be able to cope with the questions posed by the hospital staff who had worked with him before his disappearance, questions which he had no answers to. However, to his surprise, there were no questions, no speculations, a joke or two, but that was it. It was as if the whole never happened, and he had just returned from a vacation instead. There was no mention of any lawsuit for mistakening the badly burnt body for his, of course.
The cafeteria was empty, and Chris ordered a cup of coffee and sat in a corner to enjoy it. Just when he was about to finish the whole cup, a stranger, dressed in corporate suit, walked into the cafeteria. Chris noticed him immediately, not only because outsiders are not supposed to use this cafeteria, but there was something decidedly out-of-place about him. He was therefore not surprised when the stranger made his way towards him.
"May I help you?" Chris asked.
"Someone wants to see you." The stranger said.
"Where?"
"At the Starbucks at the end of the street." With that, the stranger walked out, just before another doctor walked in.
"Who's that, Starling? You know him?"
"No, just someone who took a wrong turn." Chris lied. He then finished the last drop of his coffee, excused himself, and left the hospital grounds.
The walk took him five minutes, and when he reached Starbucks, a unmarked Benz turned into the street and stopped in front of him. The back door opened, and Chris saw a familiar face inside.
"Come in," Green said.
Chris got into the car, and the chauffer, separated by a piece of soundproof glass, started driving.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Don't worry, Chris, we're just driving around. A car like this will always attract attention. So how are you?"
"Fine. Everything is kinda back to normal, but I would still like to know what happens."
"Of course. But what do I get in return?"
Chris was surprised. Returns? "You guys abducted me, worry my parents and friends unnecssary, subjected me to god-knows-what, and you want something in return?"
Green smiled. "All right, I apologised. Wrong phrase perhaps. But today I came to see you for a purpose. I can give you some answers, but not details. The details is too much for anyone to take. And too dangerous to be known to the public."
"So give me whatever you can. What did they do to me? What did they force me to do?"
Green paused for a while, before he answered with another question.
"Do you know much about your origins?"
"Not much, just that I was found outside my parents' church, and they adopted me."
"And you are not interested in knowing where you were before that?"
"I was, when I was younger, but after a while, it is no longer important. My parents tried their best to make sure that I have the best, shielded me from whatever racial prejudice that exist in the community. George and Ellen are the best, and I do not think that it is important for me to find my birth parents."
"I see."
"So what had all these had to do with my disappearence?"
"Chris, let's just say that you were taken to make you normal again."
"What do you mean? You mean I was not normal beforehand?"
"Chris, you have to understand this, but things were did to you when you were very young, before the Starlings adopted you."
"Like what?"
"I cannot say more, for the details were out of my grasp too, but the attempted murder by the Crosses allow us a chance to take you away and remove the difference from you."
"What kind of difference is this? Biological? I had undertaken so many medical examinations before, and nobody had said that there was anything wrong with me."
Green smiled. "Because nobody could find out with the technology they had on hand."
"What do you mean?" Chris asked again. "A conspiracy? Some kind of scheme hidden from the public? You watch too much TV?"
"There is no smoke without fire," Green reminded him.
"Okay, fine, so let's assume that there is some kind of conspiracy," Chris said, disbelief in his voice. "Is it government?"
Another pause.
"I am not at a liberty to say yes or no, but if I agree to your question, it would mean that certain parties would be... excused."
"This conspiracy," Chris asked, "Is it cloning?"
"The one involving you? That was not the main agenda."
"Then why can't they just make it quick instead of bringing me to some isolated mountain cabin?
"Within any large organisation, there is always disagreement, especially in ground-breaking issues. However, a agreement was soon reached, and that was to release you."
"Ground-breaking issues," Chris repeated with sarcasm. "What happen if I did not escape. Would I stay there forever?"
"But you did, Christopher. If you had not, plans would be set in place to allow you to return."
"Yeah, sure."
"One advice, Christopher. Ask your lady friend and her teammates to stay out of the whole thing. I believe that they had been given an offer that they believed might give them the truth. My advice is, do not accept the offer. Once they accepted, they will discover something, which may or may not be the truth, but once they started their investigations, certain parties will be forced to take counter actions, and by then, I might not be able to guarantee their, and your, safety anymore. Any information they find, true or not, will be guaranteed to generate widespread panic. " Green then press a button on his side, and told his chauffer to drop Chris off in front of St Vincent's.
"Remember, ask them to stop if they treasure their safety, and care about the welfare of the general public. The public is not ready to accept whatever information they can find." Green reminded Chris before the Benz drove away.