Chapter Text
“Don’t touch her,” Commander Voyd growled as she was backed into a corner. She glanced over her shoulder for just a second to make sure that Tilly, teal-glowing tears and all, was still okay and unharmed.
“Oh, I won’t lay a finger on her, so no need to worry about that Commander!” Gwendolyn smiled, hands behind her back.
Slight confusion painted Colleen’s face before her determined protectiveness replaced it once more, “I doubt that. There’s no way you can get what you want without harming her. So back. Off.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Voyd,” Gwendolyn said as she removed her hands from behind her back. She pointed behind herself, “I can get what I want without harming her because it won’t be me who harms her…”
Colleen’s eyes widened as a pair of shining eyes came into view behind Gwendolyn from the darkness.
“It will be him.”
—
“...And she— I don’t—,” Tilly tried to collect her thoughts, rocking back and forth in her seat, “We were immediately attacked– well, mainly me– but Ms. Voyd picked me up and got us out of there as quickly as she could. Truth be told, Officer Keys, If it weren’t for her I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Keys said sympathetically as he watched Tilly wring her hands together, eyes flickering around the interrogation room as she recounted the memory. He knew she didn’t want to be there, retelling the whole frightening ordeal, “I don’t doubt it one bit.”
Tilly stared at the table separating the two as her leg bounced rapidly under the table. There were a few minutes of silence as Keys wrote down a few details.
“Alright,” Keys said, picking up the papers and tapping them against the table to straighten the pile out. He pulled a blank piece of paper from the back of the pile and laid it on top, “I want to get your whole perspective.”
“...Of the end? Before y’all arrested Ms. Zapp?”
“No, you’ve done a great job telling us the details of that entire ordeal. I’d like to hear about what you’ve gone through in the past month.”
“Oh, you want me to start from the beginning?”
“I would certainly like for you to since it seems this entire infection came back with your family. Though if recounting the entire story becomes too intense just know we can always take a break if you need it.”
“I think I can manage it,” Tilly laughed under her breath nervously, “Where would you like me to start?”
“Right before you all made it home from your space trip would be a great place to start,” Keys smiled at her, trying to ease her anxiety, “Was there anything abnormal happening that you can recall? Any symptoms your family exhibited?”
“Well… I didn’t notice anything in the beginning. Everythin’ seemed fine for the most part until the very end on our way home…”
—
“Oh!” Cricket yelled in excitement, jumping to his feet in the back of the Kludge and pointing out the window, “There’s that rescue ship Mom sent us!”
The rest of the family erupted into cheering. Finally! They could go home!
Once Bill hooked up the Kludge to the outside of the rescue ship, everyone got inside said ship and simply relaxed for the rest of the ride back home.
“So,” Cricket began as he buckled in beside his sister, leaning against her and placing his chin on her shoulder, “How many pictures you got on that journal? You think we can hook it up to the computer or somethin’ when we get home? ‘Cause you know Gramma’s gonna want some of those printed for a photo album.”
“Maybe,” Tilly giggled as she opened up the journal and let the hologram shine so they could watch the photos and videos go by, “Y’know, despite the really horrific memories we’ve gained during this whole thing, I think there were a lot of good memories to come from it too. Plus, you learned somethin’ valuable.”
“Hm?” Cricket hummed as he lifted his chin off of Tilly's shoulder to look at her.
“You learned that your ideas are worthwhile and that we love you to the moon and back.”
“Huh, yeah. I guess I did learn somethin’,” Cricket smiled warmly.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds, taking in the conversation, but all of those meaningful words fell flat in an instant. Not because Cricket didn’t believe them, or because they didn’t mean something to him, but because the beautiful moment was interrupted by a cough.
A harsh one at that, coming from him.
“Oh, my, are you alright?” Tilly asked, placing a hand on his back as he leaned forward in his seat, covering his mouth with his elbow as he coughed a few more times.
“Yeah, I’m good, just a little choked up is all,” Cricket said after the coughing commenced, he looked back at her with a smile, “Y’know, you gotta way with words, Til’. You almost got me tearin’ up right then.”
Tilly smiled back and turned her attention back to her journal.
—
“So you noticed coughing from your brother on the way back to Earth?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t just no ordinary cough. I mean, I thought it was when it happened. It honestly seemed like a random cough. He hadn’t mentioned feelin’ unwell or anythin’ during the trip, and I don’t think he noticed anything unusual either.”
“Well,” Keys said after he wrote down that detail. He laid his pen down and folded his hands on the table, “We know now that the coughing involved with the Star Cough isn’t a typical kind of cough, so my question is did you notice any sparkles or shimmering substances after he coughed?”
“Not at the time no,” Tilly admitted, “You see, Officer Keys, after we were set on our destination back home– and I mean before the rescue ship picked us up– we decided to drive around a little bit and visit other planets. We encountered Saturn and, goodness it’s such a gorgeous planet, but the rings around it are the shiniest things you’d ever see. We all ended up coated in shimmering sparkles and didn’t notice until we were in that rescue ship since the light from the ship started reflecting those sparkles. I honestly assumed the cough didn’t produce any shine or anythin’ like that because we were already covered in sparkles. It was hard to tell.”
“Did his cough worsen on the trip back home?”
“No, but it did once we arrived home. Cricket’s symptoms showed up on the way back, but they didn’t seem all that concerning until Papa and Gramma started showing similar symptoms a few days after we got home. It was like it took a few days for the disease to really start showin’ up on the outside.”
“Right, symptoms don’t show up immediately, at least that’s what Big Tech’s health departments reported. It is strange that Cricket’s symptoms began so early, though. Do you know if he had any huge contact with the compound that caused the disease?”
“Truthfully, I don’t know,” Tilly answered honestly but paused as the dots began to connect. She gasped quietly under her breath and began flapping her hands nervously, “But Ms. Voyd later confirmed that the compound was amongst the trash piles Big Tech had launched into space since it was considered a failed experiment before Compound 415c came around. Cricket was the one to interact with the tractor beam when the trash storm interrupted it.”
Keys sighed at the information, “So he may have had contact directly with the compound. No wonder he was such a special case.”
Keys tapped his fingers against the table as Tilly continued to stare at him, wondering what she’d be asked next.
“Alright,” Keys began, “Tell me what happened after you all arrived home, and I mean home as in your place of residence, not Big Tech. We know what happened there since law enforcement and paramedics were there to make sure you all arrived back on Earth safely.”
“O-Okay…” Tilly sighed, “It’s a little graphic, but when I really started to get worried was when Cricket started throwin’ up a few days after we got back to our country house…”
—
It took Tilly’s breath away to see just how pale Cricket was as he knelt down in front of the toilet seat. She wanted to comfort him so, so badly, but her grandpa’s hands holding firmly onto her shoulders kept her stuck in place in the bathroom doorway. Her mama had warned her not to touch her brother. At least, not without gloves, which was how Nancy was comforting Cricket as best she could currently.
“Breathe, sug’, deep breaths,” Nancy hummed comfortingly despite the shakiness in her own voice as she rubbed Cricket’s back. He was trembling like a leaf in the fall, and the vomiting just wouldn’t stop.
“I’m trying,” he croaked under his breath, fighting back a sob as a mixture of colors dripped down his chin. Blue, pink, black, purple… Now that Tilly thought about it, the colors looked like a galaxy, all swirled together.
Tilly just wanted his suffering to end.
—
“...His vomit it… It looked like a galaxy, sort of. Especially with the sparkles from the coughing. None of the colors he was throwin’ up were normal a-and I didn’t know what was happenin’.” Tilly pulled at the collar of her sweater, her hands shaking as she tried to breathe. Her vision was beginning to blur, “I just… I was so terrified… I didn’t know what to do…”
“Do you need to take a break?”
“I… um,” Tilly wiped the tears pricking at her eyes with her sweater sleeve as she took a deep breath, trying to calm down, “If you need me to continue I can…”
Keys gently placed his hand on top of her hand still placed on the table, “Let me rephrase. Do you want to take a break?”
Tilly looked up at him, sniffling, and nodded as she covered her eyes with her sweater sleeve.
“Alright, let’s take you outside then, okay? You can meet up with your family and one of the other officers can get you a drink or a snack from one of the vending machines out front. I know we’ve been in here for longer than expected, so just… take a little while to calm down and eat something. Okay?”
“Okay…” Tilly whispered, still covering her face. They both got up and Keys took her hand, leading her out of the room to meet the rest, the rest not just being family, but a few others as well.
Keys sighed as he let go of her hand and she walked over to a knelt down Gloria to hug her.
Goodness, there were so many people to talk to. So many people to question. He knew he wouldn’t get all of this done in one day, but they were all here to comfort each other, and he wasn’t going to force anyone to leave if they weren’t causing any chaos. He also doubted most of them believed they’d be questioned themselves. Most of the crowd assumed the department was only talking with those involved in Gwendolyn Zapp’s arrest, but with how many details and events led up to that point, it was just a better decision to question pretty much everyone there.
His eyes roamed the small crowd of people despite the fact that he knew who he’d question next. Honestly, Keys’ just wanted to identify each person that was there, especially since a few had arrived while he was questioning Tilly.
There was, of course, Colleen Voyd and a few of the Greens including Gloria, the Remingtons were present too for support, and there were a few miscellaneous individuals there for the same reason. Some included Sue Lanemoto, a few kids and their parents, a group of girls hanging around near Gloria (presumably friends of hers), heck, even the Whistlers were there with a few Wholesome Foods employees. Keys was still unsure about questioning Chip Whistler of all people, though his ban from the city was temporarily put on hold considering the events taking place.
There was just… so, so many people.
Keys nodded to himself as he realized the task laid out before him, “Alright, everyone. I know most of you are here to support the victims, but this case is far, far more complicated than we realized. With that being said, Nancy Green, you’re up next.”