In the heart of De Great Labs Med Bay, a state of the art medical facility, the air thrummed with the quiet hum of futuristic machinery. Holographic screens floated in the air, glowing softly as they displayed endless streams of bio data and Beta energy readings. The walls, made from alloyed graphene, curved smoothly into the floor, shining faintly under the soft white blue light that pulsed from the panels above. From the ceiling, robotic arms glided gracefully, scanning and sterilizing surgical tools with flawless precision.
Suddenly, Joyce teleported into the med bay.
Dr Marty spotted her immediately, confused by the sudden arrival. "What happened?" he asked.
The security bots activated at once. The first bot buzzed loudly, its voice cold and mechanical. "Intruder detected. Initiating extermination protocol." It began to move toward Joyce and the others with its weapons ready. The second bot advanced as well.
"Wait!" Joyce cried out, waving frantically at the robots.
Dr Marty frowned. "What is going on? Are you with the people outside?"
"No," Joyce said quickly, her voice filled with urgency. "I am from New Heights Academy, and I really need your help. My two friends were just struck by lightning. We trained here, remember?" Her eyes darted around the room as she pleaded with the people gathering around.
"Struck by lightning?" Ben asked, his brow furrowed in disbelief. "How is that even possible? The city is protected by a barrier. Are they still alive?"
"I saw it happen with my own eyes," Joyce said firmly. "They were hit by lightning. Please, I am begging you, take them to the medic now!"
In a split second Lucian had already taken them into the medical chamber. He placed the unconscious pair on the treatment beds. "Marty!" he called.
"Yes sir!" Marty answered quickly, rushing forward as he and the team worked frantically to wake them. But no matter what they tried, the two teenagers remained unresponsive.
Ben approached Joyce. "You do not look so good yourself," he said with a sigh. "You should have told us before barging in. It would have avoided all this embarrassment."
Joyce lowered her head slightly. "It is alright. I am sorry. I was just trying to help my friends." She whispered softly, "I hope Mr Lucian will not be mad at me for being reckless."
Ben gave her a small smile as he guided her toward another ward in the lab. "Do not worry. He is the nicest person in this entire facility. He will forgive you."
"Okay, if you say so," Joyce replied with a small nod.
Meanwhile, inside the central treatment chamber, an energy regulated stasis room, the boy and girl lay unconscious on separate bio pods. Johnson's body still radiated faint traces of rainbow colored lightning. Flashes of cosmic energy pulsed through the fractured veins along his arms. Despite the advanced shielding surrounding him, his body had taken heavy damage. Broken ribs, tiny fractures in his bones, and severe organ stress showed up clearly on the monitors. His breathing was shallow, his vitals unstable, flickering unpredictably.
Rose, the blue haired girl, looked completely unharmed. Not a single scratch marked her skin. Her hair shimmered faintly, glowing with the last traces of cosmic energy. Yet despite her perfect outward appearance, her mind was trapped deep in unconsciousness. Her brainwaves danced in strange, irregular patterns.
Dr Marty, the gray haired physician in his nano fiber lab coat, adjusted the dome over Rose's pod and frowned. "Her tissue regeneration is complete. Her body has healed. But her mind is disconnected. Whatever struck them was not only physical," he murmured.
Lucian blurred into view beside him, moving at impossible speed as he calibrated the regenerative chamber holding Johnson. In the blink of an eye he returned with a tray of hyper stims and neurosync nodes, his silver goggles glowing faintly. "Johnson's energy saturation is through the roof. His cells keep shifting, destroying themselves and repairing at the same time. If I can redirect his neural conductivity, I might stabilize him."
He connected the neural patches carefully along Johnson's spine, shoulders, and temples. The machines responded instantly, adjusting to the new readings. Injectors hissed softly as nanites entered Johnson's bloodstream, working to repair the damage from the inside out. But even with all their effort, Lucian and Dr Marty exchanged a worried look.
"He should be waking up," Lucian muttered, watching the monitors steady yet not fully recover.
"Something is holding them under," Dr Marty replied as his eyes shifted to the rainbow glow flickering faintly between the siblings' pods. "This is not just trauma. Their bodies are here, but their consciousness may be somewhere else."
"Then they are in a coma," Lucian concluded, pulling off his gloves with a sigh. "There is nothing we can do but wait."
The machinery kept humming steadily. The soft light of energy pulsed faintly across their still bodies.
Johnson and Rose lay silent, unmoving. Their fate uncertain. Their journey far from over.