Ch 42: Split Personality

Finally receiving the okay for visiting Scott, everyone gathers at the hospital early morning. Amidst the reunion, they meet the doctor who designed Scott's treatment, Dr. Nova.

            Anetian Medical Center, Gatria. Friday July 13, 520NA. The doctors had told Grey and the others to give Scott time to recuperate and come back the next day, and Gibolu and his troop members, busy with preparing for their show, opted to stay behind. Also, since it was best for Bella not to go out in the open, Serius and Alexander also stayed back at the inn with her to keep watch for any moves by Ala Morte. Led to a waiting room to wait until the doctors gave the ok for them to go in, once they’d all made themselves comfortable in the various chairs and benches of the room, Fox leaned back in his chair and said, “I think you guys should all go first… I’ll just try and sleep since I spent most of the night with a hangover…” Pulling no punches, Richter shook his head and said, “You should consider yourself lucky. After that much alcohol I would’ve thought you’d be dead.” Grinning weakly, Fox sarcastically said, “Always so sympathetic to others, aren’t ya?” Richter simply retorted, “I have no sympathy for the stupid.” Suppressing a laugh, Schmitt said, “If you were gonna just take a nap, why’d ya even come along?” Slowly raising a hand in the air and showing a thumbs up, Fox seemed earnest as he said, “Moral support. Make fun all ya like, I’m still part of this group.” With a reluctant smile, Mythra said, “Surprisingly noble. Still, we wouldn’t blame you for not coming in such a condition. You don’t have to prove anything.” Simply shrugging, Fox said, “Meh, staying in bed all morning sounded too boring anyways. I’m just not the kinda guy who can sit still, y’know?” 

Tapping his foot impatiently, Grey said, “Now that I think about it, what kind of treatment did they give Scott anyways? They made us wait a whole day before seeing him, it better not have been anything that’ll handicap him or something…” Looking up at Grey, Saria said, “Um, I think they said it was nano-machines.” Looking at her with a confused look, Grey said, “Nano… machines…?” Saria fidgeted nervously as she replied, “S-sorry, I don’t really know what they are either…” Drumming his fingers on his leg, Richter said, “I’ve heard of that concept. I believe they’re microscopic machines designed to perform various tasks, though I don’t think I’ve heard of them being put to actual use back home on Teramis.” Looking amazed, Amy said, “Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard of them too, but I didn’t know they could be used to heal seriously injured people. I wonder why no one uses them back home…” Placing Ian in his lap and petting him, Rufus said, “Probably something we’re still developing. I’m pretty sure an Ace Reporter like me would have been first on the scene if something like that was invented!” Just then a nurse came to the doorway and said, “Alright, you can see him now. However, please limit it to three people at a time.” Nodding, Richter said, “Alright. Grey, Amy, Saria, you go first.”

            As Grey, Amy, and Saria walked into Scott’s hospital room, Scott sat up in his bed and said, “Hey guys! What’s up?” Clutching his head, Grey muttered, “I worry about him all this time, and this guy acts like nothing happened at all!” Grinning, Scott said, “Hey, it’s better than me being dead isn’t it?” Coming into the room behind Grey, Saria said, “Don’t say things like that…” Surprised by how weary she looked, Scott said, “Saria? Are you feeling alright?” Still looking and feeling quite tired, Saria rubbed her eyes as she said, “S-shouldn’t we be the one’s saying that?” Placing a hand on Saria shoulder, Amy said to Scott, “She’s been really worried. She looked after you for days on end without any sleep.” Staring in shock for a moment, Scott looked away in shame and said, “I’m sorry…” Suddenly, Grey sternly said, “Hey!” Turning back to look at Grey in surprise, Scott saw Grey staring at him angrily. As both met the other’s gaze, Grey said, “I still don’t know everything that happened while we were in Daemonholm, but I sure as hell know that after everything she went through, you can say something more than ‘I’m sorry’!” For a moment Scott simply blinked in surprise. Then, understanding, Scott smiled as he thought, “Here I thought he’d be so mad too. Well, whether I’m approved or not, he’s got a point.” Closing his eyes and taking a breath, Scott looked over at Saria with a grin and said, “Thanks Saria, it means a lot to me.” Blushing, Saria smiled and looked away as she said, “No, I… I’m just glad you’re ok…” 

Suddenly the door opened and a voice called out, “Coming through!” Everyone quickly stood aside as a man with messy white hair, different colored eyes, and a scar over his right eye stepped through the door. Staring at the man, Amy immediately thought, “Who is he? The moment he stepped through the door I had a really weird feeling…” As the man walked over to him, Scott said, “Who’re you? They switch doctors on me?” Grinning at him, the man said, “No, I’m just here for a post operation examination. It’s natural you don’t remember me. I’m the one who developed and administered the nano-machine treatment that saved your life.” Extending a hand to Scott, the man said, “I’m glad that it seems to have worked well enough for us to be introduced properly. I am Dr. Edward Nova. It’s a pleasure.”

            Dr. Nova spent a few moments scanning Scott with a curious looking tool, and then gave him a basic, non invasive checkup. As he finished listening to Scott’s heartbeat with a stethoscope, the Doctor said, “That should do it.” Eager to know how he did, Scott said, “So what’s the verdict Doc?” Chuckling, Dr. Nova said, “You pass. Everything looks to be shaping up nicely. You’ll be out of here in a couple days.” Pumping a fist, Scott exclaimed, “Yes!” Pleased as well, Grey said, “Thanks for this Doctor, without your help he might not have made it.” Running a hand through his messy hair in embarrassment, Dr. Nova said, “No thanks necessary, I’m just glad everything worked out. He’s quite lucky to have received treatment here, given the stigma of being human. Not that I personally think any different of you of course. I myself am a half-halman, and as you might imagine, this line of work isn’t easy for someone of my class to succeed in. I should probably be thanking you. While it’s never a good thing when someone is injured, the urgency of his condition and the fact that this treatment can be used even on a human’s biology allowed my nano-machines a chance to be properly tested. Thanks to Scott, we’ll be able to save even more lives with it.” 

Feeling a strange sense of pride at this, Scott said, “When you look at it that way, I’m kinda glad I got all beat up!” Laughing, Dr. Nova said, “Yes well, try not to let it happen again. You’re a young man. You have your whole life ahead of you.” Scott extended a hand and said, “Thanks again Doctor.” Shaking his hand, Dr. Nova said, “Once again, I’m just glad I could help. As a doctor my mission is to use my skills to save any life, no matter what race they are. I only wish all my fellow doctors followed my philosophy…” Then the Doctor turned to the others and said, “Take good care of him everyone. I leave him in your care now.” Nodding, Grey said, “You bet!” Saria nodded as well and said, “Y-yes!” Amy stayed silent, simply staring at him. Dr. Nova walked out, and as the door closed behind him, Grey said, “Quite the guy, we sure lucked out having him around.” Suddenly, Amy donned a determined expression and said, “I’ll be right back guys. I just thought of something I need to ask Dr. Nova about…” As she turned and rushed out the door, Grey stared after her in confusion and said, “Ok…” Chasing Dr. Nova down, Amy shouted, “Doctor! I need to talk to you!” Pausing in his stride, Dr. Nova looked back and said, “Honestly I wish I could, but I’m afraid I’m really rather busy today. I’m sorry, but unless it’s something urgent, can I ask you to wait until I have the time?” Unsure what the strange feeling she got from him meant, Amy hesitated for a moment, but then she said, “No, I really need to confirm something right away Doctor!” Staring at her a moment, Dr. Nova finally said, “Alright, follow me. We’ll talk in my office.”

            Stepping into the cluttered room he called an office, as the Doctor grabbed a chair and placed it in front of his book covered desk, he gestured to it and said, “Please make yourself comfortable.” Taking a seat in the chair, Amy looked around the office, wondering how he could get any work done in such an environment. Windowless, its walls were lined with half open file cabinets and several bookshelves with various empty spaces in them, which she assumed had once been filled by the books scattered across the floor and the top of the desk. The room was dimly lit by a single ceiling light, the light bulbs within it obviously reaching the end of their lives. Taking a seat behind his desk, Dr. Nova said, “Forgive me, people always tell me I need to learn to be a bit more ‘tidy’…” Nervously, Amy said, “Ah, no it’s fine…” Crossing his hands on top of the desk, Dr. Nova smiled and said, “Now, what is it you wanted to speak with me about?” 

Taking a deep breath, Amy said, “Doctor, for a long time now I’ve found that I have the ability to sense things sometimes, things or people that are… bad…” Reassuringly, the Doctor said, “There’s no need to worry about something like that, you’re most likely just a budding young energist. Over time I’m sure you’ll learn to control such an ability.” Shaking her head, Amy said, “No, that’s not what I meant. Doctor, I have a weird feeling about… Well, about you!” Looking genuinely confused, Dr. Nova simply said, “About me? You must be mistaken.” Quickly, Amy said, “Then let me read your mind!” Blinking in surprise, Dr. Nova asked, “If you can read minds, why go to all the trouble of speaking with me?” Fidgeting nervously, Amy said, “I don’t know for sure if I’m right. It feels wrong to do it without asking first…” With a chuckle, Dr. Nova said, “Very well. Go ahead.”

            Reading Dr. Nova’s mind, Amy struggled to look into his memories. Looking through day after day, she could find nothing unusual at first. Then something strange caught her attention, and she thought to herself, “What is this? It’s as though there’s no more memories to read past a little over a week ago!” Suddenly she heard the Doctor laughing. Drawing her attention back to the present, she stared as the Doctor laughed and laughed as though he had gone mad, and nervously she said, “Doctor, are you alright?” His laughter diminishing, with a mad grin Dr. Nova said, “Never better! Why do you ask?” Starting to regret having come alone, Amy said, “Well… You’re acting rather strange Doctor, and there’s something wrong with your memories…” His mad grin widening, Dr. Nova said, “Oh is there? I beg to differ, my dear! You see, the memories you looked at are the genuine memories of the good man who saved your friend’s life, a rather boring old fellow who started working here about a week ago. The good doctor would never have gotten through the door if he had not been directly recommended by the Count of Gatria himself, though he had to pass as a half halman. It actually wasn’t all that difficult to keep up such an act, because to him it wasn’t an act at all. He believed it all to be true. I reconstructed his memories and personality quite meticulously.” Disturbed, Amy stared at Dr. Nova and said, “I… I don’t really understand…” Tapping a finger against his head, Dr. Nova said, “It’s very simple! The good Dr. Nova lost his mind a long, long time ago. I merely reconstructed an alter ego for myself using the remnants of his sanity. They say there’s a thin line between genius and insanity, and they couldn’t be more right! The man sitting before you is the Mad Genius! Edward Nova, the Revenant of the Black Mind!”

            Amy quickly tried to stand, but found she couldn’t. Getting out of his chair, Dr. Nova withdrew a strange device from his pocket, and showing it to her he said, “Oh that’s quite useless, I’m sorry to say. The entire time you’ve been here, this device has been emitting artificially generated brainwaves tuned to your wavelength, deactivating your brain’s control over your arms and legs. After all, I can’t very well go ahead and use my own powers to do it and wind up having Mythra the Spellweaver detect me as well, now can I?” Fear rushing over her, Amy said, “Why are you doing this?! You saved Scott didn’t you?!” Tilting his head with a twisted grin, Dr. Nova said, “Have you listened to a word I’ve said? It was the good Doctor who saved him. I merely allowed it out of curiosity. As a man of science, I was interested in seeing whether my nano-machines could really be used for such a purpose. Besides, I did have to keep up appearances after all.” Walking over and standing beside her, Dr. Nova bent down and grabbed her by the chin. Forcing her to look him in the face, as he stared into her eyes, the Doctor said, “I’ve been here in Gaia preparing a little project. Count Ferid has admittedly been of great use to me, what with his vast fortune and influence.” 

Pulling a surgical tool from his pocket, Dr. Nova raised it up to Amy’s neck and said, “I heard what happened in Bolseil, that your friends managed to somehow best Grave, and that one of them was severely injured. I figured you all might make it here, even if you did get caught up in Daemonholm. Knowing about your unique abilities, I went through a lot of trouble to bury my insanity under that alter ego of mine in order to throw you off my trail, but you sensed it right away! The truth of what I really am…” With a mad look in his eyes, Dr. Nova said, “You interest me, Sage of Memories! Such unique abilities, I’m just dying to take you apart and find out what makes you tick!” Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and quickly Dr. Nova covered Amy’s mouth. In a calm voice he called out, “Yes, what is it?” Grey’s voice replied, “Hey Doctor, I’m a friend of Scott Matthews, the guy you treated with nano-machines. One of our friends, Amy, she’s been gone for awhile. She said she was gonna talk to you, I’m just checking that everything’s alright.” Looking at Amy with a reluctant grin, Dr. Nova said, “Saved by the bell my dear. I’ll see you again soon enough, but for right now I’ll just have to make sure you don’t tell anyone about this…”

            As the door opened, Amy staggered out with the help of Dr. Nova. Concerned, Grey said, “What happened?! Is she ok?!” As Amy just groaned and clutched her head, Dr. Nova said, “I’m not really sure what happened either. We were having a discussion, and then she suddenly became ill. Perhaps you should just take her home and put her to bed for now. She complains about a headache, so I’ll prescribe some painkillers for her and see if that helps. I’ll send you her medicine later, I’m afraid I really must get back to work. I’m quite swamped.” He handed Amy over to Grey and watched them walk slowly down the hall. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Dr. Nova muttered, “I’d better get back to work. I really hope she’ll be alright though…” With that he turned and started walking in the other direction, off to check in on another of his patients. As he walked, a mad grin crept onto his face and he started chuckling to himself in a rather disturbing fashion.