Chapter 004 - blind truth.
Everything is black, I feel exhausted; there are voices somewhere out there. One male, one female, so far I can't tell what they're saying; it all sounds like I'm hearing them from behind a wall or from the surface when I'm underwater. As time slowly ticks by they begin to get clearer; they're arguing over something. The girl's is becoming more high-pitched by the minute; the boy's is only getting louder.
After more time words begin to get clearer; someone won't wake up, it's been ten days since he fell asleep. They're both blaming each other; the girl begins to cry. I try to move my hand; nothing happens. I open my eyes; a white room is revealed to me. Bad idea; way too bright in here. It takes five minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light; even then my head is pounding. Neither of the two who were arguing can be seen so far; my hands still aren't responding. I try talking. Nothing at first. I keep trying but haven't had anything to drink for ages.
I eventually manage to croak out something. Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?
Both voices stop. Footsteps sound and two faces look down at me; one girl, one boy. The girl leans close and speaks to me. Can you understand me? She says. I nod. I tell her I can't move my hands. She speaks to the other - did she just call him a number? - And between them they manage to help me sit up. It's more than a little ludicrous, me needing their help; it makes me feel much older than I actually am. The boy sits down on the bed next to mine and sighs; the girl moves back and sits down on the floor. There's this awkward silence for what feels like a long time and I'm the one who ends up breaking it.
So tell me, where am I? Who are you? And what the hell is going on? They both look away for a moment and then the girl begins talking. I suppose we'll have to tell you the story since 001 doesn't seem to be doing much. 001? What the? She goes on, with the occasional input from the boy; she is 003, the boy is 002 and the baby in the room is 001. I'm officially 004. This place is a base of 'Black Ghost' who are a major arms dealer and want to control the world; we are cyborgs - advanced humans with freakish powers. We aren't going to stand for it.
I just happen to look down at my hands when they're explaining; I completely lose it. OH HOLY FREAKING SHEISE! My hands are metal; I was not ready for that. The boy complains about me giving him a goddam heart attack. There's another awkward silence where I keep staring at these new hand and the other two - 002 and 003 - are just sitting around.
After a while 002 speaks. Meh, you just wait 'til you gotta try walking. Those new legs are phoney too. New legs too! This is just too much for me right now. A man walks in the door and tells 002 to keep his mouth shut; he says something inappropriately nasty back. I look over to the man and begin talking.
Where's Hilda? What did you do to her? He looks confused. Another man talks back and walks into the room. He doesn't understand you 004; if you're referring to the woman you were previously with, she died. Just gave up, even before the ambulance arrived. What does it matter now anyway? You have a new obligation to us now; don't listen to the other three. Now 002, has 001 woken up yet?
Now I'm mad. I stand up - regardless of my new legs not being supposed to work - and grab this guy right by the shirt. Don't… you… dare… treat her like she's just nothing or you'll have me to answer to! I throw him right across the room, he hit's the wall pretty hard; and I end up regretting it. I get knocked to the other side of the room, right over the three beds, by some huge metal, thing; I think I cracked the wall, and hit my head pretty hard.
The man gets up and begins speaking again. She's dead, face it. She's gone and there's nothing you can do about it; give it up. I get caught off guard and he sticks something in my mouth, some sort of machine; he tells me to breathe out, when I do it beeps five times. He sticks a gas mask on my face and holds it there; in moments I'm coughing and choking. There's a mix of blood and what looks to be tar in my hand where I was coughing; the men and the metal thing leave some food on the table and leave to 002 yelling at them to rot in hell. I sit back, wince at the pain in my head and stare down at my new hands; both are fake. I flex the left hand and for an instant it flickers with a small light; I try again and this time the light stays. For an experiment I move my hand down onto the floor; when I lift it again there's a small cut in the floor where my hand was.
003 walks over and helps me up to my feet. You shouldn't be so violent, she says. We're going to figure out a plan between us when 001 wakes up. I ask her what's so special about the kid anyway, through my consistent coughing. She explains his powers to me; mind reading, telekinesis, that kind of thing. She then goes on to explain that 002 is super fast and can fly and she can see, hear and sense things really, really well. All this is exhausting; all I can think of is Hilda. Did she really die or is this some freakish dream.
Maybe this is just some delusion that happened because of nerves on the verge on making the switch from East to West. I keep lying awake waiting to fall asleep so I can wake up next to Hilda with another chance. I drift into an uneasy sleep and dream of bright lights in front of the deepest darkness.