*WORLD WAR U*
After that meaningful, quiet moment, when Izzian translated Eliza's fearful words, all heck broke loose in the main lab on Klesia Moon Prime. The boy was astonished that his Goodwill Subject had communicated with him, and he was even more stunned that he was able to interpret and understand some of the girl's questions. Although he did not mean the earth girl any harm, Izzian knew that he could not, in good conscience, keep the communications a secret.
At first, the boy had considered keeping his earth girl interactions private, but was afraid it might jeopardize his mission. What if Eliza had rallied the troops or something?
What if earth's leaders believed Eliza had spoken to an alien and they captured him as soon as he arrived on earth? What if he and Eliza had started a universal war…World War U?
First and foremost, Izzian was worried about screwing up his homework assignment.
He tentatively approached Mr. Seebot and said in a nice calm manner, "MY SUBJECT SPEAKS TO ME!"
He declared it so loudly, that Dr. Yangsley even took notice. When the doctor peeked out of his office, wondering what all the commotion might be about, Seebot urged him to ignore the ruckus and go back to his all-important studies.
Mr. Seebot pulled the boy into a small room out of Dr. Yangsley's sight, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why are you still here? It was Thilillian Yangsley's turn on the Al203."
Oops, thought Izzian. He didn't plan on getting Thil involved. He was simply trying to understand how Eliza knew she was being watched. Surely it had happened before.
Goodwill Projects had existed for years. However, watch time sessions with the Al203 Telescope were a more recent invention and surely Mr. Seebot would listen to his pleas and help; but Izzian needed to keep Thil's name out of it. He had to make up an excuse to keep her out of trouble.
Thinking quickly, Izzian said, "Oh, she was here, having her turn. She just left. She said something about…shopping or something. Uh, an appointment she had to keep. She had to get her teeth scraped."
Since Thil had mentioned her plans to meet Reddle F. Girth, Izzian thought it appropriate that Reddle inspired such an unpleasant lie as getting one's teeth scraped. He also thought that his discovery was an important one and that Seebot needed to know.
Mr. Seebot paused for a moment as if he were scanning his memory banks and said, "I banned you from the lab for a week, Mr. Klowosky. I'm afraid you've gotten yourself bursted."
Izzian hated it when Seebot tried to use earth slang because the robot-man couldn't seem to get it right. Why is he dismissing me like a child telling imaginary stories?
"Did you not hear me, Mr. Seebot? This is way more important than getting myself bursted. I said my Goodwill subject is speaking to me…from earth."
Mr. Seebot did not like to receive correction of any sort, especially regarding his improper usage of earth slang, especially from the likes of Izzian Klowosky.
He snatched Izzian's collar and leaned in close to the boy. Practically foaming at the mouth, Seebot growled, "The only reason I am not reporting you for unauthorized usage of the Al203 is because I am a good man. If you were a smart young man, you would leave my site and stop pestering me with such unequivocal nonsense."
"Right, Mr. Seebot. The only reason you are not reporting me to Dr. Yangsley is because you are afraid I'll mention your clumsy reprogramming of the Al203. You could have destroyed a planet for Klesian's sake! I'd be doing our people a disservice if I let you get away with that, now wouldn't I?"
If Izzian had thought before he spoke, he'd have kept his mouth shut on the subject of Seebot's shortcomings. He might have also realized that threatening Seebot had only made the robot-man angrier.
Unfortunately, once the boy was on a roll, he rarely stopped. The words flowed from his mouth like diarrhea.
Izzian released himself from Mr. Seebot's grasp and said, "Doesn't Dr. Yangsley get angry when you type in commands manually? Didn't he hire you so there would be no "organic" programming errors with the telescopes? What would the good doctor think if he knew you'd defied his orders? I've heard a few rumors that those telescopes are somewhat unstable, Seebot. What would Yangsley think if he knew about your accident earlier today? I wonder, did he ask you what that huge terrible sound was? Did you tell him, Mr. Seebot?"
The half organic man known as Seebot suddenly looked frightened. He began mumbling, "…told the doctor it was a perfectly normal sound…I told him I was executing a mechanical scan."
Izzian slowly circled Mr. Seebot, adding drama to his accusations, and then he closed in for the kill. "I thought robots didn't make computing errors but it seems you, Mr. Seebot, are nothing more than a Roomba on steroids."
For some reason, Izzian's insult had the opposite effect on Seebot and the half-man's fear revolved back into fuming anger. After calling Mr. Seebot a glorified robotic vacuum cleaner commonly used on earth, Izzian knew he'd gone too far and it was time to leave. He ran for the closest organic Klesian he could find which happened to be Dr. Yangsley.
Izzian sped to the doctor with Mr. Seebot close behind. He tried to slow down before running into Dr. Yangsley, but Seebot hadn't stopped soon enough. They both crashed into the doctor like a bull crushes a matador who's too slow with the red cape.
"What in the gleestix?" Dr. Yangsley found himself lying on the ground, glasses askew, with beakers of sizzling liquids haphazardly strewn about the room in piles of broken glass.
Izzian offered a hand to help Dr. Yangsley to his feet, but Mr. Seebot pushed the boy aside. Intent on gaining a smidgeon of favor, Seebot knelt over the fallen man, groveling excessively. Finally, the doctor impatiently pushed his assistant away and stood up on his own, frowning at the chemicals spattered all over his pristine white lab coat.
Breathless from his high speed chase with a robot, Izzian begged, "Dr. Yangsley, I really need to tell you something."
"You little ingrate," Yangsley responded, snuffing out several small fires that had ignited upon his right sleeve. "What are you doing in my lab? We allow you children lab access for those perturbing Goodwill Projects and you assiduously, consecutively, impertinently disregard the rules."
Even though Yangsley had used several important sounding words with tons of syllables, Izzian giggled. In his mind, the elder scientist sounded like a ridiculously ostentatious self-obsessed Glotfish. He also wondered how the doctor had developed such a snobbish sounding accent. As far as Izzian knew, the Yangsley family had lived on Klesia Moon Prime for generations, and no one else on the planet sounded like such a stuck-up know-it-all.
Dr. Yangsley was not finished. "You've spoilt my lab coat, scampering about like a Slimerot Slinker. Have your ortnots taught you nothing about civility and respect? Little ingrates…"
Dr. Yangsley was not concerned with Izzian's actual problem. He was more concerned with his spoilt lab coat and his five dollar words. Izzian suddenly felt sorry for Thilillian. With a dad like Yangsley, it was no surprise that she hardly spoke of him. Izzian couldn't help himself; he had to say something to defend his honor and Thil's.
The boy cleared his throat, gained more courage, and proclaimed, "I am here on official Goodwill business, Yangsley. I am expected to be in the lab. And case you need reminding, one of those little ingrates you dislike so much just happens to be your very own daughter. Or did you forget that for a minute…or a lifetime," he mumbled under his breath.
"How dare you? Do not mention my daughter to me, young Klesian. She is none of your concern. Who are you to speak so directly to an elder? You are banned from my lab for a lifetime!"
Neither Dr. Yangsley nor Mr. Seebot seemed to care that Izzian's earth subject was communicating to him through the Al203. If the two scientists would have stopped chastising the boy for simply existing and listen to him, they might actually care about the information.
Granted, Izzian knew he could have approached the situation differently from the beginning, but things had gone the way they had. There was no ch
anging that.
Izzian's anger festered, but he realized he'd never get the right kind of attention by being angry and ornery. He had tried that already with Seebot. Knowing that neither Yangsley nor Seebot believed his story, Izzian decided to appeal to their inner scientist.
"Listen, aren't scientists supposed to have an open mind? Just because something has never happened before, doesn't mean that it can't happen," Izzian said, wondering if that made sense.
After a tense pause, Dr. Yangsley grudgingly replied, "Fine. Speak your piece young man, then leave. Any more tomfooleries and I shall summon your father, Ojolian, in here."
Even after all of the harsh words they'd shared, Dr. Yangsley knew that any information regarding the Al203 telescope was newsworthy. It had been at least two weeks since Yangsley had appeared on any talk shows or in any newspapers, so he gave Izzian a chance to speak. For his part, Izzian tried to avoid any further involvement with the fellow named Tom Fooleries, even though he knew of no such person.
Izzian let out a breath and began, "My earth subject is Eliza Allready. She is speaking to me through the Al203 using a very special form of earth communication. Eliza is using something called sign language to speak to me.
"It involves moving the hands, arms and sometimes the entire body, to communicate without actually speaking. It's as if she knows I can't actually hear her, but she knows I'm watching her." He paused for a deep breath.
"So, I thought you might want to know," Izzian added, relieved to have finally explained his contact with Eliza the earthling.
Izzian waited for what seemed like an eternity until finally Dr. Yangsley's face showed an emotion. Unfortunately, the emotion was wrong. Dr. Yangsley had smiled. The smile turned into a giggle. The giggle erupted into hearty laughter.
Dr. Yangsley's laughter was so intense, the older scientist began wheezing and coughing. Izzian had just poured out his heart and confessed that an earthling was communicating with Klesia Moon Prime. The only response he received for his troubles was full-fledged enthusiastic laughter. Dr. Yangsley hadn't believed a single word.
***
CHAPTER 6