Chapter Nine: Mysteries.
James’ breathing almost seized. Singar was human? But that made no sense. How did he come into the Inside. Did he also have a Transformat. Doubtful, seeing as he wanted James’ Transformat so badly.
Maybe he wanted to go home too, that’s why he had tested James and Jones’s Transformat, to see if they could help him get to the Outside. Then why didn’t he just tell them.
James realized he was standing in front of the Organ, and Singar was lost in sight. The Right Lung stretched to about fifty feet tall, mirroring its brother at the other side of the Bronchus. The Ribs, the Gates which guarded the Lungs, also secured the perimeter of the Lungs too. James could see them in the far distance, covering the Lungs like the wings of an angel.
The Organ itself was disappointing. It looked like it hadn’t been painted, or if it had, the paint had worn off eons ago. Dust coagulated on most of the windows. In fact, to say the truth, which James did not want to admit, the Lungs were on the verge of collapse. It looked just a breath away from tumbling. James hoped for the sake of Nemo it wouldn’t.
He decided to enter the Lungs through its tainted main doors, and was shocked to see dozens of workers walking up and down the wide hall, doing their best to keep the Lung alive.
It was rather sad, James thought, that high priority was given only to the Heart and the Brain when important Organs like the Lungs were being unfed and retarded.
From the ceiling hung huge screens that had colourful words written on them like the stocks of businesses. But instead of stocks, they had things like:
Alveoli Sac 1- Status – Full {prepare to discharge}
Alveoli Sac 2- Status – Damaged{prepare for fix}
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Oxygen from Pulmonary Artery – Status – Choked{Insufficient}: 23%
Oxygen from Pulmonary Vein – Status - Sufficient :75%
Breathing: [Not Steady] Consider; Launching sneeze; Yawn; Increase Gaseous Surface Area(Gas); Emergency Release of Alveoli Sacs.
James tried not to look at the screens any more. What he’d seen was proof enough that Nemo was so not okay.
He sighed heavily. Before he had time to spin around in search of Singar, a shot exploded behind him. A bullet narrowly missed him. Instead it soared over his head and punctured a control panel. Electricity and sparks hissed out of it.
Immediately, the lights dimmed, and James saw that the oxygen levels on the screens were dropping dramatically. Workers screamed and dropped their clipboards, running in different directions for exits.
James whirled around in the direction he had heard the shot from and involuntarily let out a shot from his own pistol. It hit the figure squarely in the chest and it fell down in an undignified heap.
The lighting was bad, but James could tell the figure was not Singar, maybe one of his crooks. He knew better than to assume it was Singar. He had learned not to assume anything in his new line of work. Just be crystal sure or dead wrong.
Someone grabbed him from behind. Whoever it was slid his hands under James arms and locked his head. James’ gun dropped to the ground.
James was in a submission mode. He had to break out of it, and soon, before Singar went ahead to snap his neck like a goat.
Let’s look at things from the Inside. When a city’s oxygen supply is depleted or dangerously insufficient, the Lung undergoes automatic dispatch or release of oxygen from the Alveoli Sacs into the Blood Stream, the Erythrocytes then pick it up and supply it to the Organs which most need the oxygen. Like the Heart, the Brain of course and some others. The Brain, however, slows down activity and puts the body down on a temporal blackout or lockdown. It uses less energy. The Leukocytes at the Heart also slow the Heart’s pulse or activity so less energy is used.
Nemo was in a state very close to coma, but the cells were managing basic functions that would ensure he stay alive and just.
As the Alveoli were releasing oxygen in a rush, it caused a temporal earth or body-quake that shook the Right Lung. James and Singar stumbled backward, and that was just the right opportunity for James to take hold of their momentum and smack Singar into a wall.
It worked. Singar yelped and let go off James, who turned to face the man with his fight face on.
But Singar was not a weak opponent. With lightning speed, he zipped towards James, spun around and crashed his unhurt foot on James’ face. James neck turned an unnatural angle, and his vision spun.
He raised his head to meet another punch from Singar. Blood tumbled down his lips.
James tumbled to the ground. Singar towered him with the most evil expression James had never seen.
“You have destroyed years of my work, Winter!” he spat. James actually felt specks of spit settle unceremoniously on his face.
“What work?” James said, staring bravely into the man’s wicked eyes.
“What work! “ Singar laughed. “James, I was going to take over Nemo City James, then gradually the two worlds, both Inside and Outside, and oh, if I ever get out of here, my revenge will be great upon the Winter family.”
“What, why?” James said bewildered. He didn’t like people threatening his family.
“It was Nemo, James. He was supposed to be the one they experimented on, but he tricked me. Tricked his so called BEST FRIEND. And he lied so calmly and honestly that I believed him. I went into the Lab, and they turned me into a cell sized human, they promised me help, but help never came. Then Nemo drunk the water I had fallen in-“
Vividly familiar.
“And entered this stupid place. But I had the virus with me, and I am yet to realize its full potential, though I have an idea of what it could do. That was what your family’s Organization wanted to discover. They had evil plans set for it.”
“My family? What organization?. I live with my mother and the only close relation I have ever had is with my Uncle Michel and my cousin... Jones.” James injected as much venom as he could in his cousin’s name, to show Singar that he had not forgotten what he had done to his cousin.
“Oh, play dumb, kid. It doesn’t fit you. Anyway, I’m going to complete their work, without their help. It already does interesting things to Nemo when I slip some in his blood stream.” He smiled smugly, and James was filled with tremor.
He jumped to his feet and attempted a punch. It connected, though quite feebly. Singar had not been expecting it, and his bleeding calf made it impossible for him to keep his balance.
James went ahead and planted his foot in Singar’s chest. Singar was thrown backwards.
“This is not the way to go, Singar,” James said. He had gained the upper hand now. “We could get home together. As for Nemo, I’m sure he feels a great deal of remorse and wishes upon all things you could get back to him. We-my friends, you and I could think of a way to get out of-“
The Lung’s main doors blasted open, and several Guardians in black suits and helmets stormed into the hall. They circled the room and pointed their guns at Singar, who looked utterly terrified and shocked to see so many Guardians gathered together at one place to detain him alone.
This time, there was nowhere to run, no Germ to run behind. It was him and them alone. Panic seized him by its cold fingers.
In a quick move that even James hadn’t seen, he was behind James with a small pocket knife at his throat. James didn’t even have time to yelp before the cold metal pressed against his Adam’s apple, which had been growing bigger over the months.
“Nobody move!” Singar warned, twisting James’ body around so that every Guardian could see the knife on James’ neck. “Make a move I don’t like and I will slit his throat. Even if you shoot me I would kill him before I fall!”
The Lung was dead quiet. James caught the disbelief and hatred in Leo, Seli and Cornie’s eyes. They were also pointing their pistols at Rozin. But their hands were falling slowly.
The rest of the Guardians were unsure of what to do. They looked at Macrophage Hark for an order. Any order, James knew, they would carry without a moment’s hesitation. It was the way of life here. Every Guardian would do the unthinkable to save the City from Germs. Even if it meant sacrificing one of their own kind.
James begun to fear for his survival. Of course they would shoot. What was one boy’s life to an entire City’s?
But to his utmost shock, Hark shook his head grumpily.
James’ spirits were lifted. How the heck was he not getting shot at, and how did Singar know this tactic would work.
The Guardians, a little reluctantly, lowered their weapons.
James could feel Singar’s relieved breath on the back of his neck. “What do you want, Singar?” Hark said, taking care to invoke every expression of disgust and hatred in his eyes.
“Clear out the way,” Singar, moving his head in a sweeping motion. “Move from the door- oh and you-“
He pointed at Cornie with his other hand only briefly before placing it back firmly on James’ chest, so James had no chance of grabbing the arm and hoisting the man over him, or twisting it and throwing him onto the ground.
“Back away slowly, out the door.”
Cornie did as she was told, backing out of the room slowly with her hands in the air.
Singar followed slowly, tightening his grip on the knife.
Leo made a sudden movement when Singar’s back had been turned to him, but Singar heard the gun crack and spun around. Just to prove his superiority in the situation, he moved the knife a little. Drops of blood appeared on James’ neck.
Leo’s eyes widened, and he dropped his gun. Singar used his finger to wipe the drops of blood from James’ neck. James thought he knew why. If the Guardians saw the human blood flow down James’ neck, they would take him as a threat and shoot him without thinking twice, even once. And then Singar’s one hope for freedom would be lost.
Singar then backed out of the room.
The night was cold. Chilly, in fact, and James instantly remembered that Nemo was in a half coma state. He was slowly dying.
Singar ordered Cornie to open the back door of the nearest vessel. Cornie did crystal slowly. James saw her quietly slip something dark into the back seat whilst she whispered or mumbled something to herself very inconspicuously. She straightened and James scowled at her. She replied with an it’s-going-to-be-okay look.
The Guardians followed them out into the night, their weapons still lowered. Singar backed towards the vessel, preparing to lower James into the back seat.
Then suddenly, a fist shot out of the vessel, clutching a pistol-probably the thing James had seen Cornie drop into the vessel. The butt of the pistol connected with the back of Singar’s head and he yelled in fright and shock.
The next few minutes were fatal and vital moments. Singar had been dazed, but he was not dead. He grasped the pocket knife harder and attempted to slit James’ throat. It was a shocking moment. James could see the knife coming back sharply, ready to gain contact with his throat.
But suddenly M. Hark was there, and in a swift motion, he pulled the hand that held the knife and punched Singar’s face. The impact was so close to James’ own face that he felt air ripple his cheeks.
Singar moaned as his head hit the roof of the vessel and he fell to the ground. James gasped for air severely, like he had just woken from a coma, which he might have gone into had that torture continued. He had been afraid to breathe or swallow lest his throat bulge and force the blade to puncture his skin.
Singar wasn’t done. He regained a sliver of consciousness and dived for his knife, which he had abandoned on the ground during the punch. He attempted to get up when Hark clicked a gun and pressed it to his head.
“Make a move, traitor and I will be forced to do more than slit your throat.”
Singar stayed where he was, in a kneeling position, and dropped the knife.
“That’s a good lad,” M. Hark said. James knew Singar was in no luck. The Guardians would shoot him eventually when they were done interrogating him to reveal Germ hideouts and all their wicked schemes.
Cornie, who was behind James, closed her hand around his wrist and pulled him away. She was running. James had to keep up, but he felt as if all the energy in him were being frozen. Oxygen, he thought. Nemo’s lack of oxygen was beginning to affect him.
He had barely managed to say “What is going on?” before Cornie stopped, a few meters from the Lung. Right on a hill that was probably the Diaphragm. Leo, Seli and Jones were there, too, with equally puzzled looks on their faces that told James they also didn’t know why Cornie had dragged them up here.
Cornie extracted her gun, aimed and screamed. “Everybody move out of the way.” And immediately she fired about five shots until the vessel Singar was kneeling beside exploded in flames.
James didn’t know how his super vision had turned on, but he had an unceremonious slow motion view of the flames eating and disintegrating Singar’s flesh.
He turned away, simultaneously powering down his Transformat.
The Guardians around the vessel yelled and dived out of the way. Soon there was dark smoke rising towards the skies like a great bonfire.
James and the others stared at Cornie in disbelief. From the looks of her face, even she couldn’t believe what she had just done.
“What did you do that for?” James yelled incredulously.
Cornie wiped a tear from her cheek. “I had to, James. I know Singar was human. I saw the blood flowing out of his calf. And you’re all bleeding quite profusely. What would the other Guardians have done if they had realized that their most dangerous Germ was a human, and you three, too? It would break the foundations of the Inside, James. The Inside world would be in peril, confusion, denial, if they realized that humans were finding ways to come to the Inside. And what’s more, they would murder you on the spot. They would think of you guys as invaders-Bacteria.”
“We get it, Cornie,” Leo said, then shot James a funny look. “I don’t like the fact that James told you we are human, but you have just saved our lives with that information.”
“So what are we going to do now?” Seli said. She was becoming pale with the lack of oxygen.
“Now,” Cornie said, smiling for the first time in hours. “Now I get you guys home.