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An Odd Place to Find Oneself

By TaliaJoy

Chapter 3: Jimmy's Weird Mysteries

"Unh…"

Jimmy's eyes slowly began to creak open. Then they fluttered shut again.

Where…where…Clark…Lois…anybody…

Superman, maybe? Superman would be OK…

Hello?

He couldn't seem to get himself to move, and all his senses seemed a little stopped up. Gradually, though, he felt them reawakening.

But he just felt so tired…

"Dr. Garver, I'm sorry –"

"I thought I told you to call me Professor Hamilton!"

"Y-yeah. You did. Sorry about that."

"Well, it's a moot point. Get on with it."

"We've…we've been doing everything we can, Doc. But we just can't retrieve them. Maybe if we run a few more tests…or maybe, um, a lot more tests…"

"I don't care, Reginald! Whatever it takes!"

"O-of course."

He sighed. "What do we know so far?"

The other one took a deep breath. "Not much. We're having a really hard time picking up any brain patterns that can be recognized as belong to the…um…the other two…subjects."

The…other two…?

Oh, right. Clark and Lois…

Jimmy slowly began to remember what had happened.

Gee…I guess they must be trying to figure out what happened to them…I hope it's not too bad…

"Well, then, what happened? Do you think the donor mental patterns were…destroyed?"

"I – I…don't know. I can't…rule it out. In fact…well, it's looking quite possible at this point."

Jimmy gulped. That didn't sound too good.

"Well…if that's the way it is, that's the way it is." Hamilton took a breath. "We can – we can still work with this."

The other man – Reginald – swallowed. "Now, now, let's – let's not be hasty, right? We don't really – know anything yet."

"Right, right. Do your thing, Reginald."

"I…"

C'mon, Jimmy. You have to find out what's going on! Move! Or something…

Jimmy grunted.

Reginald gasped. "He's waking up, Doc!"

"Oh! Um…oh, dear. Ah…Jimmy! Jimmy Olsen!" The two men rushed over to his bedside.

"Ugh…" Jimmy said, opening his eyes. He tried to lift his head up, but he found that it was being held in place by one of the same metal cap things that had been used in the badly botched demonstration.

"Well, it's good to see you're conscious!" the man who must've been Reginald said. He looked pretty young, probably slightly younger than Clark, but not as young as himself. He wasn't very big, and had slightly dirty blonde hair. He looked and sounded like he was a little nervous right now. Almost like he wasn't actually glad about Jimmy having come to…nah, he was probably projecting that. He wasn't sure if he was happy about having woken up himself, though he didn't really know why.

"Yes, how are you feeling?" Professor Hamilton said.

Jimmy twitched. "I feel…funkier than ever. And…not the good kind of funky."

His voice still sounded a bit like he was drunk or something.

Professor Hamilton took a deep breath. "Well - that's to be expected. See, we've been doing some tests on you to…try to determine what went wrong."

Jimmy gulped. "Any…uh…results?"

"Um…everything is extremely tentative and inconclusive," Reginald said. "But, uh, we are…learning more."

A weight pressed hard on Jimmy's mind.

"Are they…m-my friends, I mean…"

Reginald and Emil glanced at each other.

There was something about that glance that was just horrible.

"They're not…dead, if that's what you were wondering," Reginald said.

"…That's good," Jimmy said. It was slightly comforting…but thanks to the man's tone of voice, not all that comforting.

He decided to venture another question. "Do…you know what exactly happened to them?"

Emil sighed. "As previously stated, our tests are…inconclusive. They seem to be in a coma-like state. We've…we're keeping their condition…stable."

"Well, that's…that's good," Jimmy said.

Everything was still such a surreal blur. He kind of hoped that Superman would show up or something. Maybe he'd have a clue how to help…though, really, Jimmy mostly wanted him around for moral support. He mentally toyed with the idea of using his signal watch, but, well…he wasn't sure. He just would hate to ever use it when he didn't really need to. Superman's trust was a pretty precious thing.

Jimmy sighed to himself. Well, Superman would find out about what had happened soon enough. It would probably be in the papers soon…

Gee, would he be interviewed by his co-workers? That'd be weird. It wouldn't be the first time, but…he still thought it would be weird. Especially…without Clark or Lois around.

He felt like there was something else he ought to say…oh, right.

"Do you have any idea what happened to me?" Jimmy asked.

"Um…oh! Well…" Emil fidgeted nervously. "Well, we…no, not really. We know that…there was a substantial effect on your brain, which might cause frequent migraines in the future. Nothing toomuch more severe than that, we don't think. Just some head pain, but it might be…somewhat intense at times. Other times, however, you'll probably feel fine. Nothing is seriously wrong, we don't think, but we're not exactly sure what happened…we're looking into a way to treat you, but…you can probably go home and continue your life, but we'll have to ask you to check in with us every now again. Is that alright?"

"Uh…I guess," Jimmy said.

"Excellent," Emil said, giving an odd grin for a second, and then returning to a normal expression with surprising speed. "You may leave now."

"Um…I may?" Jimmy said.

"Well, if you're feeling well, that is," Professor Hamilton said.

"I guess I'm feeling…okay," Jimmy said. "I'd feel better if you took this cap thingy off…"

"Of course," Emil said. There was a clicking sound. The apparatus clenched around his head loosened. Jimmy pulled his head away and shook it. He was afraid to get up at first, worrying that he might be disoriented and fall over, but to his surprise, he seemed to be just fine.

"We'll need your number, Jimmy," Reginald said, giving him a pad of paper.

"…Sure," Jimmy said. He quickly jotted it down.

He awkwardly glanced around. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Lois and Clark lying unconscious on two cots next to him. They also had metal caps on, and seemed to be hooked up to some machinery.

He drew his breath in and stared, while simultaneously wanting to look away.

His mind went blank. He just…how was he supposed to react? What was he supposed to think or…do?

He just…couldn't do anything.

"Are they going to be okay?" he blurted, turning to Professor Hamilton, who was fiddling with some more buttons on some machine.

Professor Hamilton glanced at him. "Ah, yes. Yes they are," he said, in a weirdly casual way.

"Good," Jimmy said, in a sort of numb, automatic fashion. "…Can I leave, then?"

"Sure," Reginald said. "I'll escort you."

"Oh…okay," Jimmy said.

He just…what. What was he even saying or doing?

Before Reginald had taken him very far, he remembered. "Um, where's my camera?"

"Your camera? Oh…yes. Uh." Reginald dashed off, but he quickly drew back. "Um…Doc? Where did we put it?"

Professor Hamilton gave Reginald a weird look. It was like it contained just the tiniest hint of a glare, without really being one.

Reginald gulped. "Where did we put it, Professor?"

"Over there," Professor Hamilton said. His voice was odd and stiff in a sort of…harsh way.

Reginald scooped up the camera and handed it to Jimmy.

He looks like he's seen a ghost, Jimmy thought.

"OK, let's get going," Reginald said.

Jimmy almost replied, "Good idea." Because he really wanted to get out of that place fast, for some reason.

He asked himself if it was because seeing Clark and Lois comatose made him feel weird. No, he answered. That wasn't the reason.

Reginald walked Jimmy through halls and stuff…

Jimmy felt as though there was a lot on his mind.

Yet, at the same time, he couldn't think.

Then he suddenly thought of something.

"Um…we arrived here in Mr. Kent's car…" he said.

"Oh…um," Reginald said. "Well…"

It seemed Reggie couldn't think either. Would he mind being called Reggie? Jimmy didn't know and he didn't really care. It didn't seem horribly relevant, really.

"…I'll pay for a cab for you, alright?" the assistant to the professor – whatever he liked to be called –said.

"Uh…good. Thanks," Jimmy said.

They finally emerged from the building.

Soon, Jimmy was in a cab, heading back to the Planet.

He took a deep breath.

His mind was filled with two thoughts.

Mostly it was filled with, This is going to be weird.

"Weird" in the decidedly bad sense of the word.

The way the Daily Planet existed in his mind, Lois and Clark were there. That didn't mean that they were in the building every minute, obviously, but it just meant…they were, you know…there…for him.

If nothing else, they were always…existing…in the world. In a non-comatose state.

Profound, Jimmy, he thought to himself, smirking a little. In a less than joyful way.

The other thought was just lingering in the background. And he couldn't really pay much attention to it, but…it was there.

Was I just imagining things…or did Reggie call Professor Hamilton "Dr. Garver"?


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