Zane
It had been weeks since I'd seen anything relatively close to a human being.
I was locked alone in that room, chained up tight, and there was a latch that opened on occasion, a couple of times a day if I was lucky, and in would slide some crudely chopped raw body parts, some appeared human, others were obviously not, but I was ravenous and quite frankly those scraps were the most appetizing bits of nourishment I'd ever ingested.
My hands were bound to the wall behind me, but I was bound loosely enough so that I could reach the prize that was given to me, and so I could consume it without appearing to be a complete monster, even though that was what I'd become.
But even though the hunger was what drove me, I so longed for interaction with another being, I so desired to feel the touch of someone other than myself. Just to see a face...to see another person would make me feel a little more human and less like an animal in a cage.
I sat cross legged before a tray of bones, picked nearly clean, only small bits of pink gristle stuck where the joints had once been whole, and tears welled in my eyes with a vengeance.
"Please..." I called into the darkness. "Please...someone help me..."
I choked out a loud sob, the room echoing it back to me as tears dripped lazily down my cheeks and from my nose and chin.
"I-I-I want to go h-home!" I shouted out in my emotional agony. "I want m-my father! I want out of this room!"
In quick succession proceeding my outbursts the door to my cell creaked open in loud protest, the light behind it so blinding that the figure in the doorway appeared to be only a shadow.
I gazed up at the figure, eyes pleading with it. "P-please..."
"It is time for your bath, Patient V."
It was PIXAL, and my heart immediately swelled at the sound of her voice.
"PIXAL! It's you!"
She approached me, kneeling and working away at my chains.
"I-I'm so relieved to see you..." I breathed weakly, watching as she worked. "How long have I been in here?"
She stayed quiet for a moment, not making eye contact. "It has been three months and eleven days." She told me, the chains clattering loudly to the floor.
"R-really?" I was in shock. It didn't feel like it had been that long but PIXAL was not one to lie. "Why?"
"Because we were uncertain of how you would react to external stimuli. The last time that I visited you you went haywire, and had to be sedated."
My memory of when we last encountered each other was very muted, and I remembered little more than shouting for release, wanting to be taken to a hospital, everything was just so dark.
"Oh..."
With one final clang my binds fell to the floor and PIXAL stood upright once more. "Shall we go now? You are in desperate need of a bath."
Sighing I stood with her, legs shaky after having sat for so long. I stumbled after her as she led me, familiarity of this area becoming apparent when she opened a door and shooed me inside. It was the same bathroom that she had bathed me in once before, having scrubbed my back painfully raw.
"Adjust the water temperature to your specifications." She ordered. "I recall I made it too hot last time."
Nodding I moved to the bathtub, reaching for the faucets and turning them accordingly. Feeling the water with my fingers I continued to make adjustments, then stopping the drain when the temperature was optimal and shutting the water off when the tub was full.
"Strip down." She said plainly. "You cannot be bathed in clothing.
I flushed heatedly, glancing at her. "I am capable of bathing myself..."
She sighed, seeming irritated. "I am not allowed to leave you be. Cyrus does not want you to escape and so I must guard you."
I began to peel my clothing from myself, covering myself self consciously and climbing into the tub.
"You...you act like you do not know me." I stated, gathering a sponge and a bar of soap. "Are you being watched? Must we be conscious?"
She looked at me as if she were confused. "I do not understand what you are talking about. What need gave we to be conscious of anything?"
I shifted closer to the edge of the tub, closer to her. "PIXAL is Cyrus watching us?"
I reached out and touched her arm, patting it reassuringly but she reared it back immediately, striking me firmly with the back of her hand.
"D-do not touch me!" She shouted, eyes wide and wild with fright. "You are dangerous, I do not want you to come near me!"
I felt my teeth cut deep into my cheek as the blow landed solidly, and my head flew sideways with the force of the blow. I was not deterred however, to see her her reasoning.
I spat a bit of blood into the tub, leaning close to her once more. "PIXAL. Is that what he told you?" I reached out again, lightly touching her arm. "I am not going to-"
She slapped my hand away, this time a little less forcefully. "D-don't hurt me. Stay away!"
"PIXAL..." I had to think, Cyrus did something to her to make her act like this, I knew, but I knew that I could break it somehow.
"PIXAL...I couldn't hurt you even if I desired to." I began, frowning. "You...you are an android, built to have far more strength than I. I am only human, enhanced with technology...e-even so..." This time when I touched her, she did not flinch away. "If I was able, I still would not bring you harm." I smiled then, weakly, in pain, but it was a smile. "You...you are the kindest being here, to me at the very least. And I desire your companionship, not your downfall."
Still fearful, but perhaps a little less so, she outstretched a hand to me, brushing her cool metal fingertips over the cheek that she had slapped so firmly.
"I bruised you..." She said, shying away from she shamefully. "I am sorry."
"Do not apologize." I reassured. "You were frightened. I will not convict you for fear."
"I..." She shook her head, appearing frustrated or confused. "I do not remember...you clearly...but...but I know...some things..."
"Like what?" I queried, sitting back, not wanting to make her even more uncomfortable.
"I remember...your name. Zane Julien...but Cyrus had reminded me of recently...and...and I remember...I promised you something..."
"To take me to see my father." I whispered, just in case Cyrus was listening. "I remember."
She nodded. "Yes, I do too...somewhat...but I cannot now. We must wait. Just a little longer." She glanced at me. "Perhaps in this time...I will regain more of my memories."
"Yes. I hope so." I agreed.
"Now..." She rejoined after a pause. "Bathe yourself. Cyrus gave me a specific time allotted for your cleansing session before I have to return you."
"Y-yes ma'am."
And I did bathe myself, the blood and filth that had collected on my body in the course of the three months I had been bound sloughing off, leaving me feeling so refreshed.
"PIXAL?"
"Yes, Zane?"
"Perhaps when you chain be back up...it could not be so tightly?"
She glanced about the room, probably as paranoid as I. "I...I will try my best to make you comfortable."
I stood and exited the tub, she handing me a towel and some clean hospital gown-like clothes. "Thank you." I said graciously.
"You are welcome." She replied, keeping eye contact to a minimum as she led me back to my hellacious prison chamber, weighing me down in chains and left me alone once more in the dark.
