Through the Hemisphere

Part 2

Summary: When Atem got a new job as a night guard, the last thing he expected was to be abducted by aliens. Well, one alien, who seemed pretty dedicated to turning his life upside down.

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Atem woke with a start. His heart raced and his breathing was rapid. For several minutes, he couldn't move or think, and his vision was completely white. He didn't know where he was, or what terrified him so.

By sheer force of will, Atem made himself calm down. His desperate gasps for air became hard, shuddering breathes, and his vision slowly came back.

What the hell?

The room he was in was completely gray, save fore a little green band around the ceiling. It wasn't a big room, not any bigger than his bedroom. There was one bed, which he was laying on, and a collection of two large cabinets and a desk covered the majority of two walls.

He sat up and winced as his sore muscles protested. Bandages wrapped around his hands. His clothes were torn in some places, and he was missing his shoes.

Where on earth am I? He wondered. The last thing he remembered was staring down the monster with Mrs. Chonos's face. He shuddered. The mere thought of her made him want to hide. But how did he get here? He didn't think they had a medical room, and it didn't look like any hospital room he'd been in before. It wasn't like anyone would mean him harm if he got up and looked around, so he did just that.

He quietly slid off of the bed, grimacing as his body protested. His back was especially sore, and it felt like he had just done some heavy lifting. He could feel the cool floor through his socks, and he waited a moment to get his balance.

In a few steps, he was at the door. There was a vertical slot instead of a handle, with a little green panel next to it, and a two by two foot window. He leaned up against the door and looked out through the glass. There was a hallway that split right and left. It had a small, illuminated green strip the went around the bottom of the wall, and the floor was tiled a soft chrome.

I hope it's unlocked,he thought as he reached for the door. He put his hand in the opening and pulled it to the side. The door slid open with a hiss, and an unfamiliar smell came in through the hallway. It kind of smelled like metal, but it was different somehow. He took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, sliding it shut behind him.

He took a moment to examine both directions. The right side had two more doors before coming to a dead end, and the left had no doors but immediately turned right. Seeing no exit to the right, or any people, Atem decided to go left. He made it to the corner in a few quick steps, and he looked around. The hallway continued with doors on each side. Frowning, Atem walked through the empty hallway. It looked like he was going to have a hard time finding someone.

Eventually, Atem came across the sound of voices. He sighed in relief. It was definitely creepy with no one around, and even though Atem was used to being by himself due to his job, it was unnerving to be alone in an unfamiliar place. There was an open door, with a light shining through it.

"...an idiot." One voice said. It wasn't one that he recognized, and it had an accent he couldn't place.

"I couldn't do anything about it." That was Mouto's voice, Atem stopped right outside the open door. "You know the transportation slows my reaction time, and if I hadn't been rushed," there was a pointed emphasis on the word "rushed," "then I would have known that there were two of them."

"And why the hell did you bring it back here?"

"He is an arch-type. Of a metal class, no less." If Atem didn't know any better, he'd say that Mouto was proud of himself. "And you know that I don't have the tech to remove an imprint. I could have killed us both, if I had tried. The path goes both ways, you know that."

"That's why you should have dealt with it before it could imprint."

"Hey! I had my hands full with the first one!" Mouto exclaimed. "And he wasn't swayed by the parasite's attempt to imprint him. He was even around the parasite long before me, and probably had plenty of chances to imprint. He chose to follow me." Mouto's voice quieted. "This is the first time one of them has had a choice!. I refuse to let a choice as big as that go wasted."

Monster? Atem thought. Imprint? What the hell are they talking about? He leaned a little bit closer, as the next bout of words were mumbled.

"...I'm not doing your paperwork this time," the first voice grumbled. "Your choice, your problem."

"Yea, yea." Mouto replied, his voice relaxing as if he had won the argument. "I'm going on medical leave anyway."

"...Do I want to know?"

"I left my armor vest on board, too."

There was an intense sigh from the person Mouto was talking to, and he felt like it was more exasperated than worried.

"How you are alive will never cease to amaze me."

"Haha, maybe some universal being likes me."

"Everyone likes you."

"It's not like that. I just give everyone a chance, even the monsters," Mouto's voice turned wry. "Besides, I think that my guest would have to disagree with you." There was a punctuation on "guest" that made Atem step back. Mouto sounded like he was talking to him. Whatever was going on, he wanted nothing to do with it. He was getting out of here.