BRAIN CHIP pt. 1
(By NEUROFABULOUS)
It was an accident.
Plankton fell on his
head from the roof
as his head landed
on the sidewalk. Karen
rushed over to the
now unconscious
form as she watched the
accident unfold.
"Oh no, Plankton,
what have you done?"
she exclaimed, picking
him up and going back
inside to rest him on
the couch. She laid him down
carefully, his head cradled
in a pillow. He was breathing,
yet his eye remained shut.
She lightly tapped
his cheek, whispering his
name, "Plankton, can you hear
me?" There was no response.
He is out cold.
Should she call for help, or
wake him gently? She chose
the latter.
"Plankton, darling," she said
softer than before, stroking his
hand, "please wake up. Come
on, Plankton," she murmured.
Karen waited. Then,
Plankton's eyelid
twitched. A faint groan
escaped him as he
regains consciousness.
His hand reached
for his head.
Karen's eyes widened with
relief as she saw his eye
begin to open, revealing a
slit of confusion.
"It's ok," she soothed,
squeezing his hand
gently. "You had a fall."
He winced, his hand
moving from his head
to hers, holding it tightly.
"What happened?" he managed.
"You slipped and fell," Karen
explained, trying to keep
the panic from her voice.
"You hit your head."
Plankton's eye widens,
taking in his surroundings. The
familiar living room swam
before him as he attempted
to sit up. Karen helped, her
hands steadying him. He winced
again.
"Easy, love," she cautioned,
hands on his shoulders. "Let's
take this slow."
Plankton nodded as he
repeated her words, "Easy, love."
The echo of his voice was faint
but it grew. "Take this slow," he
whispered to himself.
Karen looked at him with
concern, noticing his strange
behavior. "Plankton, are you ok?"
she asked, her voice tight.
His eye searched hers. "Ok, Karen,"
he said.
This wasn't
something she'd
heard from him
before. "You're
just a bit shaken up,
that's all," she assured.
But Plankton
just nodded,
repeating her words.
"Shaken up. That's all."
The phrase seemed to
soothe him, his grip
on her hand loosening
slightly as he focused
on her voice.
Karen studied his face,
noticing the glazed look in
his eye. He wasn't just echoing
her; he was stuck on her words,
his mind unable to form
his own thoughts.
"Plankton," she said, her voice
quivering, "tell me what you're
thinking. What do you remember?"
"Thinking," he echoed, his gaze
flickering as he searched
his own mind. "Remember," he
managed, his words choppy and
disjointed. "What do you remember,
Plankton?" she pressed.
He took a deep, shuddering
breath, his eye searching hers
for answers she didn't have.
"Fell. Sidewalk. Pain," he said,
his voice trailing off as he tried
to piece together the moments
before the darkness had claimed
him.
"Yes," Karen said, nodding. "You fell.
Do you remember anything else?"
Plankton's eye searched hers,
his brow furrowed. "Fell. Pain. You."
The repetition was unnerving,
but she clung to the fact that he'd
managed to form a coherent response.
"That's right," she said, her voice
steady. "You fell and hurt your
head. But what were you doing before?"
His head tilted slightly, as if
the question was a puzzle piece
he couldn't fit into the jigsaw
of his memory. "Doing," he echoed.
"Doing before?"
"Yes," Karen prompted, her voice
soft but firm. "What were you
doing before you fell?"
Plankton's mind raced,
trying to retrieve the lost
moments. His eye flickered
before finally settling on hers.
"Before. Before," he repeated,
his voice gaining speed. "I was
on the roof. Ok, Plankton. The
Plankton on the roof. Before,
before," he stumbled over the
words, the phrase looping in his
head like a broken record.
Karen felt a cold shiver run down
her spine. "Plankton, honey, can
you tell me more?" she prodded
gently, her voice trembling.
"Tell me more, tell me more,"
he echoed, the words now
a rapid-fire chant.
He started to sit up again,
his movements jerky and uncoordinated.
The pain in his head seemed to
have lessened, replaced by a
desperate need to repeat.
"On the roof," he blurted out,
his voice stronger now, the phrase
taking hold. "Roof. Roof. On the
roof before."
Why is he doing this?
"Plankton, can you tell me
what you were doing on the
roof?" she asked, trying to keep
the conversation flowing.
"Roof. Roof," he murmured,
his eye locking onto hers.
"Doing roof. Doing roof," he
repeated, but she knew
she had to keep him talking.
"Yes, you were doing something
on the roof," Karen urged, her
voice gentle but firm. "What was
it, Plankton?"
His eye searched the room,
as if the answer was hiding
behind the curtains. "Fixing,"
he finally said, his voice
clearer. "Fixing the roof."
Her screen lit up with hope.
"Yes, you were fixing the
roof," she confirmed, her voice
steadier now. "Do you remember
why you were up there?"
Plankton's eye searched hers,
his mind racing. "Fixing. Roof,"
he murmured again, the words
like a lifeline. "Fixed the leak."
The revelation came suddenly,
as if a switch had been flipped
in his brain. The leak had been
causing trouble for weeks, and
he'd finally decided to tackle
it today. The memory was faint,
but it grew clearer as he spoke.
Karen's grip on his hand tightened.
"Good, you fixed the leak,"
she encouraged, her voice
steady. "Do you remember
how you got down?"
"Down," he echoed, his mind
spinning as he recalled the
ladder, the shaky descent. "Fall.
Down. Fall down."
"Plankton," Karen said, her voice
barely above a whisper. "What's
wrong?"
He didn't answer her question.
Instead, he looked confused.
"Wrong? Provided adequate
response, yet how wrong?"
Karen's mind raced as she
tried to understand. "Your speech,
Plankton. It's... it's different,"
she managed, her voice trembling.
"It's ok," she assured him,
not wanting to alarm him further.
But Plankton's behavior grew
more erratic. He began to
rock back and forth slightly.
"Plankton, honey, are you ok?"
Karen asked, her voice laced
with worry as she observed
his sudden onset of repetitive
motions. He didn't acknowledge
her question; instead, he
kept rocking back and forth,
his hands fluttering at his sides.
His eye remained focused
on a spot on the wall, unblinking.
"Roof. Fix. Leak," he muttered,
his words staccato, rhythmic.
The tension in the room grew
as Karen watched him.
Karen's mind raced.
The stimming was a sign of
overwhelming stress or anxiety,
but she had never seen him do
this before. She leaned closer. "Plankton,"
she whispered, placing her hand
on his arm to get his attention.
His eye snapped to her, the
rocking stopping abruptly. "Wrong,"
he said, his voice still strange,
his words choppy. "Worry. Not
ok. Karen."
Karen's breath hitched. "Plankton,
yo--"
Her words were cut off by
his sudden jerking movement.
He began to stim, his hands
flapping in front of him.
The sight of her husband,
a man she knew so well,
now lost in a world of his own,
was almost too much to bear.
"It's ok," she murmured, her voice
shaky, trying to keep the situation
under control. But his stimming
intensified, his body now matching
the erratic rhythm of his speech.
"You're ok," she said, touching
his arm, but he snapped.
"No, Karen," Plankton said,
his voice rising in pitch. "Not ok."
The flapping grew faster, his eye
unfocused.
"Plankton, please," she begged,
her voice thick with tears. "Tell me
what's happening." She says, grabbing
his hands to hold them still.
But her touch seemed to only
fuel his distress. "No," he says.
"Karen, it!"
The sudden sharpness in his
tone made her flinch. She had never
heard him speak that way. It was
as if he was a different person.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Karen
asked, her voice trembling as she
held on tighter.
Plankton's body grew rigid,
his stimming increasing in intensity.
"No touch," he said firmly, pulling
his hands from her grasp. His words
were still fragmented, but the meaning
was clear. Karen's eyes filled with tears.
"Plankton, please," she pleaded, reaching
for him again.
But he recoiled, his movements
quick and jerky. "Karen. No," he
stammered, his voice laced with fear.
But she grabbed his shoulders. "What's
wrong, Plank..."
Her words were lost as Plankton's
body began to convulse with fear,
his stimming now a full-blown
defense mechanism. "No," he yelled,
his voice piercing the quiet room.
"Karen, pain! Not safe! Karen harm
Plankton scared! No hurt Plankton!"
Karen's eyes widened, her own
fear spiking at his sudden terror.
Her hands hovered in the air,
unsure of what to do. "Plankton,
it's ok," she said, taking a step
back. "I..."
But he was beyond consolation,
his body a whirlwind of chaotic
movements. "Karen bad," he
whispered, his voice trembling
as much as his limbs. "Karen
hurting Plankton. Plankton scared."
This wasn't her Plankton. The love
and trust in his eye had been
replaced by something wild and
uncertain. She took another step
back, her own hands now shaking.
"I'm not hurting you," she said,
desperation seeping into her
words. "I'm trying to he-"
Her sentence was cut short
as Plankton's body tensed further.
His stimming grew erratic, his
legs kicking rapidly.
"No," he yelled, his voice
now unrecognizable. "Karen no
good. Karen stop. Not safe."
Karen's screen filled with horror.
What had happened to her husband?
He looked at her with a fear she
had never seen before, his trust
replaced with a primal instinct
to escape. She took another
step back, her voice shaking.
"Plankton, it's me," she whispered.
But he didn't seem to hear her.
Instead, a strange, low humming
noise began to emanate from
his throat.
The hum grew in volume,
filling the room with a sound
that seemed to resonate with
distress. "No," he murmured. "Karen,
pain, bad."
"Plankton," she called softly,
using his name to anchor him.
He stopped his erratic movements,
his body slowly calming. The
humming grew quieter, the fear
in his eye fading slightly. She took
another step closer, her hand outstretched.
"You're ok," she whispered, her voice
as soft as a lullaby. "You're safe."