"Quick, someone get him something to drink!" The boy heard a feminine voice.
"I think he is waking up!" Someone else said
"Cool."
SLAP!
"OW!" Aleks opened his eyes rapidly "What the hell!?"
"Yes, he definitely is waking up."
"Dude, Jamon, quit slapping!" Yet another voice said.
"I can not help the way I was born."
"Hey, Hey, Hey! I am awake now!" Aleksander said and caught Jamon's hand just as it was once again ready to meet his face
"Ow, man..." Jamon, the young man of middle-eastern descent looked disappointed "But I am not done yet"
Aleks looked at him angrily, massaging his left cheek.
"Well, now, really though" said the only female in the room "You must be wondering who we are. But, trust me, it is not the right time or place for such conversation and it is not us who are we supposed to explain this to you."
"This is bullcrap" Jamon stopped smiling and shook his head "They do not want you to tell you anything because they are going to erase your mind anyway."
"Jamon, you idiot! Why are you telling him that?" Another young male spoke for the first time since Aleks woke up. He looked genuinely angry. "You are only making him scared. He did not need to know"
"Uh, yes, he does, Davey..."
"Stop calling me that!"
"...Because no matter what and how hard we'll try, we can't erase all his negative memories from what he just witnessed. He is going to have serious scars on his mind, so if anything, I say he deserves to at least be informed what's going on."
"What for? You really believe this will change a thing? Should I remind you it is you who dragged him into this mess?
"What? You're actually going to blame me again?"
"Yes! All you had to do it turn the masking device on in the museum as soon as we received the news the Ring is probably in the building, so nobody could enter or leave, and we would have caught Lanthra by now. But of course, you have forgotten!"
"Guys, guys, guys!" The girl grabbed them both by wrists, as it looked like they were actually going to beat each other up. "Remember, this is not even our decission. The final word is up to the Head Officer anyway. We have to wait until Dagmar brings her here."
"What about me? I want to know the truth!" Aleksander objected
"This is not up to you either. Sorry, but Head Officer Aruta will decide. She always does in such cases. But... I agree."
"Well, thanks."
"Not with you David. With Jamon."
"What?" The brown haired boy with glasses could not believe "Are you seriously agreeing with someone like him?"
"The Kid has the right to know, David and..."
"Oh, stop it." Aleks hissed "Stop patronizing me! How come I'm a kid comparing to you? How old even are you? Because none of you look older then me. Okay, maybe a year or two. How old are you? 17? 18?
The three other people looked at each other
"Well, you are a clever one" admitted David "Quite unlike somebody else in this room. But still, this does not change the fact... oh."
The automatic doors to the room suddenly opened themselves rapidly and two middle aged man walked through.
"General Abedi, Sergeant LeBlanc" David and and the girl saluted
"Father" Jamon just bowed his head down
"Father?" Repeated Aleks, looking at him surprised.
"What is all this!?" The Middle Eastern man with a stern face sounded angry "You are being sent on your first case, and forget such a basic thing as turning the masking device on? You let Lanthra escape, yet you bring... this boy here? I knew Aruta was wrong sending you kids there, now look what you caused. Do you even realize that a man is in a hospital with life threatening injuries? Explain yourselves right now! SON! you speak first."
"Well... maybe calm down a bit, Hussein" sergeant LeBlanc objected "you have to understand, they are just sixteen, they just finished their training, this was their first mission. You can not blame them for failing what even we, with our 25 years of experience, could not achieve.
"The only reason why we did not manage to capture Lord Lanthra the first time, Earvin,was because half of the people who become PISF officers nowadays are complete imbecilles! And I thought..."
"Well, this is a bit of strong launguage, don't you think?"
"Gentlemen,please." A feminine voice said "Arguments won't solve anything,"
"Mrs. Aruta!" LeBlanc said relieved, seeing an older female enter with two another, younger one "It's good you finally are here."
"Nice to see you too, Earvin". The old Japanese woman replied "Now what do we have here? Ah, yes. I understand it is you - the boy, aren't you? Alexandre is your name, right?
"It is Aleksander actually, madame." The blonde boy replied, suddenly feeling shy. All eyes were looking at him now - almost nobody objected or interrupted Head Officer Aruta, unless he was really close to her.
"Thank you, Aleksander." The old woman smiled "But now... what to do with you? I must admit you are a bit problematic to us"
"No offense, but I don't exactly know what even happened to me." Alexander replied "I hate to be... problematic, but I really want to know what's going on"
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"I suppose this would only be rightful towards you. Very well. I will tell you what I can without leaving your mind vulnerable to the scars the erasing procedure will cause."
"What if I will escape? I mean, no offense, but I don't really fancy having my mind erased. Especially if it would cause any scars, which, by the sound of it, are quite dangerous."
"That's impossible" another girl replied "Noone can escape from here. You may try to, but you will fail. Madame Akita also personally made sure nobody unwanted could ever enter or leave this building without permission. It's location is also top secret, and..."
"Thank you, Dagmar,but I can speak for myself." The Head Officer did not even look at the young girl "Now, young man, I have to inform you the creature you have been attacked by is known as a shape-shifter."
"By a shape-shifter?" Alex was sure he didn't understand correctly.
"Yes, by a shape-shifter. Are you deaf?" Jamon's dad hissed
"Calm down, Hussein, or you will leave this room." The woman said harshly and the middle-eastern man looked insulted. Ayumi did not even look at him, she just focused her eyes on Aleksander ."The shape-shifter who attacked you is known as Lord Lanthra, and, as you probably guessed by his name, he is a quite unusual specimen."
"He is an... prince of sorts, I guess?"
"Not exactly. His species, the shape-shifters, value possesion over anything else. They don't really have any sense of morality or any higher feelings, but they live rather by an instinct of sorts which makes them consider possesion as the highest value. Lanthra, however, got extremely rich selling unicorn horns to the Snake people of Zeta Reticuli."
"...WHAT!?"
"YOUNG MAN" the Head Officer raised her voice a bit "Sorry, but we won't get anywhere if you keep interrupting me"
"Um... sorry."
"Anyway, as I said, he has got extremely wealthy, hence the "lord" part, and because of that he achieved an mental evolution of some sorts. He is not anymore content with what he can steal in our world. That is why he is looking for this." She showed him a photo of a small, golden ring with a kind of an diamond eye and some weird markings inside. It seemed to Aleksander he actually saw it before, but he could not tell where "The Ring of Synthax. In theory it allows the person in it's possesion to travel to any of the universes recorded on it. Lanthra wants to get it simply because he feels the urge to steal those worlds, as he doesn't feel he has anything left to rob here. Remember, and I am now speaking to our junior officers, that he is not evil. Treat him like you would treat an common thief."
"But he is pretty ruthless though" added David "He nearly murdered proffesor Henry Jefferson, who was unlucky enough to arrive to work early today only because he thought the Ring of Synthax somehow got in possesion."
"Yeah... this ring.... I think I saw it" Aleksander said and all other people suddenly looked at him.
"You did?" Aruta was surprised "Where?
"TALK!" demanded the older Abedi
"I don't know." Aleksander rubbed his forehead "But it was definitely somewhere near I live. Stop yelling, please."
"Hey, Hey, Hey!" Jamon intervened "You can't talk to my father like that!"
"Then would you kindly tell your dad to keep his voice down? My head hurts."
"Then that is it, my boy" Aruta said "You are clearly in no condition to learn anything more. Now, please, rest. Your mind will be erased later."
"Wait, ma'am Aruta." Hussein Abedi objected "This kid clearly knows something we can use. He is legally binded by international law to tell us anything he knows before the erasing procedure"
"He does not remember, general Abedi" Aruta said "There isn't a serum or any pills which could make people remember. Unless you have another idea, then please, go on."
"Actually, yes, I do. I suggest Mind Mining."
"Nonononono." this time it was sergeant LeBlanc who spoke "Hussein, you can not be serious."
"The Mind Minning procedure has not been performed since a civilian died in the 1980's." David said slowly "I don't think even the people at the Scientific Wing are qualified enough to perform such an dangerous operation."
"Yeah, they maybe are not." Hussein pointed his finger at the Head Officer "But you are. You..."
"General Abedi, I must return you to your senses" Aruta said "I am not going to perform this procedure on an civilian, especially not a child. I know your miss your wife, but..."
"DON'T YOU DARE" hissed Abedi, closing in on her "Bringing her back. They KILLED HER!" He started shaking visibly "They all killed her." And with that, he left the room.
"What was that about?" Aleksander asked quietly, but did not receive an explanation.
"Excuse me. Head Officer Aruta!" A young, blonde woman entered soon after "There are some news about that shape-shifter. Apparently he has attacked an cleark in an store near Halton Hills in Greater Toronto. We are just about to bring the eye-witnesses for the mind erasing procedure. Also, about that Ring..."
"I understand, just wait a bit."The Head Officer nodded and smiled at the boy which was laying in the bed "Well, Aleksander, i am sorry to say it is time for our paths to part. I realize I did not get to know you properly, but I feel you are an intelligent young man and I think you will get far in life... I have to admit there is something interesting about you, something that I just can't put my finger on. Well, nevermind. Goodbye. Your mind erasing procedure will, of course, take priority over the other ones. Heidi, please notify the scientifc wing they have one extra to perform. You four, please follow me."
And with that the group of people left the room, or rather were replaced by another group of four people, all of whom were wearing all-blue uniforms. One of them was carying something that looked like an TV remote, only a few times larger.
"Hello, Aleksander" the scientist with the remote was the first one to speak "Time to erase your mind. Do not worry, it does not hurt a bit. Hold still, let me teleport you to our wing. And here we go..."
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When the 16-year old returned home, the lights were out - although this did not surprise the boy at all, as his mother always enjoyed very long nights after she got wasted.
"Ma, I'm home!" He said out loud
Aleks turned on the lights in the hall. He looked at his reflection and smiled. That's when he suddenly felt very hungry. He did not have a choice, he had to make himself something to eat. That's when he heard a voice behind him.
"Where have you been, young man?"
"Oh, hi mum" he answered "I did not hear you come in. "
"Didn't you also hear what I just asked? Aleksander Jennsen, where have you been!?"
"I... don't know. Probably doing... something."
"You DON'T KNOW? Doing SOMETHING? Do you even know it's 2:30 AM!?"
Aleks only eyed is mum's entire body. The woman noticed this and kooked at him with worry.
"Aleksander, are you dealing drugs again?"
"No, mom, I am not dealing drugs. I never did." Aleks rolled his eyes.
"Well, then explain yourself right now. Do you have any idea what I've come through when I noticed you were not home?"
"Mom? I'm back!" A voice in the hall exclaimed, and then they heard footsteps. Then Aleks entered the kitchen.
The woman stood there petrified, looking at one Aleks, and then focusing her eyes on the one that just entered the room.
"What is all this? What's going on!?" She asked slowly
"Yeah, that is a good question." The Aleks who came home first said, trying to sound calm "Who are you, kid? Is this a joke? A prank?"
"What?" The other Aleks replied angrily "I am Aleksander Jennsen, and this is my house! Who the hell are YOU!? How dare you come here and pose as me?"
"No, I am Aleksander Jennsen, and it is you who is posing as me!"
"I am going to call the police." Mother decided.
"And what are you going to tell them?" The first Aleks asked "<< Sorry to wake you up, officer, but I just found out there are two versions of my only son in my house? >> Just... tell him to go away. He is obviously thinking that somehow pretending to be someone else funny. You are not fooling anyone."
"No, mom! I am not a pretender! He is!"
Aleksander standing by the door closed his eyes abruptly, as he suddenly felt a wave of pain going through his entire body. When he opened them, he looked at one of his mother's hands
"Mom... give me that."
"What?"
"Give me the ring. It's dangerous. Please."
"Hey what do you want with it?" Asked the second boy "Are you a thief?"
"Shut up! Mom, just give the ring to me and I'll... I'll prove I am your son."
"DON'T!"
The woman looked at both of them for a while, considering. The first Alex was shaking his head, advising her not to give the ring to the other one. At the other hand, when she looked at the second boy, she saw somethin different in his eyes, something better. The woman noded her head. She took the ring off and threw it to the first kid.
She screamed, as someone grabbed her from behind.