Red is the Color of Blood; Prelude into an Open Fire (Ch. 6)
I woke up with a start, the words, 'what do you fear…Mog?' echoing in my head. Who was she? Or it? I am supposed to be the most intelligent being on the face of the city.
I looked around in the darkness at my surroundings. This is not my room.
I looked over to the left and saw a phone perched on a nightstand. I can tell it's nighttime outside. The atmosphere is dark, not just this room. I got up and stood looking at the phone. My eyes moved to my attire and I had found that my outfit had not been changed. I looked up in a mirror. My face is clean. I moved closer and touched my skin.
'This is me,' I whispered absently.
'I am clean. No blood.'
I looked back at the telephone and creased my brow. How did I get here?
'That's right', I whispered to myself, continuing. 'I hoped onto the helicopter after the completion of my project.' I blinked. 'That is how I got here. That is how I got here. That is how I got here.'
I picked up the phone while repeating the same phrase over and over again. I put the earpiece to my ear and the receiver to my lips and breathed. 'That is how I got here.'
'That is how you got there,' a slightly inhumane voice whispered back sounding smug.
'How did I get here?'
'You said it yourself, Mog. You jumped onto the helicopter. After the completion of your project of course.'
'…yes. Yes, you are right.'
'I am right.'
'Thank you.'
'You are welcome, Mog.'
'Who are you?'
'I am you.'
'What do you want?'
'I only want for you to understand.'
'Understand? Understand what?'
'Many things.'
'What things?'
'Things that I cannot tell you because you already know, Mog.'
'I do not understand.'
'Exactly.' There was a click after that and I could tell that my anonymous 'friend' had hung up. That was the last time I heard from my 'friend' for a long time…
* * *
I splashed water into my face and smiled in spite of the chill. I looked around the dark room and decided that it was time to leave this sullen place. (Even too sullen for me I suppose). I walked towards the door and turned the knob slowly. It opened, to my surprise, silently. I walked out into a hallway, which was filled with red light. Red…red is the color of blood. No! I turned my back on the light and walked towards the darkness: the other end of the hallway. I smiled with relief at the darkness. It's always there. Always there to embrace my metal body; the only thing that will. The only 'it', which will press my head against it's breast and give my empathy. Empathy is all I will give me, because it cannot relate.
I closed my eyes while the darkness slid over my body welcoming me for the hundredth time. Step. Another step. Keep walking. Walking. Who knows where the next step will take me…
