"My birth was unconventional at best." "My first memory was waking up in the forest." "Like a newborn baby, I had no idea who I was or what was happening." "My eyes weren't sure what they were seeing." "Every sight, sound, and feeling was unfamiliar." "Every species is born with instincts that ultimately create a balance with nature." "Every species, except the one I was born into." "I came across a beast with two voices." "I was thankful to have found a companion." "Comon, sweetie." "Freak!" "Show's over, kid." "What's your name?" "Who...are...you?" "Soon I was taken to a new place with fences and sad faces." "Note to self" "Be erect by half-past 10" "Be strong, be proud..." "Lori!" "Lori!" "Are you getting up?" "Declan!" "Let's all have breakfast together for a change!" "I'm making pancakes." "I think you've slept long enough." "[PHONE RINGING]" "Whew!" "We, uh--we didn't get to finish what we started." "You need to get out of here." "Later, Trager." "Lou, you're not disturbing me." "What's going on?" "[Lou] I got someone here I know you're going to want to meet." "The kid showed up here this morning and he's right up your alley." "In other words, no one else wants to treat him." "No, no, it's not like that." "Nobody knows where he came from exactly, but he seems sharp and he's..." "Look, you gotta see him for yourself." "I'll stop by at 10:00 tomorrow." "Lo, um, this afternoon okay?" "I'm on my way." "Ah, it's alive!" "Bite me." "No, thanks." "That's Declan's job." "Shut up, dweeb!" "Declan?" "What happened to Mike Suby?" "Old news." "Declan's her new flavor of the month." "Or the week, in Miss Skanky's case." "Knock it off." "So, who's this Declan guy?" "He's just a friend." "He's having a party this week." "Can I take the car?" "We'll see." "Sorry, guys." "I have to go out for a bit." "Go out?" "Lou Daniels just called." "Nicole, it's Sunday." "I know, but it's urgent and it sounds like a really special case." "They always do." "Save some pancakes for me, okay?" "Yeah, let's roll, man." "For some reason, the more people I saw, the more alone I felt." "Yo, let's get some juice down here." "'Sup?" "Everyone taking stupid pills around here?" "Juice me!" "Most of our time is spent trying to lessen the pains of life." "I was about to learn how to quash hunger." "See something you like, punk?" "You gonna see my fist if you don't quit eyeballing me." "Kick his ass, man." "Be cool, Skeeter." "He can't understand a word you say." "He ain't dissin' you, man." "A'ight." "He keeps staring at me," "I'm gonna have to kick his sorry ass." "I had no reason to fear this person, but he reminded me of the snake in the woods, just before it struck." "I was glad to see a familiar face, but a pressure below my waist was bothering me." "Come on, show me what you got." "Come on, put your hands up!" "Put 'em up!" "You ain't tough, new kid." "Come on, put em' up!" "Come on!" "[Boy] Knock him out, Skeeter!" "I wanted to learn his game, but the pain in my belly was getting more intense." "Hey!" "I barely noticed the discomfort on my face because inside me, something had flipped and I began to feel wonderful." "[Lou] Great job, guys!" "No rec privileges for a week." "Now get out of here!" "Now!" "Everybody out!" "Hey, Nicole." "Thanks for coming by to see him." "Does "him" have a name?" "The paperwork says "John Doe" for the time being." "John Doe." "What's a handsome boy like that doing with a dead man's name?" "You know he kind of reminds me of my brother Kyle." "He got all the looks in the family." "That's perfect." "Kyle." "Y eah." "Can't speak a word, but damned if he doesn't know what you're saying." "I'll be outside if you need me." "Okay." "I wanted to show her where I'd come from and what I had seen." "So let me understand." "The boy has no family that you know of, he doesn't communicate, and he was found just wandering alone in the city?" "That's all his "Booked Into Shelter" folder said." "No Amber Alerts, no missing persons report, nothing." "But there is one more things you should see." "No belly button." "They're never gonna go for this." "It's just for a few days." "Finally." "I'm starving!" "Did you get lo mein?" "Hold on a minute." "Your mom's got something to talk to you about." "I have a new patient, and the place where he's staying isn't safe, so I'm bringing him here for a little while." "You mean some mental patient's going to live in our house?" "He's not a mental patient." "He's a very sweet, very special boy." "I know what "very special" means." "He'll probably drool all over the house." "I have to say, I have thought--I'd hoped that you would both show a little compassion." "You don't even know this kid." "I don't want him touching my things." "All right, that's enough." "If your mom says he's coming, he's coming and that's final." "So you're born on the cusp" "Or it's a run of bad luck" "But it's bigger than us..." "This is it." "Home." "Where you're gonna be staying for a few days, at least until I can..." "[Kyle] My first thought was that flat, tiny people must be living in the walls." "But then I understood." "Humans grow smaller as they develop and pretty soon, I'd be shrinking, myself." "Maybe one day this woman would hold me, too." "The images made my mind explode with complex mathematical formulae." "Would you like to play a game, Kyle?" "Here." "Lots of kids have tons of fun with this one." "This is called a mouse." "When you move it, this arrow" "Hello there." "[phone ringing]" "I am a bird." "I fly high into the sky." "Touch the sky and watch me fly." "Hello?" "How'd it go?" "Did you bring him home?" "Oh, he's just great." "He's on the computer right now." "Do you need me there?" "Could be a lot to handle." "Trust me, honey, I'll be fine." "Look at the house." "Getting a little old for Barney, aren't we, Josh?" "[Kyle] When I saw her, I realized something was horribly wrong." "Humans grow larger over time, not smaller." "It bothered me." "Wasn't I ever small?" "Why didn't you tell me he was in the house?" "I think he saw my boobs!" "What did she" " Did he just" "Stephen, I promise, we're fine." "I've got another call." "I've gotta go." "Our top story in Trebourne County:" "a teenage girl washed up on shore this morning, having no memory whatsoever of how she got there." "[Computer] Fractions, fractions, all done!" "Yum yum!" "How much blood?" "Okay, I'm on my way." "Listen, there's an emergency at work." "I need you to watch Kyle." "Sure, Mom." "I'm serious!" "Watch him." "I'll be right back." "H ello?" "Oh, hi, Hillary." "No, Declan still hasn't called, and if he's with Jessica, he's probably got the clap by now." "You know me." "I felt weird when Mike Suby put his hand down my pants." "Because all I could think about were these warts on his hand." "That could be him!" "If I don't click over, you'll know why." "Hello?" "Oh, hi, Declan." "No, I wasn't talking to anyone." "What's up?" "[laughter] I know." "[Kyle] It was the most beautiful sound in the world." "It was part mathematics and part... euphoria." "I felt certain that whatever this was, was a gift to the world, meant to fill all that heard it with a flood of emotion." "[Woman] Amanda, I'm home!" "It then struck me that not everyone could appreciate this miracle." "The sound increased my sorrow for those who could not hear it." "There was a pounding in my chest." "My face felt like it was burning, and more than anything, I wanted to disappear." "Aah!" "Aah!" "Run, Mom!" "There's a psycho in the shower!" "It's okay, Josh." "It's okay." "This is Kyle, the special boy I was telling you about." "If he's supposed to be so special, why'd you stick him in the bathtub?" "Nice to meet you... perv." "The reason I am letting that slide is because I have a favor to ask of you." "I would like Kyle to bunk down in your room for a couple nights." "Are you kidding?" "This guy's got "bed wetter" written all over him." "Well, I'm only asking." "Fine." "But you better bustle out the rubber sheets." "Have you seen Lori?" "She was supposed to be watching him." "Some teacher called with test results..." "Mrs...." "Planny Parenthood." "I was beginning to sense that my very presence was turning these people against each other." "You and I are gonna have a talk." "Oh, no." "Did something happen to Kyle?" "Oh, you mean besides him going outside by himself?" "You can forget about Declan's party." "Look out your front door, there's a ship coming in..." "Hi, honey." "Hey, something wrong with Lori?" "She seems upset about something." "She's just having a difficult time understanding what responsibility means." "Oh." "Is this the, uh...?" "Kyle, this is my husband Stephen." "Honey, this is Kyle." "Hello, Kyle." "[slowly] I'm happy to make your acquaintance." "Can he understand a single thing I'm saying?" "I don't think so." "Well, at least he doesn't look dangerous." "Oh!" "Watch it, watch it!" "It's hot!" "Hot!" "Ouch!" "Ow, ow, ow!" "This being was clearly a superior communicator." "I somehow understood everything it said and wondered why others chose to speak so ineffectively." "You know, this neighborhood isn't zoned for halfway houses" "Oh, good evening, by the way." "Excuse me?" "One of your challenged cases broke into my" "He didn't break in, Mom." "Broke into my house this afternoon and snuck up on Amanda while she was alone." "Who knows what could've happened if I hadn't come home when I did." "I'm so sorry, Carol." "Lori was responsible for watching Kyle this afternoon" "Nicole, I would hate to make this into a police matter..." "Come along, Amanda." "I'll see ya later!" "It's not fair, Dad." "I was in the next room." "It's not like I left him alone with Michael Jackson." "There are over 800,000 words in the English language." "The eyes, however, speak a more precise code, through their narrowing..." "We're not running a reject farm, are we?" "Josh." "...brow arches, dilations, blinking, or the asymmetrical closure, which I hadn't yet deciphered." "Don't you think this Mirae Worker trip's getting out of hand?" "Cool it, guys." "What did we say about giving your mom some latitude over the next couple of days?" "I was suffering from thirst, but my language skills were relatively primitive, so I relied on phrases I'd memorized at the children's home." "Yo!" "Let's get some juice down here!" "'Sup?" "Everyone taking stupid pills around here?" "Juice me!" "Oh mum, he's like that Indian from Cuckoo's Nest." "Wait." "Did he just learn to talk in one day?" "No." "Lori, that's impossible." "Right, honey?" "Can you understand me, Kyle?" "Go on, do it again." "Mom, is that how you talk to a dog?" ""Go on, do it again"?" "Watch this." "Kyle, speak!" "I felt weird when Mike Suby put his hand down my pants because all I could think about were these warts on his hand." "It's amazing." "Autism typically involves mimicry, but Kyle isn't emotionally withdrawn." "His behaviors aren't fixated." "So, can he understand us or not?" "I can't say." "I've never dealt with anyone like him before." "Suby." "Ha, nice one!" "I can't wait to test him." "Why haven't the police found anything?" "He's full of surprises." "Somebody has to be missing this kid." "Well, so far, no one's filed a report." "The whole thing is really strange." "Oh, even stranger, he doesn't have a belly button." "No belly button." "I saw for myself." "Kyle's stomach is totally smooth." "Well, how could that be?" "He's extraordinary." "Nicole, you said just a few days." "Well, I'm not sending him back to that facility." "You are so wrapped up in this kid." "He can't stay here indefinitely." "I know." "Social Services promised to find a safe spot for him by Monday." "Monday?" "Monday." "Come on, boys, let's get to work." "Whoa, slow down, Rainman." "I haven't even finished grading the last one." "You're kidding." "That was an hour-long test." "How long did it take him, five minutes?" "Yeah, and he got them all right." "What is this kid, seriously?" "Freaky" "Hello, Dr. Fields, please." "Try not to move, Kyle." "Oh, damn." "When's the last time you had this calibrated, at least for a week?" "It's fine!" "I ran two MRIs this morning." "You blind?" "Look, it's a mess." "What is it?" "Uh, equipment's on the fritz." "You see this red area here?" "That's supposed to represent the active point of the brain." "Yeah." "So?" "You and I use maybe 7% of our brains." "All right?" "Any given time." "Einstein used 9% of his brain." "Rupert here uses 2%." "So it means he's some super genius?" "No, it means mechanical failure." "You're gonna have to come back some other time." "What if the machine's right?" "Well, hypothetically speaking, with this type of neural hyperactivity, he'd be prone to all sorts of seizures, strokes, tumors" "Tu-tumors" "Well, it's been a busy day, huh, kiddo?" "Good night, Kyle." "Sweet dreams." "Hey, dude." "You're not gonna wig out on me, right?" "I mean, if something weird starts to happen, like you foam at the mouth, don't do it here." "Go get my mom." "Damn, I miss Charlotte." "Charlotte's Miss Playpen, dude." "The magazine." "My mom hid her." "Where?" "I know not, my brother." "I know not." "Here." "You're gonna need that." "What's wrong?" "First drink, then talk." "[gasp] Hi!" "Ooh." "Turn the FM off the AM frequency" "It's the sound that cannot stop..." "[Kyle] An ancient ceremony was underway that involved spastic gyrations." "The heat made me sweat, and I needed something to drink." "Who's that?" "I don't know, but he's cute." "So spill it, already." "Huh?" "Oh." "I hope you weren't too set on hooking up with Declan tonight." "Hey, beer bong!" "Who's next?" " Whoo!" " Maybe I don't want to know after all." "Yeah." "Then I wouldn't go in there." "[Boy] Chug, chug, chug, chug!" "Chug, chug, chug, chug!" "[Kyle] At the children's home, the other captives referred to a strange place." "I finally realized I'd arrived... in hell." "The appearance of an unknown enemy had begun to agitate the group." "The party's over!" "Hold it right there!" "Wait for Katie." "I can't find her." "I dropped my phone!" "Relax." "I didn't do anything." "Whoa, snap!" "Did you see that?" "[Boy] Whoa!" "He's gonna cut himself." "...just walked into the window!" "Get back here." "Ow." "Leave her alone!" "Let her go!" "She didn't do anything." "Cool it, kid." "You're fried." "I remembered how the snake had tried to frighten me." "I hoped this creature would have as much sense as the snake." "[cheering]" "I...am.... leaking." "My God, what happened to you?" "I don't know, Mom." "There's no blood on any doors, and the windows ain't broken or nothin'." "That's okay, hon." "We'll figure it out tomorrow." "The images reminded me." "I had no memory of ever being small." "What...am I?" "Well, Kyle, that's a difficult question to answer." "You're a boy, a special boy, and boys are...human beings." "Even with years of historical research, the more humans try to define themselves, the more they drown in their own confusion." "That's the evolutionist point of view." "You... know not." "Now this one." "It'll help you detox." "Forget it." "One more sip and this place becomes a barfatorium." "Focus on something else..." "like, say, your knight in shining armor." "What?" "Don't give me that." "The guy who saved your ass last night." "The guy with all the Jackie Chan moves." "The guy who carried you home." "Oh, my God." "Kyle!" "I thought I dreamt that." "So, does your dream have digits?" "Yeah, mine." "Remember that short bus kid I told you about?" "Hi, babe." "[Kyle] Apparently, not all forms of greetings are appropriate." " Oh!" "Kyle!" "You scared me." "What is... "scared"?" "Oh." "Scared...is...fear." "Like, "Aah!"" "I get...scared." "What?" "What are you scared of?" "Ev...erything." "I don't know what..." "Kyle, I can't imagine how strange and scary the world must feel to you right now, but it will get better." "I swear." "Help...me..." "Mom." "I'm gonna take care of you, Kyle." "I promise." "Hey." "I can't believe I offered to fix their computer." "Their hard drive's fried and their family photos are on it." "I think Tim's mug scared it." "You'll figure it out." "You always do." "Yeah." "Stephen." "Yeah?" "I can't do it." "I can't send Kyle away." "Nicole." "Not the way he is now." "We talked about this." "We agreed." "He's just so vulnerable, and even the best facilities can't give Kyle enough individual care and attention." "What are you gonna do, drop all your other cases?" "You're already consumed by your work, and now you want to treat your patients at home?" "Just this one." "There's something remarkable about him." "I feel for the kid." "You know I do." "But we have enough going on with our own kids." "Our own family." "It's just until we figure out who he is and where he belongs." "But we may never know." "I know it's asking a lot." "Yeah." "Too much." "Check with Lou Daniels." "Maybe Social Services has something good for him." "[Lou] I can't seem to find his file." "I've got nothing for him, Nicole." "I'm sorry." "Thank you, Lou." "Come on, now." "Where are you?" "Don't touch that." "Those are for killing rats." "Rats...are your enemy." "No, but when they start paying rent, they can put down people traps." "No, Kyle." "We don't want them in the house." "So, you...kill them?" "Yeah." "I guess." "Ha!" "There it is!" "Oh, man." "Aw!" "Damn it!" "Whereas verbal communication was so random and contradictory, this language was a logical math-based shorthand that made perfect..." "Oh, come on!" "Wow, that's it!" "[laughs] That's the one!" "How did you" "You find this?" "Why'd you do that?" "You said you missed her." "Take a shot." "Shoot some hoops." "All right, let me show you." "Now you." "Nice!" "Nice." "Okay, Kyle's gonna be down in a sec." "I have a favor to ask each of you, and before you all jump down my throat," "I'd like you to think about it." "I was thinking, or I was hoping that you wouldn't mind if Kyle stayed with us a while longer." "By †Minißen3†4"