At Rest
Missing Moment to “The Lambda Factor”
Helena Russell moved from the sleeping form of John Koenig to stand at Carolyn Powell’s bedside. Her eyes automatically lifted to check the readings on the young woman’s medical monitor, then lowered again to study the woman herself. Helena doubted she would ever learn just what combination of circumstances or conditions had made Carolyn so susceptible to the influence of the phenomenon emitting the Lambda Variable. The sensors had not been able to analyze it, no one pretended to begin to understand it, and there was no trace of it left. All she could be sure of was that it had somehow used Carolyn, as she had used it, to the mutual destruction of them both. The energy whirligig had disappeared in an overload of energy and Carolyn’s mind had been erased by the removal of that energy, the severing of that symbiotic relationship. Early tests indicated there was no physical damage - that she could detect - to Carolyn’s brain, but all the knowledge Carolyn had ever possessed had been wiped clean, her memory synapses sanitized so that nothing of who she was remained. Helena hoped with a great deal of time and patience, Carolyn could be re-educated, but she would have to start over from scratch. She would have to learn everything all over again, just as a newborn began its learning process from the moment of its birth. In many ways she was curious as to how it would all play out. She wondered if Carolyn would duplicate her past learning experiences - if she would excel in the same school subjects as she had before, or if differing circumstances, different conditions and instructors would somehow shape her into a completely different person. Helena also wondered at what rate Carolyn would learn, if she would progress as a normal, intelligent child did through the various grade levels of schooling or if she would accelerate, absorbing knowledge and information faster as the memory synapses were stimulated, as previously programmed pathways were re-awakened and reminded of what had once been stored there. As with everything, Helena knew it depended a great deal on the individual and right now, the individual who was Carolyn Powell was an empty memory file, awaiting the first input of information. She would do all she could for Carolyn and could only hope they - all of Alpha - did right by her.
Taking another look at Carolyn’s readings, Helena sighed lightly as she turned back to look at John Koenig. She was grateful there had been no additional casualties, either physical, emotional, or mental. Helena could not deny - especially to herself - that she had been extremely worried about John’s mental state. She was not pleased that John’s rapport with the energy being had caused him such trauma that his mind had shut down, but knew there was little she could have done for him. In that state, when his dreams were more real than what they all perceived to be reality, anything she could have said to him would not have registered, would not have been strong enough or convincing enough to let him understand what she was telling him, the energy creature’s connection to his mental energies would not have allowed him to let go of the ghosts his dreams created.
Yawning deeply, Helena shook her head as she realized she too was short on sleep, and grateful she herself had shown little or no increase in psychic ability while that energy creature had blanketed Alpha. There were more than a few ghosts from her past that she did not wish to resurrect, did not even wish to think about for fear they would surface in her dreams. Suppressing a shudder, Helena yawned again. She had put those ghosts to rest with great difficulty and she was going to leave them there. She did not know if John would need or want to talk about the incident with Sam and Tessa further, either on a professional basis or as a personal matter, but she would monitor him closely for several weeks to be certain there were no long term effects from his empathy with the energy creature, just as she would monitor Carolyn’s educational and mental development. Briefly Helena wondered if the energy creature had gotten what it sought - what it needed - from its encounter with Alpha, then pushed the thought from her mind. There was nothing she could do about that creature, she had patients to look after, and could only hope their ghosts were at rest.
Amanda Russell
June 17, 2005