A Sense of Self

A Sense of Self

by Evilkeen

Prologue: The Void

Pain.

It was the first sensation he felt. Floating motionless in a void, arms and legs akimbo.

There was nothing now, nothing but an inky dark blackness and pain. Pain which was all-encompassing, from everywhere and nowhere, a feeling of constriction in his heart that sent sharp electrical sparks of agony through his nerve endings. It lasted for an instant eternity.

Then, Ranma tasted something: fuzzily, faintly

It was the taste of copper pennies and of institutional facilities. The smell of bodily fluids, sweat, fear, death coupled with disinfectant and talcum powder could be discerned.

Ranma floated through this oblivion and waited, too disoriented and confused for rational thought or even irrational panic.

Suddenly, the force of gravity just . . . happened. And at the same time the inky black void became denser then water, thicker, pressing at him from all sides, his lungs furiously, desperately, futilely trying to pump oxygen into his system as claustrophobia set in. He had to get out! He had to escape!

With this new sense of gravity, Ranma urgently manipulated his appendages until he was satisfied that he was oriented face up. His lungs now felt like they had small charcoal briquettes merrily blazing away inside. He urgently started swimming upwards, his well-developed muscles straining against hydraulic friction as he ascended towards--what he hoped was--the surface.

He was almost there, he could feel it, the ominous pressure was lessening dramatically, and he suddenly could hear again, words--faint but steadily growing--were being processed by his ears, hideously distorted by some sort of Doppler effect.

"...ssive trauma to the upper chest and abdomen. We've tubed him and've dealt with the internal bleeding as much as we can. The breathing machine should . . . Holy Shit! He's coming around, Anaesthetic!"

Ranma felt a dream within a dream's feeling of cold metal and pressure along his right arm. His ascent from the dark slowed and halted for an instant. Then suddenly the density of the dark liquid completely vanished into being an empty void again, and Ranma started to fall rapidly, he tried to shout, but no sound could be heard; Ranma screamed and screamed as he fell down the abyss in complete and utter silence.