I woke staring up at the night sky. The stars shone brightly, and the colors of the universe were bold and bright. I don't know how long I spent blinking at them.

As I watched, the image blinked and twitched between the current picture and a brilliant blue sky. I realized the ceiling was another screen. "Why am I lying on the floor?"

I couldn't remember what had happened.

"Don't move too quickly." A deep voice warned. It's origin remained out of my sight.

"What happened?" I croaked.

"You fainted." The man said simply.

Despite my confusion, I was already having trouble staying awake. A straw was pressed to my lips. My eyes were already closed when I took a long sip.

"Are you diabetic?" I heard him ask, but the voice was far away.

I was out again before I could answer.

When I opened my eyes again, I was swinging back and forth. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I knew I was being carried. I wondered by who, but only for a moment.

"What do I do with her?" Came the same deep voice.

"Is she here for the gentleman?" Another male voice asked.

"What did she say?" This one sounded like a kind, elderly lady.

Questions continued, and it sounded like dozens of people were in the room. The voices ranged in age, accent and gender.

"Did you ask her name?"

"Where is she from?"

"She's dehydrated."

"She's pretty."

"Is she going to stay?"

"I don't know!" The deep voice from earlier thundered.

Slowly, I slid my hand to my hip. I tried not to make it obvious I was awake.

"If you're looking for your gun, you won't find it there."

With a sigh, I sat up and looked around. I couldn't see well. The room was dimly lit.

"Haven't you heard of overhead lighting?" I asked.

"Excuse me?"

I touched my head, groaning against the headache pounding in my skull. "I've barely been able to see since I got in here."

My cloak had bunched around my neck and I unhooked the clasp to keep it from choking me. I'd been laying on a cold metal table in what looked like an old operating room.

"Considering I don't wish for anyone to come here, it appears the ambiance is doing it's job."

I thought it was an odd. I valued my solitude as well, but I didn't want it all the time.

"Why don't you let me ask the questions?"

I looked up, annoyed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you broke into my home, armed, and I think I deserve some answers."

When I pulled my hand away from my head, I blinked at the blood on my fingertips.

"Oh wow…" I breathed.

The man's deep voice grumbled as he added, "You're going to have to let me stitch that."

I looked warily in the direction the voice was coming from, "Do you know what you're doing?"

He ignored the question. "I'm going to need to come closer. I need you not to scream."

I looked in his direction warily, "Why would I scream?"

The memory of a glowing red eye came back to me and I shuttered. He waited as the memory crashed over me.

"Oh…" I breathed.

Carefully, he stepped into the light and I did my best not to seem frightened. His hands were almost completely robotic. His right eye was human, and looked me over skeptically.

"Who are you?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Does your neck hurt?" He asked.

I shook my head. "What?"

"You're neck. Does it hurt?"

I gently moved my head around before shaking my head.

"Good," He nodded simply. "Can you move your hands and feet?"

I turned all my fingers and toes to his satisfaction. He quietly shone a light in both of my eyes and checked my ears and nose.

"You bumped your head, but there doesn't seem to be any real damage."

Not looking at me, he undid the bindings on his wrist and released his hands. I could see where the metal had made markings along his skin from hours of wear.

"Grab my fingers," He insisted as he put two fingers in each of my hands. I looked at them in shock, surprised how warm they felt. "Alright, now squeeze."

When he was finished, he replaced his mechanical hands and turned to me. Light glinted off the inhuman skeleton, and I wondered how much of it was actually needed. How many had he added of his own accord?

"Alright. I need you to lay facing away from me so I can sew up that cut."

"Sew?" I asked, nervously.

"The hospital hasn't exactly been well stocked since the evacuation. There is no glue and no staples to use instead, so it's going to have to be the old fashioned way.

He sat next to me in a chair while I lay still on the table. His robotic hands didn't falter.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

He sighed, ignoring me.

"You're clearly a doctor. Have you been here ever since-"

"I am nobody of consequence." He continued to focus on my wound.

I closed my mouth a moment, gnawing on my bottom lip, before saying, "I'm looking for my father."

He scoffed, "Well, you've wasted your time. No one has been here for a very long time."

I shook my head, "No, you don't understand. The last time I saw my father was ten years ago."

This time, his hands held still. I glanced back to see him studying my face. It was hard to tell what he would look like without the additional parts he was wearing. His chin was covered in stubble, and his outgrown hair fell in front of his face.

"Why would you come here?" He asked, finishing his last stitch and tying it off.

My hands shook and I grasped them together to keep him from seeing. It didn't work. The cold metal hands reached over and grabbed one of my own to look at them.

"ROSE," He said simply.

I nodded. "My father was determined-"

"Well, you both wasted your time. It was a failure, or were you too young to remember everything that happened?" He hissed.

I glared at him. "I'm not a child to be patronized. Everyone remembers. Even those who hadn't been born have heard the stories."

"Then why would you come here looking for something that cannot help you?" He demanded.

I sighed, "I didn't. My father- he was willing to do anything."

Leaning back, the man sighed. "What stage?"

"Three." My eyes flickered to the floor.

He stiffened. "It's rare to see it progress so far in someone so young."

"I was 11 when I was diagnosed. By then I was already at stage two."

"And how old are you now?" He asked in a practiced manner. There was an ease and a clinicalness to how he gathered information.

"I'm 25."

He rubbed his chin while he thought. I watched the light glint off his mechanical limbs. He stood, walking over to a table and writing on a notepad. I couldn't hear what he was saying as he mumbled to himself.

"Look," I said, "I'm not here for a cure. I just want to find my father."

He didn't respond as he continued to scribble.

"Did you hear me?"

When he still wouldn't turn to look at me, my frustration grew.

"HEY!" I shouted, making him look up in surprise. "I'm not here for your damn drug. I'm here to find my father. Now, can you please tell me something?"

He exhaled as he debated whether to answer me. I held his gaze, refusing to look away no matter how uncomfortable the mechanical eye made me feel.

"A man came here, years ago, asking about the ROSE project."

"Who was he?" I stood.

"The gentleman who ended up on my doorstep that night was looking for a cure for his daughter."

"Papa…" I breathed. "What happened to him?"

"I told him I couldn't help him."

Folding my arms over my chest I pressed, "And when he asked the third and fourth time?"

The man laughed gently. It was a surprising sound, and I didn't realized it caused me to relax just a fraction.

"Like father, like daughter?" I wetted my lips and waited for him to continue. He nodded, "Eventually we came to a deal."

I narrowed my eyes, "What kind of deal?"

"Before ROSE… failed, thousands had started seeing results. The stages were dramatically reduced in months, but no one was completely cured."

Suspicion began to bloom in my chest, but I said nothing.

"Research was showing promise. There was a chance that with new studies-"

I closed my eyes. "What did you do?"

He hesitated. "You're father and I-"

Charging across the room, I ignored how much larger he was then me, and that his enhanced limbs could snap me like a twig. I leaned into his face and demanded, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Hello again everyone! I'm excited for how this story is coming together, but I've not had a ton of experience with Scifi so let me know what you think! Remember to R&R and thank you again for being amazing readers! When this is over, if you've enjoyed the story, or any of my stories, please vote for this on Inkitt . c o m under the Beyond Time contest! Thanks everyone!