Dr. Strauss squatted down so that he and Maya were more or less at eye level with each other. He tried to think of something to say to reassure the small child, but he wasn't sure. After a few moments, he decided to take a gamble.
"Maya," he said softly, "I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't realize I was taking you away from a friend." He waited for her response. Maya simply stared at him, tired and confused, she wasn't sure what to make of him at this point. "I want to help you... so if Rin doesn't follow through on her promise to help you find your mother... I'll do whatever I can to help you find her. For now though... you look a little tired, let's go into that room and you can get some sleep while I get some work done." Maya nodded, sleep sounded good to her.
With that, Dr. Strauss led Maya into the lab and found her a cot for her to sleep on. He carefully helped her into it and got a blanket for her. He got up as she tucked herself in, and he turned to get to work when...
"Jared... could you read me a story?" she asked.
"Umm..." Dr. Strauss looked around the room for a children's book, but didn't find anything. Remembering Rin mention Merlin earlier, Dr. Strauss got an idea. He knelt down in front of Maya's cot, making sure he didn't get too close, and started telling her a story he knew well.
"Well Maya..." he said, "have you ever heard the story of King Arthur and his knights?"
Maya shook her head.
"Well... a long time ago in my homeland, England, there was a boy who was about your age when our story began. His name was..."
"Arthur!" Maya cooed.
"Yes, Arthur. He was just a boy, raised by a simple, but kind enough family. To all the world, he seemed to be nothing other than an ordinary little boy, and everyone thought he'd just be a shepard like the man who raised him. But then, a stranger came into town. He wore a long robe with strange symbols on it, he leaned heavily on a long walking stick, he wore a pointy hat, and his white beard seemed long enough for him to trip over."
Maya giggled at the mental image of an old man in a bathrobe tripping on his own beard. Dr. Strauss smiled at her.
"This man introduced himself to the boy's family as Merlin. He was a wizard... wise, and he knew much about the ways of the world and of magic." Maya gave this story her full attention at the mention of magic; Dr. Strauss found himself breaking into a smile for the first time in years, "Merlin told the family that Arthur was really the son of a dead king, and that Arthur could grow up to be a great king himself one day. However, Merlin also warned him that there were dark forces lurking that would try to hurt the boy, to prevent him from ever becoming king. Fearing for his family's safety, Arthur volunteered to leave the village and never come back. After a short argument, Arthur said goodbye to his family and the life he knew; and set off on his journey. Merlin went with Arthur, to teach him the things he would need to be a truly great king: a good sense of what was fair, how to inspire men for battle when needed, and most importantly of all, Merlin taught Arthur to hold onto his compassion - his kindness." Dr. Strauss paused for a moment, remembering...
"What happened next?" Maya asked. Dr. Strauss snapped himself back to attention and looked at Maya as he continued.
"Well, after a while, Arthur began to think he shouldn't be king. That he was not worthy. So, Merlin took him to the resting place of the sword Excalibur. Which, legend has it, could only be taken from the stone it was resting in by someone who was the true ruler of England. Someone unfailingly kind... someone brave enough to stare dragons in the face without flinching, but wise enough to avoid war whenever possible. Only such a person could ever hope to pull Excalibur from the stone."
"So Arthur pulled the sword from the stone?"
"Yes, but even then... he didn't think he was the right person."
"When did he?"
"Well.. many lords of the realm felt that Arthur was their rightful king because he wielded Excalibur, and so they joined up with him. Other lords though..."
"Didn't want to?" Maya asked while letting out a little yawn.
"Yes, they didn't believe it really was Excalibur. And those that did... thought Arthur had somehow cheated. After a while... it became apparent that neither side would back down... the lords on both sides started planning for war. On the field of battle, Arthur's and the lords' armies met, but before the battle began, Arthur rode out to meet with the leader of the other side."
"Wouldn't they just kill him?" Maya asked, somewhat concerned, but her exhaustion was starting to get the better of her again.
"Well... Arthur drew Excalibur when he met with the lord, and handed it to him. He told the lord that if he truly felt Arthur was unworthy, that he should kill Arthur himself and leave the men they had brought out of it. The lord looked at the sword and some people say it sang to him as he did. The lord's fury suddenly calmed, and he saw that by this act alone... that Arthur was willing to sacrifice himself to save the lives of his men... something most kings would never do... the lord finally saw that Arthur was the rightful king of England. And the battle ended before it began."
Dr. Strauss looked at Maya and saw that she was already asleep. He watched her sleep for a moment, smiling; he had missed telling stories. He quietly got up and moved to inspect the equipment in the lab. It looked like Rin had thought of everything for it. Hazmat suits, medicines of (apparently) every variety, a computer with access to a worldwide medical database, scalpels, pliers, tweezers, scissors, sewing needles, threads, stitches, bandages, gauze, syringes, bottles for containing samples of all shapes and sizes, a digital microscope, a box of empty slides, an operating table, an I.V., a small cage, and even equipment needed for an EEG.
To begin, Dr. Strauss took five blood samples from himself, sealed the new opening in his left arm, set them in slides, and put them into the digital microscope (which turned out to be connected to a projector that cast the images on a nearby empty space on the wall, which in turn had been coated with just the right kind of paint to display the images on); he checked his findings against all of the knowledge in the database... at first he wasn't sure what to make of his findings. Dr. Strauss was feeling weary and just a bit woozy... so he decided to get some rest. He quietly climbed into a spare cot next to Maya's and went to sleep.
