Stewart nearly started drooling as he thought of all the possibilities. It was just too fascinating!
"Stewart. Please, explain this." Gustavo knew that the old scientist was on to something, so he approached him for answers.
"Ah, yes!" Stewart exclaimed and turned to face the slightly older Admiral. "From they few theories I have just gone over in the past few seconds, I can assume that Moses' Paladin possesses an affinity with space!"
"What? Can you be clearer? Why do you think so?" Gustavo frowned deeply. A space aligned Paladin was very rare. Even with the hundred Paladins that had emerged over the past decade, the space aligned Paladins among them could be counted on one hand!
"What is there to explain further? You have seen it for yourself, and I have experienced it! When I initially arrived here, his Paladin froze up the space around me, and I could not move an inch. And now, this. My hypotheses is that his Paladin somehow created a separate mini dimension within his body in order to store itself, or it compressed itself into a tiny space that is just so small that we can not even see it! Another possibility is that it has simply slipped into a subspace that exists solely for itself. The possibilities are mind blowing, and I do not have enough intelligence to go on." Stewart rubbed his eyebrows as he thought madly.
Moses just looked at the duo strangely and sighed at Stewart's antiques. Whenever the man found something fascinating, he totally lost it.
Gustavo, upon hearing the professor's thoughts, turned to look at Moses strangely, but decided to put the matter at the back of his mind. They had deviated too far from the usual protocol because of all the strange things that had happened.
He turned to look at Bethany and Anthony, who were being wheeled to the medical bay. Even if they were not injured, it was important to watch over them to make sure no complications arose. A pair of medics brought a stretcher over to Moses and told him to climb on.
Moses gave a nod to Stewart before climbing onto the stretcher and laying down. Come to speak of it, he had begun to feel tired after putting away his Paladin. He closed his eyes and felt himself drift into a state of unconsciousness.
Unlike other times, when Moses would go to sleep, he still felt surprisingly aware, but not of his surroundings. Instead, he could feel awake, but in his mind. He opened his eyes, but instead of waking up on the stretcher, or on a bed, Moses found himself floating within darkness.
[Moses, a nice name for my partner.] A deep voice boomed within the darkness, and Moses could almost feel the darkness shake and vibrate from the weight of the voice.
"Who's there?" Moses spun around.
[Fear not. It is just I.]
At the edge of Moses' vision, something came into being. A miniature version of his Paladin floated not too far from him. Its eyes glowed with a yellow light as they looked in Moses' direction.
"You can communicate with me?" Moses asked, his surprise swimming through the darkness to reach the Paladin.
[Of course, I can. Why would I not be able to?] It asked.
"Ah, I see." Moses held his chin in thought. "Do you have a name, or do I need to name you?" He asked.
[You have already given me a name within your mind, and I do not object to it. You can name me as you please.] The Paladin said. Since it was formed through Moses' essence, it was essentially an extension of himself.
"Okay, then, Hex. I look forward to working with you." Moses nodded.
[Likewise.] Hex's voice echoed as the dark mindscape around them began to shimmer and grow brighter. [Until next time, Moses. You are needed outside.] Hex said as he faded away, and Moses finally woke up from his slumber.
"Finally awake, huh?" Moses heard a voice from his side as he opened his eyes. He sighed deeply as feeling returned to his body. He turned to his left side, and saw that Anthony was seated on a chair beside his bed. Beside Anthony was another bed, with Richard laying down on it, and Bethany on the left side of his bed. She had her head down, and Moses guessed that she was probably sleeping or something.
"Hey. How long was I out?" Moses asked as he used his arms to support him into a sitting position.
"Uhm, about four hours or so." Anthony thought for a bit before answering. Just then, Bethany showed signs of movement. She sat up and rubbed her eyes while yawning.
"Not very lady like, don't you think?" A hoarse voice whispered, making everyone freeze for a moment.
"Richard?" Anthony and Bethany gawked. Moses just shook his head. Of course, Richard just had to make such an entrance even when he was bedridden.
"Are you okay?" Bethany leaned forward on the bed and asked.
"I'll be fine, beauty. But I feel like crap right now." He tried to smile, but ended up grimacing.
"If you can flirt around, then that means you will make a full recovery." Moses commented from his bed.
"Oi, Moses, why are you bed ridden just like me? Did you flop as bad as me?" Richard asked.
"More like I saved your life." Moses rolled his eyes.
"Oh, you did? Thanks, I guess." Richard sighed and went silent.
"Did anyone come to check on us as of late?" After some minutes of silence, Moses spoke up.
"Yeah, Professor Stewart just left about fifteen minutes before you woke up." Anthony nodded.
"Alright." Moses nodded and swung his legs over the side of his bed.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" Anthony shot to his feet.
"I need to see the Professor." Moses replied and turned around to put on his clothes.
"You can see him later. When you have been cleared to leave." Anthony insisted.
"No. It needs to be now." Moses replied firmly. He was not going to change his mind. He needed to see Stewart now.