by Harper Doyle
“Umm, I guess that makes it my turn to ask you a question.” James was shaking off the tension and stress that had built up in the past few minutes and tried to regain his composure. The barrier he had forged was placing its walls and he was putting his façade back up. Nadia had never thought to create such a barricade for herself. With Nadia she merely let her mind escape what she didn’t want to deal with at the moment. James reevaluated his mindset and returned to the way he was before the confrontation.
“My next question is how old are you? Also, do you have any siblings?” James gave her a smile, but Nadia could see through his attempt to personify happy go lucky. Nadia wanted to make him just stop faking it, but that was what he needed to survive this place, and she could not deny him that. The subject was sore and to avoid any emotional scars she answered as if she were the Nadia from before this whole issue started.
Back when she and her brother and little sister were going to see the pretty princess and pink pony paradise movie. She had been so annoyed at how Dmitri was going to make them late and miss the only thing worth seeing at the movie. He should have been more willing to go; he was after all going to get to use the car to take his potential girlfriend on a date. He was hoping to seal the deal, confirm that they were boyfriend and girlfriend by impressing her with the car. Nadia realized that she was probably already dating other guys by now. Sure she must have been sad that Dmitri had gone missing, but like all other high school girls, life went on. Nadia’s mind continued to wander over the memories of her previous life; it now seemed so far away…
“Uhh, hello, I asked you a question. Nadia? Nadia!” James was confused by the blank stare he was getting from Nadia, it was kind of freaking him out. He had only asked her about her age and siblings, what was the harm in that? After the slight yell from James, Nadia came back down to earth and blinked back into lucid consciousness.
“I am fourteen years old and have 2 siblings.” In her mind Nadia said to herself, well, had two siblings. James seemed to be puzzled over Nadia’s daydream to within her mind and then her sudden transfer back to reality. Though, with the answer he seemed satisfied.
“Girls,” James said under his breath before giving her the answers to the questions he had asked. “I am also fourteen, and I am an only child.” James looked at Nadia as if expecting her to ask the next question, but she remained silent once more and James threw up his arms in defeat. “I guess we can be done for now. We will need something to talk about next time. Guess that means its nap time.” James flipped over and closed his eye; the other was so bandaged up that he couldn’t tell if it was open or closed.
The next few days passed in a similar way to the first one, a series of question and answer sessions between Nadia and James. As the days went on Nadia felt more and more comfortable with James. The seed of friendship had been planted and with each day the two of them watered it by satisfying each others curiosity. It came to the day when the doctors came in to check on how the new eye was adjusting to the host body and if there were any infections or rejections.
Each subject, as they were called, was visited by a group of three doctors, one a short stubby male whom had gray hair balding in the back. Another one was tall and of average build, male also, but was younger, though still balding, unfortunately. The last was a female, middle aged and of average height and build. They must have been the ones that inserted the foreign object into the children’s eyes because they knew exactly what to look for and whatever else they talked to each other in gibberish about.
It took then a few minutes to get to Nadia and once they were there Nadia wished that they would just go away. The tall doctor leaned in close to her face and slowly undid the bandages. When they were off Nadia still couldn’t see out of her eye. At that point a little spark of fear panged her stomach; she feared that that surgery had gone wrong and that she would never see out of that eye again. They doctors hmmed and ahhed, causing even more fear to build up within Nadia. Then the short stubby doctor put his face within inches of Nadia’s which made her want to back up and tell him to get off her face, but that would not be a good idea at the moment. If she could handle them in her face for a few minutes it would be worth it in the long run.
“Well, Miss Rachmaninov I see that you are doing quite well for after the surgery, there appears to be a bit of build up behind your eye, but that is completely normal. We give you the stamp of approval and have scheduled your next procedure for tomorrow at noon. Have a nice day and we all wish you good luck.” The lady of the bunch smiled at her, but it seemed fake, which just made Nadia angrier. If people did not want to show positive energy through a smile they did not have to. Why they felt the need to force something like that seemed pointless and irritating. James was next and he too passed with flying colors. Nadia watched them the whole time and they told him nearly the same thing, word for word, what they told Nadia.
“Good luck tomorrow, good bye.” Then the doctors moved on and James gave Nadia a smirk and thumbs up. In the few days that they had been together Nadia and James had meshed and cliqued well. It was just the initial attempts to communicate that had caused them to be on guard with each other.
The rest of the day was spent talking about their favorite kinds of dogs and ice cream flavors, which Rebecca joined in with. She and her partner Michael had hit it off well too and the four of them all talked together and formed a certain bond. The next day was nearly identical to the first day in the pseudo hospital. The children were prepped for surgery, and then put under for the same surgery, only on a different eye. And, like last time they came out groggy as all hell and completely high on the anesthetic.
Within a few hours they had returned to normal and were embarrassed at how they acted during their time of loopy craziness. This time though both eyes were bandaged so that they could heal both eyes within the same time. By keeping both covered the doctors wanted to reveal the new eyes at the same time so that readjustments could be made right away instead of waiting for the subject to get used to it and then have to change it again when the other eye was done. While the eyes were in their heads they were in a sense not turned on. A certain electrical current that would pass through the brain would enable the eyes to ‘turn on’ and begin functioning. It was weird to not be able to see for nearly a week, though by the end of that time the four special ops subjects could identify each other by their voice.
“Next question, if you could have any food right now what would it be?” James had asked the question and it sent sighs around the room. Nadia had learned to loosen up around the other three people in her ‘section.’ She replied first.
“Cheesecake, definitely cheesecake, with chocolate chips and whip cream.” She licked her lips for emphasis and the others all replied with an ooo. Michael had been contemplating his choice when Rebecca piped up and answered the question.
“Personally I am a savory kind of a girl and would die to have a cheeseburger right now. Now mind you I don’t like that lettuce, tomato, pickle business, all a cheeseburger needs is a ground beef patty and a slice of cheddar cheese on a sesame bun. Oh hell yeah!” Rebecca could hardly contain her joy for the prospective food she chose.
Michael was finally sure what he wanted and practically shouted his answer. “For me, I could go for a slice of good old fashioned pepperoni pizza. Doesn’t matter where it’s from, or if it’s hot or cold. Just the thought I could eat it would be enough for me.”
With the others having already answered the question it was finally James’s turn to put forth his opinion. His was not like any of the other’s, certainly not something that everyone would find appealing. James set forth his ideas with an even voice.
“If I were to have any food right now, it would have to be salad, with Italian dressing and tomatoes and carrots and all the yummy stuff that they put in it.” If the other three could have given him looks they would hav
e, instead they settled for a unison, “What?!” Of all the wonderful foods in the world why would someone choose to have salad, over sweet or salty? James continued to be an enigma when it came to his personal preferences and if it had been any other way it wouldn’t have been the James that everyone had come to know.
The next few days passed in an almost bliss, not in the traditional sense of happiness and divine light, or anything like that. No, the bliss that Nadia, James, Michael, and Rebecca experienced was a sort of calm and temporary peace with themselves. Without seeing each other they had developed a bond deeper than they had at first thought possible. Then their stay together came to a halt as there recovery time was completed and they were prepped for return to the community housing development.
James and Nadia were talking about their first day of high school when the doctors came around again, this time with a scientist who was holding what looked like a stick of some sort. They came closer and closer until they stopped at Nadia, their shoes clicking on the linoleum floor. The scientist extended his stick to the point that it was nearly touching her eye. The doctors crowded around her and the scientist inched closer. Nadia was not quite sure what was going on, but she could sense something inching towards her face. And she was sure as hell not about to let some creepy looking man stick something in her eye without explaining why first. The doctors and scientist got the vibe and withdrew for a moment.
“Miss Rachmaninov we are going to turn your optical devices in you cranium on now, so you need to sit still while the scientist here sends an electric shock through your brain and jumpstarts your eyes.” The lady doctor was talking, figuring that she could get some sort of female vibe going for her. To bad Nadia hated her and was unwilling to return the mutual trust that the doctor was searching for. Though the explanation allowed her to relax, if only a fraction more than she did before.
“All right, here we go.” The scientist spoke, Nadia was surprised by how low his voice was and for a moment that distracted her. The stick was placed near her eye again, but this time she did not flinch and the moment the stick touched her eye there was a shock, Nadia felt it flow through her and after a few seconds she heard what sounded like a T.V. turning on in her mind. Then all of the sudden her right eye flickered into view and what she saw was not like anything in her life so far. Before she could ask any questions or get used to the first eye the scientist leaned over to the other eye and mirrored the same movement turning on the left eye. Pretty much the same thing happened and with a double dose of confusion she was left by the doctors and scientist as they headed over to James and did the same thing to him. This cycle was continued until Rebecca, Michael and James all were turned on and together they sat confused and freaked out.
What they saw now was computerized, much like they were looking through someone else’s eyes. The doctor and scientist walked to stand in the center of all four of them, surrounded by looks of fear and doubt, mingled with uncertainty. The tall average looking doctor cleared his throat and drew in a breath as if to talk. But it was the short stubby doctor that produced any sound.
“I know that all of you are probably freaked out by how the new technology in your eye socket. This is how you will be seeing from now on. Also, this eye has a few extra features beyond the standard eye inserted into the non-special ops. This eye can zoom in, turn to heat vision and analyze situations and help solve solutions. To operate your new eye you need to use your brainpower and command it to do what you ask of it. It is only a machine; you have the higher intelligence and thus should be able to control and channel its power. By merely thinking that you want to see something far away as closer you should be able to actually do it. Try that right now, zoom in to my face.” The four children in the room all looked to his face and looks on concentration filled their faces. They were all trying their best but to control something when you barely know what it is makes it a little bit harder than if they had been given a guide, or how-to manual. Nobody passed the first test, but the scientist did not seemed surprised at that in the least. He drew in another breath and looked to each of the four in the room.
“You have been given an exceptional gift, train to use it and it will become a great asset to you. Do not waste what we have given you, we do not take well to slackers or irresponsible people, remember that.” The doctors and scientist turned and exited the room, leaving the four children in utter mystification, eyes flickering around them trying desperately to learn their new ‘gift’ so that they could function once more. The task was surely too much to ask of children thrown into such a situation.
For the next few hours they tried their hardest to figure out how everything worked. When they left the hospital room they were no farther ahead than when they were first turned on. Relaying on each other Rebecca and Nadia somehow made it back to their bunks and collapsed on the bed, passing out from the shock of having to relearn how to see.
The following days were spent in utter perplexity, James and Michael had returned to their community housing development and Rebecca and Nadia had returned to theirs. Life was forever changed due to the fact that one of the senses they were born with had been replaced. This new bionic eyes could see farther and change settings and what not, but it was foreign and strange. Certainly it took them quite a while to get use to how the new eyes worked.
Depth perception was a new feat to experience. This was because when Nadia and the others looked out through their eyes it was if they were seeing through someone else’s eyes, which in a way they were. These eyes were not natural and would never feel quite right to them, but what was done was done. There was no way to go back and ask for a refund or to reverse what had been done. Nadia had new eyes and that was something she just had to get used to. Rebecca had a harder time adapting, but over the following weeks things became easier if not less weird.
It took Nadia two weeks to get used to the keen eye. With it she was able to pick up every flaw, kind of like zooming in to the point of being able to see an ant carrying a scrap of food across the floor from 50 feet away. But even though she had been able to get a decent hold on this first level of the eye’s capacity the other levels of the eye’s power eluded her ability. For Rebecca it took twice as long to get used to, but in the end she too mastered the first level. When they first returned to the community housing development many of the girls were wary and kept away from both Rebecca and Nadia. This slight isolation created from the fear of the others put Nadia on edge, as if it was she who had done something wrong.
The other girls from the housing development would purposely leave the table when Rebecca and Nadia came and sat down. Their gaze was always averted from Nadia’s, to the point that if they eyes happened to meet the other girls’ would instantly look away. What Nadia didn’t understand was why she and Rebecca were being treated in such an isolating manner. Eventually the girls started to warm back up to them, but there was always going to be a rift between them that had not existed before.
The day that Rebecca and Nadia went back to school the students and teacher acted as though nothing had happened, as though Rebecca and Nadia had never left. The others in their group had been back for several days when the two of them returned. In a sense they were being shunned for having been chosen as special ops. Apparently those chosen for the higher ranking were given more perks and favor. This seemed absurd to Nadia, during her entire stay here she had been treated the same as everyone else. It seemed odd that the other girls in the group could get so prissy over something that was not even an issue to begin with. But there was clearly a distinction now, between them and the other girls of compound. Nadia could feel the tension in the air, as though the slight differences between them had somehow grown to astronomical lengths. Rebecca was finding it hard to deal with the sudden changes in everyone’s behavior towards them.
“I don’t understand why they are treating us so strangely. We had the same procedure as
the other girls from our group, just slightly different equipment, so to speak.” Rebecca was speaking in hushed tones as the two girls sat in their usual corner while the others were off.
“They are afraid.” Nadia was sitting with her hands in her lap, staring down at them. Lately it was becoming harder and harder to pull down the emotionless mask she had built as a defense mechanism, even in front of Rebecca. With a small sigh Rebecca pulled her knees in close and buried her face in her knees.
“But I am more afraid of me than they are. Why is that so hard to see? I fear for my future and they act as though I am already a monster. In many ways I wish that I was like them, just another one of the crowd.” Rebecca kept her face down and buried in her knees making it slightly difficult to hear her.
“In addition to being afraid they are also jealous. They want to be like us, chosen to be special and part of the selected to become special ops.” Nadia continued to stare forward, barely registering any emotion on her face as she worked to use her keen eye to zoom in on a conversation that were a few dozen feet away.
“Don’t they realize that they are better off than us? Why would they want to be scrutinized and prodded more than they already are? To me that just seems like foolishness.” Long moments of silence stretched on as Rebecca shut down and remained quiet, curled in on herself, while Nadia continued to spy and inspect every corner of the community housing. Then something caught her eye.
Off in the corner of the community housing, where the doors that lead to the hospital setting and the rest of whatever else the building held, Nadia saw Jack enter discreetly. In just a few seconds there was someone else that came up to him, but his face was blocked since he was facing away from Nadia. Though she couldn’t hear anything Nadia could tell that something important was being exchanged between them. Jack seemed thrilled at whatever news he was receiving and grinned like a mad man. Whatever it was that they were talking about Nadia had a bad feeling about it.