All Light Will Fall

by Almney King

  When the door opened again, Dr. Hailey entered with her guards. Dr. Gerald was absent. Instead, a young looking woman assisted her. She looked fragile. Her fingers shook and her eyes fluttered like she was anxious about something.

  Dr. Hailey came and stood before me. I noticed then how elegant she looked. She moved with grace and spoke just the same. Everything about her was attractive and powerful. “Corrine,” she said with a smile, “you passed the test.”

  I closed my eyes in relief. I was safe. I could go home. Mother and Fern were probably terrified by now. “When will I leave?” I asked timidly.

  Dr. Hailey tilted her head. “Leave?” she questioned. “I’m afraid you will not be leaving us so soon, Corrine.”

  My legs shook. I took a step back. “But you said if I passed the test then...”

  “Yes,” she interrupted. “I said that if you passed then it would be a good sign, and it is a good sign ... for us.”

  I quivered. Her words were cold, and she was a cold-blooded snake of a woman. Still, I looked up at her. Dr. Hailey stepped forward. She smiled. She placed a hand on my shoulder. My eyes screamed mercy at her. “Don’t be afraid, Corrine. We are going to take good care of you.” She waved a hand at her subordinates.

  Suddenly, their hands were on me, pulling at my arms and legs. “Let go!” I snapped.

  “Ms. Sandra, please give our Corrine something to ease her mind.”

  “No please!” I cried. “Let me go home! I want to go home!”

  I screamed. I fought. I cried. To them, it didn’t matter.

  It was all the same. Deception. Once again, I had fallen for it. Once again, the darkness came.

  I woke to a wild sound. It was a deep and unsteady sound, like a beating heart. I couldn’t move. The world was a blur. A blinding light blazed from above. The smell of iron was in the air. I looked down at myself, my body strapped down inside some glass-like tube. I wasn’t alone. There were voices. I could hear them whispering.

  “How is the analysis?”

  “All positive. She is very healthy,” a voice responded.

  I tried moving again, struggling against the metal straps holding me down, and as my vison finally cleared, I screamed.

  “Dear God, she’s awake! Stop the procedure!”

  My arms and legs were sawed open, the skin peeled back over bone and flesh. So was my chest. I could see my heart. I could see it pulsing between my lungs. The surrounding tendons were stripped back, and the reddish muscle kept beating, and pounding, and beating.

  “What is this!?” I screamed. “Let me out of here! Let me out!”

  “Issue Proloxy 7 now!”

  “Not with this one. Dr. Gerald has decided to test Gene-Nome 1 on this subject.”

  This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. “Let me out!” I cried.

  “But eighty percent of our recruits have been exterminated due to the effects of Gene-Nome 1. The other twenty percent are unsustainable.”

  “This one is different. Issue Gene-Nome 1 or I will relieve you from your position.”

  The smell, the smell was sickening. I couldn’t take the smell.

  “Yes, sir. Now issuing Gene-Nome 1.”

  From the bottom of the tube, several wires hooked my arms and legs. They continued upwards, and with one quick strike, they dug into my flesh, drilling to the bone.

  There was pain, there was misery, and there was blood, spraying everywhere against the glass.

  “Issue Blue 15 now!”

  Suddenly, the cylinder flipped upright. Blue liquid rushed into the container, filling the capsule to the ridge. I panicked as it leveled over my head. “She’ll suffocate. We need to halt the procedure.”

  “We have other test subjects if this one dies.”

  I couldn’t breathe.

  “Yes, but shouldn’t we at least...”

  What is this?

  “Ms. Sandra, end your sympathy if you wish to continue working in this lab.”

  This wasn’t real.

  “Yes, Dr. Gerald.”

  I was drowning. The pain twisted low in my chest. Then came the fire. It ripped straight through me. My body jerked and turned.

  Everything was fading. I was numb. I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t see. The numbness took me. It whisked me to the dark recesses of my mind until the person I was became someone I would never be again.

  The journey was dark. My memories gathered there in the blackest of space. They flashed before me, each one vanishing into a realm of forgetfulness.

  Mother was there, singing me to sleep. Fern was there too, laughing and decorating my hair with braids. I watched the blurred memory of my father slip away as well. I reached out for him, but the dark battled against me. It lured me into the unknown, where the past became a dream and that dream became reality.

  Our home possessed a ghostly silence, the flicker of an oil lamp casting crooked shadows over the walls. “Corrine,” someone spoke. It was Mother. She sat in a steel chair, an open Bible sprawled in her hands. I approached her slowly. The pages of the book littered the floor one by one, like a flood of leaves. “Corrine,” Mother called, “it’s time to forget.”

  She looked up at me. Her eyes were gone. Blood dripped and pooled between the cracks of her lips. I jumped back in horror. The lamp fell to the floor and lit the room aflame. “It’s time to forget,” Mother demanded. Her mouth split open, the jaw bone breaking and cracking her face in half.

  Suddenly, I was thrown from the room and into another. Nothing existed here but a black sea, with all of Helio Tellus submerged beneath the waters. I could see myself. My reflection stretched tall over the city.

  “You must forget,” it whispered. A hand came through the water and snatched me by the throat. “You will forget!” It pulled me in, deep into the darkness.

  Within seconds, I was in the living room again. Mother was preparing dinner. Fern was singing of stars. I saw myself catching snow. Then all of us were sitting on the floor in prayer. Ellis smiling, chasing me through the streets. Mother reading. Fern braiding my hair. I saw Marx Avenue. My father leaving. The days came and went. One by one, the memories faded until all I could hear and see and feel was the silence.

  When time finally ended, the world died with it. I knew of nothing, yet of everything. There was a familiar sound around me, a very familiar vibe... of course... the hum of the earth. I knew of Earth, and life and death. But I knew not myself. I knew everything, but not myself. I have no name. I have no desires. I have no purpose. I am no one.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HYSTERIA

  From the darkness, there came light. I knew of light. I knew it well as it touched my eyes and woke me. Then came the sounds. They came in small vibrations, in all different volumes and tones. It sounded familiar. It sounded like words.

  “She’s coming through, Dr. Gerald,” a voice said. “Brain frequencies are active and stable.”

  “Tell me the DNA readings of Gene-Nome 1.”

  “It appears Gene-Nome 1 has completely overridden the subject’s humanoid genetics. The levels of Gene-Nome 1 are dangerously high. The subject will need major cerebral therapy before we can proceed.”

  I opened my eyes. There were humans there, staring at me. I could smell them, hear their bodies pulsing. I wanted to move. I couldn’t. I was trapped by some sort of glass wall. Then I knew—this was a cage.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we have truly outdone ourselves.” The human came close to the glass. He looked at me. I looked at him. Something moved against his throat. I watched it pulse over and over. My body felt hot. That beating in his neck, it looked soft.

  “I present to you,” the man paused, “Arsenal 2102!”

  The humans cheered. I watched them. They looked so frail, ripe and full of warmth. They looked like prey, my prey.

  The man behind the glass smiled. His eyes gleamed with pride. It would not last. Once I was free, I would devour that pride. There would be no more smiles. There would be screams. “Your creation
will lead us into a new world,” the man said. “I have created the perfect being. Even the heavens above seethe with envy.”

  The heat was rising. Hunger was a vicious thing. “It looks like she wants out. I suppose I would too if I were stuck in there for two years,” the man chuckled. The humans laughed.

  “Alright! Let’s get this recruit to the humanization facility.” The man turned away.

  There was no reason to wait. I clenched my upper body and ripped through the metal restraints. The humans were startled. I struck the glass next, and it shattered with ease. The crowd scattered. “Lock everything down!”

  I leapt from the cage. The humans were everywhere, running and screaming. I inhaled. That sound of terror was liberating.

  “Prepare to fire!”

  I looked to the left. A line of men held me at gun point.

  “Hold your fire!” the doctor shouted. I was before him in milliseconds, lifting him from the floor. My fingers were around his throat, the pulse of his blood stirring a feral thirst within me.

  I sunk my teeth into his neck and ripped the flesh away. The man screamed. He bucked forward, and I dropped his body to the floor.

  The guards were quick to attack. It was futile. The hot beads of energy pierced my skin, but there was no pain.

  From the entrance, a squad of men rushed into the room. Before they could attack, I was in front of them.

  Humans—they were weak. I was above them. I was all-powerful, and I would exercise that power.

  A weapon laid in a pool of blood on the floor. I picked it up and aimed at the glass cage. I fired, unleashing my fury on the machine. It ignited, and as it burned, I was satisfied.

  Something moved suddenly. I turned, aiming the weapon. A woman huddled against the wall of the control booth. She held up her hands in surrender. “Don’t kill me,” she pleaded. “Please don’t shoot ...” I pressed the barrel of the gun against her temple. She screamed. I grabbed her, dragging her by the face all the way to the exit. I tossed the weapon aside and ripped the door open.

  Out in the hall, sirens rang through the building. I heard shouting. Sixty armed men advanced from the end of the hall. Most were human, but some were not. They stood tall over the men, moving like human machines. Still, I had no fear of them.

  “Stand down recruit!”

  I was being threatened. “Release the hostage and stand down!” I held firm to the woman. Who were they to command me? These humans, they had far too much pride.

  The woman struggled, trying to escape. “Release the hostage, and stand down!” I loosened my grip. She was almost free. She thought so too, and as she was ready to slip away, I tightened my grasp and crushed the bones of her face. Then she was silent.

  The men dispersed, delivering a hostile attack. I charged at the nearest guard, breaking the bone of his forearm. I threw him aside then downed the remaining guards in quick, calculated movements.

  I came to a still as five dozen security squads blocked my path. They were surrounded by a fleet of militarized aircrafts. “Recruit 2102, stand down or we will be forced to eradicate you!” a voice ordered. “This is your last warning. Stand down!”

  I raised a weapon, firing at one of the aircrafts. “Fire!”

  I attacked, but it wasn’t quick enough. Five streams of energy shot out from the aircrafts and took me hostage. “Subject 2102 sustained.” I wrestled against the chains of energy. They were strong. I couldn’t free myself.

  The humans circled around me, staring down at me in awe. They looked pleased, and I despised them. I wanted their blood. I wanted their screams.

  “Out of the way!” a voice cried. A woman pushed through the crowd. There was something in her hand. “I’m putting this subject down.”

  I looked up, gnashing my teeth at her.

  “No!”

  The man came from nowhere. He was quick, but the action was slow in my eyes. He took the weapon from a nearby guard and fired.

  The syringe vibrated against the floor. It sounded like a bell. Everything was quiet as the woman fell face down to the ground. Blood pooled beneath her, saturating the lab coat she wore. Her dead eyes stared at me. She looked beautiful in death. Her body was twisted, but had fallen with grace. Her skin was beautiful too, warm and soft looking.

  I looked to her killer. He looked wild, his breaths going in and out.

  “Let this be a warning,” he bellowed. “No one deletes 2102!” The guards were silent.

  “You may think I’m cruel gentleman, but if 2102 is deleted, the overseers will be outraged. Remember gentleman, the only thing truly cruel in this world is our inability to control our fate. That is what ARTIKA wishes to accomplish. That is why sacrifices must be made.”

  The man glanced down at me then turned away. He stepped over the dead woman, bloody footprints trailing his steps. “Get this recruit to the humanization facility on the double!” The man shouted. “And someone get rid of this mess!”

  I watched him leave. Then I was taken. They locked me in a cage. There was no way out. It was bolted with steel. There was no sound. I was surrounded by glass. It was bright inside, too bright. There was no rest. The humans were watching, always watching. I had underestimated them.

  Time passed. When the humans came for me, I couldn’t escape. They filled the cage with smoke, and suddenly I couldn’t move. They took me away. I was strapped down and held at gun point.

  They took me to a blue lit room. It was full of machines and wild noise. The humans rushed about in these eye-blinding silver suits, the letters “mw” on their backs. One of the humans leaned over me, flashing light in my eyes. I snarled at him. His face was masked, but I could see his eyes. He was excited. “Let’s get her into the chamber.”

  “Yes, Dr. Gerald.”

  They rolled me into a smaller area. There was a machine inside, like a tunnel. It sounded alive, speaking its own electric language. They slid me inside, and the tunnel closed. I stared at the ceiling. It was blank, but there were shapes there, tiny micro-squares and nothing else. These humans, I couldn’t understand them. What were these walls? What were these sounds?

  Suddenly, the tunnel awakened. I could feel it vibrate. Then came light. The micro-squares turned to color. They formed figures, images. The pictures flashed again and again. There was sound. There was language. I saw humans and landscapes. I saw words and shapes. There were numbers, equations, and formulas. I saw history, the human birth, the blooming of a flower, the light of the sun, the rotation of the moon. I took it all in. It was almost too much.

  Days passed in the chamber, weeks perhaps. I didn’t know how long it was, but I could feel it. I understood time now. I understood more than I should. It was unnatural to know so much. I came to realize this. When I was freed from the chamber, I couldn’t think. There was too much knowledge. My mind was drowned in it.

  I was taken into a third room. The doctors began the second stage of what they called humanization. The process was torture. They drilled seer-tubes into my brain and stuck me with probes. They drew blood and shot chemicals into my system. Then came the eleo-therapy. The electric shocks were unbearable. By the end of it, I could hardly feel anything at all.

  Days later, I was back in the holding room. A doctor waited for me. She was an elegant and fairly attractive woman. I sat quietly. I didn’t move. She observed me behind the glass—waiting.

  “Hello recruit,” the woman spoke. Her voice was like water, cool and clean. “My name is Dr. Hailey. How are you feeling?”

  A question? A conversation? This was new. What was I to say? Ever since I had awaken, I hadn’t spoken a word. “It is for your own good that you answer me, recruit,” the woman said. She was quite impatient. Waiting frustrated her. “If you won’t respond, I’ll begin with the introduction. Then we will see if your stubbornness is worth the risk.”

  I said nothing. I would say nothing. I wanted her to suffer in that way. It was all I could do to seek vengeance.

  “First understand this, recruit.
You are not human. You are not like me or any of the other personnel you have seen at this facility. You were genetically designed in one of our labs. You are the property of ARTIKA. We built you. We bred you. We are you.”

  It was as I thought. These humans knew too much. They did too much. They were destructive and haughty. Whatever I was, I was proud to be so.

  “You were created for one purpose, 2102. You are a soldier, an arsenal. ARTIKA built you to ensure the survival of mankind. As you know, the order of the world has changed. The resources and luxuries provided to Helio Tellus are difficult to obtain. We have you and those like you to thank. It is an honor to be a part of the New Eden program.”

  I understood now. Somewhere beyond these walls there was war. There was a struggle for dominion and immortality.

  “We know you want your freedom, and you will have it. I’m here to monitor your progress. If you are cooperative during this final stage, you will be released. The other recruits are very eager to meet you. After you’ve settled, your training will begin. It is important that you progress quickly. A recruit who lacks ambition is of no use and will be put down.”

  The woman took the first pause since she had begun. “As of today, you will also be known as Celeste. You are to abide by all regulations. Otherwise, you will be severely punished. If you go rogue or attack ARTIKA personnel again, there will be no exceptions. Do you understand, Celeste? You will suffer an agonizing death.”

  I was silent. Her brow arched. She was irritated. “That will be all for today, Celeste. But come these next several days I expect a response from you. Remember what I said. If you are not useful, you are nothing but a nuisance.”

  I turned from her as she left. She was a wretched woman. She walked and talked as if she were above me. And once I was free, she would suffer far more than my silence.

  For the following weeks, Dr. Hailey cursed me with her presence. Her perceptiveness came to aggravate me. She was critical, speculative, and cold. More than this, she was unafraid. I hated her courage the most. It was that courage that dared her to challenge me.