9.
Holmes woke up to the surrounding faces loomed over him. He looked down his body and saw the hospital gown and the grim looking Doctor Watson at the end of the bedding. He saw to his right was Inspector Lestrade with one other officer that he had not met. On the left of his bedding was his brother Mycroft Holmes with the ‘what did you get yourself in’ expression on the face.
“We found you at the cliff asleep like this. You been asleep for over three days now.” Watson spoke up from the end of the bedding in his stern voice. “We have examined you and you are healthy.”
“What did happen there?” Lestrade asked. “I woke up and everybody was gone. Missing to be exact. I woke up Watson and we explored. There was nobody in the village, only remains of their dressing on the roads and the shops. We went down to the Station and saw the same. Even the boats were in the docks. And you were missing.”
“I had the Inspector called for assistance and explored the village once more. You were missing so I searched for you. At the Inn, at the tavern, and even to every single shop. You were not there. It was noon when the other constables arrived and we widen the search. You were discovered late afternoon on the grass fast asleep. We brought you back and could not revive you. I had you sent to the nearest county hospital and contacted Mycroft. Your next of kin.”
“Old boy. You scared me out of my wits. I reached here the next morning and since then, seated here looking at you sleep. Are you well, Sherly?”
“I couldn’t be better. Darn good rest I had. So, tell me what happened at the village? Did we find Leroy?” Sherlock asked.
“Yes, we did. He just needed some rest and food. We also found some missing persons from the last months to the year.
Those were also resting but they needed more care. We found them ….. malnourished as expected in this cold weather and being exposed out there. No signs of hypothermia though which surprised me.” Watson replied.
“However, the locals are all missing. Brady, Murray and even Clayton. All had disappeared in turn.” Watson looked at Holmes. “Do you know why?”
Holmes leaned back on his bedding and thought hard. He has a tale but it will be unbelievable one. He has to be careful then with his words or he will be considered as a lunatic or worse, a rambling fool. He looked at the faces looking at him.
“Who may I ask are you?” Sherlock looked at the one he did not seen before.
“Matthew Benner. I am from London and just arrived this morning. Sir Fleming sent me.” The one who spoke was a average height figure with the round rimmed glasses perched on the nose bridge, and he looked to be in his thirties with the broad shoulders. He may be trying to hide his real personality which showed him to be a soldier. Those visible signs were the way he stood and the regiment ring on his left ring finger.
“I am from the Department of Science. We are to understand the situation here.”
“There is none to understand, Mr. Benner. They may have all left. As for me, I did take the night walk alone and fell asleep there.” Sherlock replied and then remained elusive on any line of questions. It was the next morning, he took the carriage to the village. He visited the Red Mane, and looked at the frames.
“I hope you have fully recovered, Mr. Holmes.” Sherlock turned to look at the man who spoke to him. It was Mr. Benner.
“I did and thank you. Tell me Mr, Benner, did Blip leave the place?”
“Yes, Blip left. The cavern had been …. destroyed and the entrances covered. The village is all that is left.” Mr. Benner asked. “Why did you ask?”
“If Blip left, why are you still here?” Sherlock asked. “Your picture is still there.”
“Some stayed back. We are used to life here, and more to it, we need to preserve our existence here. For anyway.” Mr. Benner replied. “It was us who told Clayton to surface the jacket. We wanted you to examine more of the evidence but you chose to ignore it. We saw you going to the hut. We had the old fool there gave his visions to draw you away but again, you ignore it.”
“I saw you that morning on the far side of the grassland. You were following us. I recalled your face in the frames here but you were not in the cavern.” Sherlock looked at Mr. Benner.
“Blip is an integrated community that made up the blob you saw. When we arrived here, we assimilated into your kind and found something unique. It was named individuality. We …. Some of us learned it, and Blip as a whole discarded us. We were banished to the interior but we are still Blip. We did not go far but maintained our presence near. Blip have wanted to leave earlier but the craft was without the means to leave then. It needed time to rejuvenate. The means to do so was….”
“The blood in our body. You needed our blood to rejuvenate.” Sherlock glared at Mr. Benner. “You took our blood and then left us to make more. Over the years, it sapped their strength to make new ones. Blip then took on the new bodies. But what happened to the women here?”
“They were the initial batches and we held them as captives. They all dwindled and we had to move to the men.” Mr. Benner looked to the frames. “There are no women here. We were all that was left.”
“What about the tattoos? Why were there none on some?”
“The tattoos were always there but not on the arms for some. Those with the tattoos on the arms were warriors. They defend the others.”
“Who is the old cloaked man in the hut? Is he Merlin?”
“No, he is Blip. He is the leader and he was with Merlin before. He was the first to explore your world and he inhibits only the body that matters then. He is what you termed as our King. Merlin made him King too.”
“The others that you spoke to; Brady, Clayton, and Murray; they are all leaders of different sections. Leroy was the prime
one on the craft. We all have our functions and if one gets terminated, we lose a part of our skills and existence.”
“Did you lose any?” Sherlock asked.
“Yes, we had. With you and the last few we inhibited in, we recovered something new. Yours was particularly interesting. We managed to tap into your memories and learned new intelligence. So was Watson and Lestrade. We have applied it to a section of Blip. Just like…”
“Wait, you were in my body. How was I did not know?” Sherlock asked.
“You were asleep. We made you sleep.” Mr. Benner replied. “Now I will leave you. Blip have left but for those of us who are here, we will live on as another Blip. With your knowledge and the others, you have given us a good opportunity to explore.”
“Would you invade our world later?” Sherlock asked.
“I can’t tell for now for it’s the newly formed Blip decision but I reckoned not. Your kind have the ability to destroy yourselves without anyone’s help. Goodbye.” With that Mr. Benner left Sherlock to his musing with the frames. He
looked at the figure there by the huge Marlin.
Matthew Benner. Fisherman of the Year, 1815. He did not wear glasses then.
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