Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Reunion in Chicago

This was Dr. Schechter's twentieth time flipping through his most recent research notes, and he looked up when Paula walked into his office.As soon as she put on the lab coat, she immediately frowned. "Oh, father, haven't you eaten yet?" "Huh? Of course I ate it... Oh, what is this?" "This is lunch, or it used to be lunch. What you eat must be breakfast. I bought these foods and brought them here. If you don't eat them, there is no point in doing so. I will drive you home in the future Just eat." "Don't get excited, I'll eat right away. I can't interrupt an important experiment every time you think it's time for me to eat, you know."

By the time dessert began, he was elated again. "You can't imagine," he said, "what kind of a man this Schwartz is. Did I tell you what about the sutures in his skull?" "They're primitive, you told me." "But there are other things. He has thirty-two teeth, three molars each on the upper, lower, left, and right sides. One of them is a false tooth, and it must have been made by himself. At least, I have never seen a tooth on the bridge. Metal hooks to hang the denture on the side teeth instead of melting it into the jawbone... But have you ever seen anyone with thirty-two teeth?"

"I don't count people's teeth for no reason, Father. What's the correct number—twenty-eight?" "Of course...but I'm not done yet. We had a medical analysis yesterday and guess what we found?...Guess!" "Guts?" "Pola, you mean to piss me off, but I don't care. You don't have to guess, let me tell you. Schwartz has an appendix, three and a half inches long, and it's open. Galaxy, that's unprecedented! I have checked with the medical school - of course, I have done it cautiously - the appendix has never been larger than half an inch, and there is absolutely no opening."

"What does this mean?" "Ah, it's 100 percent atavism, he's a living fossil." He got up from his chair, walked briskly to the wall, and briskly back, "I'll tell you what to do, Paula, I Do not think we should give up Schwartz, he is too precious a specimen." "No, no, father," said Paula at once, "you can't do that. You promised that farmer that you would give Schwartz back to him. You must do the same for Schwartz himself, he Not happy here." "Unhappy! Ha, we treat him like a rich stranger." "What difference does it make? The poor man got used to his farm, and his family, and lived there all his life. Now, he had a terrible experience--a painful one, in my opinion. — and the way his mind works has changed. You can't expect him to have a way to understand, we have to take his human rights into account and we have to send him back to his family."

"But, Paula, for science..." "Oh come on! What is science worth to me? What do you think the fellowship of brothers would say if they heard you were doing unsanctioned experiments? Do you think they would care about science? I mean , even if you don't think of Schwartz, you have to think of yourself. The longer you keep him, the better your chances of getting caught. Tomorrow night, you send him home, with the plan you had planned way, do you hear? . . . I'm going downstairs now to see if Schwartz needs anything before supper." But she came back in less than five minutes, her expression was depressed and her face was pale: "Father, he's gone!"

"Who's gone?" He was taken aback. "Swartz!" she cried, on the verge of tears, "you must have forgotten to lock the door when you left him." Schechter stood up abruptly, stretched out a hand to stabilize his body: "How long?" "I don't know, but it can't be too long. When was the last time you were there?" "Not fifteen minutes. I was only here a minute or two when you came in." "Well, then," she made up her mind suddenly, "I'll go out and find him, maybe he's just hanging around. You, stay here. If anyone finds out about him, don't let them know that he's involved with you. Understand. Yet?"

Schechter could only nod desperately. After Joseph Schwartz escaped from the hospital cell and came to the vast urban area, the big stone in his heart did not fall.He hadn't deluded himself into believing he had a plan of action.He knew, and knew very well, that he was only playing by ear. If there is any rational impulse guiding him (rather than blind hope as long as he can act), it is his hope that unexpected events will help him find his lost memories.Today, he has 100% believed that he is a patient with amnesia. The fleeting glimpse of the city, however, made him very discouraged.It is late afternoon and late afternoon, and the city of Chicago is a milky white in the sun.The buildings were probably all porcelain, like the farmhouse he first came across.

The impression churning deep in his heart told him that the color of the city should be brown and red.And they should be much dirtier, he's absolutely sure of that. He walked forward slowly.Somehow, he had the feeling that there would be no organized manhunt.He knew it, but he didn't understand why he knew it.In fact, in the past few days, he felt that he had become more and more sensitive to the "vibe", and the "feel" of things around him.It was one of those wonderful changes in his mind, since... since... His thoughts faded away. In any case, the atmosphere in the hospital cell was mysterious and seemed tinged with horror.So they weren't going to hunt him down with a lot of noise, and he knew that.But why did he understand?Is this strange activity in his mind also a symptom of amnesia?

He walked through another intersection.Two-wheeled vehicles were rare, and pedestrians, well, pedestrians, had rather ridiculous, unsewn, buttonless, colorful clothes, but so had his own.He was very puzzled, not knowing where his original clothes were, and then he wondered in his heart, did he really wear those clothes in his memory?Once you start to thoroughly doubt your memory, everything becomes uncertain. But he clearly remembered his wife and his two daughters, they couldn't be just fantasy.He stopped in the middle of the aisle, trying to regain the peace he had suddenly lost in his heart.Maybe they were deformations of real people, people who existed in this real world so unreal, and he had to find them.

Many passers-by passed him, and some muttered a few words unceremoniously.As he walked on, a strong thought came to his mind--he was hungry, or would soon be, and he had no money. He looked around and couldn't see anything that looked like a restaurant.Forget it, how did he know?He couldn't read the signs either. As he walked, he looked into each store... Soon, he found that in one store, there were some small tables set in alcoves, two people were sitting at one table, and one person was sitting next to the other table, and those people All eating. At least one thing hasn't changed, the way people eat is still chewing and swallowing.

As soon as he walked in, he stopped and stood there at a loss.There is no counter inside, no one is cooking food, and there is no kitchen sign in sight.His original idea was to wash the dishes in exchange for a dinner.But—who was he dealing with? He walked timidly towards the two diners, pointed to the table, and said with difficulty, "Food! Where? Please." The two looked up at him, looking a little surprised.One of them said so many words in one breath that he couldn't understand what he was saying.As he spoke, he tapped on a small device on the wall at the end of the dining table.Then the other man also said a few words, looking very impatient. Schwartz looked down.Just as he turned around to leave, someone grabbed his sleeve... Grantz had noticed Schwartz early on, when Schwartz was just a chubby, eager face outside the window. He said, "What does he want?" Meister sat opposite the small dining table, with his back to the street.He turned his head, glanced outside, shrugged again, and said nothing. Granz said again: "He came in." Meister replied: "So what?" "Not much, just talking." Unexpectedly, after a while, after looking around helplessly, the man actually came towards them, pointed to their beef stew, and said in a strange accent: "Food! Where is it? Please." Granz raised his head: "The food is here, brother. Choose a dining table at random, pull out the chair and sit down, and then use the self-service food machine... the self-service food machine! Don't you know what a self-service food machine is? ...Look Look at this poor fool, Meister. He's looking at me like he can't understand a word I'm saying. Hey man - see this thing, just drop a coin. Let me keep eating okay?" "Ignore him," Meister muttered, "he's just a bum looking for a handout." "Hey, wait a minute." When Schwartz turned to leave, Granz grabbed his sleeve.Then, he turned to Meister and said, "Space, let this guy eat something. He may be reaching his sixties soon, at least I can help him a little... Hey, brother, there is Any money? . . . Come on, hell, he still doesn't understand me. Money, man, money! This—" He took a shiny half diminut from his pocket, flicked it up, and it flew up in mid-air. A shining arc appeared. "Is there any?" he asked. Schwartz shook his head slowly. "Okay, then, I'll give you this!" He put the half coin back in his pocket, took out a small coin and threw it over. Schwartz caught it, but didn't know what to do. "Okay, don't keep standing there. Throw it in the self-service food machine, this thing here." Schwartz suddenly realized that he understood.Self-serve food machines have a row of coin slots that vary in size.There was also a row of buttons, and opposite each button was a creamy rectangular card, but he couldn't read what was written on it.So Schwartz pointed to the food on the table, then waved his index finger on a row of buttons, and raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner. Meister said in an annoyed tone, "He doesn't think sandwiches are good enough. There are a lot of high-class vagrants in our city these days. They don't deserve sympathy, Granz." "Okay, let me lose 0.85 points. Anyway, tomorrow is the pay day... Come on." The last two words were said to Schwartz.He took out a few more coins and put them into the self-service food machine, and then took out a large metal container from the wall slot. "Now take this to another table... Forget it, you can keep the tenth and use it to buy a cup of coffee." Schwartz carefully lifted the container to the adjoining table.A spoon is attached to the side of the container, which is glued to it by a film-like transparent material.He pressed lightly with his nails, and only heard a faint sound, and the spoon fell off.At the same time, the lid of the container split into two, and each was rolled aside. He saw just now that the two people next door were eating hot food, but the food in this container was cold, but it was just a trivial matter.Unexpectedly, after a minute or so, he found that the food inside was getting hotter and hotter, and the container itself was hot to the touch.He paused, tense and waited. The bowl of beef bisque first started to steam, then bubbled for a while.Once it cooled, Schwartz quickly finished the meal. When he left the restaurant, Granz and Meister remained there.The other customer hadn't left either, and Schwartz didn't pay attention to that person from the beginning to the end. Also, Schwartz hadn't noticed that since he left the Institute, a small man had been stalking him deftly, trying to keep within sight of him. After taking a shower and changing clothes, Bel Avadan prepared to observe the life of the "Homo sapiens Earth subspecies" in its natural habitat according to the original plan.The weather was sunny and mild, with a refreshing breeze, and the village—sorry, the city—was bright, quiet, and clean. Not bad. Chicago was the first stop, he thought, the most populous city on the planet.Huasheng is the next stop, which is the capital of this star.Then there is the road of God!San Francisco!Bueno! ... He has already decided on a journey, and he will travel all over the land in the western hemisphere (most of the sporadic population remaining on the earth are distributed in these places).He could stay in each city for two or three days, so that by the time he returned to Chicago, his expedition airship would almost arrive. This will be a very educational trip. Towards the end of the afternoon, he walked into a cafeteria.While he was eating, he happened to see a scene of actual drama.The protagonists are two earthlings - who enter the restaurant right after him, and a fat old man - who is the last to enter.He was just watching from the sidelines, noticing that this incident was in stark contrast to his unpleasant experience on the jet.The two men at the table were obviously taxi drivers, and they couldn't possibly be very rich, but they could do charity. After the fat old man left, another two minutes later, Aivadan also left the restaurant. The streets are visibly congested as the working hours draw to a close. A young girl hurried towards him, and he stepped aside to avoid bumping into her. "I'm sorry," he said. She was dressed in white, which was recognizable as a uniform.She didn't seem to pay attention to the near-collision. The anxious expression on her face, the constant turning of her head back and forth, and her preoccupied demeanor all indicated the urgency of the situation. He stretched out a finger and pressed it lightly on her shoulder: "Can I help you, Miss? Do you have any trouble?" She stopped, turned her head, and looked at him in surprise.Alvardan unconsciously estimated her age was between nineteen and twenty-one years old, and unconsciously looked carefully at her brown hair, black eyes, high cheekbones, pointed chin, and slender waist Limbs, and graceful posture.But he suddenly realized that as soon as he thought that this little woman was born and bred on the earth, her attractiveness would be greatly reduced. But she still stared at him, and when she was about to speak, she seemed to be suddenly discouraged. "Oh, it's useless, please leave me alone. If you want to find someone, but you have no idea where he might go, and you expect to find him, it's just wishful thinking." She lowered her head in frustration, tears barking.But then she raised her head and took a few deep breaths. "Did you see a fat man, about five feet four inches, wearing green and white clothes, no hat, and quite bald?" Alvardan looked at her with a surprised expression: "What? Green and white?... Oh, I can't believe it... Let me ask you, does the person you mentioned have difficulty speaking?" "Yes, yes, oh yes. So you've seen him?" "Less than five minutes ago, he was eating with two people in there... Here they come... Hey, you two." He waved to them. Granz came over first: "Do you want a car, sir?" "No, but if you tell this lady where the person who dined with you has gone, it will be worth my money for a ride." Glanz paused for a moment, showing a dejected expression: "Oh, I would like to help you, but it was the first time I saw him in my life just now." Alvardan turned to the girl: "Listen, miss. He can't walk in the direction you came, or you should find him, and he can't go too far. Let's take a few steps to the north, If I see him again, I'll recognize him." He volunteered in this way purely on impulse, and under normal circumstances, Alvardan is not an impulsive person.Now, he found himself smiling at her. Granz interrupted suddenly: "What did he do, miss? He didn't violate any custom, did he?" "No, no," she answered hastily, "he's just a little sick, that's all." After the two left, Meister looked at their backs and said, "A little sick?" He pushed up his peaked cap, and then pinched his chin, looking as if he was in imminent disaster. "Do you believe it, Granz? A little sick." After speaking, he glanced at his companion. "What's the matter with you?" Granz asked anxiously. "Looks like I'm going to be a little sick too. That guy must have run away from the hospital, and that's the nurse who came out to get him, and she's worried like something. If he's just a little sick, why should she Worried? He can barely speak, and he can barely understand people. You noticed that too, didn't you?" Glanz's eyes suddenly shot a frightened look: "You don't think it's a fever?" "I was thinking of 'radiant fever', of course, and he was very ill. He was within a foot of us, and that was never a good thing..." A thin and small man suddenly came to them. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his voice was like a bird's song. I don't know where he came from: "What's going on, gentlemen? Who got it?" Radiant heat'?" The two looked at him with disgust: "Who are you?" "Well," replied the thin man, "you want to know, don't you? To tell you the truth, I'm an errand for the Brotherhood." He turned his lapel out to reveal a shiny little badge. "Now, in the name of the Ancients, what is the so-called 'radiant heat'?" "I don't know anything," Meister said in a terrified, sullen tone. "A nurse was looking for a patient, and I wondered if it might be 'radiant fever.' It's not against the rules, is it?" "Oh! You want to tell me what the custom is, don't you? You'd better mind your own business, and let me worry about the custom." The thin man rubbed his hands, quickly looked around in all directions, and then hurried north. "There he is!" Paula smugly grabbed his companion's elbow.The change was all too quick, too easy, and too unexpected.From the emptiness of utter hopelessness, he suddenly coalesced into shape in the front door of a self-service department store, less than three blocks from the cafeteria. "I saw him," Alvardan whispered, "you stay here and let me follow him. If he sees you and rushes into the crowd, we will never find him again. " They were in hot pursuit like the devil in a nightmare.The flow of people in the store is like quicksand, which can slowly (or quickly) swallow its prey, hide it where no one can find it, and spit it out again unexpectedly, and build an impenetrable barrier.The large crowd gathered together may have a vicious consciousness in itself. At this moment, Alvadan walked around the counter cautiously, treating Schwartz as a big fish with the bait.He reached out his huge hand and grabbed Schwartz's shoulder. Schwartz burst out words that no one could understand, and tried desperately to break free in a panic.However, even a person who is many times stronger than Schwartz can only be captured by Ai Vadan's hands.Avadan was very satisfied with his performance, showing a knowing smile.In order not to make the onlookers curious, he deliberately said in a normal tone: "Hi, man, haven't seen you for a few months, how are you?" It was an easy cover, he thought, because the other party was chattering away, but Paula arrived just in time. "Swartz," she said in a low voice, "come back with us." For a while, Schwartz showed a tough attitude of refusal to obey, but he softened after a while. He said in a sleepy tone, "I'll go with you." But his words were drowned out by the sudden loud bang from the store's PA system. "Attention! Attention! Attention! The management office requires all customers who visit our store to leave in an orderly manner through the Fifth Street exit. When you pass the door, you need to show your registration card to the guard. This evacuation must be done quickly Go. Attention! Attention! Attention! . . . " The broadcast was repeated three times, and the last time it was played, it was mixed with the rustling of footsteps as crowds began to line up at the various exits.Many were yelling and asking questions that were never answered in various ways, such as "What happened? How did it happen?" Alvardan shrugged and said, "Let's go to line up, miss, we're leaving anyway." Paula shook her head: "We can't, we can't..." "Why?" The archaeologist frowned. The girl just kept stepping back.How could she tell him that Schwartz didn't have a registration card?Who is he?Why do you keep helping yourself?She was caught in a whirlpool of doubt and despair. Finally, she said in a hoarse voice, "You'd better go yourself, or you'll get in trouble." Crowds swarmed out of the elevators on every floor, and Alvardan, Paula, and Schwartz became small isolated islands in the crowd. Looking back afterwards, Avadan realized that he could leave that girl now!Get away from her!Never see her again!No guilt at all! ...If that were the case, everything would be different in the future.Even the great galactic empire will crumble and fall into chaos. Fortunately, he did not leave the girl.Now her face is full of fear and despair, and she has become unattractive. No one will look good in this situation.But when Aiwadan saw her helpless expression, he couldn't help feeling distraught. He had already taken a step, and now he came back: "Are you going to stay here?" She nodded. "But why?" he asked. "Because," her tears finally fell, "I don't know what else to do." Even though she was a rebellious earth woman, now she is just a frightened little girl.Alvardan said in a softer voice, "If you tell me what's wrong, I'll try to help you." He got no answer. The three of them froze in place, forming a still picture.Schwartz was already squatting on the ground, feeling so sad that he didn't want to try to understand the conversation between the two, and he was not curious about the sudden evacuation of the store.He didn't know what else to do but bury his head in his hands and cry out in despair.Paula kept crying, all she knew was that she was terrified. She had never thought that a person could be so frightened before.Alvadan couldn't figure out the situation, so he had to wait patiently, and patted Paula's shoulder awkwardly, trying to give her some encouragement, but it obviously didn't work.But in his mind, he just thought that this was the first time in his life that he had come into contact with an earth woman. At this moment, the thin man walked towards them.