Creatures of God

Bureaucratic Charades

"Okay, where is he?"

Without announcement, Mimi appeared at the door of the pathology department.

Dr. Berman sat at his desk with a stunned look on his face.

"Who? Elliot? I'm not sure... "

"Please, Dr. Berman! Please don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," the female HP officer said. "Like you don't know what's going on! I don't have time for these bureaucratic charades!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone wearing goggles, peeking from around the doorway of the next room.

"Elliot!"

He stupidly ducked out of view.

"Elliot! Come back here! I saw you!"

She stormed into the other room and immediately found Elliot in his work suit, just inside the entryway. He held up a wired brush and glassware, and extended his arms, distancing himself from the female officer.

"Okay, Elliot, where is he? Where's Aless?"

"Aless? I-I don't know," Elliot said. "He should be coming back from class, any time now?"

"Oh, don't give me that nonsense!" Mimi said. "Okay, fine! He's not here. Who is he? Who is he, really?"

Dr. Berman appeared at the entryway behind the two.

"Elliot, have Alessandro and Mimi already met?"

Elliot swallowed. "Well, umm, that's a funny thing, Professor... "

Mimi grabbed the wire brush out of Elliot's hand and shuffled him further away from the three-person conversation.

"Who is he, Elliot?" Mimi continued. "He's obviously not from Renderton, so where's he from?"

Elliot put the glassware down and took off his goggles.

"And don't tell me he's from some unknown colony, because there's no evidence of that!" She tossed the wire brush aside.

Elliot took off his gloves.

Mimi grabbed the gloves from his hands.

"Elliot, we were attacked on the Center's premises! That doesn't just happen! You and I, and Aless-in-Wonderland go outside, and the next thing I know, we're facing six canines! Six, Elliot! How is that? How did that happen?"

Elliot put his hand at his jaw and looked to the Professor behind them.

"You already know why, don't you, Elliot? Don't you? Tell me! Tell me who he is!"

Elliot opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Tell me what's going on!"

She punched Elliot firmly in the arm.

"Oww!"

"Tell me the truth!" she demanded.

"Okay, okay!" Elliot relented. He held his shoulder.

Across the room, Dr. Berman quietly nodded.

"Aless is from one of the human time capsules," Elliot said. "Dr. Berman and I brought him out of his coma."

"What capsules?"

Elliot turned and stepped away.

"A couple of years ago, we... uh, we uncovered several hundred capsules in an underground storage facility."

"In the mining quarries," Mimi cut in. "I remember this."

Elliot flinched. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah," Mimi recalled.