The Tear of Celeste

Chapter 11: Analyzed

The next morning you find yourself in the lab again, this time they are not looking for the artifact, they already found that, this time they are looking at you, and just you.

"We just want to make sure the artifact did not have any side effects on you" Bruce explains as you walk into the same machine as last "We just do a full body scan, hopefully, we will find nothing out of the ordinary," He says with a warm smile.

You give him a nod as he closes the doors and sees them through one of the windows and walks over to Tony by the computers.

"So," You say while they are working on the computers, they can hear you through some mic system "Can I ask what the artifact is?" You don't like the idea of it having side effects on you, you've been wearing it your whole life after all!

There is no answer, so you give the camera a frown "If I'm not allowed to know just tell me that, don't give me the silent treatment guys!"

"We are not," Tony tells you "The thing is we honestly don't know," He says while typing at his computer "Most of the documents about it were destroyed, we only know that it is powerful and that they were planning to use it like a battery" He explained, the machine starting up around you "The wizards are looking into it, now hold still while we scan you"

You sigh and raise your hand like Bruce had shown you, letting the machine scan you. It was not a laser grid lowering slowly over you like last time, instead, it was a thing spinning around you, supposedly scanning you, but with something that was not visible to the naked eye.

You had to stand like that for a while. You had been told it would take some time, but when Bruce tells you that "We have to take the test again" You start to get a bit nervous. Maybe you did have side effects! You really hope not! "Relax your shoulders and arm, and then we go again," he said, letting you roll your shoulders before trying again.

You are a nervous wreck by the time they let you out. They had to take the test three more times, and by the expression on their faces, there was something wrong.

"So," You ask, not wanting to, but doing it anyway "How bad is it?"

"We honestly can't tell," Mr. Stark tells you, making you confused as he waves you over to look at the results.

Bruce points to one of the screens "These are the normal readings we should get from someone with your build and age" He says, and then point to the other screen "These are the ones we are getting"

You look at the two screens, and make a horrified face "They are completely different!" You say. How can it be that bad?! You feel fine!

Tony shakes his head. "No. None of it makes sense!" He says, looking at the readings "Even with possible side effects it should not be this different! There must be something wrong with the machine"

You suddenly get a thought. "Is it because-" You start up, but get interrupted.

"We check the machine this morning," Bruce said, looking at Tony "It was fine, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it"

"But what if-" You try again

"There clearly has to be!" Tony said, gesturing to the screens "If her structure was this different she should not even be alive at this point!"

You look between them "Could it be that-"

"Or maybe she just changed a lot! Like some of us have" Bruce says, a sad tone in his voice as he looks at you worried before looking at the screens "Stuff like that has happened before"

You frown and raise your voice a little "Is it not just-"

"That does not make any sense," Tony says, glaring at Bruce "With everyone else, there were still traces of humans left! According to these readings, there is nothing normal about her, it's almost like-"

"I'M FROM ANOTHER WORLD!" You shout at them, tired of them interrupting and ignoring you.

They both look up from their work at you in shock.

You put your hands on your hips and look at them seriously. "Could it be that the readings from these machines are reading me as something otherworldly because I am not from this multiverse and so while in a general sense, I am very much a normal human like you guys, on a full body scan my numbers would be different because my world is?" You suggest, raising an eyebrow at them.

They both look shocked, Bruce is mouthing some of the words you said, thinking about them, turning them over in his head.

Tony had been staring at you open-mouthed until he just closed it. "You're right," He says with a sharp nod and goes back to the readings "Of course we can't do such a big scan, you are not from our world, so it makes sense there was a chance your readings would be abnormal"

You nod, proud of yourself and give a relaxed sigh.

Bruce nods slowly "... But then how do we know if she has any side effects?"

You all think about that and quickly come to the same decision. You just have to take a normal medical exam, tell them if you notice something off, and they have to keep a close eye on you for a couple of days.

"We call in some doctors for you tomorrow," Tony says, looking back at the readings "We will also look at the readings and see if we can make any sense of them, just to double-check"

Bruce nodded in agreement and looked up at you "But for now it should be fine, any changes that have happened to you would have been there for a while, so there is no rush" He gives you a kind smile "So you have the rest of the day off"

"No, she does not," Tony said, walking over to another table and opening a drawer "She be staying here until we know she is okay, and until we know how to send her home"

You look over at him worried "Meaning?"

"Meaning you have to go shopping," Tony says, pulling out a card from the drawer and giving it to you.

You frown, remembering your last shopping trip and you feel your hand trembling a bit as you take it. "I don't..." Even if you are not wearing the artifact that does not mean you might not get kidnapped again by someone who thinks you do!

Tony puts his hands on your shoulders, turns you around, and starts pushing you towards the door "Take Nat and some of the stronger boys with you, I want you to buy a whole new closet worth of clothing and whatever knick-knack you want for your room!" He says, getting you through the door "You are not to return before you spend all the money on that card" He says and closes the door.

You blink, standing in the hall with the card in hand.... You guess that is his way of apologizing for giving you a panic attack the other day! Well, he told you to spend it all, and you are prepared to do just that.

You ran off to get some breakfast. You had not been allowed some before the scan and you are hungry!

You learned the basic layout of the floors you were allowed on, and as promised Nat had given you a keycard to access the elevators.

You get to the kitchen and just grab some cereal. Not feeling like eating anything fancy just yet. You had not had the best sleep as your mind had been too restless, but luckily not so bad that you were a walking zombie.

Nat meets you while you are eating. "So, how did it go?" She asked. She had been the one to send you down to the lab first thing in the morning.

"Terrible!" You said and shrugged "They forgot I was from another world, so their readings are all wrong."

Nat puts a hand on her forehead, shaking her head. "For a couple of geniuses they sure are stupid sometimes."

You both laugh at that. You are amazed at how quickly you grew attached to Nat, she reminds you of a cool older sister who you can always rely on.

"Oh by the way!" You say, pulling up the card Tony gave you. "Mr. Stark wants me to shop for things since I need to stay here for a while!" You gave her a grin "He told me to bring you and some muscles to carry our bags."

Nat gives you a grin "I know just who to bring."