"It" continued to sleep, but somehow, "It" knew things had began to change. It was different around him. Not as peaceful as the other place. "It" was thinking now and nothing was sending it back to the empty place "It" loved so much.
As the activity inside its brain increased, the first conscious thought began to form :
"Wait..." It thought. " I am not an * it *... I ... am... me? What does it mean?"
But He had not the strength to answer his own question and slowly, he drifted away in the back of his own mind, inside a dark and empty place, to wait... and awaken.
**************************
Cain had the capsule transported back at his personal laboratory, where it had remain for the last week. Dr. Cain, for himself, had taken very little sleep and drank much coffee during that period.
Assisted by a couple of students from New Tokyo's Science Institute, he had studied the functioning of the 75 years old technology. In the mean time, Cain had decided to open the capsule and activate the reploid within it.
So, the small team were all standing in the large room and making the last preparations.
- Are you sure you want to go on with this, doctor? Why not wait `till it opens by itself? Asked one of the students.
- Because, my dear Hiko, that won't happen for about 25 years, if I understood correctly, and I don't plan to live that long. Besides, all the readings are above the green, so we probably don't risk much by activating it a little early. This automatic timer was most likely programmed by fear there would be no one around to do it manually.
- Yet, if you're wrong, you might damage or darn simply kill him. Oh... and I would greatly appreciate if you stopped calling him an "it", especially when I'm around. Just because he's a little primitive, doesn't mean he's not a complete reploid... How would you like if I grabbed one of your handicapped person and dragged him around, calling him a "thing"?
The women who talked stood above the capsule, studying the blue reploid. She wasn't really tall, about 5'3'', but that was not what distinguished her from the rest. She had the palest skin, short and rough blond hair and strange green eyes. She was amongst the first generation of reploids, about 35 years of age. She was a strong militant of reploids rights and was teaching a few economy and philosophical classes at the university. Naturally, as soon as she heard of Cain's discovery, she wanted in.
- I am sorry, AC-38... Answered Cain... Forgive an old fool. It's a bad habit I've took. Every time I'm around a relic or a rare object, I automatically call it an "it". And this one his the most incredible creature I've seen since we found doctor Light's handwritten journal over 35 years ago.
- Okay, I won't pull off your head this time... but are you SURE it's safe to open the capsule without damaging the reploid?
- You know as much as I do. It isn't easy to tell anything with this old technology. And the plans we found with it are as hard to understand. But I wouldn't take the risk of damaging Dr. Light's last creation just for fun... Yes, I believe there's little risks at opening the box.
- Well, then, let's do it.
So Cain went over the control panel and began working on the activation process.
***********************
He felt it....
The light...
Filing were there was only darkness before.
Sparks moving through his wires likes vehicles on a speedway.
So bright...
Marvellous... Divine... Warm.... Hot.... Too hot..... Burning...
"Hurts!...."
Too quick.... ....... ........ too soon?
"..... Wait!.... Stop!"
But there was no stopping this... birth.
He felt it, the change inside him. Like the dam of a large river suddenly collapsed, letting the wild waters loose on the unaware land.
The power of his own mind ravaging the fragile connections. His ..... program? ..... invading the unprepared body.
The only consolation was it had no effects here, in the dark. But it changed everything... made something..... go wrong. So sad...
"Why?.."
Then, the Light seized him. It felt so good... to be... to live... to feel...
" My body... is this... my body? ... so strange..."
*So different ...*
"What?"
* The body is different... *
"From what?"
* The other one... *
" I don't understand..."
* I know... so sad... *
" What?.. Wait... are you?.."
* Yes... *
" But... you have to come too!!..."
* I can't... *
" You can't stay here!.."
* There is no choice... *
" I need you..."
* You can learn again... *
" I don't want to... I need you... and I need them... !"
...The Light again... it pulled at him...
* It's not important... *
" NOT IMPORTANT??? How can you say that!?! I need them... I love them... to have them in my mind..."
... pulled him towards the greatest of lights...
* You will forget... but your heart will always know... *
"It's not enough... what happened..."
* Is not important... go now... *
... to the world of the living...
" NO!!! I won't leave! I can't... it's too hard without you... what you know..."
* (sigh!)... I #can't# come with you... Go with the light... *
" no... please... please..."
... to leave the dark...
*... I didn't remember it hurt so much... Didn't thought it would be so hard...*
" Help me..."
* (sigh!) Very well... here... *
"...Huh? ... what are these?..."
* The only things you need to know... you always did... *
... to be born and forget this place...
In his mind he saw them... two things... Good and Evil...
"Great... that's easy... I would've figured out by myself..."
*It never is that simple... you used to know that... *
... then his senses took over... the noises, the smells, the air on his skin...
"Will I ever see you again... or them?..."
* ... ... *
" I can't ear you... you're too far now... ... .. .. .. .. .. What? ... The other you gave me?..."
... There were voices... people talking... machines too...
... Time to wake up... no turning back...
In his mind, the truth shined... a beautiful truth...Remember...
Everything will be all right...
... wake up...
**********************************
- ... wake up. Don't you think? A woman asked.
- A long time to wake up? How am I supposed to know that, my dear 38? A slightly shaky voice answered.
- Doctor!! I think he's awake... a third voice said.
He opened his eyes... and quickly shut them again. Letting his sensors adapt to the bright, unnatural light.
Slowly, he sat up. Hearing a few gasps and whispering. He wasn't alone and there was at least six or seven other people in the room. It was... intimidating.
He hesitated to reopen his eyes... to face the world for real, this time. "What is there to fear in the world?" He thought. It takes courage to face the truth, but he knew he had too... so he opened his eyes...
He found a face... a little too close for comfort... an old man with a long, white beard was staring at him with the widest smile...
- Hello, the old man said, cheerfully.
- Hmm... Hel... hello.
His own voice sounded so strange to his ears.
The other one said nothing... apparently... waiting for him to do something.
- Who are you? He finally managed to ask.
The old person seemed please with this simple question.
- I am doctor Cain... but call me Cain. This young lady is AC-38, the one with the glasses is Hiko. The ones over there are Mary, Sumika, Kunio and Steve... do you ... hmmm... understand?
He took a moment to look at them, the woman with the numbers in her name was different, he could tell. Not only with her name or her looks, but also in the way she looked at him. She wasn't "staring" like the others... she was... watching instead. It made him feel better.
The old one seemed to be getting nervous, so he answered the question.
- Yes, I understand. You are doctor Cain. Cain his your family name and doctor is your title. You get familiar with people by letting them drop that term, but you keep your distance by using only your last name and not your first.
- Hmmm, something like that...
- Good... Now... who am I ?
- What?
- What is MY name, please?
That didn't work well... the people started whispering again. The woman looked at Dr. Cain in a strange way.
- Oh boy... The old man said.
Then he realised... they didn't know... and neither did he....
TBC
***********************
Reviews, please
Critics.... Commentaries..... anything....
B) Be cool
As the activity inside its brain increased, the first conscious thought began to form :
"Wait..." It thought. " I am not an * it *... I ... am... me? What does it mean?"
But He had not the strength to answer his own question and slowly, he drifted away in the back of his own mind, inside a dark and empty place, to wait... and awaken.
**************************
Cain had the capsule transported back at his personal laboratory, where it had remain for the last week. Dr. Cain, for himself, had taken very little sleep and drank much coffee during that period.
Assisted by a couple of students from New Tokyo's Science Institute, he had studied the functioning of the 75 years old technology. In the mean time, Cain had decided to open the capsule and activate the reploid within it.
So, the small team were all standing in the large room and making the last preparations.
- Are you sure you want to go on with this, doctor? Why not wait `till it opens by itself? Asked one of the students.
- Because, my dear Hiko, that won't happen for about 25 years, if I understood correctly, and I don't plan to live that long. Besides, all the readings are above the green, so we probably don't risk much by activating it a little early. This automatic timer was most likely programmed by fear there would be no one around to do it manually.
- Yet, if you're wrong, you might damage or darn simply kill him. Oh... and I would greatly appreciate if you stopped calling him an "it", especially when I'm around. Just because he's a little primitive, doesn't mean he's not a complete reploid... How would you like if I grabbed one of your handicapped person and dragged him around, calling him a "thing"?
The women who talked stood above the capsule, studying the blue reploid. She wasn't really tall, about 5'3'', but that was not what distinguished her from the rest. She had the palest skin, short and rough blond hair and strange green eyes. She was amongst the first generation of reploids, about 35 years of age. She was a strong militant of reploids rights and was teaching a few economy and philosophical classes at the university. Naturally, as soon as she heard of Cain's discovery, she wanted in.
- I am sorry, AC-38... Answered Cain... Forgive an old fool. It's a bad habit I've took. Every time I'm around a relic or a rare object, I automatically call it an "it". And this one his the most incredible creature I've seen since we found doctor Light's handwritten journal over 35 years ago.
- Okay, I won't pull off your head this time... but are you SURE it's safe to open the capsule without damaging the reploid?
- You know as much as I do. It isn't easy to tell anything with this old technology. And the plans we found with it are as hard to understand. But I wouldn't take the risk of damaging Dr. Light's last creation just for fun... Yes, I believe there's little risks at opening the box.
- Well, then, let's do it.
So Cain went over the control panel and began working on the activation process.
***********************
He felt it....
The light...
Filing were there was only darkness before.
Sparks moving through his wires likes vehicles on a speedway.
So bright...
Marvellous... Divine... Warm.... Hot.... Too hot..... Burning...
"Hurts!...."
Too quick.... ....... ........ too soon?
"..... Wait!.... Stop!"
But there was no stopping this... birth.
He felt it, the change inside him. Like the dam of a large river suddenly collapsed, letting the wild waters loose on the unaware land.
The power of his own mind ravaging the fragile connections. His ..... program? ..... invading the unprepared body.
The only consolation was it had no effects here, in the dark. But it changed everything... made something..... go wrong. So sad...
"Why?.."
Then, the Light seized him. It felt so good... to be... to live... to feel...
" My body... is this... my body? ... so strange..."
*So different ...*
"What?"
* The body is different... *
"From what?"
* The other one... *
" I don't understand..."
* I know... so sad... *
" What?.. Wait... are you?.."
* Yes... *
" But... you have to come too!!..."
* I can't... *
" You can't stay here!.."
* There is no choice... *
" I need you..."
* You can learn again... *
" I don't want to... I need you... and I need them... !"
...The Light again... it pulled at him...
* It's not important... *
" NOT IMPORTANT??? How can you say that!?! I need them... I love them... to have them in my mind..."
... pulled him towards the greatest of lights...
* You will forget... but your heart will always know... *
"It's not enough... what happened..."
* Is not important... go now... *
... to the world of the living...
" NO!!! I won't leave! I can't... it's too hard without you... what you know..."
* (sigh!)... I #can't# come with you... Go with the light... *
" no... please... please..."
... to leave the dark...
*... I didn't remember it hurt so much... Didn't thought it would be so hard...*
" Help me..."
* (sigh!) Very well... here... *
"...Huh? ... what are these?..."
* The only things you need to know... you always did... *
... to be born and forget this place...
In his mind he saw them... two things... Good and Evil...
"Great... that's easy... I would've figured out by myself..."
*It never is that simple... you used to know that... *
... then his senses took over... the noises, the smells, the air on his skin...
"Will I ever see you again... or them?..."
* ... ... *
" I can't ear you... you're too far now... ... .. .. .. .. .. What? ... The other you gave me?..."
... There were voices... people talking... machines too...
... Time to wake up... no turning back...
In his mind, the truth shined... a beautiful truth...Remember...
Everything will be all right...
... wake up...
**********************************
- ... wake up. Don't you think? A woman asked.
- A long time to wake up? How am I supposed to know that, my dear 38? A slightly shaky voice answered.
- Doctor!! I think he's awake... a third voice said.
He opened his eyes... and quickly shut them again. Letting his sensors adapt to the bright, unnatural light.
Slowly, he sat up. Hearing a few gasps and whispering. He wasn't alone and there was at least six or seven other people in the room. It was... intimidating.
He hesitated to reopen his eyes... to face the world for real, this time. "What is there to fear in the world?" He thought. It takes courage to face the truth, but he knew he had too... so he opened his eyes...
He found a face... a little too close for comfort... an old man with a long, white beard was staring at him with the widest smile...
- Hello, the old man said, cheerfully.
- Hmm... Hel... hello.
His own voice sounded so strange to his ears.
The other one said nothing... apparently... waiting for him to do something.
- Who are you? He finally managed to ask.
The old person seemed please with this simple question.
- I am doctor Cain... but call me Cain. This young lady is AC-38, the one with the glasses is Hiko. The ones over there are Mary, Sumika, Kunio and Steve... do you ... hmmm... understand?
He took a moment to look at them, the woman with the numbers in her name was different, he could tell. Not only with her name or her looks, but also in the way she looked at him. She wasn't "staring" like the others... she was... watching instead. It made him feel better.
The old one seemed to be getting nervous, so he answered the question.
- Yes, I understand. You are doctor Cain. Cain his your family name and doctor is your title. You get familiar with people by letting them drop that term, but you keep your distance by using only your last name and not your first.
- Hmmm, something like that...
- Good... Now... who am I ?
- What?
- What is MY name, please?
That didn't work well... the people started whispering again. The woman looked at Dr. Cain in a strange way.
- Oh boy... The old man said.
Then he realised... they didn't know... and neither did he....
TBC
***********************
Reviews, please
Critics.... Commentaries..... anything....
B) Be cool