فصل سی و نهم

PART FOUR

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Initial Findings

Later that afternoon, Hatch was in his office talking to Quentin when Dr. Parker knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he said gruffly.

She opened the door. “Good evening, Dr. Hatch. Quentin.” “Quentin was just leaving,” Hatch said.

Quentin immediately stood. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” He walked out of the office and Hatch motioned to the same chair Quentin had occupied. “Take a seat.” Before she could speak Hatch asked, “How’s our boy?” “I’ve never seen anyone like him.” “Explain.”

“I’ve confirmed your initial findings. His el-waves are extremely high. Except they’ve grown since your first encounter.” “So he is becoming more powerful,” Hatch said.

“So it would appear. But even more curious is that he seems to handle electricity differently than the others.” Hatch slightly leaned forward. “What do you mean?” “His electricity seems to be circulating within his body, either through his bone marrow or central nervous system, which may account for some rather surprising phenomena. I administered a mild shock to him to see how he’d respond and his el-waves actually increased by one percent. I was so intrigued by this result that I upped the power to nearly five hundred joules. At that level I thought he’d probably jump out of his seat, but instead he just sat there. His body told a different story, however. His el-waves spiked fifty percent, then dropped and maintained at an increased seventeen percent and held there until the end of our examination. He still might be elevated.” Hatch leaned forward in his chair. “You’re saying he can absorb electricity from other sources?” “It would appear so.”

“Like Nichelle?”

“Except that Nichelle doesn’t retain power; she’s simply a con-duit to its dissemination. Vey seems to capture it.” Hatch rubbed his chin in fascination. “How is hoarding all that electricity affecting his health?” “If it’s hurting him, it’s not manifesting. He’s perfectly healthy.

With the exception of his Tourette’s syndrome.” “He has Tourette’s?”

“Yes. That’s why he has the facial tics.” “I thought he was just anxious.” Hatch rubbed his palms together the way he always did when he was excited. “Could his Tourette’s have something to do with why he’s different than the other children?” “I don’t know. We don’t even know enough about Tourette’s to know what causes it. We know it’s a neurological disorder, but not a whole lot more than that.” “But it’s possible?”

“It’s possible.”

“I want this information kept in strictest confidentiality.” “Of course. All research is confidential.” “I don’t even want your assistants to know. This is between you and me.” “Very well.”

“If he’ll cooperate, Mr. Vey could be the model of the Glows 2.0.” “And if he won’t?”

“Then we’ll have to fix that. How was his attitude?” “He was quite defiant.”

“Of that I’m sure. But there’s one thing I’m equally certain of.” “What’s that?”

“The boy loves his mother.”