The Unconscious Man (JP)

Once Cyrus had been put into a deep sleep, Tessa retrieved a stretcher to help shuttle the large man. She knew she was going to have to do a larger portion of the work in binding him and bear more of the weight when carrying him because Ben had to put more focus on concentrating his gift.

Ben was causing Cyrus’s brains to pump adenosine, a neurotransmitter that induces sleep. Of course, he didn’t know that was what he was doing neurologically, he just thought sleep and it did it. If he stopped, eventually the sleep would fade and the man would wake up naturally.

The pair carefully and slowly transported Cyrus into the rustic house and down towards the basement. Once there, Tessa opened a hidden trap door in the floor which then allowed them to proceed below; the door was designed to shut itself once they had gotten past it. Next came carefully winding down earthen staircase carved into the ground itself, followed by an underground corridor. It ended at a solid wall of earth, a dead end.

Here they would wait, at this security checkpoint for those that would respond to the silent alarm. Ben and Tessa placed the stretcher carefully on the ground and Ben took a seat next to it and continued to play his role as a sleep inducing aid.

Meanwhile, Tessa took a resting posture, by leaning against the wall, and waited. She couldn’t help yawning as the time ticked by; it was late after all and it had been a long day already.

Cynthia took several deep breaths, attempting to calm her racing heart. "I think we should try to identify the author of this letter—it should still be treated as a threat, but perhaps we should approach it with caution?" Her suggestion ended with a hint of uncertainty. Before Johnathan could respond, a beeping sound interrupted them. All three of their pagers had gone off, displaying the urgent code "911."

"Looks like finding the culprit will have to wait; we've got more pressing issues," he said as Cynthia also checked her pager. He turned to Khunara, torn between wanting to include her for the strength in numbers and wanting to keep her safe in the medical wing. "There's someone upstairs who shouldn't be here. I have no idea how many there are or if there's a serious threat. It's your choice if you'd like to accompany us."

Cynthia sighed, rubbing her brow in frustration. "Today is not shaping up well. I hope Lydia is faring better than we are," she muttered half to herself.

Khunara looked down at her pager before returning her gaze to Cynthia and Johnathan. "I can come along. Whatever it is might require some medical aid, so I'll come along." She answered with a kind smile before gently touching Cynthia's arm. "When we're done, perhaps I can give you something for your stress? You seem stressed out."

She was a doctor, someone who cared for everyone, and even if this woman had upset Johnathan recently she wanted to make sure she was well. Everyone needed to be well in her eyes.

"Why don't we go see what all this is about?" She suggested, trying to stay positive.

Cynthia smiled at her, unsurprised by the doctors kindness. "Thank you, I will be okay though. I'll let you know if that ever changes." she said as they hurried to the entrance of their underground society.

Johnathan was first to reach the door. Upon seeing the three, the guards lowered the earthen wall. "Who's this?" He asked, his eyes darting between Tessa and Ben.

"Tessa, Ben, we're grateful that you were there. You can take a break if you'd like. Please send a few other guards up if you do take me up on that offer." Cynthia said, trying to relax herself despite the unconscious man in front of them.

Tessa stood at attention when her superiors showed up. “He said his name is Cyrus Riddell and he has important information to relay to Johnathan. Couldn’t get him to share it with us.” She replied. “Ben has him sleeping right now. He agreed peacefully to let us put him under before bringing him any further into the property than he managed before spotting him. Oh! And he’s a freaking telekinetic. I would wager an experienced one too. He was able to unscrew multiple lightbulbs from the spotlights we trained on him in the dark. That takes focus and precision.” Tessa added.

Ben continued his role of keeping Cyrus under.

Tessa spoke up once more, “A break would be fantastic,” it had been a long shift due to this ordeal. “Thank you. I’ll send back some guards pronto.” With that she exited down into the community to check on her kids that should be sleeping. Ben decided to remain until he was certain everything was going to be ok; he was overly protective like that of his new family.