DangerBanana and TheTraveller

[MechanicalHeart]

Darkness.  Am I dead?  Have I passed on without knowing I have? I cannot feel my heart beating. I cannot feel myself breathing. And yet, I exist. I think, therefore I am. How long have I been this way?  I’ve lost track of time so long ago.  Has it been days?  Years? I used to see the lights, before they faded. I heard Jenny’s voice sometimes, when she visits me in the park. The sun always feels so cold, there. What a strange place.


 


A slight cracking sound broke the silence in the darkened chamber.  A slight tapping sound, followed by the sounds of concrete chips hitting the metal grating on the floor.  A beam of light forced itself into the blackness. The murmur of excited voices coming from the far side of a wall.  Piece by piece, the wall would be taken apart, creating an ever larger hole.  Lights touched a place long since forgotten by the world, for the first time in an eternity. 


Someone stepped through the opening, quite in awe at the sight before them. “These machines, they still work!” A man called out in excitement. “Come and see!  They work!”


More people climbed in through the opening in the wall.  Cheers and sounds of awe filled the air, while one voice was still silent. 


What is this? The darkness is going? Why now? Where are you going, Jenny? Are you leaving me? Or, are we going? 


The group poked and prodded their way around the room, until one of them called the others over.  They all gathered and beheld the sight.  A machine from long ago, having survived the ages and still in working order.  Powered by the generators through the network of cables they followed right to this place. 


“What do you think it is?” One of them asked. 


“I wouldn’t know.  Don’t touch anything, it could be dangerous.” Another man replied.


“What’s that shape, in the tube. Is that… Is that a person!?” The first gasped in shock.  “It couldn’t be!”


Speculation took hold of the group, who were obviously explorers of some sort.  What exactly had they stumbled across?  Was that really an ancient specimen, frozen for study?  Who could have done such a thing? Question and more questions.  They were passionately discussing their discovery, when one of the group stumbled over a small object and pressed his palm down over the control unit of the old machine. A moment passed before a huge blast of frigid gas blew two of the group to the ground. The machine rattled as clamps released and an automated voice spoke in a language none of them could understand.


I feel cold, Jenny.  Where are we going?  I don’t want to go out into the cold.  Jenny?  The darkness is returning.  I’m going back there.









 





Several minutes passed as the explorers stood back and watched carefully what was transpiring.  Curses and scolding were muttered quietly, whilst heartbeats raced. What was about to happen?  What should they do?  The machine fell silent as the glass front slid open.  The remnants of steam and gasses seeped out, piece by piece exposing the figure of a person.  The group tried to look a bit closer at what they’d just found.  Then, the person slumped over and fell out of the machine, sliding down the few steps at its front. 


“By the divines, it’s a corpse! They froze a corpse!” one of the explorers theorized as he stepped back.


“Who would do such a thing?  And It’s only a Primitive.  Wait, did they really have primitives then, too?” 


“Of course they did, you idiot.”


The body on the floor twitched, causing a younger team member to scream in shock.  The rest laughed at her, until they collectively jumped out of their skin when the naked primitive before them suddenly inhaled violently, opening his eyes widely and clawing at the space around him.  A few gasps were all he could produce, before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness again. 


“Divines!  It’s alive!?  That’s not even possible! Get the overseer!  Get him, now!” One of them men pointed erratically at the hole in the wall. “Hurry up, damn you!”


It was the youngest on the team, the girl that had screamed, who vaulted out of the room and ran as fast her legs could carry her.  She ran until she could feel the cool night’s air of the outside meeting her.  “Overseer!  Overseer Eron!  Come quick!”


An older man rose from his table and gave the running girl a stern look.  “What is it, that you must come running and shouting at this time of night?”


“We found something A frozen primitive!” she explained


“A frozen primitive?  Why would something like that be down there?” Eron raised a brow.


“He’s alive, sir!” She continued.


“Preposterous!  Has Adan put you up to this?” Eron snarled, making the girl step back slightly.


“It’s the truth, sir.  I swear it.”


“Guard!  Fetch the scientist.” The overseer commanded. “Send her to see what this is all about.”

 

[diwa]

The digital clock on top her table inside her lab indicated that it was getting late at night. For a normal person, they should be at home by now, with their families or possible in the pub with their friends, they should be anywhere and not at work. But Aubrey's life was her work. Her parents live on the other side of the city while she chose to stay at an apartment she bought near the research facility she was working at. An apartment that is barely use, she was only there when she needed to take a bath or perhaps sleep if she got tired, though there are more than one instances that she fallen asleep with her head on top of thick paper works than her head on a pillow. It's not like she doesn't have a family and friends, Aubrey was outgoing enough to not be labelled as a hermit or a shy person. In fact she was very inquisitive and curious, but she is a little quirky and peculiar in her ways and sometimes she weirded out her coworkers.


For one, her avid fascination with the old life, with the old world. The stories her mother used to tell at her when she was a child, how humans are different from before. How the entire world is different. She knew it wasn't a myth for their city is surrounded by ruins of the old world, like a ghost that kept haunting them. There were also files and photographs from their computers but it was rarely talked about. Most people considered it as a taboo. A topic they shouldn't converse. Of course, the old life was tackled at the schools and universities but it was more like a precautionary tale about the faults and mistakes of humans. How their greed brought them their downfall. It wasn't a subject but it was more of a warning.


But Audrey was drawn to it. The human race that was living in the Earth in her time was considered to be a great leap of evolution. She had seen photographs of what they now considered as the old race or primitive, Audrey's hair, like among others were almost silvery like. Others have other shades of blonde but all the same, they have light colored hair unlike the primitives who has brunette or even black colored hair. Their ears too are quite different, Audrey's ears were pointed, the irises on her eyes were rimmed with bright purple. Their eye color varies but they were all in bright, as if it is luminescent. The physical differences between the race is evident and clear.


"Okay William,  save everything starting from the sample E2 to E9. Copy it and store it on the external drive, don't forget to put everything on the Archive." Audrey ordered the artificial intelligence that was working with her on her project. It makes her life and work easy for she doesn't need an assistant that she needed to train, her computers does it for her. All she needs to do was the hands on experiments, the files were always accessible. Being a scientist has it's perks especially for the likes of Audrey. She can easily looked at the files that has connected with the old life, but there were certain limitations.


"Yes, Miss Claramond." The robotic voice boomed on the speakers overhead. The 72 inch touch screen computer on the wall behind her was starting to load her orders. She went on the side where beakers, flasks and poles are set up in an intricate fashion, creating a long chain of chemical reacting to one another. A microscope was on the other end, two samples of specimen were placed by the table.


Audrey was tapping her foot, humming along with the rhythm and the beat as she peered on the lenses and scribble some notes afterwards when there was a pounding on her door. It took a while before she noticed the confused and frightened looking young woman, by the looks of her uniform, she is an intern.


"Doctor Claramond... Overseer... Overseer Eron..." The girl panted, she was clutching her chest, her bright grey eyes were a little panicky as she tries to catch her breath "Overseer Eron..."


"What happened to Overseer Eron?!" Audrey removed her gloves and tossed it on the bin. She took a disposable cup from her pantry and filled it with water from her dispenser. "Here.. drink this. Calm down, now tell me everything."


The poor girl nodded and drink the water from the cup in just one gulped. "You were summoned by Overseer Eron, Doctor." Finally, the girl said. "They were at the excavation site. You need to go now. Something happened, something bizarre."


Her heels clattered the marbled floors as she ran towards the site. It was sanction to be off limits for there was some strange object that was caught by the computer scanner. A lot of speculations flied around but this was the first time that heard an official news.


Audrey flashed her ID on the scanner by the door and it opened with a hissed. She rode the lift down the site and in a few seconds, she was standing near a group of archeologist that was huddled up. "Overseer Eron?" Audrey was a little hesitant as she looked for the supervisor, she was about to ask about what is happening but then there was a figure in the middle of the group. A naked man. Not just a man, it belonged to the old race!


Wide eyed, her jaw dropped but then Audrey instantly recovered. She removed her coat and ran towards the man. "Get a stretcher," Audrey ordered to no one in particular. She also wrapped her coat and tried to cover the man as much as she can. "Get some more blankets, this man needs to be taken in the infirmary." No one was exactly moving around that Audrey had to look up and glared at one of them, "Now!" She growled, people shuffled and eventually move. Audrey sighed and look at the man, he looks like he was frightened or probably in shock. "Hey, it's alright. It is going to be alright. You're safe." Audrey said in her softest voice, and with a reassuring smile. it was as if she was cooing a wild animal.


 


 

 

[MechanicalHeart]

Light and dark replaced each other in what felt as unrelated moments in time. Simple flashes, blurry and incoherent, featured figures which may or may not have been people.  Slurred sounds sometimes made their way into his reality. Were they speaking to him, or about him?  He couldn’t tell.  Before he could ask them, they disappeared again into darkness and silence.  They returned sometimes, still speaking, yelling even.  Or, so he guessed.  At this point, he could barely realize where he was or what had happened.  An addled mind, confined in darkness for what seemed an eternity, raced with memories and flashes of a new reality that it could not distinguish from one another. 


Being released from the stasis chamber left his body in a state of shock.  None who were around him would be able to tell exactly how long this man had been inside of that device. Not even he, himself, could.  Even if he could speak. 


To the outside world, he was but a cold body on the floor, sometimes twitching lightly as muscles woke after ages of hibernation.  His breathing was labored and occasionally forced his flesh to gasp for air. In his mind, however, he spoke and screamed.  All they could hear were gasps and hoarse grunts. 


Slowly, but surely, he became more and more aware of events prior to this moment of shock.  A life that was only a day in the past for him.  He did notice a change in tones around him.  A harsh voice that he could not give a place.  Had someone new arrived, to join the team, in the weeks of his frozen sleep?  Slowly he was piecing together his reality.  He would have to relate his tale to Jenny and the others.  It felt as though centuries had gone by. It felt as if he had been alone for so long.  He remembered it now.  Jenny warned him the stasis could have an effect on his brain afterwards, but he was conscious the whole time! That was something no one had ever foreseen.  The harsh voice seemed to command the rest.  Great, a new boss?  He knew Hendricksson wanted out, but during a critical experiment?  Madness.


A new shift in tones!  This time, a female voice.  Soft and caring.  Jenny?  It had to be.  He still could not see or hear well at all.  Everything was a blur and all he could hear were garbled words.  He hoped it would wear off, soon.  He felt the moment he was lifted up and placed on a stretcher.  Off to the infirmary, he thought. With what little control he could exert over his body at this point, his hand slid from under the coat and blanket, weakly grabbing onto a piece of clothing on whomever he thought was Jenny. 


“Jenny,” he managed to speak in a very hoarse and quiet voice.  Then, he slipped back into unconsciousness. 


It felt like a moment’s passing before his eyes sprang open and he stared up at a ceiling that he no longer recognized.  Obviously, some time had passed since he was sprung from his frozen tomb.  Without moving, he turned his eyes left and right.  This place looked rather makeshift.  Granted that some of the usual things were there, they looked very unfamiliar upon first inspection.  He noted that he was all alone in the room, which felt like one of those temporary things they set up as temporary research facilities.  That was strange, to say the least.  He tried to move, finding that his body was sore.  Very sore!  He was hooked up to some pieces of machinery, which showed his heartrate, among other things. Then, he heard footsteps.  He quickly returned to his prior position and remained still, closing his eyes again, mostly.  Two people entered the room.  Both blondes. At first, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what seemed to be off with them.  He couldn’t understand what they were saying.  Foreigners?  No matter, Jenny would show up soon enough when she’d hear he was awake. 


He abandoned his ruse and slowly sat up. Grunting, he drew the attention of the pair on the other side of the room.  They turned quickly and stared at him with widened eyes. 


“Hey, are you guys new or something? Can you go and tell Jenny that…” He was rudely interrupted when one of them let out a scream and they bolted out of the door.


He’d been looking down at his feet, feeling as though he’d spent last night drinking far too much.  Now, he had no choice but to raise it.  He’d rarely been so confused in his lifetime.  Who in the right mind ran off like that.  Granted he might have startled them a little, but this was some overreaction to say the least.  He sighed and remained seated.  Jenny would show up soon enough, he assumed.  Hopefully with a bottle of aspirin.

 

[diwa]

"This... This is unbelievable!" Audrey exclaimed as she read the data on a tiny computer, a portable one and almost just a size of a book, in her hands. "The patient responses to all the stimuli, though his heart rate, oxygen rate, pulse rate and body temperature were a little erratic, but that is explainable, he was stored in what looks like a cryogenic chamber from their time for almost half a millennia!" She exclaimed at everyone. "Half a millennia, his body is slowly adapting to the new environment." Audrey added in delight and satisfaction. After the thrilling discovery earlier, she made sure that the man they found sleeping inside the outdated apparatus went through all the medical examination they could provide to ensure his safety. The crew who found him were restless when she told him about the possible time period the man was in; the time when the great plague hit the earth, so to lessen the panic and pandemonium their discovery might cause, the crew was immediately quarantined and went to a very intensive and thorough inspection just to determine whether they acquire something from the man. Their tests gave a negative result regarding the virus but in order to be certain, the crew was placed in a 24 hour observation and the whole area was in a lock down.
 


"There are no muscle atrophy despite the time his body spent resting. This is really brilliant!" Audrey continued to debrief the crew. They were in an enclosed room few doors down from the patient. "I extracted his blood and examined them, the results were all negative. There are no traces of disease and other deadly and contagious pathogens in his body. The cryogenic chamber will be brought to the Engineering department after further sanitization, our people will be present when they try to examine the parts in a contained clean room. And for further caution, the personnel will be limited and will wear a protective clothing for reassurance until further notice." She add heavy heartedly. Audrey believe the last part was completely rubbish and uncalled for. The workers will just be having a hard time in inspecting every nook and cranny of the device with their large gloved hand. But protocol is protocol; She looked at the grim face of the Overseer, hoping to gain approval or remarks and but the room was eerily quiet.


 


"How can you be certain that he's not carrying the virus?" An intern suddenly spoke out loud, asking the question all people had running in their minds. "He can be considered as ancient! Their biological properties are quite different from ours. The base pair of their DNA are way off compared to ours." she scoffed.


 


"He's not, he passed the preliminary tests. I already did it thrice." Audrey was getting a little infuriated. All of them are acting all scared and frightened, it was as if the man they dug up was the harbinger of death. Heaving a sigh, she looked at the girl again and smiled reassuringly. "He is not. Our technologies are advanced, and it didn't detect anything. Do not worry, we will keep him under surveillance and in quarantine for the next thirty days or so for further and elaborate screening."


 


Most of the people inside the room are still frightened and spook at what they saw but she could see that most of them were nodding in agreement. Audrey was the only living soul in the room that is completely ecstatic at the recent events and that is apparent.


 


"This is one of the most spectacular discovery we've ever done." Audrey said, she was trying to placate her frightened audience, "We jus—"


 


Suddenly a loud scream filled the hallway, all of them shuffled from their seats looking all alarmed and Audrey was one of the few people who was out by the door in a heartbeat. They found the two personnel they sent to check on the patient trembling at the corner, holding their charts on their chests as they pointed out the room where he is in. Audrey rolled her eyes in response and immediately ran to the room.


 


"Hello," Audrey greeted, her voice was still soft and quite but there was no fear in it. She stood a moment in front of the door and still contemplating if what was happening was real and true. "I am so sorry about that. How... are you feeling?" she added as she stepped inside. Audrey sauntered inside as if it was a very normal day, not to mention a very normal patient. She checked the numbers on the machine and took out her computer that was in sync with it. When contented, she fished out a penlight from her pocket and switch it on, "Do you mind?" Audrey asked, indicating his eyes. As much as she want to ask random questions, she stopped herself knowing that it must be overwhelming for him so she started with the most basic but heavy question. "Do you remember what happened? Do you know your name?"

 

[MechanicalHeart]

It was only a few short minutes after the attendants ran screaming out the door.  Another came in.  It was the same soft voice he halfway remembered from before.  “Jenny?” He replied almost instinctively.  He looked up, but then it hit him.  It wasn’t Jenny.  It was some blonde he’d never seen before.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on it at first, but something seemed off.  He didn’t reply to her when she spoke, only tilting his head slightly, looking at the things in her hands.  He came to realize that she wasn’t speaking English.  He didn’t quite know what it was, but it was strange to say the least.  Since when did they get a bunch of foreigners?


Meanwhile, the front gate of the research camp opened to a car.  It rolled into the camp slowly and came to a halt not far from the labs.  Overseer Eron stood prepared to greet whomever it was that came to visit so late in the day.  The car door was opened by one of the security guards and out stepped an older gentleman in a military uniform.  “Quite the operation they gave to someone like you, Eron.”  The older man scoffed as he tapped the ashes from his cigarette. “Although I heard you recovered vital military assets.”


Eron did not dignify the taunts with any sort of emotional reaction, replying in a formal manner. “Of course.  I am most qualified for such ‘delicate’ operations, general.” He looked down at the short statured old man. “But I can assure you that the military will have very little interest in what we’ve found. Unless you’re looking to upgrade the refrigerator in the mess hall.” He turned on his heel. “Follow me, sir.”


Eron purposely led the man away from the lab which contained ‘the specimen’. He’d be damned if he let that old fool take over ‘his’ operation. He had dispatched one of the clerks to notify the research staff of the new ‘protocol’. So too did the clerk arrive at the room where the specimen was kept. He poked his head in the door, not daring to enter. “Excuse me?  Doctor?  Could I have a moment of your time?  The overseer has issued new protocols which are rather… Shall we say: Urgent?”


The man waited a bit nervously until she came out. “Right.  Quick rundown:  You are to refer to the man in the as the specimen. If questioned, he is a primitive who was used for an experiment involving the machine. Under no circumstances are you to reveal his true nature to anyone, even within this facility. Especially to military personnel.” He spoke with a hushed tone, looking around frequently. “That will be all, you may proceed.”


Elsewhere, Overseer Eron accompanied the general, who poked around the digsite with his guards in tow. “So you’re telling me that all you’ve found down here is an old fridge? What a disappointment. You’re going to have to do better than this in order to keep your funding.”


“Oh, but it’s not just a fridge, general.” Eron replied coldly. “It’s a freezer, too. In fact, it seems to be designed to freeze people, in order to revive them at a later date. While of no military use, I would assume our penal facilities could make use of this to store prisoners? These take up less space than a cell. Perhaps the doctors could make up a use for this sort of thing, also.”


Back in the lab, the man out of time looked around quietly.  His senses were finally coming back to their full functions. It was painfully obvious that this was not the lab. But if it wasn’t, what happened?  Was there an accident?  Was this some sort  of field hospital? He tried to stand up, stumbling over from the pain in his legs. He was sore.  They warned him of the expected side-effects. He grunted from the pain and tried to get up. He managed, barely and with great effort.

 

[diwa]

[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]Audrey held on the  penlight and took a step forward towards her patient, her hands were shivering a little, probably from too much adrenaline. The man didn't answer her and just gave off some blank stare. She said the words, right? Audrey even doubted herself if she ever said the words out loud or maybe she just asked it inside her head. Maybe this was all a dream, since the man in front of him can't possibly exist. But then she remembered a quote, a very old quote she read from a very old book, a very ancient book that she happen to found in the data base of the computer. "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."  She felt that that quote was apt for the moment. She can't deny anything for all the evidence are in front of her. It wasn't a dream, it might felt surreal but it is actually happening.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]She was about to reach for him but then a surprised visitor knocked on the door. Oh, what fresh hell is this now. She thought as she turned her head towards the new comer. Audrey looked briefly at her patient, her lips were in a thin line like already silently judging the visitor. With a small smile, she headed straight to the door. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]"Is there something wrong, Sir?" Audrey asked politely. She stepped outside and followed the anxious looking man. The effect of her patient at everyone is constant: They fear him. A smug smile was about to escape her pink lips, but she pinched her arms hard enough to erase it. It was fun to see them all anxious and jumpy and not in their usual annoying pompous attitude. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)] Audrey can't help but to scowl once the clerk informed her about the protocol that was issued is haste.  "He's a person, he's not just some thing."  She said in a flat voice. Audrey knew that no matter what she says, the clerk can't do anything. He was no more than a messenger after all. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]Her hands were in a fist when she came back inside. Angry and annoyed, Audrey's brows were furrowed as she approached him. " If they must know,you are not some kind of an anomaly... Hey—" Audrey immediately ran towards him, "You need to sit down, you're still weak. You don't have to push yourself." She put a hand his back while her other hand was holding his arm, trying to help to support his weight. "Come on, please sit." She pleaded again. Audrey pulled the man back on the bed with ease, good thing that he was still weak. "Just stay still, alright?" When the man was sitting back on the bed, Audrey looked him in the eye, "I need to know your name, they want me to call you specimen. Like I would do that," She snorted. Audrey fished out her penlight and started to examine him. "Pupil dilation are fine, pulse is still the same. You're still the same as earlier."[/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]Audrey took a step back and leant on the table beside her. Her lips were pursed while her arms where crossed on her chest. "Your ears are fine, [/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]And I know you are not a mute. Your scans came back and nothing is wrong. If you won't tell me your name, I will have to make up one then..." Audrey smirked at him. She heard him speak, the sounds were awfully familiar and a little the same, but something was still off.They were different, but she believe that he can understand her. Maybe not all, or maybe not entirely, but she have to try. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)]"How about Robert? hmm...No, no..... Clark? wait no, there was a Clark in Ward 8, arrogant bastard. How about Sam? Yeah, I like Sam. You're Sam until you tell me your name, Okay?" Audrey beamed at him. She shouldn't be having fun but she can't help it, it's not everyday she can talk to a man that wasn't supposed to exist in their time period. "I know you're confuse, you and me both. Heck, you, me and the entire staff. But just bear with me, okay?" She added gently and with a smile. Then suddenly, she remembered something. A word that he kept on repeating earlier. "Jenny..." she repeated the word she heard from him. "What is Jenny?" [/COLOR]
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[MechanicalHeart]

The passing by of the clerk has completely eluded him.  He hadn’t paid very much attention to what the woman was talking about after she’d returned from the door.  He picked up on what appeared to be names.  Whilst looking down, cursing the state of his body inside his own head, he noticed that her body language implied that she was asking for a name.  He ignored it.  He didn’t know who she was, why she was here.  Where was “here”?  The design of the place didn’t look familiar.  In his mind, this was a hostile takeover.  But from whom? 


The lack of attention to what she was saying and even how she said it changed abruptly when she spoke of Jenny. He looked at her sharply instantaneously.  He met her eyes and stared directly into them.  Did she know about Jenny?  Did they capture her?  But if they did, he was currently too weak to do anything about it. He frowned instinctively, his breathing became slightly heavier.  All signs would point towards the anger he felt inside of himself.  Not so much towards the woman, specifically, but towards the situation as a whole.  He turned his face downwards again after a few moments.  He refused to speak to her.  He wouldn’t speak to anyone until he felt stronger again. 


Elsewhere, a somewhat disappointed general surfaced again after inspecting the site. “Doctors and prisons.  This is of no use to the regime, whatsoever.  You’d better find me something that proves useful to me, Eron.  Or you’ll be shoveling dirt along with the rest of these so-called scientists!” The general stepped back into his car. “You have three months left before the funding committees decide on the future of your little dirt patch.  Make use of it!” The door closed and the detachment of military personnel started gathering again.  Eron watched them leave.  He remained in place until the gates closed after the last vehicle left the compound before he looked sideways to one of the assistants. “What are you standing there for? Get to work.” The man nodded slowly and scurried off, while Eron had a very specific place to go. 


Only moments later, he appeared at the door of Audrey’s lab. As per usual, he entered without knocking. “Have you found out anything?”  Eron stepped forwards and looked the two up and down.  Especially the ‘specimen’.  “He’s awake, then?  Good?  Does he speak?” Eron addressed his scientist only.  He spoke in his usual manner, direct and business only. 


The arrival of another one in the room hadn’t eluded him this time.  He noted the change in tone.  Cold, detached.  It contrasted quite a bit from the soft toned voice of the woman.  A classic case of ‘good cop, bad cop’, perhaps? He still chose not to speak and lay himself down, rolling over on his side.  He faced towards them, but simply stared out in front of himself.  As his memory reassembled itself, the darkness came back to him.  It felt as though an eternity had passed by.  Was that some strange side effect from having your vitals slowed down to nearly nothing?  And what of the sporadic visions? He felt fully conscious, but was his perception of time altered somehow?  That wasn’t possible.  The mice they had used in early tests showed only sporadic brain activity, not enough to warrant full consciousness.  But god, being in there and experiencing loneliness for such a long time.  It was inhuman.  He had felt every emotion possible.  Confusion at first, then despair and anger, sadness, acceptance and then he found himself drifting along the edge of what any psychiatrist would deem madness. It did, however, raise so many questions.  How come, if his brain was inactive, his mind was not? Or was it?  Was it slowed along with the brain?  Was that why his week in the freezer seemed like forever? Perhaps.  It was a subject he’d have to take up with Edward and Jenny.  Even in this predicament, he wanted to speak to them of his experiences. 


Eron, meanwhile, had left the lab again.  He left with a feeling of suspicion towards the man, but also towards the scientist.  Perhaps he’d have to keep an eye on them.  He knew just the thing. 


Two days passed without great changes.  The excavation teams continued digging.  The man was still silent.  They’d begun putting him through some testing.  Basic tests to determine one’s overall level of intelligence, tests to see how his body was holding up after being frozen for so long.  He didn’t seem to resist the poking and prodding too much, although he’d occasionally react angrily, before becoming uncooperative.  Today, however, was a special day.  Audrey’s lab door flung open, as a younger lab assistant hopped in the door.  “Helloooooo!” she greeted everyone in the room cheerfully.  “I’m the new lab assistant, Lysa!  Overseer Eron designated me as your brand new assistant!”

 

[diwa]

All was fine and well but then 'Sam' suddenly tensed. "Are you alright?" she asked. Her voice was a little weary and cautious but she didn't approached the man. Audrey glanced on the machine and she noticed that his heart rate increased a few pace. Nothing dangerous, but the man looked alarmed and in her opinion, he looked a little upset as if the name has an impact to his psychological behavior. "Okay, let's not visit that part for now, shall we?" Audrey forced herself to smile a little, as if she was trying to calm him down.


Audrey turned her back from 'Sam' and went to set out her work. There are still so many questions left unanswered and the longer the time she spends with him, the more questions fill her head. Audrey needed to pull another all nighter for like a week or a month (heck, or maybe a year!) just to satisfy her curiosities. She then went to sit in front of her computer and started typing. In order to crack whatever it is she needed to crack in this case, she needed more than the files Eron's men can provide. She have to dig up and probably break a couple of Institute's rules and regulation. Hacking wasn't her major talent but she is not bad at bypassing the firewall that advance.


The sound of her metal pen tapping her wooden table filled the room as she thinks of where or probably when she will have to start in the archives when suddenly more visitors came. And not exactly to her surprise, it was Eron himself. "Sir," Audrey greeted with a tiny smile but as usual Eron's face was straight and filled with indifference. Despite of the neo-human's same physical features such as their hair, eyes and built, Eron managed to be different. Audrey stood up and handed the tablet to her senior. "He's fine, sir." said Audrey, "He's healthy, physically. Just like in my earlier tests, his body is still adjusting in our environment. But all his stimuli are functional." Audrey looked at Sam and smiled, "Despite that, he is still not talking sir. He can but I think he just don't want to. I'd say trauma since he's been in that pod for quite sometime, but I can't assess that properly without actually talking to him." 


Eron, from Audrey's assessment, was more militaristic and has a slight political side. He's not afraid of using any means nor breaking a few rules in order to somehow get what he wanted. He showed it to her when he wanted to keep the whole thing about what they found in the excavation quiet. Despite her a little uneasiness towards him, she can't exactly break his order for he is still her superior. After the quick briefing, the overseer left them, it was one of the times where Audrey was glad that Eron is all about business and not a guy who is fond of side chatter.


"Well, that went well..." She rolled her eyes at 'Sam' before patting him in the arm and went back to her work. "A little scary but well..." she whispered under her breath.


Days past nothing new happened. She conducted more test but the results bore the same. Audrey can't even remember how many times she said she was sorry for all those unnecessary pain she caused him but still they found nothing new.


It was a quiet afternoon and Audrey was on the verge on hacking the restricted files in the archives when suddenly someone entered her lab. A loud bubbly girl announced herself and all Audrey could do was stare at her. She immediately hid the files from her computer, closing the windows with the quick short cut that she knew.  "What?? I didn't asked for an assistant." Audrey said, her voice was a little contained but the annoyance was palpable. No memo's nor calls informed her about the new changes, but Audrey had to suck it up. "I don't want to be rude but I need to clarify this up first. Would you please step outside for a moment?" her voice changed into business like. All confident and authoritative.  "This room is strictly off limits, until the Overseer clears your." A small smile flash on her lips as she ushered the girl out the room. "Just for a moment." With a constrained smile, she shut the glass door.


Who is she kidding?! She doesn't need to confirm it to Eron. The girl can't pass the first few securities if she haven't got any clearance. But Audrey was furious, and emailing will not be suffice. "This is unacceptable!" she whispered harshly as she glanced at Sam before reaching for the phone and dialing the direct line in the Overseer's office.


"Audrey Claramond. Security level 1. Overseer Eron." Audrey answered the operated voice from the other line. 

 

[MechanicalHeart]

Whilst Audrey closed the door and went to make a phonecall, Lysa pouted and knocked on the glass door.  It probably had quite the comical look, having a lab assistant knock on the glass without much more than muffled sounds penetrating the room.  She almost pressed her face to the glass, holding up a paper.  It was an official assignment from the Overseer.  Audrey’s call would, indeed, prove in vain. 


In the overseer’s office, Eron looked at the blinking light of his intercom. He rolled his eyes slightly, knowing exactly who would be on the opposite end of the line.  Always with the protests, always with the questions.  He would cut the discussion short, before it could begin to escalate. He picked up the phone and immediately addressed the issue at hand. “Chief scientist.  No, you cannot deny the new assistant.  Yes, you will allow her to work with the specimen. No, this does not jeopardize your research. I will not reconsider, good day.” Eron ignored any and all input from Audrey’s end.  He put down the horn and leaned back in his chair, contemplating the message on his screen. 


‘Sam’, meanwhile, observed the scene quietly.  His body had recovered quite well over the last few days.  He had taken it upon himself to play dumb.  The scientist often talked to him.  She called him Sam, that much he understood. However, there was something odd going on here. All these people seemed to share a large part of their looks.  Extremely blonde hair and faintly luminescent eyes.  Were they even human?  Some form of genetic manipulation?  They seemed overly interested in running menial tests on him.  Some bloodwork, basic health tests and the likes.  The woman, Audrey, tried speaking to him in her own language, which vaguely started to resemble English.  He was smart enough to puzzle together the words when she spoke, each day, getting to know a few more words and conjugations. One term in particular gained his interest.  Others on the staff used the term ‘primitive’, to refer to him.  Particularly this development shifted his assumption of a hostile takeover to something far more dire. Did they ever wake him up? What if that time spent in darkness was not just a slowed down perception? How long?  What of the others. Sam’s gaze often drifted away, as his mind came up with questions to which he had no final answers.


He payed little attention to what happened before Lysa entered the room.  When she eventually got in, she headed straight for Sam, bending down to be able to look him directly in his downturned eyes. “Well hey there, monkey!” she said with a little giggle at the end.  “My, oh my, you look sad!”  She sprung up and turned to Audrey. “So what are you gonna do with him?  I mean, the overseer says he doesn’t say anything or do much.  Too bad you only found a primitive, huh?  Imagine if it were a scientist!  They would have such interesting things to say, I imagine.”


Sam, meanwhile, took note of the new girl in the room.  She sounded obnoxiously perky, going by the sound of her voice.  She, too, addressed him, but he didn’t quite catch what she was saying.


Lysa pulled a paper from the bundle she still carried around. “Oh yeah, the overseer has something planned for our little monkey!  He wants to know when he’ll be able to enter the digsite.  The Overseer would like to see if he could lead us to more finds.” She handed the paper to Audrey. “Exciting, isn’t it?”

 

[diwa]

Audrey could hear the glass door being pounded by the new girl, but she just turned her back on her as she waited for the other line to answer. She badly wanted to draw the shades but think it's not the best, she already kicked the girl out of the room, can she be more ruder than that? She drowned the tapping sounds by clicking of her heels against the tiled floor.


"Come on... pick up, pick up you uptight ridiculous man." Audrey mumbled, she glanced once at Sam, giving him a reassuring smile for no particular reason. She knew that the man doesn't even understand what was happening. By the gods, help him. She thought. "Pick up you bald f–Overseer!" Audrey said a little overenthusiastically upon hearing the man's voice, half hoping that he didn't heard what she said earlier. "Overseer, I–..." she started but the man cut her off immediately. As always, he was curt, cold and direct to the point. As soon as he said his piece, he cut off the call. She never got a chance to ask as to why the extra hand. Sam, or what he likes to call Specimen, is just a one man. It's not like she can't cover anything that is needed for the whole study.


Audrey put down the receiver, her hand is still balled into a fist, as she fights herself to not  go and scream or whack the new girl in the head out of frustration.


"Come on in." Audrey finally opened the door but the frustrated expression was obvious on her face. She watched the girl as she sauntered all too happily like she was already at home at Audrey's lab. Audrey paused for minute, standing by the doorway as started saying the colors of the rainbow in her head, a thing she does to take her mind off things. It usually works when she's angry and sometimes annoyed, but her frustrations as of the moment was overwhelming her. Closing her eyes, she heaved a deep sigh before forcing herself to smile. But then only for her face to be pulled into a grimace again. "Stop it. Stop calling him monkey." Audrey said sharply upon hearing Lysa addressing Sam. She badly wanted to tell Lysa to go sit in the corner like a child since she was acting like one but in the end she just went back to her table and act all professional. "I think he's still disoriented, he's started showing signs of recognition, but apart from that, he still refuses to talk." Audrey responded. She started typing things from her electronic notepad before finally handing it to Lysa. "Same results, the blood works are fine. He's starting to adapt to our environment."


Audrey thought about it even before Lysa said it. It was the first thing that came to her mind when she was alone for the first time with the spec–Sam. What if the man in front of her, what if the primitive is a scientist like them? Or anyone who could just educate them? What will be his impact to their studies? OR better yet, what will be his impact to the society?


With her brow slightly raised, she reached for the paper and read the document. "He what?.." Audrey continued to read on, like always, she already has a question if not complaints. Knowing that she can't do jack shit, she just looked at Lysa directly in the eyes. "Give me few more days. We just need to make sure he is really stabilize." Audrey then handed the paper back to Lysa with slight force before going back to her work. Her hand was working, moving along the keyboard but her mind was else where, pondering as to what or why is the Overseer interested in that digsite. Is there anything else beyond their experiment?

 

[MechanicalHeart]

[SIZE=10pt]“But monkey is a good pet-name!” Lysa protested with a cheeky giggle.  [/SIZE]It was quite obvious to Sam that she was testing Audrey.


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]He didn’t react to her comments and decided to ignore the girl if she addressed him with anything other than Sam.  [/SIZE]He was playing dumb, after all.  He got up off of the examination table and wandered around the room, sometimes tapping the devices and closets around the place. 


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]Lyse watched him and turned to Audrey for a moment. “Does he always do that?” She turned to watch Sam again, who just strolled about, stopping near everything that has flashing leds or moving parts.  [/SIZE]“He doesn’t seem too clever.  Why on earth did they put this guy in the fridge?  I bet they weren’t sure anyone’d survive, huh?”  Lysa turned to Audrey and cloud feel tension rising in the air.  “Oh, right.  You’re already fond of our new subject.  Sorry.”


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]He understood some of the simple conversation piece.  [/SIZE]Enough to make sense of what was being said.  He fought back the urge to turn around and give that little runt an earful.  But, that would be unwise.  He’d never find the others.  If they were alive, that is.  Mentally, he prepared himself for the worst. 


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]A few days passed before another message from the overseer was passed down to Audrey and Lysa.  [/SIZE]They were ordered to prepare the subject for descent into the dig-site.  Quite authoritarian about this command, Eron sent his personal assistant to supervise the preparations.  Once completed, the subject and its handler were taken to the elevator leading down into the dig.  Lysa was left behind at the lab, supposedly to prepare some things for their return.  Eron watched from his offices as Audrey and Sam were placed on the platform, before it started its route down the slope of the crater they’d dug out.  Sam stood around on the platform.  It was hard not to look around in wonder and fright at the same time.  Why were they descending down a rather long slope,  The facility was remote, yes, but nowhere near any mountains.  For a geological difference this size, either the earth swallowed the place whole, or he was no longer at the facility.  Did they move him whilst he slept?  Was this some sort of trickery?


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]Once they’d reached the bottom of the dig, some of the workers opened the safety gates at the front and let them out.  [/SIZE]“Right this way, ma’am.” One of them addressed Audrey.  They were led down a dug out shaft which ended up at a metal doorway.  The eerie part, for Sam, was that it was the entrance to the personnel quarters.  Inside, the place was lit by standing lights hooked up to some sort of generator.  “Why’d you have to bring the savage down here, doc?” The worker asked Audrey. “Does ol’ Eron think he’ll magically pull some more of that weird tech out of his back end? I mean, he’s just a savage after all, eh?”


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]Sam lost his composure for a moment when he crossed a familiar sight.  [/SIZE]Jenny’s bunk bed was in the room beyond an open door.  She shared the room with Emily and Janine, two other female staff members.  He walked straight through the door before anyone could stop him. 


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]“Oi, where’s he goin’?!” the worker ran in after him. “Wait!”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]Same already reached the nightstand where Jenny kept some pictures.  [/SIZE]He picked up the frame and sat down on the floor, holding on to the frame tightly as tears welled up in his eyes.  With his finger, he stroked over Jenny’s image.  Where was she?  What if she was dead? He rubbed his sleeve across his eyes, unable to stop a few sobs from escaping.


[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]


[SIZE=10pt]“Hey, let go of that.” The worker approached Sam and tried to take the frame away from him.  [/SIZE]A momentarily surprised and distraught Sam reacted by pushing the man away, full force. Surprisingly, he encountered fairly little resistance as he hurled the man off his feet and into the corner of the room.  “Oomph!”  the worker let out a painful grunt as he hit the floor.   Sam, meanwhile, just held on to the picture for dear life.  They had no right to take it, it wasn’t theirs.