Syndrome

quieter when the clinical trials are finished. I mean, after the celebrating is over.'

'Right.'But they're not over, Ellen thought. And there may

notbea celebration. 'I'm going down to sublevel one. Is Dr. Vee down there now?'

'I think he's in his office. Everybody else went out for a bite, probably that diner down the road. I think something's scheduled for later on. I don't know. Everybody looks kind of worried.'

'Well, nobody has said anything to me.'They don't need to, she thought.I saw the file.

She swiped her card through the security slot and got onto the elevator.

When she stepped off, the laboratory was dark and a light was showing under Dr. Van de Vliet's office door.

Good. She swiped her card in the reader next to the laboratory air lock and went in. Another swipe and she was on the elevator down to the subbasement, where she was not authorized to be.

She went to the second door and slipped her card through the slot, wondering what she would see.

The room was dark and smelled of alcohol and disinfectant. She quickly closed the door behind her before turning on the overhead fluorescents.

Alexa Hampton was secured to the bed with restraints, and she appeared to be sedated, though she did slowly open her eyes as the light flickered and then stabilized. There was a wheelchair in the corner.

'Ms. Hampton, can you hear me?' she whispered, hoping not to alarm her. 'Do you remember me? I was the one who helped you when you were first admitted.'

She watched as Alexa stared at her for a moment and then quietly nodded.

'I. . I want to get out of here.' Her eyelids fluttered and then she closed her eyes again. 'But I'm too weak. I can't move.'

'You're strapped down, love. Let me help you.'

She reached for the Velcro straps and then paused. Was this a decision she wanted to make?

If I do this, it's the end of my career here. Have I lost my mind? What will I do after this?

But if I don't try to stop them, God knows what. . we could all end up convicted of criminal conspiracy and in prison.

'That reporter friend of yours is here.' She pulled open the straps, then helped Alexa sit up in the bed and swing her legs around. 'I'm going to take you to him.'

'It's so horrible,' Ally went on. She was settling into the wheelchair as though she expected it. Then she looked up, her eyes dazed. 'Where are you taking me? 'Reporter'? Do you mean-'

'Like I said I'm moving you into your friend's room.'

She rolled her to the door, then stopped and cracked it and peeked out.

'Don't say a word dear,' she whispered as she began pushing Alexa down the hall. There was a pale flickering light under the door at the end. 'Debra and David and the others have all gone out to the diner down the road and Dr. Vee is in his office, probably running some last-minute computer simulations. But we need to be quiet.'

The fluorescent lights seemed to swirl overhead.This all feels so familiar, Ally thought.This is where I saw Kristen. Does Ellen know what happened to her?

'You two have to decide what you want to do.'

'Stone? You're sure he's here?'

'Yes,' she said 'and he's in some kind of battle of wills with Mr. Bartlett.'

When they reached the door at the end she tried it and it was locked. She pulled out her magnetic card and zipped it through the slot.

As they went through, Ally realized the room was lit only by the glow of a laptop computer screen.

'Stay here,' Ellen said turning to leave. 'I'm going to try to talk to Dr. Vee.'

As the door closed Stone finally looked up. He was wearing a sweater and jeans and had been typing furiously on a Gerex laptop.

'Hey, how're you feeling?' He paused to glance down and save what he'd been writing, then clicked off the computer.

'I have no idea.' Something about him didn't seem quite right. It was like he was on happy pills or something. 'How about you? The last time I saw you, I was passing out.'

'I don't actually remember all that much of what happened after that. I think I went back to the city. But I feel great now. Like I went through a dark tunnel and came out the other side. I feel very different. I don't know what's next, but right now I'm just happy to be in the middle of the biggest story in the history of medical science.'

What's going on with him?she wondered.He's spacey. He has to be on some kind of drug. What have they done to him?

He closed the laptop, then reached and clicked on a light by the bed. 'Come on. Want to see something incredible? It's a marvel of medical science, never before happened.'

'What-'

'Come with me. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it.'

He tossed the laptop onto the bed, then swung his feet around and settled them onto the floor. She noticed that the room was a pale blue, with white linoleum. There was a pair of white slippers next to the bed.

He slipped them on and then opened the door and grabbed her wheelchair.

The hallway felt colder now, yet it was also stifling, as though someone had drawn the air out of it.

'There's nothing we can do,' Stone said.

There was a hint of madness in his voice. It was as if he were trying to convince himself that he was still sane, and it wasn't working. He was just barely holding it together.

Then she realized he was about to go into intensive care, where Kristen had been.

'So Kristen's still here?'

'Oh, you'd better believe it,' he said. 'She is most definitely still here.'

When they got to the door, he revolved back.

'Ally, you really don't have to see this, you know. Not if you'd rather. . Nothing remotely like this is going to happen to you. They assured me.'

What the hell is he talking about?

'On the other hand,' he went on, 'maybe youshouldsee it. Maybe everybody in the world should see it. It's so astonishing.'

He pushed open the door and rolled her in. Then he reached down and lifted her to her feet. Standing wasn't that hard, and somehow he had known that.

The room seemed to be captured in mist, though surely that was her imagination. Everything must be her imagination.

Kristen was in the corner of the room, in a wheelchair, but now her body was shriveled. No, shriveled was not the right word. In fact, there might not be a word to describe the change. Her skin was smooth and flawless. She didn't look like this the last time Ally saw her and now she wondered how long ago that actually was. How many hours, or days?

The bones were the same as always; in her cheeks the underlying structure was sharp and severe and elegant. But there wasn't enough flesh on them. They were reminiscent of what happens at puberty, when the body starts changing in ways that aren't well coordinated.

That was it. Kristen had become a child-it was in her innocent eyes-except that her body was now the flesh of a child over the bone structure of an adult.

It scarcely seemed like the same person from the last time. She had crossed some mystical divide. She was holding a large rag doll-where did she get that? Ally wondered-and humming the tune of the ditty that ended with 'Now I know my ABC's. Tell me what you think of me.'

'She can't talk,' Stone was saying. 'I mean, actually communicate. Or at least she doesn't seem to want to. I've already tried. But isn't what's happened incredible? There's never been anything like this in history. The replacement cells are making her body newer and newer, so she's getting younger and younger.'

Ally walked over, slowly, and tried to take her hand. She was grasping the doll and she violently pulled