Chapter 13 - Surprises

Airic and Aubin enjoyed their lunch, while B'tlar charged himself, as they appreciated the scenery of the fantasy restaurant. The outside could not be seen, giving the illusion that they were in a mystical area, which was amplified by the furniture and props arranged by the owner.

They finished their lunch and paid their bill, then they walked around the empty garden to promote digestion.

Aubin had fully relaxed in their presence as he smiled more and tried to get Airic to laugh during their walk. Time went on and eventually, they left the Fantasy restaurant on the hovercar. Once again, Airic put on some cartoons to keep Aubin occupied and watched a bit of the episode with him, but he was left horrified at the quality of it. The graphics looked far too complex for a young children's program made for entertainment and the episode script itself was dull to someone who had watched cartoons on Earth, overall he found it boring.

However, he was baffled by how fixated Aubin was to the screen.

"Do you enjoy this?" Airic asked Aubin.

"Yes."

"What makes it interesting?"

"The colours and the pretty people..."

'What the hell? this is considered a good children's show? Even the movie acclaimed as the best in centuries is mediocre compared to the movies from Earth. I only hope the music and books are good or I will go mad with nothing but schoolwork while travelling.' Airic thought as he watched Aubin enjoy the show.

"B'tlar, are we close to the hospital?"

"Yes sir, we will arrive in 20 minutes. Upon arrival, there will be a worker from child services and a paediatrician to welcome us."

"Alright." Airic started to edit the video of his performance, using his Orion mini-computer, as he had decided to upload it on the star network to start building a following online.

*********

The familiar sight of the hospital drew near quickly, and as Airic and Aubin were fixated on their screens, it was left to B'tlar to announce their arrival.

Once they had parked and gotten off the car, they walked to the entrance and were met with two people standing outside the hospital. The first was a tall, tan middle-aged man with dark brown hair and eyes, with plain features that could be seen as mildly attractive. He was dressed similarly to the doctor that Airic had met earlier that day, with a white overcoat and smart casual wear. The other was an older woman with salt and pepper hair, dark skin and a kind face with trace amounts of makeup. She was wearing a colourful dress, black flats and mild jewellery.

As the party of three males approached, both went forward to greet them. Airic was surprised on meeting them and so sent a message on his Orion to ask B'tlar for their identities. He was quickly informed that the man was Dr Andros, a paediatrician and the woman was Mrs Aileen a child protection officer. B'tlar had earlier contacted the authorities once he had identified that Aubin had no home, he was aware of, to return to.

As they were secretly conversing, it took some time for Airic to react to the introductions of the two professionals. Once he did so, he turned to look at Aubin who had stealthily hidden behind him as the two other adults approached them and later conversed with them. They re-introduced themselves to the group before the party of five went into the hospital.

After a series of twist and turns, they arrived at a medium-sized room which had a comfortable looking seating area in front of a metallic desk, with one high backed seat behind and before it. Dr Andros explained that this was his office, as he walked to the desk and pushed a button, he invited them to take a seat while turning and taking the seat in front of the desk.

He faced the seating area, which comprised of two sofas facing a metallic coffee table, as a robot floated in carrying refreshments. There was a little of everything on the tray, allowing them to pick their preferences before the robot took the excess away.

Mrs Aileen took charge after they had all had a drink. She informed them that this was being recorded using her light brain (comm-link) as she asked some questions over Aubin's situation. This took some time, as the robot came twice more to refill their drinks with what they had chosen earlier. Once they were done, she asked Dr Andros to examine Aubin who looked tired of the long conversation and suggested they move to an examination room.

Dr Andros agreed but said that they shall remain in this room, confusing everyone else. He stood up and walked to his desk once more and pushed a hidden button.

The rest of the room's occupants watched in shock as the wall behind the desk lifted revealing a larger room which contained what Airic was able to identify as a healing pod similar to the one on the ship, as well as more equipment with unidentified purposes.

The check-up was done smoothly with no truly alarming results from the scan, barring the malnutrition from Aubin's time scavenging and the developments of a cold, he was a surprisingly healthy six-year-old Banning boy, according to the age of his bones. The scan also revealed his birthday through this method, which was also recorded by Mrs Aileen, who was silent during Dr Andros' examination and explanation of the results of the scans.