STORY: HoloMan - Part One

[BGryphon18]

Here's story number two of four. Let me know what you think!

HoloMan - Part One

Ow... my head hurts. Have you ever gotten a headache from someone trying to explain something to you? You try and try to understand what they're saying but the best you can do is look constipated? Well that's my predicament now. My brain was cramping trying to process all the information being thrown at me and it was cramping hard.
"Would you like some medication to reduce the pain?" That's Doctor Chang. The picturesque diminutive old Asian woman who looked as though she harbored decades of hidden wisdom, yet could kick your ass should the need arise.
"No. Thank you. I'm feeling a lot better now. I just need to rest a second and try to not think." She smiled
"Good luck with that one. I'll just get a few more bio readings and you should rest. You've been through quite an ordeal."
That, without a doubt, qualifies for the "Understatement of the Millennium". Let me see if I can try and explain to you what I know so far.
First of all, my name's Marty Rice. I'm 22 years old and I live in a small quiet town in Wisconsin. I'm an only child and up until about 6 hours ago, I was as normal as normal could be. But that all changed in the most astounding way I could have possibly imagined.
A few hours ago I was taking a nice leisurely stroll through the woods near my home. It was just past sunset so you could see the stars, but it was still bright enough that I could see where I was going. It was late March so it had just started warming up but there were still traces of snow here and there fighting against the warmer weather. It was a cool day so I had my jacket on but unzipped so that I could still feel the breeze. I would usually go on walks like this after my workouts as kind of a cool down and to help relax my mind as well as my body. But tonight, the cool wind felt like heaven against my still warm and thoroughly aching body. My psycho trainer had just subjected me to, quite possibly, the most grueling and intense workout ever devised by man. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING hurt! I would occasionally stop and rest against a tree since my leg muscles were crying for relief. Massaging them lightly and wincing at the pain, I finally decided that it was time to head back before I collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep in the woods.
"God I hurt. What possessed him today that he pushed me so hard?" Granted I knew that in the end it would all be worth it, but right now, my body didn't agree. Being in my early 20's, you'd think that I'd be more resilient to pain, but only starting on this stupid exercise regimen a few weeks prior, I hadn't quite adjusted to it yet. See I'm just over six feet tall and around 200 pounds, but it's an equal balance of muscle and fat. I had the quintessential "average" physique. Dressed properly, you'd never no that I had a fair amount of fat on me as it was positioned to my favor. However, I had been noticing slight increases in the amount of it, so I finally managed to get my ass up and to the gym to start working out. My goal was not to be some hardcore gym rat bodybuilder, but just to loose a few pounds and get a bit more toned. That way I could attract the hardcore gym rat bodybuilders that I so lusted after. Smiling at that thought, I pushed away from the tree I was leaning on and aimed for home.
Just as I was turning around, I heard what sounded like a plane overhead. Looking upward it turned out to be a meteor that was dangerously close to me. So close that the tops of the trees were hit and starting on fire. Mere seconds later I was rocketed by a deafening crash and nearly blown off of my feet by the shockwave. Curiosity overtook fear and I made my way over to the crash site to investigate. The impact site was devastated. A crater at least 50 feet in diameter and trees slanted away and leaning on their neighbors from the force of the impact. I was only able to get to the edge of the crater as the heat the rock was still producing was too intense. I stood an marveled at it. Nothing this exciting had ever happened to me.
Once my shock and awe wore off, I started noticing that I felt... odd. A weird tingling sensation was flooding my body. Panic returned as I finally realized that this could be radioactive and here I was standing close enough to be saturated with God knows what. I ran. Despite the unbearable pain that my body was forced to endure, adrenaline was pumping through me to a degree I had never know. I could be dying right now. How could I have been SO stupid?
Finally I broke the tree line and made my way to my car. Pulling out my cell phone I called the local hospital and gave them a very imprecise idea as to what was happening.
"Meteor crash... went to check it out... tingling... radioactive..." After a few more tries, I think I finally explained my situation to the person on the phone and was instructed to go to the rear entrance of the hospital where they would be ready for me.
Pulling up I was greeted by a half dozen people wearing radiation suits and ushering me into what looked like a plastic maze. They had set up the protective coverings to a makeshift isolation room where I could be treated.
"Sir, sir. Can you describe how you're feeling? Any pain, nausea, dizziness or the like?"
"Sore... light headed... feel like I want to throw up..." All of which were more linked to the fact that I was sure I was going to die and these were more psychological symptoms. Once inside I was poked, prodded, injected, scanned, and I don't even know what else for about 15 minutes. I was going to die. It was too late for them to do anything for me. With this thought, I started to cry. Unabashed, full breakdown crying. I was shaking from head to toe with shock. Why did I do it? What on Earth possessed me to do something so foolish? Over and over I scolded myself internally not realizing that the numerous attendants had left. Still locked in my reverie, I felt a hand touch my shoulder to get my attention. Startled by both this person appearing from nowhere and the fact that it was a hand, not a glove that I felt. I jumped up in the bed, starred at them wide eyed and shouted:
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY AREN'T YOU IN A SUIT?" Very surprisingly, the doctor smiled at me.
"It's alright sir. You're going to be fine. All of our tests concluded that you have no trace of any radioactive material in your system." It took quite some time for these words to penetrate my brain and realization to hit.
"You... you're sure? I'm not going to die?" Again he smiled.
"Oh no. You will die... just not today I'm afraid. I'm sure you have a lot of questions as do we, but for know we just want you to know that you are in no immediate danger..." At these words, I passed out.

**********

"Looks like he's finally coming around. Sir, can you hear me?" With more effort then it should have normally taken, I opened my eyes and looked around for the source of the voice.
"Yes" I croaked out. So tired. I was still so very tired.
"Excellent. I was worried for a moment. When you fainted you hit your head pretty hard on the side of the table." Ow. Yeah there was quite a bit of throbbing pain on the side of my head now that he mentioned it. I reached up and felt a sizable lump followed by a fresh load of pain. I took a sharp intake of breath at the sensation and removed my hand from my head. The doctor smiled at me. "I'll get you something for the pain now that you're awake. I'll be right back." After marking something on the clipboard he was holding he turned around and left leaving me to myself and my thoughts.
I was alive. Not only that, I wasn't going to die. It wasn't radioactive at all. Must have just been the heat or something. I was alive. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought. When the doctor returned, he too was smiling.
"Here you are. This should help. So what's funny?" handing me the cup of water and two pills.
"I'm alive. I'm not going to die after all. It's not funny, but I can't help but laugh."
"It's not surprising. Most people have that reaction to good news like that. You see it all the time with friends and family of people in surgery. It's a normal response. Now then," he took the now empty cup from me and placed it next to the bed "I'd like to ask you a few questions if you're up for it."
"Sure. Fire away."
"Good. Now, as far as we are able to tell from your brief conversation with the receptionist, you found a meteor somewhere and felt that you were exposed to some kind of radiation. Is that correct?"
"Basically. I was walking in the woods near my home when I saw it crash about a hundred feet away. I went to go check it out since I'd never seen anything like that before. I stood at the edge of the crater for about a half a minute or so when I started to feel this tingling all over. Thinking it was some kind of radiation, I panicked, ran home to my car and called on the way."
"Hmm. I see. Well as I told you we found no trace of any radiation in your system. Whatever it was, it seems to have had no effect on your body other then that tingling sensation you described. All our tests show us that you're in perfect health. How do you feel?"
"Aside from the splitting headache, fine. Though I'm still a bit sore from my workout earlier." The doctor smiled again.
"Well that's to be expected. We'd like to keep you here overnight for observation though Mr. Rice. Just to make sure there aren't any residual effects we couldn't detect before, though I'm sure there aren't any" he added quickly seeing the slight panic on my face. "In the mean time, would you care for anything to eat?"
"Um... yeah sure. I am a bit hungry."
"Alright. I'll have the nurse bring you something. For now, you just relax. The remote for the TV is next to the bed should you wish to watch something. I'll check back with you in a few hours to see how you're doing."
"Thanks doc." and with a brief smile, he turned and left the room leaving me once again to my own musings. "I suppose a little TV wouldn't hurt." Reaching over to the table, I picked up the remote and started flipping through channels to find something to watch. When I could find nothing on any of the usual channels I watched, I just kept going one at a time to find anything that looked good. Finally I managed to stop on a rerun of a Star Trek episode I liked. While I'm not a big Trek fan, there were a few that I enjoyed. A short time later, the nurse entered with a tray of reasonably good looking food for me to eat. I got about halfway through a sandwich and the apple before I realized I wasn't really all that hungry. Lazily watching the last of the episode, I must have drifted off because the next thing I remember, I was being awoken by the doctor and an aid.
"Sorry to wake you, but we're going to take you down to get some X-Rays and CAT scans done to make sure there isn't anything that we missed. Do you feel up to walking? Otherwise we can get a wheelchair."
"I think I'll be okay." I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and tentatively stood up, keeping my hands on the bed in case I didn't have the strength for it. Looking up at the doctor, he was again smiling at me and walked over to the door holding it open for me. My first few steps were wobbly at best, but the more I moved, the better it got. "I feel like an old man. Still sore from that workout." I smiled.
"Well at least you're walking, that's the important part."
"True. A few hours ago I wasn't sure I'd be alive. It's all uphill from there." We reached the elevator and waited for it to reach our floor. "So what kind of tests do you need to do yet?" I asked as we entered the elevator.
"Just some minor ones. CAT scan to make sure that nothing is wrong upstairs. Some reflex and conditioning tests to make sure you have all your wits about you. As long as it all checks out, you should be fine to go home."
"That's good. No offense, but I'd prefer my own bed." he laughed.
"I don't blame you." the doors had opened now that we reached our floor and he again gestured for me to take the lead. "Not many would prefer a hospital bed to their own. Plus they're not all that comfortable if you ask me." We walked down a couple hallways and into a room with all kinds of equipment and a large window through which you could see the enormous CAT scan machine. We proceeded through that door and the doc had me lay down on the machine. Once I was in position I started to laugh nervously again. "Something wrong?" the doc asked.
"No. Just never done this before. Bit unnerving is all. Always reminded me of something on a sci fi show like Star Trek or something." he smiled and laughed a bit as well.
"Understandable. Most patients are nervous the first time, but you'll be fine. Just relax and try not to move. Should be in and out in just a couple minutes."
"You're the doc, doc." With one last check he left the room to where the technician was getting things ready.
"Okay. Are you ready?" his voice echoed through the room from the speaker system. I took a deep breath and gave him the thumbs up to go. The machine started humming and I was slowly moved backwards into it. Once inside my nerves started up again. I kept taking deep breaths and trying to think of things to keep me calm. My mind wandered to the whole Star Trek comparison and I started to feel a very peculiar tingling sensation all over. It was strikingly similar to what I felt when the meteor crashed. The feeling kept getting stronger and stronger followed by an indescribable pain that wracked my whole body. I started screaming and trashing about as I tried to make this pain stop. Then, just as quickly, it stopped and I opened my eyes to see about a half dozen people standing around me with shocked and concerned looks on their faces before everything faded to black.

[Mad Dog]

Dunno where you're going with this, but I'm sure once the growth happens, it'll be fantastic.