Big Harry had been bored.
That wasn't his real name of course. It sounded like a nickname but it wasn't. It wasn't even an ironic nickname because he was well over six feet tall. It was his code-name.
Security was high in the organisation he worked in. Currently he was sat by himself in a small dark office watching a bank of camera monitors.
Harry had wished he was back home instead of stuck in this room in the middle of nowhere.
The last exciting thing happened last night when one of the kids freaked out. It wasn't Harry's shift so he didn't even see it happen. He had read about it in the security log.
This was certainly the weirdest project he'd been assigned to. He had worked on many over the years. Suspected alien activity mostly but they usually never came to anything. This time had been different.
In the two different rooms he had been monitoring, were what look liked a pair of identical twins. Each had been handcuffed to their respective beds in a room by themselves. They weren't identical twins though, he had been told they were the same person.
It didn't make much sense to Harry. His superiors had explained it all at the briefing. The two teenage boys had identical fingerprints, birthmarks and other things in common. He couldn't remember them all. They were far too alike to be twins. As for why there were two versions of this person, Harry knew it was above his pay grade and didn't even speculate about it much.
Harry's eye's had flicked between the paperback novel he was reading and the screens. Only two screens were of particular importance. The camera in room one and the camera in room four. He also had a pair of loudspeakers with audio piped from microphones in each room.
In room one, the visitor who had been there to gather intelligence, wasn't doing a very good job. She had been visibly shaking and judging by the amount of nodding she had done, she had answered more questions than she was asked. To Harry's annoyance she had moved her chair right in front of the camera. She didn't know the camera was there though because it had been hidden. Harry could see the shape of the guys legs at the bottom of the bed, so he hadn't been overly concerned. Harry was under strict instructions not to intervene unless patient one attempted to get out of bed or started making a lot of noise. Just like what happened last night. So far the teenager had just been talking to his visitor quietly.
As for room four, that guy had been out cold for hours. Harry had barely glanced at that screen.
All in all, from Harry's point of view, everything up until now was pretty boring stuff. He started the next page of his book.
The next thing Harry had noticed was a noise. It sounded metallic and had been coming from the speaker attached to room one. He had put the book down. Harry had paid special attention to room one but nothing much had changed. Harry had reasoned the kid was most likely testing his handcuffs.
Just as he was about to pick the book back up again, he caught a movement out the corner of his eye. In room four the patient somehow managed to stand up and was moving towards the bed. Harry's adrenalin started to pump. He knew something was wrong but it took a split second to register. The patient was still cuffed to the bed. He understood quickly. Both of the patients were in the same room. It didn't make sense but reflexively Harry hit the emergency alarm button.
The loud alarm rang throughout the whole building.
Harry continued observing, it was the guards who were to investigate and deal with the trouble.
The patient from room one looked round. He obviously heard the alarm. Reaching out his hand quickly he grabbed the hand of the guy in the bed. Harry wondered what holding hands would achieve. There was nowhere for them to go.
Through the speakers Harry heard the sound of the doors opening as the guards rushed in.
Harry watched in disbelief as the two patients simply vanished from the screen. They were there and then they weren't. Harry heard the metallic noise again and saw the handcuffs hitting the side of the bed. It was better than any magic trick Harry had ever seen.
The guards could be seen in both rooms now, visibly confused by the empty beds.
This was going to take some explaining, Harry thought to himself.
