Chapter 1. Milk.
I didn't know where I was, the day it was. All I knew was that I felt choking, nauseated and oppressed. Something felt heavy on my chest, and it was hard to breathe.
Eventually I coughed something liquid and felt some relief. There it was, I knew the feeling – waking from cryosleep was like this. Nausea, cough and eventually, vomit. First I tried to move, lay on my right side. Somehow that position gave a little comfort, and the aired pillow beneath my head and ear eased the process. Eventually, I felt I could move. Slowly, arms and legs probed the tepid inner lining of the cryopod, and I dared to open my eyes.
Foggy, it was all out of focus, my lids hurt a little as I tried to open them and forced my vision to become normal again.
I was so confused as I tried to make sense of what was happening. So I was waking up from cryosleep... but how?
As my breathing stilled and I managed to sit down, I closed my eyes. Damn vertigo, damn all those orthostatic changes that made me close my eyes to get a decent balance. The feeling eventually faded, as the nausea came in by waves. Luckily I didn't vomit, but the struggle with my own body trying making it work as a whole faster than it could, had its toll. I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes, slowly. I scanned the area – silent and in mid-light, black and orange strangely mingling to create a welcoming, yet strange environment.
The lights – the white lights weren't on, which meant... I was the only one awake here. My feet met the cold ground. Like a grid, it marked my feet as I made way to the only pod working in this place.
Tenesse's.
I walked slowly towards his pod, totally dark. I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Was he there, sleeping? Had he been awake before me? And, if that had been the case... where would he be?
I had to use the vacant pods for support, and at a decadent, slow rhythm, I reached Tenesse's cryopod. My feet hurt, for they were cold. Freezing.
With a shaky hand, I reached the surface of the pod. It glow instantly, and I felt safe to see my friend sleeping, safe and sound. His heartbeat was normal, all of his vitals were just fine.
With a sigh I took off the cap I had on my head. It gave me a strange feeling of freedom, my face and hair – now longer, and for a moment i wondered how. How on Earth could I have grown my hair while on cryo. It was just not normal... unless the cryo parameters had been changed somehow. I knew those had some nuisances, but I had to admit I just knew the basics to get someone on cryosleep. Period.
I took my time to think for a while, try to remember.
My breathing was now normal, but my heart raced. Why did I feel so anxious, so... worried?
I rested my hands on my legs, bending forward a little. The position gave me comfort, and maybe even peace of mind. I closed my eyes as I tried to remember what had happened when I got to the cryosleep.
Slowly, it all came up. The fire that had killed Jake, the rogue emission, the damned planet where it all had happened... where almost everyone had died. Those creatures. Walter and the other... synthetic. David.
David.
The thought of him, the name matching a real face and body made me open my eyes.
His name resonated in my head as I recalled all the monstrosities he had done to Shaw, all those nasty hideous creatures that thing had created... and the impending threat when I confronted him with his actions...
'What did you do to her?'
'Exactly what I'm going to do to you.'
Despair overwhelmed me for a moment, as I recalled my last memory before I went to cryosleep.
It was him. It had been him all along, playing along the nice and dutiful synthetic to trick us all and do whatever he wanted... with us all. Me and Tenesse. The colonists. The embryos.
Oh my God. What a tragedy. What had he done?
And all of nothing, suddenly, reality stroke me hard.
What had he done to me?
Panic invaded me. I opened my suit and scanned me whole. Everything seemed fine, no cuts, no incisions. But then again... what if he had put something inside me? I had all my natural orifices available for him to play with while asleep. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears... and I couldn't even consider the rest.
I closed my white sleeping suit again and looked around once more. I had to get to the med area to get a scan. Only then I would be sure I had been invaded or n-
My thought froze as my eyes met a pair of boots. Those were my boots, resting right next to the door.
He put those there on purpose.
I stood still for a moment, thinking about what that might mean. Where my boots there for me? What was I supposed to do?
Eventually, something decided for me.
I walked towards the door and grabbed my boots, put them on slowly. I looked around for some long seconds and wondered where should I go, what should I do now. The immediate thought was – leave the ship, search for something that might get me out of here as soon as possible. In fact, I knew where I could find some emergency ships. The mother ship had a couple of them – reserved for situations that weren't supposed to happen, of course.
And, speaking of mother... my eyes met the door. The door I would have to open to get somewhere on this ship. But where to?
Priorities, Daniels. Priorities, focus.
I tried to focus, tried to get a grip on myself. My hair tickled my ears, longer than I was used to for so long.
The Med bay. I had to go there first before considering leaving. I needed a scan, needed to know if I was... contaminated or something. Only God would know the atrocities David might have been working on since I've been asleep.
I had to be sure I was okay.
So I dared. I had to.
"Mother."
"Yes, Captain Daniels. It's nice to hear you, that you woke up without incidents."
Mother's phrase made me froze for moments. What did she mean by 'incidents', damn it?
"Mother, is there any unidentified organism aboard this ship?"
The answer was immediate.
"No."
I decided to rephrase.
"Is there someone not human on this ship?"
"Yes."
"Who, then?"
"Walter."
What?
It wasn't possible. Walter was not aboard this ship, David was. I just knew it, recalled that terrifying moment when I was about to enter cryosleep.
"Are you sure it's Walter, Mother?"
"Yes."
Yeah, right. But then again, I decided to play along.
"Where is he, Mother?"
"In the Med bay."
The answer couldn't be more disappointing. But, of course, only a synthetic as calculating as David would guess my major worry would be as soon as I woke up. I considered what to do for some moments, breathing heavily. My body felt weak and I was actually... scared.
With a pressurizing sound, the door opened, and my eyes greeted one of the halls of the ship. I took my time, again, not knowing for sure what the best option would be.
Should I dare?
"Maybe some music would help you to relax, Captain."
Mother's voice sounded without my order, which meant... Oh, I knew exactly what it meant. It had been David's orders.
And it scared me, irritated me not knowing a thing about that damn synthetic's doings.
The music started playing, resonating in the whole area of the ship, and I recognized it at once. It was part of my playlist. Garbage.
I am milk
I am red hot kitchen
And I am cool
Cool as the deep blue ocean
I am lost
So I am cruel
But I'd be love and sweetness
If I had you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I felt a goosebumb along my spine as I heard the chorus, wondering how thorough some phrases actually were and the impending mystery beneath the fact that he was actually waiting for me. In silence, with a steady and cautious pace, I walked slowly through those halls.
I am weak
But I am strong
I can use my tears to
Bring you home
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
The doors closed and opened as I walked the path, the one leading me to the place I wanted so bad to be. The Med bay. And where he would be too.
I am milk
I am red hot kitchen
And I am cool
Cool as the deep blue ocean
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you
I'm aching for you
I'm aching for you
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
I'm waiting
For you.
The music stopped when I reached the hall that lead to the Med bay, my sight on the door right ahead. Fear overwhelmed me for a moment, for I knew the physical superiority of David wouldn't let me defend myself properly. I could deal with his words, try to say something... but I couldn't fight him with raw force. It was a lost battle from the beginning.
My heart raced and I tried to focus. I knew that what would follow wouldn't be nice. And, what bothered me the most, was... not knowing what that damn artificial thing wanted to do with me – his intentions, of waking me up, clearly earlier than Tenessee... but, what for?
It couldn't be a good thing. After what he did to Shaw... I dreaded what that malfunctioning system might have planned for me. That, if he hadn't already done something while I'd been asleep.
I looked around, concluding I couldn't stand in this hall forever. I had to face whatever was inside that Med bay and... well, see what to do then.
That was the terrible truth.
With firm steps that clearly echoed in the silence of the ship – now that the music was clearly off -,I walked towards the door, opened it with the touch of my hand.
The depressurizing sound gave me strength to step in, face whatever I would find. With my eyes on the scanning machine, I got inside and the door closed behind me. I noticed it wasn't locked. It sounded differently when there was a locking order.
It was not the case.
I drew a deep breath and noticed, through the corner of my eye, that he was there. Right there, dressing in grey, clearly waiting for me. I felt the heaviness of his stare on me, the power of his presence.
Damn machine, how come a synthetic have such abilities?
I didn't move and neither did he.
He merely stood, waiting for something to happen, waiting with that infinite, artificial patience.
"Why did you wake me up?" I whispered, actually dreaded with the potential the answer might have.
"It was time." He answered. Unbiased and yet, leaving me in the dark.
"What did you do to me?"
My stared remained in the scanning machine, and my thoughts focused on how I wanted to get inside that thing and be sure that I was ok.
"If you want answers, Captain Daniels, you'd better look at me."
I hesitated. And he insisted.
"I meant in the eye, Captain."
It took me a deep breath and lot of courage to finally meet him in the eye. I shook a little as our stare met. It was strange to feel fear of a synthetic whose face you used to trust blindly not such time ago.
David's piercing, blue stare was almost levelled with mine, at distance. He stood right there next to counter, dressed in a way I'd never seen Walter with. Grey suit, mingling with the colour of the walls. Grey and blue. There was a little smirk on this face and I wondered what that might mean.
"I can see you woke up perfectly fine. Well done, Captain."
"Go straight to the point, David. What did you do to me?"
He made a face, half-narrowing his stare at me. The smirk was gone.
"There's no need to be harsh, Captain. Your health is perfectly fine, I can assure you."
My reaction was immediate.
"Assure me?" I quoted, with a sneer. "As you assured Shaw you'd wake her up when you'd arrive to your destination?"
David didn't say a word. He merely walked towards me, leaving a consistent meter between us. He was taller than me and I dared to remain my stare on his.
"Well, well. Aren't we grumpy this morning."
"What did you do to me, David?" I repeated, my words cautiously paused as I said them.
I saw the man in front of me blink, with an annoyed expression.
"I've already told you your health is perfectly fine. Is there something you don't understand?"
Cynical bastard.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, David. Did you do something to me while I was in cryosleep? Ha? Did you or not?"
He made an amused face... and smile. Taking one step further, he approached me, and I reflexively took one step back.
"Why do you insist so much on that question, Captain? Do you feel your body violated in some way?"
His question rendered me silent for a moment.
"I don't trust you."
"Trusting takes time, Captain." He declared. "That's part of the reason you are awake and your other crew member is not."
"What do you mean?"
"I reconsidered."
My eyebrows went up. What?
"You... reconsidered?" I was completely lost of words. "What do you mean by that?"
There was a sample of smile on his face before he spoke.
"I'll try a different approach on you, Captain. After considerable thinking, I decided not to be as invasive with you as I was with Dr. Shaw."
Silence bathed the Med bay for moments, and David was the only one speaking again.
"I can help you with the scanning, if you'd like. Then, I would consider eating and hydrating. After all, you were 3 years in cryosleep."
I was still processing the whole 3 years thing, as David turned the scan machine on.
"You can lie down, if you want."
I blinked at him, amazed at his nerve.
"I'll start the scan." He added, with a sample of smile.
Oh, no.
"I can scan myself alone, David."
His stare changed at once. It all seemed impossible, how a synthetic could do that. So like a human.
"I insist." He said.
"So do I." My tone was flat. "It's an order from your Captain, David. You can leave."
There was an uncomfortable pause before he spoke.
"Of course... Captain."
With an almost neutral expression on his face, David left the Med bay and I was alone. Finally.
I took a deep breath as I tried to gather myself from the whole conversation. It was all too hard to process, too... complicated. What on Earth did this psycho have in mind, anyway?
I scanned myself pretty fast. The machine was prepared for automatic scanning, if programmed that way. I remained still as the computed processed the images, and the insides of my body were revealed in parts in the computer screen.
It all seemed to be in place. At least, that was what the report mentioned.
'No unknown tissue detected.'
I took a deep breath again, felling utterly relieved. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the tears I had been holding inside be freed, finally. It had been too much tension, too much fear and despair. My hands met my face for a moment, and I let myself cry out all of it.
God knew I needed all that grief to go away.
"Captain."
I jumped out of nothing, scared for a tiny, little moment, then turned. To face David. Again.
"What do you want?" I asked, a little out of breath. "I thought I was alone, don't startle me like that."
There was a moment of silence as some stubborn tears still fell.
"I'm sorry to invade your moment. I am here just to inform you the kitchen is ready and at your service. Considering your lack of trust in me, I figured you wouldn't want me to prepare you a meal, but do it yourself instead."
I sensed the sarcastic tone in his words.
"You figured out correctly, David. You're dismissed."
But he didn't move. He blinked, and approached me again – this time closer. Arms down, erect posture, and a flawless composure.
"It will come the day you'll beg for my presence, Captain." He whispered, and I felt the moistness of his breath meeting my hair. "And then, we will see if your temperament will remain so... guarded." His left hand rose, and his index finger met one of my tears, that little drop resting there, as his eyes felt my stare to focus on the tear.
With curiosity, he stared at it, a little ball of water begging for attention. With a soft movement, I saw him put his own finger in his mouth. Clearly, tasting the tear he had taken from my face.
With surprise, I saw him consider what to say to me, as his stare softly met mine again.
"Salty." He said, with a sneer.
I gulped dry at his tone and avoided his stare, focusing on the counter by my left side instead. Where the computers and some more screens with my scans were.
But David was determined to continue creeping me out. His fingers touched slightly the new length of my hair, and I didn't know where he was staring at.
"As you can see, I told you the truth. You remain healthy. And in one piece."
"As I said before..." I declared, with a gulp. "...you're dismissed, David."
He didn't move for a couple of seconds, then he merely stepped away and left the Med bay.
It was only then that I had time to finally breathe out in relief and sit for a while, in the cold floor and dim environment of the impersonal medical area.