Cradle of life

By: Ben Pollard
Cradle of Life
word count: 2907

It is really very simple.  You could even live-forever.  What we do is scan you in, I won’t go into the technical details too much, but it is the latest breakthrough in quantum physics.  Now as I said, your physical body is copied first, down to the last atom/particle.  Once we have you on file, we will always have you on file.  Therefore, if you are crippled in a car accident then we could just put you back together again!  What about your “Mind” do you ask?  Excellent question!  That’s done over here; once again, in layman’s terms we hook you up to this computer. 

No, No.  Not actually plug you in; you don’t have a receptacle for that.  What we will do is attach these probes to you, see, they have adhesive on the other side, where the wire is.  These then are attached to the EEG machine picking up your brain waves.  Yes, it is possible to recreate your mind with the “help” of your brain waves.  There are several other processes that will be going on at the same time but those are the secret of how to recreate your mind and memories.  Yes, everything you remember will be on file.

Yes, another good question!  We have the strictest polices on privacy in the world.  I can guarantee you that no one and that includes the staff; will be able to view that information.  New Laws have been passed just for that eventuality. 

Therefore, as you can see the system we have in place now is the perfect insurance against any cataclysm of the body and or mind.  Also with this handy little device here, your memories will be automatically updated every six hours.  Oh, no it would be implanted so that you could never lose it.  The chip would be located in the back of the neck, it would also be bar coded in the event of theft or ransom or any other eventuality one would need to have the device replaced. 

If there are no more questions… then please follow me.  We’ll have lunch and you will then meet with the financial officer…

Rows and rows of frosted glass cylinders lined the hallway, top to bottom all the way down its dim length.  Silvia could hear her barefoot steps echo around her as if the corridor was but a small part of a room or cavern.  Looking up, she couldn’t see a ceiling; in fact, she could just make out the bottom of more cylinders before they disappeared into gloomy shadows.  Goose bumps covered her skin and she shivered, it was cold in here.  Crossing her arms to warm herself Silvia received a second shock!  Looking down she could see her bared breasts; she wasn’t clothed!  Panic flittered through her mind.
Where are my clothes? 
How did I get here? 
Where is this? 
Where am I?
Who am I?
“Oh my God!”  Silvia exclaimed aloud.  She was panicking; she didn’t KNOW who she was.

Spinning in place looking for a way out, Silvia, dizzy, lost her balance.  Feeling herself topple she threw her arms out and caught hold on the glass cylinder beside her, wiping away the misty condensation covering the glass.
 
Eyes closed, forehead pressed onto the glass; Silvia tried to get her breathing under control.  Don’t panic, she thought.  Right.  Deep breath in.  Breathe out.  In.  Out.  Over and over, in, out.  Silvia could feel her heart slow, she didn’t have any answers, but she could find them.  Ready to go on she opened her eyes. 

“AAAAAHHHHH,” Silvia screamed at the top of her lungs.  Her final thought; calm, strange as it is, was that she had the greenest eyes; then fell to the cold, concrete floor. 

Staring blankly ahead, Silvia’s jade-eyed gaze sees nothing of the woman on the floor, from the other side of the glass. 

A man watches the whole scene from a monitor mounted on the concrete wall in front of him.  Tall, clean-shaved, wearing a three-thousand dollar suit, he was impressive.  Good looking, some would even say beautiful, and smiling; but there was something in that smile.  Malice, cruelty, malevolence; the way his grin never touched his eyes.  Skin stretched in the awful rictus the stranger whispered, “They never could take meeting themselves.” 


Silvia floated in darkness.  It was comforting, safe, and secure.  She wanted to stay here forever.  However, something was intruding, invading her personal sanctuary.  Light, seeping into the edges of the black void of her unconsciousness, brought Silvia back to wakefulness. 

Something hung there on the edge of memory.  Some event.  Green, she almost had it.  Got it, “Shit,” Silvia blurts, sitting up.  Now where am I?  Is this going to keep happening to me, not knowing where I am?

Looking around Silvia has the thought that it might be some kind of cell, though she doesn’t remember ever having been in prison.  The walls looked to be made of solid concrete, painted antiseptic white.  While the floor at least was carpeted, she could tell that it was cheap, almost Astroturf.  She swung her legs over the side of her cot.  There was a toilet in the corner with a sink attached to the wall next to it, though no sign of plumbing. 

Focusing on the details of her environment was helping to keep her calm.  Glancing up, the ceiling was at least twelve feet high.  One small A/C vent was visible where the ceiling met the wall.  The light, a long tube encased in wire mesh, though it was hard to tell in the glare.  She looked around for more details, but saw none.

That couldn’t be all of it, she thought.  Silvia got off the cot, smoothing the white paper gown she didn’t realize that she had been wearing.  Did I hit my head or something?  Maybe I’m crazy.  Would I know?  Would I even care?  Well, if I worry over it then that must mean I care, so I couldn’t be crazy then.  Could I? 

Giving her head a shake, Silvia tried to shrug off the uncomfortable thoughts.  O.k., goals, that’s what I need.  That’s easy; first get out.  Second find out who the hell I am.  Maybe even find out where I am.  She shook her head, First things first; get out.

With that, she nodded her head in satisfaction, moving to the wall opposite her.  She put her hand upon the wall, rubbing her fingertips across, feeling the rough surface of the concrete under the thick layer of paint.  Rapping the wall with her knuckles, Silvia listened for an echo.  Nothing.  Glancing to the left, she saw the sink and toilet.  To the right, another blank wall. 

I had to get in here somehow.  Looking to the ceiling didn’t offer any more clues.  It was all solid concrete, no openings or hinges, no lines to betray sliding doors.  That didn’t signify anything.  Would I recognize a secret door if I saw one, probably not, she thought.  That made her smile, though it was grim and determined smile. 

Silvia went over to the sink, turning one of the handles and ran her hands under the running water; she wasn’t surprised it worked.  Why put a sink there if it was not to be used?  Splashing water on her face, hoping the shock of cold water would waken some ideas from her. 

Forgetting the paucity of the room Silvia had no way to dry herself.  Rolling her eyes at this lack of attention, she wrung the water out of her jet-black hair with her hands.  Slinging the water behind her onto the floor, she turned toward her cot.  Maybe with some rest something would come to her. 

Hopefully they would feed her sometime soon; if she were asleep they might be more willing to leave her something.  She didn’t want to think that whoever they might be would not feed her.  Lying down on the cot Silvia stared up at the ceiling.  Then thinking better of it, rolled onto her side, facing the wall the cot pressed against.  Now with her plans in place and a little luck, more clues would be forthcoming.  A small smile touching her lips, Silvia let sleep take her.

Stretching languorously, she was embarrassingly conscious of how short the dressing gown was.  Not letting it show on her face was difficult, but she knew that it was of the utmost importance.  So was going though a normal morning/wakeup routine, no matter who watched.  She had no doubt that someone was watching her; the whole set-up was ripe for it.

This knowledge in hand, she expressed genuine delight that some toiletries had been brought.  Feeling someone’s eyes on her as she made water sent a shiver down her spine, she could be blasé’ only about so much.  Washing her hands and face with a nonchalance that she didn’t feel, Silvia continued with what would be a normal morning routine; slipping the paper dressing gown over her head to wash with a small cloth.  Being voyeurs they were probably expecting a show, so she had to keep up this farce’.


The beautiful woman bathing in view of the screen went unnoticed by the two men in the viewing room.  Feet dangling above the floor the orderly’s face was quickly turning purple as the Stranger held him by the throat, one handed.  “You were careless,” he said, head tilted to one side as a bird studies a worm, no anger in his voice or on his face.  “This one is different.  I have no use for your stupidity.” 

Flexing his arm, the sound of bone snapping reverberated through the small room.  Letting the corpse fall flopping to the floor, the Stranger turned back to the monitor and smiled; in time to see the woman close the robe he had thought to provide.  Clothes were like armor that way.  The more there was, then the more to take away, leaving them powerless and vulnerable.  Open to what he wished.  The orderly would have been glad he couldn’t see the Stranger’s smile.


Tying the sash of the robe in front of her, Silvia bent and picked up the cloth-covered tray from the floor.  The floor was no longer carpeted.  That made her frown, why would they have changed that of all things.  She could see the water she had splashed on the floor the night before, damp spots scattered here and there.  Even better, there were footprints leading to the wall opposite her cot.  Catching the grin before it showed on her face was difficult but she did it.

Carrying the tray to her cot, Silvia uncovered her meal.  Grimacing, she wrinkled her nose at what was being served as food.  What might have been mashed potatoes with corn to one side and something resembling meat on the other; definitely unappetizing fare.  This was all there was so she sat down to eat.  With her hands since one gave her any cutlery.  Which she supposed was a good thing, who ever her captors were they weren’t stupid.  A small voice inside her head told Silvia that this would help her, making those keeping her predictable.

Wiping her hands with the napkin that had covered the tray, Silvia was surprised she had devoured the food so fast.  Well she had been famished and hunger makes the best sauce.  Silvia froze, she could remember quaint sayings, it seemed she knew what to do when captured, however, she didn’t know who she was, or how she could know these things.  This condition had to change.

She didn’t know if this was amnesia; though what else could it be?  Giving herself a mental shake, Silvia tried to break away from such thoughts.  This is counter-productive; it will not get me out of this cell.  Nor will it satisfy the questions I need answered. 

Steeling herself, Silvia raised her head then took a deep breath.  Another.  There.  In the corner, it was faint but she could make out the demarcation of wall and door.  That’s the way out I need.  How to open it?  Some sort of button or lever?  Might it be in the wall or floor?  Maybe located in the ceiling?  No, the control had to be accessible. 

Glancing around furtively, Silvia tried her best to look anywhere other than the corner.  Make it seem as though she hadn’t see the triggering mechanism.  Finally, she got up off the cot and made her way over to the sink.  Under cover of washing her face, she studied the dull piece of metal barely piercing the junction of walls.
 
This was definitely it.  She wanted to touch it, feel it, to move it; she wanted out.  She didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to be careful; sitting back down on the cot was more than arduous, it was pure torture. 

Silvia closed her eyes and folded her hands in her lap.  Looking to the ceiling, she knew that she had to find a way to neutralize the camera in her room.  As she studied the light source above, she was convinced there would be no possible way for her to reach it even if she had found it, which she had not.

Her other options were to sham sleep and attack who ever came in.  Or, she could gamble and simply activate the mechanism, finding her way out as she could.  A smile touched her lips and Silvia made her decision.  Though she didn’t know how she knew it, she knew that she wasn't one to wait around and let things happen to or for her.

A moment of doubt overcame her excitement, as though clouds obscured the shining light of hope.  What if this is some kind of experiment to test her, possibly a hallway, with no exit on the other side?  It wouldn’t matter; she would then have more information than what she did now.

Silvia, having made her decision, was loath to waste any more time on uncertainty.  Launching off the cot in haste afraid that if she did not act now she never would, Silvia quickly crossed her cell to the lever hidden in the wall.  More carefully, there could be no mistakes; she brushed it with her fingertips.  The switch was metal, cold and unyielding, though it seemed to pivot up and down with gentle pressure.  Breathing deep, tumultuously, her hands trembling, sweat materializing upon her forehead and palms, her stomach turning and spinning, Silvia engaged the lever.

Ponderously, the door slid open.  Dim florescent light flickered from above, casting shadows that danced luridly, convulsing in a parody of life, grasping, reaching, and a macabre ball indeed.  As Silvia pushed the sliding door open fully, the shades fled the encroaching light as night flees day. 

Unaware of the spectral looming, Silvia strides forward purposefully, a few steps in, her gait falters, feeling an ominous presence lurking, waiting, wanting, she hurries her pace.  Quickly reaching the end of this funeral corridor is all Silvia can think of now. 

Morbid gloom raises behind her like a wave, unable to contain its incorporeal shell any longer, tendrils of poisoned rage cascade forward, seeking her annihilation; sensing the malevolence permeating the air, the hatred eagerly reaching, Silvia glances over her shoulder but sees nothing.

Terror climbs in her throat and a whimper escapes her lips.  The dreadfulness of her plight clouds her mind, uncertainty and fear, fight on the desolate, barren plains of her soul.  Visions of herself locked behind glass tubes staring vacantly, trepidation at her confinement, always speculating, wondering, fearing what the truth of her existence might be; if it is her life, who is she? 

Silvia makes her feet move faster, running; the corridor seems endless, as in a nightmare.  The ghoulish presence hovers, almost touching.  Coldness spreads along her limbs, she stumbles, almost falls, lurches to her feet, trips again, crawls on her hands and knees.  She regains her balance; her extremities feel icy, legs numb.  Shambling along she can feel frozen fingers grasping at her.  She puts her head down in a burst of panic induced speed, and slams into the door at the end of the passageway.  Falling over and flopping on to her back, her limbs not obeying her commands, Silvia looks back through the now open doorway. 

Staring with mouth agape, dumbfounded, she sputters at the monstrosity filling the door.  Red hellishly glowing eyes glare at her prone stupefied form; an amorphous blob shifted and flowed, filling the door, trying to reach her.  Blackness roiled in a conflagration of hate.  Malice so tangible it suffers a semblance of form; cruelty incarnate.  Tendrils of inky darkness probe, looking for prey, testing the air in front of it.  Silvia feels a shadowy finger caresses her left ankle.  Lying on the floor, she backs away, scooting on her bottom across the floor, eyes glued to the Shade of Despondency.  The Gloom pursues her hungrily, inky fingers thickening, grasping, and clawing at her flesh.  Desperately, Silvia twists, trying to regain her feet.  Tearing her gaze from the impossible monstrosity pursuing her, Silvia feels a wrenching in her mind as she breaks the paralyzing grip on her sanity.  The cloud of terror melts from her sight as she slips down into the light of the stairway.  Falling head long down the stairs, Silvia bounces and tumbles, striking her head against the wall with the audible thud of bones breaking.