The Words That Hurt Me

Fifty-Seven: What in the World?

Mikey was having a hard time keeping Goo awake. He couldn't blame them, but it was hard to do a check-up on someone who kept going limp.

"Fatigue may be a symptom," Tello mumbled, "Be sure to write that down so we can check later,"

Donny nodded, quickly scribbling something on a notepad. He grabbed a thermometer, and checked Goo's temperature, scribbling another note down.

"Can you wake them up, Mikey? We need a blood sample,"

"A blood sample?" Sarah asked. Donny nodded.

Everyone was there, or standing near, while Goo was being inspected. Some were concerned about Goo's health, others were curious about what they looked like as a human, and none of them had any boundaries. Not that it mattered that much, it wasn't like they were going to be stripped.

"We need to see what effects the retro-mutagen had on them," Donny explained as Mikey shook Goo awake, "How we proceed depends on what we find,"

"Proceed? What more needs to be done?" Sarah asked, looking like she was about to jump in to stop the check-up. Goo, hardly awake, offered their hand to Donny as soon as they saw him. Mikey assumed that it was out of habit.

"Well, to keep it simple," Tello started, turning to the crowd in the lab, "We had no problem making the retro-mutagen. What we had a problem with was the fact that they wouldn't stay unmutated,"

"They wouldn't stay unmutated?" Aaron asked, "Does that mean-"

"No, they aren't going to re-mutate, at least not right now," Tello interrupted, "You see, due to the inherent Mystic properties of the mutagen, it permanently altered the state of Goo's cells. They make mutagen now, sorta like how we do,"

"Yes! Just as I thought!" Donny said from the microscope, "The mutagen reverted about ninety-six percent of their cells,"

"Only ninety-six? Darn, I really thought we had that!"

"So, they're not...fully human right now?" Mikey asked, feeling Goo flop back onto his shoulder. Leon came over and started checking them, not fully trusting the Donnys' medical abilities.

"They are for the most part," Donny said, looking over his notes, "But there are abnormalities. Like, their temperature is about ten degrees lower than it should be, but they aren't showing any signs of hypothermia, their skin isn't pale, they aren't shivering, and they have a relaxed heart rate. Also, they have freckles on their cheek, which they didn't before,"

"As soon as Goo's rested, I'm going to inspect their bones," Tello said, looking through the microscope in place of Donny, "I want to see if they have wide ribs,"

"Wide ribs?" Goo's father whispered, looking utterly confused.

"Anyway, because of the mutagen production in their cells, we had to create a mutagen blocker that, well, blocked the mutagen production," Donny continued, "But only temporarily. I'll keep working to see if I can find a permanent solution, but Goo's going to have to be injected with more every so often,"

"How often?" Leon asked, gently squeezing Goo's arm in different places.

"From my estimation, about four months," Tello said, stretching liberally, "After that, their body will freely produce mutagen and they'll end up as a turtle again,"

The group fell silent after, stewing on the information they were provided with. Leon finished inspecting Goo, rubbing his chin in thought. He nodded to Mikey and turned to the group.

"If we were back home, I'd say that Goo should be put on IV fluids, but given our limited supplies, I'm going to prescribe them with a full night's rest, a nutritious breakfast, and plenty of water. As for you two," Leon said, pointing to the scientists, "You two are going to eat something and then go right to bed. No complaints,"