“Hey, you alive? You awake?”
My head was pounding, and awareness came slowly. I had the distinct impression that the voice had been talking for a while.
“Whazza?”. Best I could manage. I couldnt see, not yet.
“Oh, cool. You made it, that’s great,” the voice said.
The voice had a pleasant timbre, a sort of light baritone. A hint of an accent that I could not quite place. The tone was friendly, curious, even concerned?
“Ugh. Where am I? Who are you? What’s going on?” That’s what I tried to say. Not sure how much made it past my lips. I felt strangely detached from my own skin.
“Easy man, take it slow. You’ve been out a while. Most of them don’t...well, they don’t usually wake up.”
“Who?”
“The others. Like you.” The voice sighed. “Look, you’re going through a lot right now, and I want you to understand that no matter how freaky it is, I’m on your side.”
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
“Oh! Marco. Call me Marco.”
“okay...Marco. I’m Chris. At least I think I am. Everything is so fuzzy,” I complained.
“Chris. Hello. Yeah, that stuff does a number on you. But like I said, you’re lucky. The fact you can remember your name is a really good sign. Only about a dozen of us woke up, that I know of, and only four remembered their names.”
“What?”
“Yeah, the process.....it does something to us, and it doesn’t always work right. And sometimes it goes really wrong...”
“Marco, you’re not making sense....”
“Like Joe, it went wrong with him. He was fine at first, but then it all just....kept going. He lost himself. And Tan, he last longer, but it was hard to tell. He didn’t speak much English. But Tyler, Ty was the one who really.....” the voice stopped, collecting itself. “Sorry. Tyler was my friend. And now....”
“Marco. Please.”
“Sorry, sorry. I just... I haven’t had anyone else to talk to in at least a week. Hard to tell the days here.”
“I can imagine. It’s very dark.”
“Oh, no, it’s just that you’re blind. Temporarily. You should snap out of that pretty soon, and then you’ll see what I’m talking a bout.”
“Temporarily?”
“Yeah, something about what they do to us, the initial round of it is pretty hard on your system. Like a super flu or something. But you’ll even out. The rest of u s did. Well, the ones who made it.”
This was sounding more and more crazy. The ones who made it?
“Marco, why can’t I move?”
“Oh, that’s the restraints. Don’t bother, they’re steel or something. Even Tan couldn’t break them. And believe me, he tried.”
“Why am I restrained? What the fuck is happening?”
“Oh! Right! Sorry....” he said. “Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but you’ve been kidnapped. And you’ve been....well, I guess altered is the right word. I don’t know.”
“Altered? Kidnapped?”
“I don’t know who did it, but like, for me, I was walking home after practice. Then I woke up here. I don’t know where this is, but it’s really secure. Maybe military. Maybe alien or mad scientist, fuck if I know. But we’re stuck here, and they’re...doing things to us.”
That did not sound good. THat sounded terrifying. I ought to be panicking.
“Why am I not freaking out, Marco?”
“I don’t know. Something they feed us, I think. Trust me, I’m not the guy you want to be near if I am freaking out,” he said, with a deeper chuckle than his voice suggested.
“You seem nice enough to me,” I replied. “So what now??:”
“Well, for now, you should let the sleep take you. No point in fighting it. And you’d probably rather not feel what’s happening to you.”
“What are they doing?” I could feel...something in my arms. Probably an IV drip or something. “What’s in my arm?”
“I don’t know. I know that we’ve all had some of it in our veins and it changes us. Nobody quite the same. But you’ll see when you open your eyes. They’ve got a few mirrors built in. Unbreakable of course.”
We sat in silence for a few more minutes as feeling returned to my body, tingling and numb and prickling all over. Finally I could sense light, and with a little trepidation, I willed my eyes to open....
My head was pounding, and awareness came slowly. I had the distinct impression that the voice had been talking for a while.
“Whazza?”. Best I could manage. I couldnt see, not yet.
“Oh, cool. You made it, that’s great,” the voice said.
The voice had a pleasant timbre, a sort of light baritone. A hint of an accent that I could not quite place. The tone was friendly, curious, even concerned?
“Ugh. Where am I? Who are you? What’s going on?” That’s what I tried to say. Not sure how much made it past my lips. I felt strangely detached from my own skin.
“Easy man, take it slow. You’ve been out a while. Most of them don’t...well, they don’t usually wake up.”
“Who?”
“The others. Like you.” The voice sighed. “Look, you’re going through a lot right now, and I want you to understand that no matter how freaky it is, I’m on your side.”
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
“Oh! Marco. Call me Marco.”
“okay...Marco. I’m Chris. At least I think I am. Everything is so fuzzy,” I complained.
“Chris. Hello. Yeah, that stuff does a number on you. But like I said, you’re lucky. The fact you can remember your name is a really good sign. Only about a dozen of us woke up, that I know of, and only four remembered their names.”
“What?”
“Yeah, the process.....it does something to us, and it doesn’t always work right. And sometimes it goes really wrong...”
“Marco, you’re not making sense....”
“Like Joe, it went wrong with him. He was fine at first, but then it all just....kept going. He lost himself. And Tan, he last longer, but it was hard to tell. He didn’t speak much English. But Tyler, Ty was the one who really.....” the voice stopped, collecting itself. “Sorry. Tyler was my friend. And now....”
“Marco. Please.”
“Sorry, sorry. I just... I haven’t had anyone else to talk to in at least a week. Hard to tell the days here.”
“I can imagine. It’s very dark.”
“Oh, no, it’s just that you’re blind. Temporarily. You should snap out of that pretty soon, and then you’ll see what I’m talking a bout.”
“Temporarily?”
“Yeah, something about what they do to us, the initial round of it is pretty hard on your system. Like a super flu or something. But you’ll even out. The rest of u s did. Well, the ones who made it.”
This was sounding more and more crazy. The ones who made it?
“Marco, why can’t I move?”
“Oh, that’s the restraints. Don’t bother, they’re steel or something. Even Tan couldn’t break them. And believe me, he tried.”
“Why am I restrained? What the fuck is happening?”
“Oh! Right! Sorry....” he said. “Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but you’ve been kidnapped. And you’ve been....well, I guess altered is the right word. I don’t know.”
“Altered? Kidnapped?”
“I don’t know who did it, but like, for me, I was walking home after practice. Then I woke up here. I don’t know where this is, but it’s really secure. Maybe military. Maybe alien or mad scientist, fuck if I know. But we’re stuck here, and they’re...doing things to us.”
That did not sound good. THat sounded terrifying. I ought to be panicking.
“Why am I not freaking out, Marco?”
“I don’t know. Something they feed us, I think. Trust me, I’m not the guy you want to be near if I am freaking out,” he said, with a deeper chuckle than his voice suggested.
“You seem nice enough to me,” I replied. “So what now??:”
“Well, for now, you should let the sleep take you. No point in fighting it. And you’d probably rather not feel what’s happening to you.”
“What are they doing?” I could feel...something in my arms. Probably an IV drip or something. “What’s in my arm?”
“I don’t know. I know that we’ve all had some of it in our veins and it changes us. Nobody quite the same. But you’ll see when you open your eyes. They’ve got a few mirrors built in. Unbreakable of course.”
We sat in silence for a few more minutes as feeling returned to my body, tingling and numb and prickling all over. Finally I could sense light, and with a little trepidation, I willed my eyes to open....