A Mother's Love

It was a warm summer day in Boston and Gaetano was walking down Tremont Street. He had taking the subway into the city and got off at Government Center. His destination was a tea house on the corner of Tremont and Bromfield. An associate of Gaetano’s had set up a meeting there with a potential client. They were to meet at that location at two o’clock in the afternoon. The client’s name was Doctor Caleb Scull.

When he arrived at the location he told the greeter that he was meeting a friend named Doctor Scull and had he come in. The greeter nodded his head and led Gaetano to a small booth in the back of the tea house. Sitting there was a man who appeared to be in his fifties with graying hair and beard. The man stood up and offered his hand to Gaetano. Gaetano shook his hand and said “I am told you could use my assistance Doctor Scull. May I call you by your first name please? It’s so much easier to negotiate when the atmosphere is casual.“ The doctor sat down in the booth and motioned for Gaetano to sit.“Please feel free to call me Cal.” A waitress came over and asked if they were ready to order. Doctor Scull asked Gaetano what he would like. Gaetano ordered Earl Gray tea with some scones. The doctor ordered the same. “Now how can I help you Cal?” asked Gaetano getting right to the point. “I need to set up a laboratory away from prying eyes of the public. I have been told you are the man to see.” Gaetano nodded his head and took a sip of his tea and replied “That is correct Cal. I am. Where do you want this laboratory to be located?” Gaetano was wise enough not to ask what it was for. He only needed to know where the good doctor needed it to be.

“Someplace that is accessible from my office located at the intersection of Devonshire and Milk Street.” the doctor answered. “How big a space is required and what would be the specifics needed to create this laboratory.” asked Gaetano before biting into a scone and washing it down with tea. “I would need a room with about one thousand square feet and enough electrical power that could accommodate the needs of large machinery and a ventilation system.” the doctor replied. “I may have a place within walking distance of your office that should meet those requirements. Now I’ll ask the most important question of all. How much are you willing to spend to attain this location?” The doctors quickly answered “The cost is of no concern to me. Just do what you have to get the job done as soon as possible.” Gaetano nodded and said “How many men are you going to need to install the workings of this lab?” The doctor looked Gaetano straight in the eye and said “All I need from you is the location and the paperwork to authorize and approve it. My own engineers and technicians will oversee all installation of equipment.” Gaetano nodded and said “I will get the wheels rolling on this right away. As soon as I get the paperwork approved I will contact you with the information of the location and the cost.”

It took twenty four hours for Gaetano to set up everything. The payout for the laboratory was pricey but as the good doctor said money was not a concern. The only snag in the plan was that it needed to be inspected by a city engineer to make sure everything was up to code. The doctor agreed to these terms and construction was up and running the next day. It took three days to complete the laboratory and on the fourth day the city engineer showed up to inspect it.

When the engineer and Gaetano arrived at the location, they were met by a boy who introduced himself as James. The engineer asked the boy where Doctor Scull was and explained that he had to be present to sign documentation. James told him that he was representing the doctor and would sign the documents.

Gaetano told James that he couldn’t sign the documents; the doctor was the only person that could do this.

He also explained to James that even if he had a legal document stating the he represented the doctor that he couldn’t sign. He was not of legal age to represent the doctor.

James nodded that he understood and said “The doctor is here I will get him.” James walked behind a large generator out of the sight of the engineer. He closed his eyes and made mental contact with the engineer and Gaetano and started to manipulate Their brain cortex. James stepped out from behind the generator and walked over to the engineer and extended his hand and introduced himself as Doctor Caleb Scull. The engineer and Gaetano no longer saw the boy James but the doctor standing in front of him. The engineer said he needed to inspect the facilities to make sure everything was up to code. James nodded his head but the engineer saw the doctor approving his request. The engineer started to walk and stopped after his first step frozen in position. James was filling his mind and Gaetano’s with images and memories of the inspection. James made sure that everything the engineer thought he was inspecting was up to the codes the engineer had stored in his memories. The process lasted only an instant but James kept them in a suspended time for approximately fifteen minutes. James didn’t want the engineer or Gaetano to start questioning any time variants. They could start to question why they arrived and left within a three minute period. James read from engineers mind that he calculated that the inspection should only take 10 minutes. James added on to this five minutes so that the engineer’s memories and Gaetano’s would contain a few casual conversations about the weather, politics and how the Red Sox and Patriots were doing this year. After this time had lapse James gave control of their bodies back to the them, but kept up the illusion as appearing as Doctor Scull. He signed the documents that the engineer needed and shook the engineer’s and Gaetano’s hands and thanked them for their time. As soon as they were out of James’s sight, he broke off the interaction with the their minds.

Before Peter broke contact with Gaetano’s memories he made sure that Gaetano could not remember being under the mental control of James. He had gone deep into Gaetano’s subconscious mind to see that James had manipulated his recollection of what actually occurred. He reset the memory back to what Gaetano thought he saw then broke contact.