Alive
A fan fiction in progress by
Bryan Harrison
Part 3
1.
David awoke with a start, the fragments of a strange dream fading quickly against the screen of his mind. He sat up in his bed and gathered his wits, trying to remember what visions he had seen during his visit to that strange realm of fantasy. But he could not. How frustrating it was to have finally found the key to the secret world, yet not be able to recall what visions he'd encountered.
He set aside his attempts of recollection and peered around the dark room. It was still early. Beyond his door he cold hear the hushed voices of hospital attendants, the clicking from the moving feet of Mecha nurses and workers as they passed his room; the rapid staccato beeping language of the facilities main system communicating to the mechanical staff what tasks needed to be done. He'd once known that language. He listened for a time, and then felt a strange sense of loss that he would no longer be able to decipher that digital tongue. It was all so much mechanical gibberish to him now.
He would not be able to fall into his sleep state again, not with his pending escape on his mind. So he sat and stared at nothing, knowing for the first time the irritating tension of nerves strung tight, like an inaudible pitch at the back of his mind that would not let him relax or think any pleasing thoughts. He became suddenly aware that he had been rolling his bed-sheets in his hands, so tightly that it had formed a knot. He stopped and stared at the twisted cloth. What was this, he wondered; this peculiar and pointless task that his mind had set his hands to without his even knowing? And what other automatic mechanisms of his new body might be in operation below his level of awareness? There was a flash in his mind, a momentary but disturbing insight that perhaps he had chosen this path unprepared; a fear that this body and its countless involuntary functions were things that he could somehow loose control of. But this train of thought was suddenly cut off as the door to his room opened to allow a sliver of light into the room. The shadow of a man was formed in that thin light.
"Angelo?" David asked.
But the man that walked into the room was not Angelo. He stopped just inside the door and stared at David for a moment. David tried to make out the man's features, silhouetted as he was against the light coming from the hallway. But the intruder backed out quickly and spoke to someone out of David's line of sight. There was a time when David would have been able to just focus his attention and hear what was being said so softly across the length of his room. There was a time when he would have been able to adjust his sight to better see the face that had appeared and disappeared so quickly. But he could not anymore.
"Who is it?" David asked. But the voices at the door just continued their hushed conversation. Were these the men that had come to take him away; to lock him in some secret cell where they would study him, poke him with needles and take samples from his new flesh? And would he ever be allowed to leave that place, or be able to somehow escape, to be with 'Her' again? "Who's there?" David asked again, louder, not knowing that the force in his voice was anger; anger generated by the fear that was making his heart race and his breath come shallow and fast.
Then the door opened wider and something was suddenly moving into the room. David's fear was replaced with surprise as he watched a small shape walk through the door to the point where he could make it out in the faint light that was coming from the hallway.
David knew this shape! It was a bear shape!
"Teddy!" he exclaimed, rising quickly from the covers, jumping from the bed and running to his friend. He slid to the floor and grasped up the bear, hugging it tightly in his arms. "Teddy! Where were you?" he asked, finally realizing the depths of his solitude as his tears fell at the feel of his friend's furry little body against his own. "I missed you."
"Hello, David," Teddy said in gruff mechanical warmth. "It's good to see you, too!"
David wiped his eyes, feeling strangely embarrassed and then held the bear up to look at him. "You look almost new!" He exclaimed and hugged the bear tight again.
"He is almost new, David" said a familiar deep voice. David looked up to see the man who preferred to be called Jeff. He was standing at the door, smiling broadly. Beside him stood another man, one that David had not seen before. This man did not look as friendly as Jeff was now trying to appear.
"We had a hard time finding an older model," Jeff explained, "but we managed. How do you like him?"
It took David a moment to understand what Jeff was saying. He held Teddy up again and studied him closely.
"Why don't we go out and play, David?" the bear asked. "It's nice outside and there are swings by the parking bay." This was not Teddy, David realized. It was an imitation, a substitute. Just like he had once been.
Jeff seemed to sense something was wrong and knelt beside David. "Hey, he's not so bad, is he? I bet he grows on you. Why don't we take him for a walk, so you two can get acquainted?"
David looked up into the man's eyes. The lie was plain to see. So, this was it. He was being taken away. Never to be seen again. And where had he to run, even if he could escape these large men? Angelo had failed him. He glanced down to the floor, holding back tears, pushing back the memories of home that suddenly surfaced, knowing now that they were all he would have left of Her.
"OK." David muttered weakly. The man who preferred to be called Jeff didn't seem to notice the defeat in David's voice, or didn't seem to care. He took the boy by the hand and lifted him to his feet.
"We'll have someone get your things later," Jeff said with false assurance. The boy grunted a weary acknowledgement.
"We're going to have such fun!" the fake Teddy chortled. But David knew better. He dropped the doll to the floor but the quiet man that had accompanied Jeff reached down and picked it up.
"Let's go," he said in a flat voice.
2.
These were the same flat white hallways that he had been ushered down daily since he had arrived, but to David they now seemed like some new place, dark and foreboding in spite of the stark light. Jeff was moving faster now, as if he were worried about being stopped by someone. David was stepping quickly but having a hard time keeping up. He tried to complain but Jeff just pulled on his hand. The quiet one behind them nudged David on the back. David turned and scowled.
"No time," the man hissed, his eyes darting back and forth. David felt his anger rising. What was the hurry, after all? He'd be trapped in their secret world for the rest of his life. Surely there'd be plenty of time for their repetitive questions; their painful and humiliating experiments.
Blank-faced Nurses passed by, casting quick disinterested glances as they went about their business. Jeff and the quiet man never returned their looks and David suddenly wondered if they had acquired permission to take him away. The thought made him shoot imploring looks at those he passed. But no one kept his gaze. Then David's heart jumped as he saw a face approaching. It was Angelo! He waved trying to draw his friend's attention without Jeff or the quiet man noticing. But Angelo passed right by without even glancing in his direction. David started to cry out, then he saw Angelo again, ushering a withered old man from an elevator. And there he was again, reading from a glowing slate to a group of men in white gowns. Of course, David realized. It was a standard design. Like Joe had been. Like he had once been.
"Not who you thought, eh?" said the quiet man with a snicker. David wished he would go back to being quiet. "You have to know how to tell the difference," the man said. David wondered how he could.
They finally reached a complex arrangement of sliding doors leading into various hallways. David realized how futile an escape attempt would have been in this place. He would have never been able to find an exit on his own. Jeff and the quiet man seemed to know exactly where they were going. They did not even stop to read the signs. They turned as one, and passed through a set of doors that led down a passage lit by sunlight pouring in from translucent panels in the ceiling. David could see that it was raining outside. The streams of water cascading down the sides of the domed ceiling caught his attention but Jeff pulled him faster and he noticed now they the men had increased their pace.
"Why are we-" walking so fast, was the unfinished question David was trying ask, but in a sudden rush he found himself being turned around as the two men started quickly in the other direction.
"Change of plan!" the quiet man hissed. "Dock 7. Loading bay!" he added, glancing over his shoulder as if they were being perused. David looked back but saw nothing but an empty hall leading to another array of sliding doors. What were they fleeing? Then, just as they passed through the doors back into the center of the array, he noticed a group of men at the opposite end of the hall they'd just left. He didn't have a chance to focus on the men, they had moved quickly into another hallway, but how had Jeff and the quiet man they known they were there? And why had they avoided them?
"Move!" the 'not so quiet anymore' man said, his face twisted in alarm. Jeff did not seem so disturbed however. He walked quickly but his face showed no sign of the strain that usually accompanied human tension. They were soon into another passageway, darker, only the flat light from the ceiling lit this one. David turned but could no longer see their pursuers. Then they were suddenly out into another busy thoroughfare. Nurses and orderlies in white passed by, still unconcerned with the nervous looking trio.
"Wait," the quiet man said and paused, staring at a blank wall. "Now," he said suddenly and they started moving again towards a set of doors that had suddenly opened in the wall. They reached the doors just as two men erupted with a gurney and passed into the thoroughfare. Jeff and the quiet man dashed into the dark hallway pulling David after them.
'They can hear it!' The thought struck David as they moved into the doorway that had not been there a moment before; 'They can hear the hospital system communicating to the Mecha staff! That's how they know where everything is!' The odd thought brought on a rush of questions, but he had no time to ponder this sudden understanding. An alarm suddenly went off, filling the hall with a harsh siren.
"They know he's gone," Jeff said with no emotion. The quiet man did not respond, but quickly whisked David up in his arms and began to run.
(cont...)