She stretched her hands forward reaching for the sky in front of her, in reality it was above, below and beside her, but she only focused on what was in front, to go forward and to not look back. The feeling of being free, to not have ties no memories, no past nothing to distort the peace that she had discovered, from her vantage point she could see the stars, she could make a wish, and hope for better luck next time.
She could feel the pain, it was starting again. deep in the back of her neck, growing stronger as each moment past, in a last ditch effort to escape the pain and continue forward she closed her eyes, trying to out-run the reality of her situation, but she knew, she knew she would never be free, for her life wasn't that easy, never was and as far as she could tell from her current position, never would be.
She closed her eyes.
Squeezed them shut.
And as she felt the pain become unbearable she remembered why she had chosen this fate, no better than the last.
-*-
As Helaina opened her eyes she felt the pain again, this time it was real, not a generated sensation that was commonly felt in the dream state. As she lay there, the memories of her dream came flooding back, and the ache in her heart was again present. Some days she hoped that the ache would take her and she would be free, but then, if she was that free, would she remember why she had wanted it so badly.
The clanging of metallic objects and the increasing sensation of pain in the back of her neck forced Helaina to become fully conscious.
" Helaina hurry up," Adella whispered as she passes her friends division,
" No unnecessary communications!" A loud voice boomed across the area,
Helaina got up, trying to ignore the pain from the implant in the back of her neck, as she was leaving her division and joining the line that had formed in the central corridor she glanced sideways into Gerrome's division, he was dawdling, he would not make it on time today, or ever again. As the warning chime ended all workers who had not filled into the central corridor and found their place in line, felt the dread of the unknown.
" Gerrome told me yesterday he was not coming, I think he has had enough" Adella whispered from behind,
Suddenly a alarm rang, and Helaina glanced sideway one last time to see Gerrome, he smiled at her and closed his eyes, he had moved over towards his port hole, the only view of the outside world, he had planned this, other had not and as they realised, looks of horror crossed the faces, and within the moments following energy was expelled from the implanted in the back of their neck, blue electric bold of energy whipped around their necks, suffocating them and in their last moments of life, all others learned a valuable lesson, tardiness would not be tolerated.
As the line started to move Helaina saw how many others had not made it, as she passes the seemingly endless rows of divisions she wondered why so many had given up, sure there was always the few who had truly run late, but lately it had been an act of defiance, those who were sick of being controlled, it was there way of rebelling, if they could not control their lives no one would, specially not a twisted doctor who was only going to kill them in the end anyway.
-*-
Later in the day as Helaina and Adella were on their scheduled 'rest' break, Helaina realised how much of the outside she remembered, unlike the others she had more than just flashes of images that could never be understood,
" Well spill it," Adella commanded, "I doubt we will rest for long it you don't share your thoughts,"
" Not now Adella," Helaina said as she focused on a far away spot on the wall,
" Fine then, If you won't share than I will," Adella began, " You know that type that worked with Gerrome, apparently he wasn't from the outside, he was born here,"
" That?s not possible, no life is given here, this is only a place of death," Helaina said morbidly,
" No its true, apparently all types were born in here," Adella said,
" We are not born we are created," A voice said from behind,
Both girls spun around to face the type in question,
" Created?" Adella repeated with a surprised look on her face,
" Yes, most of us never see the outside, I know I never will, " He said as he sat down, he looked sad at the thought,
" But there are other types, ones on the outside?" Helaina asked,
" There are hundred of types, they live outside with people, normal everyday people, they live in other cities, countries, where ever the master send them," He replied
Helaina and Adella sat there for the rest of their scheduled time listening to Zey's stories, he had apparently told Gerrome everything he knew, and Zey felt responsible for Gerrome's death, he felt that Gerrome had lost hope of ever reaching the outside.
-*-
Over the next few weeks Zey told Helaina and Adella everything he had seen, everything that he had been told by others, he had been in here longed that anyone could remember and anything that would help explain to Helaina why she was here and why she had little memories was welcomed.
" So what you saying is that these Cybers they wanted to leave, they didn't want to be controlled," Adella asked,
" Yes, that's right," Zey replied
" And there was really 5000 of them?" Adella continued
" Yes," Zey replied,
" Since they were so strong why didn't they just leave, they had numbers on their side," Adella asked,
" He killed them, most of them were only children, though I heard before I was sent here that one escaped and made it to the outside world, apparently she lives outside somewhere," Zey said,
" Wow, that would have pissed 'HIM' right off," Adella said, " He really killed the rest of them, just because they wouldn't do what he said?" she continued,
" He is evil, he creates life to control it, and it he can't he will destroy it just as quickly," Zey said, " But he is not perfect, despite what he thinks, he has made many mistakes, the Cybers are just right up there, it won't be long before he gets rid of us, we aren?t exactly prime specimens," he continued as he looked away,
Helaina had remain quiet throughout this exchange and only now that the conversation had turned towards their impending future did she speak up,
"We have to leave," was she simple statement,
" Impossible, no one leaves unless they are late in the morning," Zey replied,
" If we try we die, if we stay we die, what exactly do we have to lose," Helaina sarcastically stated,
They all looked in different directions and no one spoke for the rest of the session.
-*-
" But Father, they are useless, all they do is waste space and resources, we should dispose of them," Jose whined,
" Silence, don't forget your place Jose, I will decide what to do with the Beta H series, Now how are you in you search for Cybersix?" Von Reichter questioned as he changed the subject,
Well father she will be destroys soon," Jose said with confidence, " I have a new plan,"
Von Reichter immediately turned off the transmission, he had had enough of Jose's failed plan's, he would undoubtedly hear about he failed attempt soon enough.
"TYPE 223," Von Reichter bellowed,
" Yes master," Type 223 replied as he hurried into the room,
" What is the situation with the Beta H series?" Von Reichter demanded,
" In the last 4 months we have lost 20 of them, they seem to be deliberately running late in the morning and they die when the implants go off, it appears that they are resisting control, " Type 223 replied,
" How many has your team managed to complete?" Von Reichter asked while facing his giant computer screen,
" Only about 50 of what is left and the majority of those we are losing are the completed ones, it might be a genetic defect which is causing them to reject the biologic changed and the cybernetic implants, " 223 replied,
" No, they are doing this deliberately, just like those damned Cybers, they will have to be recycled, organise for 5 or so percent of the un-completed units to be recycled a week, maybe it will get the remaining units to cooperate," Von Reichter ordered before demanding that 223 leave him.
-*-
" I heard that all the people in Divisions 9 through 12 are gone," Adella stated as she joined her small group for scheduled rest,
" Gone where?" Helaina asked,
" Just gone, they haven?t been seen since last Sunday, apparently during the night they just vanished," Adella continued
" They are most likely being recycled," Zey said sadly, " It happens if a series is failing,"
" Failing? Series?, We don't even do anything, how can we fail, and we are not a series, we are people," Helaina nearly yelled,
" Quiet, do you want one of those oafs to drag you away, I say them grab Traniow last week and all he was doing was singing," Adella said,
" We have to leave," Helaina said as quietly as she could under the circumstances, " People aren?t just disappearing in the night, have you seen anyone from division 7 lately?"
" No," Adella and Zey said at the same time,
" They have changed, I use to be with P'Ella from D7 in section 511, this morning when we arrived she was acting strange, she even looked strange, her ears are longer at the top and more pointy, and she wouldn't talk at all, " Helaina said,
" Completed units," Zey said with an uneasy amount of understanding, " It is probably what they will do to all of us, if they don't recycle us first, that is why we are here,"
" We have to leave this place soon," Helaina urged, " Too much is changing,"
With that the siren sounded and all three left to join their assigned groups.
-*-
It had been a long time since Helaina had dreamed of flying, months even. Some where in her past she had flown, the little bits of memories she had always centred around being in the air, being free as a bird, no one else remembered much, and it was to difficult to explain to them the thing she saw when she was asleep.
That night she dreamt of a place that could have been a desert, the ground was covered in red dirt, which was the consistency of sand, the few tree's she saw where old and scattered, there were hills in the distance and they glowed red, she could almost feel the sun setting behind her, she saw people in the distance motioning her to follow, to catch up with them, as the ran toward them they got further away, each step towards them was two steps away from them.
Helaina was awakener before dawn, well before she had to be up, she rest of the people in her division we up, there were strangers among them, the last thing Helaina saw before she passed out was members of her division being dragged out into the corridor.
-*-