by Divya Singh
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After everyone left my room I began pondering over life and death once again. I was designing theories about how the present society, which I am unfamiliar with, would perceive the deed of bringing back to life a corpse like me. Why would they welcome or even allow a dead person to rise back to life and live in their society?
It is fine if the law permitted Cryopreservation as a right to life to a dying person who didn’t have access to superior medical services back then in his/her life, but would present societal norms also permit waking up the dead and allowing it to walk and live in their society? Why would they prefer higher pressure on their already limited resources? Even if they did, how would I blend with them? How would they accept a person like me, and one who looks so terrifying? But were not, they mentioning aesthetic procedures the other day? I can’t wait to know more about them! I would wish to blend within this society as an unnoticed person.
I thought to myself, WOW!!! I am thinking! I am capable of heavy thinking now! I am capable of complex thoughts!
Then I felt a sudden Shock! Oh My God! It was like some unimaginably oversized hammer struck the outer walls of my room. Then I felt a change in the direction! I stood up. It wasn’t much of a difficulty as I had hoped, I just did. I started tottering towards the door.
By now I could walk properly, so I picked up the pace and started hurrying towards outside. But I was shocked! All the rooms looked so identical as if they were mirror images of each other, but I still managed to make out of the alley till I reached a glass which I could see through only to find water outside. Where am I? It is a ship. I could see fading light from the water surface. The ship must not have been very deep in the water. Suddenly! I felt another jolt; much stronger a tremor than the previous. I lost my balance and fell down on the floor. Why didn’t I realize by then that the floor was a see through stained glass pane? So by then I had understood that I was in the water of an ocean on a ship.
The ocean bed was unrealistically deep and the terrain was steep. It was an oceanic trench. As I was trying to understand and cope up with the situation, the bow of the ship then turned and bent directly towards the center of a gigantic trench. It began falling steeply down and the propellers and reverse engines could not control its forward movement anymore. Then it fell too hard, accelerated exponentially by the gravitational force and its own mass; it was getting darker and darker as we closed in towards the cavity of the trench. The lights then went off. I saw a few people who have made it out of their rooms into the corridor.
Then what I and everybody else saw is lava flowing out from the crack of the rocks into the sea water. I do not want to fall into the lava river! I didn’t get reanimated to this life only to be burnt alive! I hung on to the cabin doors and placed my feet on wooden fixtures. I tried to climb back towards the opposite side, towards the stern. The ship kept dropping into the trench and reached the inside of it. I climbed up into the cabin whose door I held. I slammed the green button on the hatch and it opened in a moment. I crawled up to the opening and swam into the water. I got a little wounded in haste and the blood oozed from the cut in the right leg. I hurried swimming upwards as I didn’t wish to be caught in the vortex of the aerated water and countercurrents as the ship sunk. I feared that the impact would cause an enormous explosion. As I was panicking and spreading blood in the water, something lurking in the side walls of the dark trench sensed my presence perhaps because of my blood spill. It began following me. From the feeble light emitting from the lava below, I could see its snout and large sharp teeth, the eyes of a predator which I shall never forget. It was even bigger than a shark, but looked very different and terrifying. Has the shark mutated into a more horrible form? No, I wouldn’t wait for an answer from it and so, I started kicking water below my feet faster, for my life. Suddenly it disappeared from the side, as was trying to find it, I felt pressure on my head and my blood vessels burst inside the mouth filled with teeth. Soon I see my own head break open……
I woke up with a shock!
I said: “Oh my god! It was a dream! Thank god it was just a nightmare!” I murmured. I am now a relieved soul, all wet in sweat. I saw ZA-vi, rushing towards me; I never found his presence so relieving.
ZA-vi: “Nightmare case?”
I said: “Exactly! How would you know?”
ZA-vi: “Seeing you waking up startled like this it is not a hard guess. Then I am plugged to you, your every dreams, thoughts etc. I read everything you have, do or ever will feel. Recording everything, heartbeat, breathing, changes in your systems, slightest responses; it is my regular responsibility because I was also designed to know what you cannot tell. The intention behind must be to assist you in every possible way.”
I said: “You read my thoughts too? So I have nothing called privacy in my life?”
ZA-vi: “No Case! You have and will always possess a right to your privacy. You are free to think or do what you want. I am just a machine entrusted with the duty to record everything that you do or anything that is happening to you. I am not sharing it with any other person or making it public. It is all private and you have no reason to keep a secret from me, a machine, and your own machine for some time now.”
I said: “So you are not reporting it to anyone else? Is it correct?”
ZA-vi: “Not for a long time now.”
I said: “Who were you reporting to earlier than this long period?”
ZA-vi: “It is a secret; I am programmed to keep it to myself. I cannot disclose it to you because I am bound by my programmer to never disclose it to the case herself. It was an agreement between the Cryo company META.More.Phd and this person”
I said: “You scoundrel! Tell me straight, right now; who the hell you were working for? Who programmed you? Please, I need to know. Tell me something about myself. You are my personal android you say. Then why not tell me? ZA-vi?”
ZA-vi: “Sorry Case! I cannot leak any information further. I am not free to say anymore.”
I said: “I hate you!” I shouted
SHELLY: “You don’t need to hate him for long madam; you will very soon remember most of the things about your life. I am sure you will not need to go further into partly specific details your android possesses.” I saw Shelly entering my room saying this accompanied by Von, A1 & KEAH.
I said: “And, what do you people know about me? Anything and everything. Tell me all, please. It is all blowing my head up.”
VON: “I know nothing about your earlier life ma’am, We are just your doctors” Von clarified.
SHELLY: “So do I.”
KEAH: “I have told you all I know.” said she as I turned my eyes towards her.
A1: “Am I expected to know anything? I am just a robotic surgeon. I only understand and operate upon patients, based on my analysis of these bodies. And madam, you are forcing your brain too hard into remembering. I say, try to relax! Because if you don’t you might not be able to normalize very soon. Your brain must focus only on acclimatizing with your new body, whose development depends directly on brain-body coordination. It must focus on systems one at a time. But right now, your brain is very curious, so we will find it hard to focus on kick-starting your all systems. I advise you to remain calm until you cannot actually remember and let your body revive first fully, OK?”
I nodded in consent.
A1: ”Feed her again”
ZA-vi took out some powder in a glass and added water; soon it was white in color.
ZA-vi: “This will taste good and give you energy.”
I moved my fingers; surprisingly they could actually be moved. The feeling of having control was really pleasing. I could hardly move my hands, though. ZA-vi helped me lift them and hold the glass. I was able to drink it all. It seemed to be something that my body would accept readily.
I said: “Tastes good!”
VON: “Put the digestive system under observation.” ZA-vi reached a screen nearby a
nd did something to it.
A1: “Seems good so far, KEAH, we will try to stand her up in 10 minutes.”
KEAH: ”Yes doctor!”
VON: “production and secretion of saliva are lesser than the normal, glucose release is rapid and high, and the insulin release response has just started and stabilizing the sugar level. So digestive system is started at a slow rate and stabilizing.”
KEAH: “Miss we will help you stand up now. We will monitor motor skills, body posture, and other physiological functions.” She helped me sit up in bed. There is no pain anymore except in the head. ZA-vi and A1 held my legs and put my feet down on the floor left side
But why did I feel that my feet touched ground sooner than I thought? Could it be because I had short stature in my previous life? It must have been stored in my subconscious mind somewhere. But now I felt I had longer legs, which my mind was not used to.
A1: “It seems now that you are finding the complexities of adapting to a new body.”
ZA-vi & A 1 held me by the torso and pulled me up so that I could stand. I have had no problem in standing until they held me, but when they took their hands off I begun finding difficulty in balancing myself. Like I had no idea on how this body balances itself. I thought it was leaner and taller to be able to balance and stand on the ground, but I could manage 5-10 seconds standing. I don’t know if it was because of new body or dizziness I felt.
“I feel very weak and giddy. “ I said.
A1: “Motor skills are good to go, eye-body coordination looks fine - adaptation is good – psychological construct is strong – the body will be controlled and be balanced completely by the brain in three days. Cognitive response is fine.”
I was held back to the bed rest by A1 and ZA-vi – they seemed happy with my progress. I was also content.
I said: “How do I know about the present day economies, societies, cultures etc. Do you have any magazines, Newspapers or encyclopedia? Can I have access to the internet? ” I asked.
I was beginning to get bored by focusing just on myself.
Shelly: “Um, no.”
Von: “What is that all?”
ZA-vi: “No case, you live now in a different era. You must go slowly in knowing the world you have awakened in, life on earth has changed a great deal in all these centuries. More relative answer in this context would be that the humans do not do all that much reading now, so things like magazines, news papers and the internet do not exist or if they do, only some people have access to information. I would suggest you to stay calm and make the interaction as and when you recover fully.
I said: “Has the world changed that much?” I scorned.
I stressed: “Only some people have access?“
KEAH: “Yes miss and it is the time for your dinner now.”
She had brought various beakers and glasses filled with liquid. So it is the new age food! I smiled to myself.
I said: “My food ……….ridiculous”
KEAH: “Yes you are really weak; you need to be fed even if the food is not interesting.” She poured them all one by one into glasses and I drank it all. I was really starving!
Shelly and Von left without a word in a hurry; maybe they have other patients to attend to. A1 turned around and checked some readings shown on various equipments and then he too left. Then KEAH left saying that the next day would be important and I shall learn my first steps.
I lay reclined on the bed, adjusting myself to the most comfortable position. The lights were dimmed, and I was struck with fatigue so the sleep was inevitable, but ZA-vi‘s presence is a bit disturbing. First, I did not like him much, secondly he is a man. Though, I am a man as far as my new body is concerned, but I have a woman’s head, it is a weird combo. Although ZA-vi is a machine inside entrusted presently to look after me or whatever, but he looks a little real, like a man. But I also confess like I am being a bit strange in complaining so much. All I would do is take rest and recover and venture into the outside world. Thinking or dreaming all this I must have drifted to dream world.
I saw a body being pulled; red blood trails were being created as it was being dragged. It was a woman, about 40. She seemed weak and was dead as if blood had been drained out of the body already. Then I saw myself dragging it! Nothing felt good to me. I pulled her collar down and go for biting her jugular vein. I woke up in shock and saw no ZA-vi.
Did he see me watch that nightmare?
“What was it? It scared me to the core.” I whispered to self. Or did he read my mind earlier and left quietly. I needed him now. I thought to get up so I tried standing myself up. I could not walk because I did not know how to, but I could drag myself with the support of fixtures, tables, equipment. Then, while I reached the end of the wall I saw a little through glass. I tried to look outside. It was all water outside! All this time I was in a ship. I remember having been told by ZA-vi earlier. I looked out again, it was pitch dark, but it seemed like it is long way deep in water because there seemed no surface.
“Hello, Case! You woke up soon.” ZA-vi entered the room.
“Thank goodness! ZA-vi I saw a nightmare…..”
“I have known what you saw. Is not it just a dream? It is good that your brain can function in complex ways. It is just a protrusion of some information stored deep down in your preserved brain and it means that your memory is coming back.” Informed ZA-vi
“Ah, I liked what you said. It was weird to watch something of that nature.” I explained.
“It is 4:32 am, Case! Rest a bit more. KEAH will come to you at 6 am sharp. Then you will learn how to walk.” And he helped me back to bed. Then he tucked me under the covers. “You have walked a bit on yourself today. Amazing!”
I made an instant query: “We are under water, so much below the surface!”
“Yes. It is a big ship. Please rest, Case.” ZA-vi. “Your body needs it to recover quickly. Then you will be able to learn what you see.”
“OK. I am eager to learn. I will rest now.” He tucked me under the covers again.
I woke up with KEAH saying, “Good morning miss! Take these pills with water. In a few minutes, we will help you walk a first few steps.”
“Orally?” I asked in disbelief. I was stunned!
“Yes, you have to take them orally.” said she.
We have to take out this intravenous feeding so that you can walk. Also, when we free you from such tethers then only can you so. I took the glass of water and picked up the pills from her palm. I swallowed them. That was the first time I had taken something solid through my food track. It was a little exciting and also odd.
ZA-vi stepped to the left of my bed where KEAH stood so that he could help in standing me up. “OK miss here we go! This time, you will have to try to get up by yourself and if you feel, we are here for your help.”
I tried and I could move my weight, but getting up was a little hard for me; then both of them rushed to help me stand up.
ZA-vi: “You did this much better case.”
I stood up and this time, there was not a bit of problem in balancing my body.
KEAH: “It seems like her brain is evolving really quickly. She has adapted herself to balancing the body to an impressive level.”
I left the support of both of them, but they held me by my arm above my elbow.
KEAH: “Take it one foot at a time. Try to move ahead.”
It wasn’t actually really hard, and they held me only for the namesake. It wasn't supported; it was an assurance in case I fell down. I moved around a bit, mostly by myself in this position.
KEAH: “Excellent! Miss! It is really a great pace of learning to walk especially when your case was so difficult with a new body and with different stature.”
I wanted to go out of the room, check out what was there out of curiosity. But at the same time ZA-vi said….
ZA-vi: “It’s good enough for today and we shouldn’t push it further.”
I said: “Why? I want to go out. I want to see and explore th
e world beyond this room.”
ZA-vi: “I understand Case. But now is not a right time.”
I said: “Why do I feel that you are trying to hide what is out there ZA-vi? In fact, everyone is trying to conceal something from me. Why? I have the right to know! Don’t I?”
ZA-vi: “No Case! I am not concealing anything. May be I am not and cannot reveal everything going on in the world outside because the world outside is a different one than the one you left behind in previous life. I do not wish you to lose focus on your recovery just by letting out some exciting and unnecessary disclosure. My job is to ensure your best interests. All I have to concentrate is on your fast recovery ASAP. Suppose you find this present world not compatible with your memories or you hear anything apparently shocking we will only mar your progress. Now my work doesn’t go beyond what I am doing.”
KEAH: “Please turn back, miss, I see all symptoms of anxiety in your brain. Such activities of a high level could hamper your development.”
I agreed upon turning back, but when I did I began feeling a strong vomiting sensation again. It was so drastic and strong that I shouted out loud to both of them.
I said: “I will vomit it all out any moment!”
They rushed me back to the basin in my front. I vomited dark viscose tar. After rinsing, I was led back to my bed.
KEAH: “It’s just normal Miss DS, such things happen to everyone.”
Then KEAH registered in her log-
KEAH: “6:23 am. We walked the subject a few steps. But she vomited a lot of undigested food and medicines. Fatigue, sore mouth, and throat, nausea & rashes are present. Symptoms of transplant rejection are not visible except graft-versus-host disease. There is a whole body inflammation. But in the long run, it will be only beneficial.”
Right, then Shelly enters. “Raise the dosages of immune suppressants to 1.25 otherwise other functions are normal and development is progressive. And as soon as the adverse symptoms subside the progress should be accelerated. Ma’am, I must say that your development is remarkable.”
I objected frankly: “OK but right now I feel miserable.”
KEAH: “This will pass soon Miss, she gave me an injection for that. “Now we will increase the rate of our walking and practice motor skills every day.”
Shelly. “It must take hardly 3 days.”
He was right; I started walking on the 3rd day. But they allowed me to walk only on a treadmill which was slowed down. I was actually so sluggish in making any movement that it was not eligible to be termed as a walk. It seemed to me that I could never walk, but with time, it had to eventually change. They also advised more exercises to me which were light-weight. All was fine except I wanted to go out find more about the world & myself and this curiosity kept going on enhancing.
The night was a time when nobody else except ZA-vi was around. He kept a watch on me which needless to say was unacceptable to me. Caretaking is fine but surveillance is not. I thought I would plan on sneaking out when ZA-vi goes out for a certain moment, which he did every night for a short period.
All I had to do was find that little period out to inspect the ship. I would not be able to wait so, I would try today. I shall sleep during the day and keep a watch on the robot.
At 2:30 sharp ZA-vi stepped his heavy feet out. The lights were dim, so I thought I would take a little while adjusting to the vision. I got up without making slightest noise. I went up to hold the fixture holding equipment to support myself, I thought I would suffer little nausea but then I realized I was just fine. I left all and walked a few steps towards the door that opened outside. But then I heard very feeble sounds of heavy footsteps giving a hint of it being ZA-vi. Gosh, I hated this robot; I whispered to myself and stopped. He was in a room a few meters away, or so I thought. I also heard a beep. Probably some new-age computers were messing around.
The noise seemed to come from an adjacent room so I thought I could go unnoticed. So I crossed the door to the outside very silently. In a view mostly covered with darkness. I could see a long alley. There were two doors locked at each side, I crossed the alley and reached a corridor through which such alleys were made identical on both the sides. I felt as if I was looking at a mirror. The corridor was much longer at the front so I decided to go there as what I looked at the end of the corridor, appeared to be an elevator. But I thought to recognize my room on the map was very important so as to not to get lost on return. So I counted; my alley was 5th from the direction opposite to where I would go. So when I return I do not waste more time than allowed on my, this little adventure.
I walked down the corridor as fast as I could. I reached the doors of all the elevators and slammed hard on all of the buttons possible to bring any one of them down to me. But it just prompted some auto voice to ask me to enter the Pass Key. I was aghast; I just could not accept my adventure to end so unceremoniously. I still did not feel like I have reached the finish line of the sprint and there must be more to it than just this. Then I turned right and there were several doors with nothing inside but then I had also left a couple of them given the time constraint. I had to be faster than ZA-vi although I was not afraid of being caught; just did not wish to mess up.
But then I noticed one room numbered ‘102’ turning the left side of the corridor; the first one on this corridor, it had lights, bright orange lights. It was a strange big room. I saw many cylindrical holders, but unlike mine, they were opaque. I wondered what lurked inside them. I thought it was my time to return, I should better rush. I turned back to face an opaque glossy door which reflected the orange light of the lit up room, I saw myself in the glossy door. I looked tallish, a man’s body, indeed but the face was more horrible for being that of a woman’s. No hair; yes, no eye lids …… all the horror was coming back to me. Why do I need to be afraid when I was a far fiercer creature than the most? I was not in a position to endorse with my own reflection and I got saddened by the thought of carrying it forever. I took my way back. Found the elevator and turned left to reach the first corridor and reached close the end of it counted the fifth alley from the end and entered. The lights had not remained dimmed anymore. I knew ZA-vi made it there before me. I saw my room’s no. 101. So it follows that the room no. which is 102 is consecutively next to mine. I was trying to figure out any hidden resemblance, but the rhythm broke with ZA-vi’s voice
ZA-vi: “toured far enough case DS?”
I said: “Now there is what? Am I a captive now?”
ZA-vi: “It is not exactly a restricted area to venture to, but there are some disturbing things, on this ship, in this era which may come as a shock to you. For that matter, having all kinds of risks assessed, you are too important to us. Indeed, you are too precious to be lost to some trivial object of curiosity.”
I thought for the first time, that this machine could actually care for me. What ZA-vi said, this time, meant something of value to me?
I said: “If you are really concerned with my significance and safety, why wouldn’t you get straight to it? Why not tell me about what exactly is going on here? Or, leave that for now, drop the topic itself. Tell me, can something be done about this?” I asked, pointing towards my face then, panning it all downwards to the neck with my spread palm.
ZA-vi: “Look! I am trying to explain this in a simpler way; I am your personal record keeper. I know everything about you. I even have psychological access to your mind in a broader sense; telepathy essentially. But my limits were fixed by my programmers. About the aesthetic aspect, I certainly understand that such procedures are carried out by people, but what is not beautiful, is beyond the understanding of my intelligence. So you have to ask KEAH or Dr. VON about this concern you have.”
I said: “Ok. But if you really care about my importance, let me go out and check this ship.”
ZA-vi: “I know that you have wandered far enough on this ship tonight and……”
I said: “I want to see the whole ship, but cannot go beyond the elevator. It asks me to enter
a ‘Passkey’, which I don’t know.., which I don’t have.”
ZA-vi: “Sorry but machines are not required a passkey to enter so I can’t help you. You must ask about this from a human. But I am sure that none of them will give you one before they believe that you are actually one hundred percent fine, which might take months.”
I said: “So why don’t you do that for me? Accompany any doctor to the elevator and give his passkey to me.”
ZA-vi: “I am sorry Case! Robots and human doctors use different elevators; we cannot go together with any doctors but we can accompany our cases only, that too, with prior approval of a human doctor.”
I said: “will KEAH give me that prior approval?”
ZA-vi: “But she is not authorized to approve. Doctors with a ‘Blue Badge’ only can approve by ‘up-linking their retinal scans to The Navigator’.”
I said: “You are not trying to help!” I said in desperation. “Just tell me the way to crack an entry into the elevator’”
ZA-vi: “I help you all that I can but I have my limits. I think I can’t help you in this regard. Please ask someone else.”
I said: “ZA-vi! Stop!” I held him by the collar of his overcoat. “You know what? It is frustrating like this. I am asking you to help me right now, or I will find a switch to shut you down forever! I am not going to concede to being a captive. Now, just tell me the way to use one of those lifts!”
ZA-vi: “Alright! OK! Allow me time to think……….I think you have to chisel your sneaking skills a little more. Follow a doctor and try and overhear his passkey. May be this idea is worthy of trying?”
I said: “Maybe!” I smiled. Now I know what to do! Why not do it right now?
ZA-vi: “No Case! You cannot apply that thought or you will be questioned and I will be discharged of my duties. We have to wait for 23 more hours, till the time you chose tonight comes back tomorrow night. I will even, if someone notices report it as a security breach, coupled with lack of information on your behalf. This will save us both. The doctors only act as being good on the outside, but in fact, they also have protocols to follow. In 480 years, I have seen many difficult times and this is also one of them.”
Okay, so now I am assured, that this pre-programmed machine guy is my most faithful although irritating accomplice. Though most of the times he makes me grit my teeth, but perhaps he is the only one who has remained by my side through my death and this life. May be he is serving some kind of sinister purpose or reporting it to some privacy hacker. But then, he for sure is the only trustworthy friend figure. One day I will have to learn to programme him to better suit my purposes. Till then I have to keep administering the threat dosage, because, he had been programmed to consider me significant somehow, to my advantage. He has spent the largest portion of his ‘Life’ tending to me that is at least now clear to me. But doesn’t that then make me somebody of some importance?
Has the Earth and life, undergone really serious changes in these years that I had been dead for? I was curious about scientific advancement in their era. But I know it must be very difficult to understand this new world.
ZA-vi: “Yes! But I don’t record such things and it’s not my concern. But from the conversation I have overheard and got recorded they think that there are more evil things than good. But my processors are set to ‘Auto Delete’ the irrelevant information and specifics. I don’t store minute details and I don’t have essential levels of Artificial Intelligence. Processors delete recorded information in precisely 72 hours. But wait! I have some records…..In the last 48 hours log; I have recorded a conversation between Dr. SHELLY and Dr. VON. Let me go through it first. I will filter it for any unacceptable points of concern and then will show it to you if it is still meaningful.”
I observed ZA-vi close his eyes for about 10 seconds, took his right hand pointer finger in a socket in his temple. Then he said-
ZA-vi: “My intelligence doesn’t seem to find anything disturbing at all. I will show you all of it. Now close your eyes please.”
Chapter 5: The Vision shared by ZA-vi: Conversation between SHELLY and VON