"Fiery Birds", Part XIII

Dr. Trant reported to the infirmary, to find Zho strapped to a bed, unconscious.

Dr. Andri Colmin, a large man, was nearby, carrying his comppad.

"Was he sedated?" she asked.

"We were beginning to, but then he collapsed. He went unconscious on his own," Colmin explained.

"What happened?"

"They took his father to see him, and for some odd reason, Kha started getting angry. Zho did the same after they took his father out of the room. These creatures..."

"New People, please," Trant interjected.

"These New People cannot process anger. Have you ever seen one angry enough to throw things?" Colmin asked.

"No, I haven't," Trant said, "what does his blood work show?"

"Adrenaline and noradrenaline levels extremely high. Other hormone levels wildly raised. We weren't able to perform a neuro scan while he was awake, and now it looks like he's in an almost deep sleep. There is one thing that showed up in his blood work that I've never seen, and the computer here doesn't know what to think either."

"What is it?" Trant asked.

"It's another hormone with an enzyme trigger. Never seen one like it. I want to have Kha come here for tests as well. I suspect that this may be what caused the outburst."

"Go ahead and contact Kha, he'll cooperate, he always does. Well, normally."

Trant's comset chimed. It was the priority channel. She raised it up and answered it.

"This is Trant."

"This is Boldren. Doctor, I heard about what happened. How about your opinion that these New People are harmless now?"

"I still believe they are, Kalles. Something got triggered in Zho, not sure what it is, but Dr. Colmin has found an enzyme and hormone he's never seen."

"I am wondering if we should confine all the New People to the compound," the Chancellor said.

"Kalles, I don't believe that will be necessary. This has never happened before here..."

"Yet we have stories of entire villages being torn apart. I'll leave this matter to you, but if there is another outburst like this, from any New Person, I will order all of them back to the compound, are we clear?"

"Yes, Kalles, perfectly."

"I am responsible for the lives of twenty two thousand humans, we do not need this sort of danger," he said, "Boldren out."

He disengaged.

=

As Kha was being led down the corridor, tears welled up in his eyes.

"I do not know what happened," he said to Selin, "I was looking forward to meeting my son, and then I got angry. It was so fast."

"Well, they want to take a look at you," Selin said, "since you are so much like Zho, they are hoping they can find out why."

"It was like I was caught in a stream," he said, "I felt no control."

"I was there, remember? I've never seen you angry."

"Yes, you were there."

They arrived at one of the doors to the infirmary, and stepped inside. Trant and Colmin were there waiting. This was an adjacent room to where Zho was being kept. As they walked in, Kha stopped, and sniffed the air.

"Zho is nearby," he said.

They looked at him. "You can smell him?" Selin asked.

"I sense him. And I am getting that... feeling... again."

"Kha, we need to take some blood and do a scan," Dr. Trant said.

"Yes... yes... you do. Please," Kha said as he sat down. He was clearly anxious. Sweat was forming on his forehead. His pupils were dilated as Colmin placed the extractor on Kha's arm.

"How do you feel?" Trant asked.

"I feel... like I am trapped. I am angry too. I want to find Zho," he said, as he tried to get up.

"No, Kha, stay seated," Trant said.

"I must find him," Kha said again. He began to push up off the chair, as well as pushing Trant out of the way.

"Kha, I need you to stay calm..." Selin said.

"No, no," Kha said. He pushed again, and Trant was nearly knocked aback. 

"Sedate him," Colmin said.

"No, not yet," Trant said.

Kha was almost standing, both hands on the arms of the chair, looking around, panting, the extractor still on his left forearm, but still flailing with his right.

"Alouisa, I think we're going to have no choice," Colmin said.

"Alright! Two units only!"

The extractor sent two units of the sedative into Kha, and he sat back down immediately.

"That should be enough to calm him. Now, Kha, what are you feeling?" Trant asked.

"I am so angry," he said.

"Colmin, I want you to run the neuroscan now, can you do that?"

"I have it here," Colmin said, taking the unit out of its case. It looked like a tan helmet, designed for standard humans; on a New Person, it covered the head completely. As it scanned, it fed the information directly into the infirmary computer.

Kha's head was leaned back. He was fighting the sedative still, but was losing. Colmin placed the neuroscanner on Kha's head, and instructed the computer to scan.

It took only seconds.

"I have results," the computer spoke.

"Let's have them," Colmin responded.

"Orbitalfrontal lobe showing signs of tremendous activity. Compared to blood activity, this is an disproportionate response. There is also activity that is contradictory, doctors," the computer said.

"How so?" Trant asked.

"The pleasure areas are activated as well."