“I can tell you about your mom, if you like,” said Dr. Love, taking the chair next to Dr. Bennett.
I nodded numbly.
“Well, right after you died, your mother found fame when she unearthed the skeletal remains of a female Ceratosaurus that she nicknamed Cassie. Isn’t that sweet?” Dr. Love smiled twice as wide, her teeth like stars, but I didn’t smile back. “Then two years later, she married one of her colleagues.”
“Who?” I asked, quickly rolling onto my back to face her. My mother and father divorced when I was two, so I didn’t grow up with the hope of them ever getting back together, and my mother was basically married to her profession.
“A paleontologist named Ian Jeffries.”
“Are you sure?” I blurted.
“Yes, Ian Jeffries. They didn’t have any children together, but they remained married through the end of their careers and retired in Arizona. Your mother was ninety-four years old when she died. Isn’t that wonderful? She lived a very long and productive life and continued to be recognized for many accomplishments in her field.”
Ian? My mom was almost twice his age. Sure, he was hotter than your average paleontology grad student, but still… This was all too weird.
I turned to Dr. Bennett. “What am I going to do? I don’t belong here. I don’t even exist in 3025.”
“You’re wrong. You do belong here. Your hospital records, birth certificate, high school transcript, and even your driver’s license were put in your cryonic chamber,” said Dr. Bennett, his eyes gleaming as he pulled a rectangular, metal object from a pocket. “All of your information has been transferred into our system. You exist, Cassie. You’re real, and we’re here to help you adjust and understand our world.”
I wanted to adjust to and understand their world, but my world was gone, dead. I was brought back to life like one of the dinosaurs my mother and I dug up from the earth. How was I going to fit in without my family and friends? Was I going to be treated like an artifact and put on display like the Ceratosaurus nicknamed Cassie? Could I trust Dr. Bennett and Dr. Love?
Chapter Two
“Come on, legs, move!”
It took both of my hands to pull them free from the sheet, first one leg and then the other, while rubbery disks affixed to my body to accelerate my healing clicked and stimulated my muscles. I started sweating from the effort…and then paused, shocked at the sight of my legs. They were so skinny, so pale, so undefined and fragile, like the legs of a porcelain doll.
No matter how many mountains I had climbed, rocks I had scaled, miles I had walked in the dead heat of a desert afternoon, my quads had withered away like the people who had once been a part of my existence.
The door opened with a ding.
“Good morning,” said Dr. Love.
It was definitely not a good morning. “How can it be when I’ll never see any of my friends or family again?” I snapped. “And I’ve been nauseous all morning.”
“That’s to be expected, considering what you’ve been through. Soon you’ll have plenty of good mornings. It’s just a matter of time. This is a beautiful world, Cassie. But you need to get well first.”
“What’s behind there?” I asked through a yawn, pointing to the black, almond-shaped windows.
“An observation room.”
“People are watching me?” Yanking the sheet up to my chin resulted in a sharp pain down my arm.
“Not right now.”
“So basically I’m a trapped lab rat,” I said, my words as raspy as my nerves.
Dr. Love’s red lips wilted. “They were only watching you as a means of documenting your recovery. You’re a medical miracle. They wanted to be present during your awakening.”
“Who wanted to be present?”
“All three presidents, of course.”
“Three?”
“The world is divided into three regions: Los Angeles is in Region One, so our president is William Gifford. Aleksandr Tupolev is the President of Region Two, and Shen-Lung is the president of Region Three.”
“All of this is just so hard to believe. I’m sorry.” But was I sorry? I kept thinking I was going to close my eyes and when I opened them, I’d be somewhere in Tucson on a dig with my mom, or in Connecticut snuggled up on the couch with my grandfather.
“You know, sometimes I wonder what it was like just after the Plague of 2423. There were so many deaths, so many lives lost. I suppose the survivors felt just like you do right now, and I can tell you what they did. They wiped away their tears, thanked God they were still alive, and started all over again. You can’t return to the past, so you need to think ahead to the future—your new future.”
I leaned forward. “Are you talking about a worldwide pandemic? It must have been a new strain, a superbug, something resistant to our antibiotics and antiviral medications.”
“Don’t worry about the plague. You have a bright future. You just haven’t discovered it yet.” Dr. Love fluffed my pillow and replaced it lovingly behind my head.
“It’s hard to discover my future lying here miserable all day.”
“We’re doing everything we can to make you comfortable and happy. Dr. Bennett has been assigned to your case since the beginning. He cares deeply about you. He’s taken full responsibility for your progress and has spent many sleepless nights worrying about your recovery. Your life is very precious to all of us.” She gave me a smile and a wave as she left the room.
I laid in bed, thinking about my mom and my grandfather until each image morphed into Dr. Bennett. His stoic but gentle smile and cautious bedside manner filled the movie screen in my head until I replaced the view with skepticism. Scientists didn’t publish their paleontological findings based on assumptions or hearsay. They required provable facts and first-hand evidence, and that’s what I needed.
The door opened and another female of the future entered my room with the same optimistic smile and passionate manner as Dr. Love. But this woman was beyond beautiful. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Unlike Dr. Bennett’s and Dr. Love’s two-piece uniforms, this woman’s was navy blue and fitted like a jumpsuit, perfectly accentuating her thin waist without exaggerating her rounded hips.
“Hello, Cassie. My name is Ella. I’m a physical therapist.” She carried the tray with my breakfast in one hand and two metal poles in the other. After leaning the baton-like poles against the wall, she took a seat next to my bed.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, hash browns, two slices of buttered toast with some kind of jelly on the side—probably blackberry, but I wasn’t 100 percent positive about that—a short glass of orange juice, and a tall glass of water. At least the food hadn’t changed, and I surprised myself by actually having an appetite, despite an earlier stint of queasiness.
“Hungry?”
“Not really,” I lied. My throat hurt, and I wasn’t too keen on the idea of possibly being hand-fed like a baby, especially by someone I’d just met.
“Well, then. How about I set your breakfast right over here and we start conditioning?” She positioned the tray on the floating table. “Who knows? Maybe after today’s session you’ll even be able to feed yourself.”
Or maybe I could do more—like walk out of this room.
Ella demonstrated several simple pole exercises that I was supposed to copy, then pulled the clingy sheet away from my body and unhooked my high-tech catheter. Gross. “Okay, Cassie. Now it’s your turn.”
The bar vibrated in my hands, and as the muscles in my arms flexed, a stimulating pulse pinged through, making my hands tingle.
Ella clapped after my third set of what she called “floating curls.” “Great job, Cassie. Yesterday you could barely lift your wrists, and now look at you.”
“You saw me yesterday?”
“Of course. Everyone wanted to witness your final awakening, but the lounge isn’t big enough for everybody, so every monitor in this wing was set to your room.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“N
o, I’m not. There are obscuras everywhere. We just can’t see most of them.” She pointed to the seamless walls.
“Obscuras? You mean as in camera obscura? So anyone in this building could be watching us, even now?” I frowned, setting the resistance bar across my lap and pushing up on my palms to lean forward.
“No, no, honey, only during your awakening. It was a special moment for everyone. We’ve all worked so hard to bring you back to life. Until a few weeks ago, we weren’t even sure if we could do it. You’re still being monitored, of course, but only by a few staff members, two of whom you’ve already met—Dr. Bennett and Dr. Love.”
I pulled my sheet up to my lap. Had Dr. Bennett been watching me this whole time? “Turn the obscuras off now, please. Having these two windows staring at me all day is bad enough, but hidden cameras? I don’t want people watching me all the time.” I kicked hard from under the sheet. The pole rolled from my lap and wobbled with a high-pitched hum before rising and stabilizing itself above my calves.
Not the dramatic move I was aiming for.
“It’s—it’s an invasion of privacy.”
“Honey, you’re not being observed all the time. There’s a sensor on the floor at the foot of your bed. A tap on it with a toe renders this room free, meaning all lenses close and all observation windows blacken.”
“Does free mean that Dr. Bennett can’t see?”
“Of course.”
Thank God. Even though he was a doctor, that would be way too embarrassing. “But I can’t reach the sensor.”
Ella raised her eyebrows. Her plump lower lip protruded slightly in a pout, but she didn’t say anything.
“Is this the only hospital under surveillance?”
“No, that wouldn’t be safe. The entire region is being watched: the streets, the buildings, inside and out, even our homes. But don’t worry, all bathrooms and bedrooms are free all the time.”
“Even your homes? So who does all of this watching?”
“The local government of this division. Each division has its own security patrol, but we’re not monitored around the clock. That would be way too expensive and inefficient. The obscuras are activated only when necessary, and random viewings are taken several times during the day and night.”
“Doesn’t it bother you?” It sure the heck bothered me.
“I don’t have anything to hide, so it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, sweetie, pretty soon you’ll forget all about the obscuras in the walls.” Ella fluffed her brown hair. It smoothed in toward her neck and curled out and under at her shoulders, mimicking her hourglass shape.
How could I trust someone who was so trusting of a government that kept track of its citizens 24/7? Were they really all this naïve? Even Dr. Bennett and Dr. Love?
I mumbled, “I hope so.”
“Well, I know so. Now, let’s work your lower body.”
Three sets of floating quads from a lying position made my forehead hot and my armpits sticky, but while the bar’s inner workings pulsed against my legs, my muscles felt alive and strong. “So what’s going to happen to me? After I recover, where am I going to live? I don’t own anything. I don’t have any money. I don’t even—”
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m in charge of your physical therapy, but Dr. Bennett’s in charge of your recovery and assimilation. Save those questions for him.”
“Then tell me about Dr. Bennett.” I blushed, but maybe she’d attribute it to my workout. “He just looks so young. I can’t believe he’s a doctor.”
“Dr. Bennett may be young, but he’s highly professional. He’s a genius, you know, an absolute genius. And I must admit that he’s as handsome as he is smart, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Dr. Bennett was gorgeous, bordering on perfect. I’d never seen anyone so good looking before in my life.
Thinking about Dr. Bennett made this sterile room somewhat bearable, but my lungs craved fresh air—I yearned for a soft breeze and sunshine. If they wanted me to assimilate and adapt to their world, I needed to see it.
I needed proof. “I wish this room had a window.”
“There’s a balcony at the end of this floor. When you can walk on your own, I’ll take you there.”
But I wasn’t planning on waiting that long. The minute I could plant both feet on the ground and move, I was going to sneak out of this room, find a window, and make my way outdoors for a dose of real air and sunshine before I went stir-crazy. And no one was going to stop me—not even the hot Dr. Bennett.
“Can’t you take me there now? You know, put me in a wheelchair or something? I’m not used to being cooped up like this. I need to see trees and flowers. Mountains, or even the sun.” I imagined the four glossy walls of the room closing in on me. “I can’t stand it in here anymore. Please?”
Ella shook her head. “You haven’t been L-Banded yet. You can’t leave this room ’til then.” She tapped a tight, black bracelet on her right wrist.
“That’s an L-Band?” It looked more like a dog collar. “I don’t think I want one. It’s ugly.”
“Every citizen in the world wears an L-Band. You can’t drive, shop, or travel without one. It keeps track of your expenses and, like a key, it allows you to enter and exit rooms and buildings. It connects you to the region’s computer.”
“So I can’t refuse to wear one?”
“Why would you?”
Why? Because it didn’t just look like a dog collar—it was a dog collar with an invisible leash to a computer. But with Ella smiling proudly like it was an honor to wear one, I knew there was no use questioning her about it.
“Then do me a favor. If there was a window in this room, and I looked outside, what would I see?”
“How about this? Before we discuss the thirty-first century, why don’t you tell me what you’d see in 2022, looking out your window.”
“Well,” I said, tapping the pole hovering above my legs, which sent it wobbling before it steadied into a rotating blur of silver. “Most of the time, my mom and I traveled and slept in tents, so I guess you could say that my window was always changing.” In my mind’s eye, I saw the opening of my tent, parted slightly, a ray of sun burning a spot on my sleeping bag. “Hills of sunset-colored sandstone against a white sky. A checkerboard of string below, marking our site. Two additional tents to my left. Two Jeeps, one red, one forest green, both encrusted in orange mud and dust. My mother standing next to a camp chair drinking a cup of black coffee.”
My eyes became misty.
The pole slowed and teetered. I hit it again, harder this time, ignoring my muscle pain. “I look a lot like my mother. At least that’s what people have always told me.”
“Then your mother must have been beautiful because you’re a natural beauty with your dark hair, porcelain skin, and red lips.”
A natural beauty—I can’t tell you how many times people have called me that. But they were all relatives or my mother’s friends, people who felt obligated to say something nice.
David Casper, my first crush, was the only person who ever made me feel pretty, and he was dead like everyone else I’d known. We met on my first day at Central. It had been David’s first day, too, having just moved to the States from Australia. Within a week, I was smitten.
So while my mother was on a dig in the Middle East, I lived with my grandfather, attended the local high school, and met the guy of my dreams. If only I could have attended Central for more than one semester.
“Thanks,” I said, without making eye contact and shaking my head as the memory disappeared. “But she was wrong to do this to me.” I should be dead like my mother. I couldn’t believe she agreed to freeze me and store me in a warehouse.
Ella smoothed the hair on my forehead. “Sweetheart, this is a wonderful place. I believe that you came to us for a reason. Everyone has a purpose, and soon you’ll find yours. Life is oh so precious, Cassie.”
“I guess.” I groaned. It’s not like it wasn’t precious
back in 2022. Humans have an innate respect for life—all life. My respect just happened to extend back to the Triassic period.
“Now, chin up, hon. Let me tell you what you’d see if there was a window right there.”
“You know, you wouldn’t have to tell me if you could just show me. Can’t you move me to a room with a window? That would be a lot easier.” I took a breath and imagined what lay beyond this boring, alien room, a room that seemed to shrink in size and make me break a sweat every time I was seized with the reality of my confinement and physical limitations.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I know.” I sighed, trying to hide my frustration.
Ella cleared her throat. “Now, the first thing you’d see is the plaza, which lies between this hospital and another building identical to this one, so you’d see lots of people, benches, and outdoor eateries.”
“What about trees, flowers, grass, you know, maybe even a mountain or two?”
The fine arches of Ella’s eyebrows became more pronounced as she thought for a moment. “Um, no, you couldn’t see anything like that from here.”
“You’re kidding. There has to be a little bit of landscaping somewhere.”
“No, this whole compound is set within concrete paths and slabs.”
I frowned.
“But it’s not ugly,” Ella was quick to add. “Much of the concrete has been laser etched and colored with beautiful designs.”
“So there isn’t a single blade of grass anywhere around here?” I asked, crushed and disgusted.
“Well, there’s the botanical building, but no one ever goes in there. Oh yeah, there is one tree. It’s—”
“Really? Where?” I asked, bending my knees and scooting forward.
“Behind the hospital next to the Magnolia Café. It’s called the Magnolia Café because there’s a big magnolia tree growing next to it.”
“Oh, I love magnolias. I wish I could see it from here.”
“I know, honey, but it wouldn’t look like much from up here anyway.”
“Why? What floor are we on?”
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