Subject 714: Day 2

Day 2:

     I'm awake again.  My eyes are still closed, but I'm awake.  Slowly, not sure if I should drift back into the darkness again, or come into the light, I open my eyes.  Nothing has changed.  The water is still it's clouded green color.  I sigh.  My air has been turned back on.  I guess that's one thing I'm grateful to Them for.  I look down at my hands.  I'm surprised to see that the knuckles are bruised.  They are sore, too.  I figured They would've fixed me up, but maybe this is Their punishment for me.  In truth, I don't mind the pain.  It's a change, and as you may have figured out, any change is welcome.
     I tilt my head backwards, and look up.  Faintly, I can see the top of the Tank.  There's a circular device, that I'm guessing you turn a certain way to unlock the top.  I fight the urge to try it, because I know they will just turn off my air again, before I can get it open.  But the sudden race of my heart cannot be squelched.  My mind starts to race, to all the possibilities.  If I could get out... But then, I stop myself.  You're too weak, I think to myself.  Even if you could get out, how would you defend yourself?
But, still, my adrenaline rises.  If I could get out...
     Suddenly, I hear a faint buzzing noise.  It seems to be all around me.  Then, to my astonishment, a voice sounds in my ears.
     Hello, Subject 714.  How are you feeling?
     I hope It doesn't really expect me to answer.  Instead, I growl.
     Now, now, 714.  No need to be aggressive, It says, humor coloring It's voice.
     I snort.  It has no idea how aggressive I can get.
     Just then, without warning, the cloudiness in the water disappears.  Suddenly, I can see everything outside of my Tank.  This freezes me in shock.  Outside, I can see Them.  They're wearing white coats, and some of Them are scribbling on clipboards.  There is one of Them close by.  He is young, too young to be doing this sort of stuff.  Trying to get a closer look, I press myself closer to the glass, looking down on Him.  He stares up at me, something strange in his expression.  I feel as though I know Him.
     Without thinking, I press my hand to the glass, trying to get as near to Him as possible.  Slowly, He reaches up a hand, and presses it against the glass.  If it weren't for the barrier, we would be touching.
     And just like that, the water becomes clouded, again.  I lose sight of Him.  This makes me panic.  I slap the glass with the palms of my hands, growling.
     That's enough, 714.  We don't want to stress you out, the Voice says calmly.  I know it's not Him.  This voice is too old to be Him.  This voice makes me angry.
     I slap the glass once more, for good measure, then push back a little, so that I'm back in the center of my Tank.  My insides are aching.  Not physically, but emotionally.  I'm missing something.  The look on that young man's face... I shake my head, trying to get rid of the image.  I wish I could curl into a ball, but these stupid wires attached to me won't let me.  I close my eyes, trying to relax.  But I'm not really closing my eyes.  In truth, I can still see what is going on around me.  I have a hunch.
     After a few minutes, my body is totally relaxed.  I wait.  Finally, as I thought it might, the cloudiness disappears.  I can see outside, through the glass.  The young One is still standing where He was.  But, now, He has both of his hands up against the glass.  And his eyes are wet.
     Tears, my mind says automatically.
     He's crying, I think to myself, But why?
     An older one of Them walks up and stands beside Him.  Now, the young One seems angry.  He says something inaudible to the old One, but I can read his lips.
     What have you done?!, the young One seems to yell.
     The old One only shrugs and says, This is science.  He says something after that, something I'm almost sure is a name, but I can't make it out.
     The young One turns back to me.  His eyes are sad.  He clenches his hands into fists against the glass, and He pounds on it, but just once.
     I don't want to watch, anymore.  I can feel stress overwhelming me.  I close my eyes for real, this time, shutting out what's beyond the barrier.  I let myself begin to drift.  I think I'm getting some help from Them, because, suddenly, the air I'm inhaling tastes sweet.  My mind is turning to mud.  Finally, the Nothing comes.

© B. J. Robertson

Subject 714

Day 1:

     It has been a long time since I have seen the sky.  Actually, it has been a long time since I have seen anything.  It's kind of hard to see when you're enclosed in a glass tube, filled to the brim with a murky, anti-septic green liquid, with bubbles frothing around you every time you breath.  Not to mention, you can't see much when you've been asleep for the past 24 months.  But that's beside the point; I'm awake, now, and I still can't see a dang thing.
     I've gotten used to idea of not being able to wear clothes inside "The Tank".  I mean, it's hard to study something when it's all covered up, isn't it.  At least, I'm guessing that's what They are doing, outside The Tank.  Studying.  Why else would I have five gazillion wires attached all over my body, like blood-sucking leeches on human skin.  But, I could be wrong.  I can't hear anything, so I don't know for sure.
     My body keeps twitching.  My muscles have been dormant for so long, their not used to moving.  I'm weak.  My stomach is grumbling for the first time in a long time.  I don't know how I have survived for so long.
     I feel a sudden longing for something.  Something I can't fully remember.  It's tickling the edges of my memory, so I know it's there; I just can't reach it.  My mind is muddled.  Nothing feels real, it all feels like a dream.  I wish it were a dream.
     I glance down.  Through the murk, I can see my hand.  I try and move it.  It only twitches, at first.  Gradually, though, I curl it into a fist.  It's not a very tight fist, since my grip is weak, but it's a fist.  Solid, unlike everything around me.  I begin to experiment, moving parts of my body around, trying to get the feeling back.  My reaction is slow.  My body aches from lying unused for so long.  Reaching out a hand, I search for the barrier between me and Them.  When my fingers brush against something hard and invisible, I feel a jolt of cold rush through me.  Normally, I would have disliked the sensation, but I haven't felt it in so long that, this time, I welcome the change in temperature.  I feel the goose bumps rise across my skin.  This sensation, too, I welcome.
     I reach out, and touch the glass again.  The feeling is not so cold this time.  I reach out my other hand, and then I see my hands, pressed, side-by-side, against the invisible barrier.  I look down at my feet.  It's a bit hard to see them.  I wiggles my toes a bit, and my feet jump into focus.  My lips curve upward, in a gesture I hardly remember.  I'm smiling.  I don't remember it, but it's a reflex.  My body remembers it.
     Suddenly, I feel very tired.  All the moving has exhausted me.  This makes me angry; another sensation I don't really recall.  I'm angry because I'm so weak, because my body is so weak.  Frustrated, I begin to thrash around just a bit in my Tank.  Faintly, I can here a frantic beeping on the other side of the glass.  My ears prick up towards the sound.  Finally, I can hear something other than my own breathing.  Again, I feel a frantic pang of nostalgia, but for what, I can't recall.  I thrash more, because, suddenly, I'm mad again.  I want out.  I swing a fist at the glass.  When it connects, pain rushes up my arm, and I hear myself inhale sharply.  This makes me even more frustrated.  I take another swing at the glass, and suddenly, I'm beating upon it with all the strength I have.  I'm kicking, punching, and doing everything I can to break the barrier.  I can't quite remember, but I even think I head-butted it.
     Suddenly, I can't breath.  The mask over my mouth and nose has stopped pumping me oxygen.  I'm not inhaling water, but I'm not inhaling anything else, either.  It's a empty vacuum.  I try to suck in any air that might be left, but I get nothing.  Black spots begin to swim in my vision.  I'm blacking out.  I have no air, I'm going to die.  My whole body goes limp, and my eyes begin to roll back in my head.  Then everything goes black.
© B. J. Robertson
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Another story.  What do you think?  Let me know.

This is Maximum Sunshine, signing off.  Αντίο και ο Θεός ταχύτητας.

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Your Words Break My Heart

   Or lack of words, I should say.  I'll be brief.  I saw Zach at graduation.  I stood within 6 inches of him, and he couldn't even look at me.  Then every time he thought I wasn't looking, he'd look at me.  What makes me so angry is that he says he can't talk to me because Katie doesn't like it, yet he hung out with 2 girls majority of the graduation.  He told his friend (my part cousin) that he wasn't going to stop talking to one of them just 'cause Katie didn't like it, because that girl was his friend.....What was I, then?  What was I?....

...this is Maximum Sunshine, signing off...  Αντίο και ο Θεός ταχύτητας...