by J. L. Imhoff
“I can see you need your rest after exploring. I’ll leave the tray here for you and check in on you later.”
I didn’t respond despite being able to feel her staring at my back, uncertainty permeating the air. Clearly, she didn’t anticipate my escape attempt today.
Is she afraid to leave me alone?
The door clicked shut as she left the room.
Chapter 5
I jumped up and ran to the door to check it. Locked. Damn. Returning to bed, I hung my head in defeat. Rest for now. Gain your strength.
The aroma coming from the food she left made my stomach growl. To go without eating would make me weaker. I had no choice.
Relenting, I brought the tray to sit on my lap. Picking up the first bowl, I inhaled. It didn’t smell as vile as it looked. My stomach growled again in encouragement, but I ground my teeth in resistance. I don’t want to eat it.
Cautiously, I lifted up a spoonful and opened my mouth. After rolling it around on my tongue, examining the texture and taste, I admitted to myself she was right—it wasn’t horrible after all. Hungrily, I shoveled the rest in, taking bite after bite. Anything would have been good at this point.
A cautious blooming of trust swelled within my heart. Maybe they meant me no harm. They did save my life, after all.
Stop being naïve; trusting too easily got you into this mess to begin with. Don’t trust them.
A surge of energy rushed to my head as the nutrition fed my now too-thin body. I felt better and my anxiety lessened.
When finished, I set the tray back on the table, and pulled the covers up tight around me, curling back into a ball.
My vacation with David had started out a fairy tale, and ended with me banished to the depths of hell.
Haunting images of the last moments of my life filled my head. My mind wanted to trick me, but I knew in my heart this wasn’t a hallucination. Denial tried to take over again. David’s cold, expressionless face as I fell to my death flashed before my eyes.
What had he felt?
Does he feel any remorse at all now? Where is he? What is he doing? Does he have any idea I’m still alive? Would he even want to know?
I tossed and turned for hours. Spent and exhausted, I remembered the cup Lucas left. It was still on the bedside table. I picked it up and sniffed cautiously. The aromatic vapors had an immediate calming effect and I ventured a sip.
After finishing its contents, I put the cup back down and stared up at the ceiling. The medicine kicked in and I drifted off, floating in a sea of roses, tears still damp on my face. Memories flowed through my subconscious mind unrestrained, and permeated my nightmares.
Soft blue lights woke me up slowly the next morning. Disoriented and groggy, I had no sense of time, or what day it was. I’m still here. Drugs would have worn off by now.
And I feel strangely happy—relieved I’m here and not back in David’s clutches.
The door opened and Lily chimed, “Good morning, Anna.”
My alien arms hovered in front of my face as I rubbed sleepy eyes. What changed during the night?
“Good… good morning,” I whispered as I sat up, stretching my arms.
She closed the door behind her and walked to my bed. “How do you feel today?”
“Surprisingly good, for a dead person. Still in shock. But… confused,” I admitted.
She looked over the empty food tray, sitting on the side table. “I see it wasn’t as bad as you thought it might be?” She beamed. “I told you, your taste buds are different now.”
I grumbled in response, my inner grouch not wanting to admit she was right.
“We have more varieties of food in the common eating area. All kinds of seaweed and algae, plankton, fruit, and vegetables.” Lily chatted as if I would stay forever, her professional demeanor somewhat softening. More alarming, she spoke as if I hadn’t left a life behind.
But who was I kidding, I only left a murdering David behind. I had nothing left to go back to except for two jobs and an endless stream of bills. My hand went to my bare neck. My locket—that’s all I really left behind.
“I’m not particularly fond of sea… weed.” With the new day, my disdain was quickly fading. Feelings of bliss begrudgingly pressed their way into my heart. But I didn’t want Lily to know that. Stubbornly, I couldn’t admit I might like this fresh start.
“You will be now.” She sat on the edge of the bed. Her smile was contagious and I grinned back at her for the first time.
What is wrong with me? Why do I feel so happy?
I don’t want to feel happy.
I quickly recovered and replaced the smile with a scowl. But if I play nice, I can learn their weaknesses and find a way to escape. Carefully, I pasted an approximation of a smile back on my face. But I didn’t know who I was trying to fool—her or myself?
The door opened and Lucas walked in, carrying the same device as before. “Good morning. Is it okay if I do a quick scan on you?” His cheeriness got on my nerves. I wanted him to be mean and ominous.
I didn’t want to like these people.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Sure, I guess so. What is that device?”
Lily quietly got up and left us alone. I wouldn’t have noticed if the aroma of the room hadn’t suddenly changed from light and fantastically fragrant, to musky and masculine.
“This is one of our medical scanners. It scans the systems of your body, and tells me what works and what does not, giving me detailed information about your physiology. I want to make sure you are healed, and in good enough condition to leave the Healing Center.”
Leave? Yes. I should want to leave, right? Be good. “Can you show me how it works?”
“I’ll show it to you, but to explain it would take some time. How about we save that for another day?”
Be patient, Anna.
“All right then, go ahead.”
He activated the device and scanned my body, starting at my head and ending at my feet. After considering whatever it reported, he said, “It all looks good. You are okay to leave with Lily, but I must see you again tomorrow. I want to make sure if anything comes up, I fix it right away. Has Lily explained to you what we did?”
“Some. Although, I don’t really understand it.”
He examined my skin, picking up my arms and turning them back and forth. He lifted the blanket and looked at my legs. “I want to make sure your body is not rejecting the new DNA. Later we should talk about the changes, once you have time to become more aware of them. There are several.”
“More changes than what I see?” I indicated the bumps on my arms.
“What you see does not describe what they do,” he clarified. It was hard not to be fond of him—I could tell he was genuine and caring.
“And what do they do? Other than resemble some kind of measles,” I kidded.
“These,” he marveled as he touched the bumps on my arms, “are electroreceptors.”
“Uh, and what are electro… receptors?” I inquired, confused and intrigued at the same time.
“Every creature has sensory receptors: eyes, noses, ears, skin. They all detect different sensations and transmit them to your brain. We, as many creatures in the sea, have an extra sensory organ—the electroreceptors. Ours are different from other ocean life, as they evolved with us over thousands of years to enhance our specific environment and the way we live,” he disclosed, lightly brushing his fingers down the length of my arm. “When they are touched, even lightly, a rush of endorphins is released in your brain.”
The hairs on my arm stood on end, and a sensation of pleasure sizzled through my body. “So, it’s…,” I pondered, trying to understand.
“Think of it this way—in the human world I think they call it ESP. Extra sensory perception,” he compared, his smile lighting up his eyes.
“ESP? You mean… psychic?”
“That would be one way to describe it. But in the human world, it remains an unproven theory. In our world, we actually have
a biological organ for it,” he alleged, replacing my arm at my side.
“I’m confused… does that mean I have ESP now?” I narrowed my eyes as I reexamined the bumps with a new understanding.
“This is why I need to monitor you and document the changes you experience. The procedure we performed on you has only been successful one time before, many years ago. If we can learn why it worked on you after so many failures, it may give us the answers to solve an even greater problem we face.”
“You’ve done this to other humans?”
“Thousands of failures, but only one other has ever woken up,” he divulged. “Your successful infusion has given us hope for our species.”
“How?”
“That, my dear, is why I have a lot of work to do. The sooner we figure out how, the better. I will share with you what I know when the puzzle is solved. Get some rest and goodbye for now.” He turned to leave the room as Lily reentered, carrying a tray of fruit, bread, vegetables, a bowl of algae, and a bag slung over her shoulder. He touched Lily’s arm, looked at her silently for a few minutes, and then left.
Again, the room filled with the scent of flowers and a faint whiff of ocean breeze. I rubbed my temples and inhaled deeply, relaxing. A million questions went through my mind, but all that came out was, “Where are my clothes?”
She smiled. “I brought some new clothing for you in this bag. Your old clothes were in bad shape.” Lily placed the tray on the table and the bag on my bed. I recalled having fallen overboard in my favorite, but well-worn, nightie and mourned the loss of its familiar comfort. “You can eat and then pick out something to wear. I brought several dresses for you to choose from. You will have more in your quarters.”
“Did you say my quarters?”
“You can’t stay here in the Healing Center. Your quarters are similar to an apartment, and where you’ll live,” she announced.
I opened my mouth to say something then stopped myself. As Lily predicted, my tastes had changed, and I devoured the fruit and fish on the tray she’d put in front of me. While I ate, she took what appeared to be several dresses, similar to hers, out of the bag to show me one by one.
“This is what we wear. They are very practical in nature,” she encouraged.
I raised an eyebrow as I looked over to see her face. How does she define practical? Jewels were sewn into the collars of the dresses, with gold threading braided around them. Be nice. The fabric was a unique silk, but the weight of a more durable satin. Whatever. I have to wear something.
“I’m more of a jeans and t-shirts kind of person,” I muttered.
She cocked her head as if what I said didn’t make sense.
Considering the circumstances, I was willing to wear whatever they said. I had no other choice, and this wasn’t a battle that mattered. “Okay, fine. It’ll do. What about other items I might need? The necessities? If I have to stay here, I’ll need some essentials,” I conceded, feeling as though I was betraying myself, but I was cornered.
“You’ll find your quarters stocked full of everything you need. It’s the barest of necessities, as we are simple, and practical in these sorts of matters.”
Again, she said practical, and I chuckled to myself. Practical didn’t describe the bathroom. These people are crazy.
“I’ll show you how life works here. We have a clothing building and I’ll take you there after you’re settled in. You can pick out whatever you want.”
“Will I have to pay for all of this?” I asked. “I don’t have my purse with me or any credit cards.” I feared her answer. My identity, along with all my other personal stuff, was left behind on the ship, with David.
“No, not at all. We don’t have a monetary system as humans do.”
My eyebrows raised and I grew even more suspicious. What do they do then? “If you don’t have a monetary system, then… what do you work for?”
“We’ll find work, as you call it, for you; something you’re good at. Everyone does his or her part to contribute to the betterment of our community, but not for money,” she said, as she folded each dress neatly and replaced them in the bag.
“You need to teach humans how to do that.”
“No, it’s forbidden to interfere with their world in that way anymore.”
Anymore? What’s that supposed to mean?
“Do you want to wash before you dress?” she asked.
“Yes.” Finished with the food for now, I grabbed the bag, and walked to the bathroom. I do want to clean up and see if anything else has changed, but if I start growing a tail, that’s it. I’ll die. Clearing my throat I asked, “The bathtub in the… uh… bathroom here. Is there a shower? Or do I use the… tub?”
“I’ll show you how everything works,” Lily said. She walked into the bathroom and showed me how to pull up a computer panel hidden in the wall, which turned on a shower.
Actually, shower doesn’t begin to explain it. The whole ceiling over the bathtub area changed and it… rained. I stepped in and a glass door slid out of the wall enclosing the tub area. Too fancy for my blood. But still—wow!
The hot water heated my skin, bringing a rush of blood to the surface, and my muscles relaxed. Every time the water hit my electroreceptors, a shiver ran throughout my body.
Electroreceptors? A psychic organ? What have I gotten myself into? I ran my hand over the circular bumps. The texture was weird and every time anything touched them, a surge of electricity coursed along their lines.
After the shower, I brushed my hair, and got a dress out of the bag. Out of the three she’d brought, I picked the pale pink one, and slipped it over my head. The deep V-neckline revealed my sternum and the hems hung below my knees. The collar was trimmed in opals and the standard braided gold thread.
This is out of my league. They have to be fake opals—otherwise, this would’ve cost a fortune.
Two pairs of shoes were in the bottom of the bag. Both were simple sandals made of leather, but I chose the white ones and slipped my feet into them. Optimistic, I opened the bathroom door and stepped out a new person.
“Yes,” Lily beamed. “Everything seems to fit you well.” Her cheerful demeanor eased my angst and I smiled back.
Well, I still need underwear and a bra.
Curiosity mixed with excitement bubbled in my belly. Angry at my own happiness, I pushed the feelings back down.
What is wrong with me?
Remember, I’m alive and not rotting at the bottom of the ocean.
But my baby is dead.
Remembering brought the grief to the surface. This new physiology was playing games with my feelings.
“Okay, what now?” I asked.
“Follow me and I’ll show you to your quarters, where you’ll live.” She’d said it again.
Where I’ll live? Terror gripped me. The thought made it seem more permanent. The comforts of my own home called to me. Even though it was a rundown dump, it was my home.
Calm down. You can do this.
“We may have time for you to see a part of the city today, but tomorrow I’ll take you on a more extensive tour. You’ll get to meet a few of our people here and learn your way around.”
“Learn my way around the city? Then will I be free to wander around when I want to?” I asked, scared at the thought of starting a new life.
“You’ll be given that freedom eventually, but for now someone must be with you at all times. It’s for your own safety.”
“Well then, I’m ready.” I cleared my throat, swallowing my disappointment.
Chapter 6
She led the way out of my room, and I followed, carrying my bag. The hallway arched above us—it wasn’t square, as I expected. I hadn’t noticed in my escape attempt yesterday. The same strange iridescent seashell material coated the walls. The texture seemed to beg me to touch it as we walked.
What is wrong with me? Why do I want to touch everything?
As if a magnet pulled my hand, I trailed my fingers along its surface, soakin
g up the cool feel of the mysterious shimmering material, and I smiled. Until I caught myself being happy and scolded my foolish inclinations. I shook my head to get my thoughts right.
We came to the end of the hallway where it opened up into the same circular room I saw yesterday. She led me to the first hallway on the right this time.
As we moved along, bits of the city appeared, and against my will, I became entranced by its beauty.
I’m still here. It’s not a dream.
“What is this place called?” I asked.
“This city is Poseidia.”
“Hmm… I’ve never heard of it,” I responded, racking my brain for any recollection of the name.
She led me down many hallways, leading off to the right, then left, and right again. A maze of identical patterns, décor, and material were in each one. Finally, we rounded a corner and she announced, “Here it is.”
“My… quarters?” The mere presence of the word on my tongue a betrayal to my humanity, if I had any left at all.
“Yes.” She placed her hand on the wall and a pocket door slid open.
I followed as she led me in, hiding behind her, afraid to look at it, afraid of the commitment, and of it closing in on me. You can do this.
“Welcome to your new home,” she said, a huge smile spreading across her face.
As I walked into the first room, my heart-rate increased, and a pang stabbed deep in my heart, remembering my old home, my human life. In all its failures, it had still been mine. I silently yearned to be home, in my own clothes.
But this place was beautiful—it wouldn’t be so bad. I shook my head.
There it goes again, trying to talk me into being happy.
My quarters were similar to the room in the Healing Center, only much bigger. The floors the same reddish clay color with soft bumpy texture. The iridescent shell walls shimmered.
We entered a living room, which had two white couches sitting along the walls. The material resembled a typical suede, but it felt cozy, baby-down soft.
In the middle of the room resided a coffee table made of a white, cloudy hard material. Some kind of quartz? I’ve seen it done for countertops in fancy houses. Must cost a small fortune.