Extricating himself from the group, one of the new arrivals, a man of mixed race with blue eyes, tried to start a conversation, but Julius, who was standing right next to him, gave him a disapproving look.
"Not now," he said to him. "Later, once the light is gone."
The newcomer barely had time to nod in agreement when a gleaming ray of light pierced the tranquil darkness in the space. Immediately after, the prediction became reality and everyone was blinded by the thing, Julius raised his voice and addressed his new companions.
"Whatever happens, don't move and don't try anything! Obey! Or you'll die"
With this strange introduction, Julius became the center of everyone's attention, but it was especially the module that noticed him. The mechanism with the light bulb head levitated toward him, causing the crowd to move aside. The mechanism used its white light to attack the prisoner, who turned away. It hovered slowly above everyone and in the wake of its beam as it went along, it revealed their organs and their bone structures. When its work was done and without having threatened anyone, the warden of the premises disappeared.
The tension in the room suddenly became subdued and in its place there was silence and near-darkness. Everyone was still dazzled by the light and could see only a matter of inches ahead. In the middle of the assembly of beautiful bodies, one women felt her way over to Julius.
"But what was that?" she asked him in a frail voice.
Julius looked at the woman with almond eyes who addressed him and answered in a whisper.
"We have no idea. We got here not long before you did."
Beside them, Julia, who had started following Julius like his shadow, seemed uncomfortable. Still submerged in a beyond-the-grave emotion, she hadn't reacted since the beam of light disappeared. The prisoner who had come for answers was right next to her and couldn't help but stare at her. She had just noticed the strange, second red skin in places on Julia's body and face. But she barely had time to notice when a mechanical noise resonated through the walls in the room. There was a slight knock, then an enormous jolt sent everybody reeling. Julia teetered, but Julius, who was always looking out for her, gripped her firmly.
The prisoners recovered from this episode which was as brief as it was unexpected and were able to pull themselves together and find a semblance of peace. The young man of mixed race with blue eyes who had tried to question Julius when he first got there, took the opportunity to move over next to him. He said hello to Julius and to the two women prisoners next to him and addressed the small group.
"You were here before we got here. Do you know what it was and what the hell we're doing here?"
"They don't know anything," said the woman with almond eyes. "They got here just before we did."
After a moment, the man stared at the woman who had answered him and then questioned Julius.
"I suppose you've already tried to get out of here?"
Julius said nothing and looked at the man insistently. In response to the question, he raised both hands so that the other man could see the wounds on the tips of his fingers. Annoyed, the prisoner looked over at Julia and saw her skin covered with dried blood.
"And her, what happened to her?"
"Believe me, you're better off not knowing," said Julius without further explanation. At that moment, an Asian prisoner called out to him. The man had barely begun speaking when another newcomer spoke to him. Realizing the confusion affecting everyone and not being able to handle the barrage of questions, Julius could tell that no one was paying him the least bit of attention.
"Everybody! Listen to me, please," he shouted.
In the room where there was now very little space to move around, all the prisoners turned toward Julius.
"Our group was here only minutes before you got here. I'm sorry, but we don't know any more than you do about what's happening here."
From the crowd, someone said,
"And that light, what is it?"
Julius looked at Julia and then with a look of helplessness on his face, he answered.
"We have no idea. But, please, let's not put ourselves in danger. Wait until we know more before trying anything."
"So, we're gonna wait here, without doing anything?" challenged a young blond man with a baby face as he stepped closer, defiantly.
Julius was about to answer him when a dim light began to shine through the slits in the prison walls and caught everyone's attention. As the quick instants of light bounced off people's bodies, each person could read the fear on the face of the person next to them. The prisoners rushed to the walls to see what was on the other side.
With Julia still at his side, Julius made his way through the others to be able to get closer. After peering out through the slits for a few seconds, they both looked at each other in total disbelief. They could see mechanical-looking workings that made up parts of a structure that went far beyond the box that was holding them captive.
"They're moving us," said Julia to her companion.
"But to go where?"
Finally, creaking and with a sharp jolt, the room stopped moving. With the sudden stop, those who hadn't been able to hold on to the wall or who weren't holding on to the person next to them were swayed back and forth. Helping each other as they had become accustomed to doing, Julia and Julius managed to remain standing. Thinking the movement was over, Julia was taking an umpteenth look at Julius when the initial jolt was quickly followed by a sharp turn.
In the small room that forced everyone to be the next person's anchor, the movement sent everyone flying and then you heard a bang. Most of the prisoners were now on the ground face down and the thick entanglement of bodies resembled a veritable bloodbath. Barely managing to extricate themselves from the pile of men and women where some people were nearly suffocating, they all ultimately felt the effects of the sharp jolt and screeching from the mechanical workings knocking against each other. A loud noise from a magnetic locking system brought the shaking to an end.
In the tiny space that had again become completely still, you now heard complaining from those who were injured when they fell. Julia had trouble getting up and Julius, who was already standing, looked at her and then helped her stand. The innocent glance between the two of them didn't escape being noticed by the young, blue-eyed man of mixed race who was looking over at them.
While some prisoners were still having trouble getting up and although they weren't able to tell exactly where it was coming from, the same voice giving orders, imitating in the worst way possible a human voice, again shouted.
— Now, you sleep!
2
Time went by in the room and each second seemed to stretch into minutes, then into hours. For the first time since they found themselves in the box, the captives were able to rest without being subjected to the rule of the light or the rule of that annoying voice that forced them to carry out its slightest wishes.
They were all right next to one another and for the moment remained perfectly silent. And because they were well aware that the truce wouldn't last, a group formed to think things out. In the darkness that had become familiar, Julia, who was part of the small group, was able to make out the features of those whose names she knew. There was Marcus, the man of mixed race with the blue eyes and to his right was Julius, whose dark skin and imposing build made him look like a warrior. Continuing along, Dorian, with his baby face and blond hair, looked like your typical nice guy. Sally brought up the rear. A very beautiful woman whose almond eyes typified her Eurasian background. Deciding to break the ice, Sally spoke up.
"Did you notice, too, that they put all of us young adults together? There are no children, teenagers, or older people."
After a moment of silence, Marcus, who had been motionless and was looking at the ceiling, turned to Sally and added mockingly because it was so obvious.
"I can put it better. We've all ended up in a prison for top models."
And then he added.
"I wonder what kind of pe
rverted mind came up with an idea like this."
"Don't speak to her like that," said Dorian, staring at him. "What she said wasn't stupid. It could be that we were all picked out based on much more specific criteria."
"Like what? Our date of birth?" answered Marcus, challenging him.
"I don't know," said Dorian. "I was born in March 1988, what about you?"
"I was born on the 16th, March 16, 1988."
"So was I," said Marcus. "I was born on the 16th."
The blue-eyed Marcus stared into Dorian's much darker eyes, then he turned away and spoke to the rest of the group.
"Were you also born in March 1988... on the 16th?"
Without speaking, Julius, Julia, and Sally simply nodded in the affirmative. Marcus, however, determined to ignore this troubling detail, added.
"Big deal! We were all born on the same day. So what? I think there are other things that are weirder than that. I don't remember how I got here. Before the tunnel lined with lights, I don't remember a thing."
"You only remember your name and some moments in your life?" added Sally.
"Right," answered Marcus. "But I can't figure out how or why I've ended up in this stupid room.
Everyone in the small assembly of prisoners concurred in a silence that said a great deal about the questions they each had. Staring into the distance, Julia was the only one who seemed absorbed by an even more anguishing thought.
"I don't remember who I am," said Marcus.
Then, wondering to himself, he continued.
"Did I have a family? A house? Friends? A job? A girlfriend? I don't even know what day it is. Did we know each other?" he asked in conclusion, while looking at the others for an answer. "It's as though my life started barely a few hours ago."
Those words echoed with each of them. Sally burst into tears. Dorian, who was standing right next to her, put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her but without saying a word.
"We've all got amnesia," affirmed Julius. "But how come we still remember our name or — I don't know — who the president of the United States is?"
"It's... Obama?" asked Sally, to which Marcus responded sarcastically.
"Right, Sally. You know who the president is. Congratulations."
"You don't have to make fun of me, Marcus. I knew it's Obama. I just... wanted to be sure that... that I hadn't forgotten."
In the dim light, everyone got quiet. They realized the discussion was going nowhere. Since he had spoken to Marcus, Dorian hadn't had a word to say and made himself the focus of attention.
"We should try to attack the light."
"Bad idea," replied Julius.
Julius stepped forward to get out of his slumped over position and whispered to the small group so that the other prisoners wouldn't hear him.
"No one has talked about this up until now, but before you got here that thing killed someone here, a guy who hadn't done a thing." Even Julia tried to reason with the light, but it was useless.
Stupefied by what they were finding out, Marcus, Sally, and Dorian were quiet and after they spent a few seconds looking at the person next to them, Dorian spoke up.
"Maybe they were trying to make an example? We should all be trying to figure out how to get out of here, to make a plan, something. Instead of that, we're resting."
"You're right, Dorian," said Julius. "But it's too soon to be able to act intelligently. We have no idea where we are, we don't know what they want from us and, believe me, these walls aren't going to give way simply because we beat on them. If we try anything now, you can expect the worse."
"So what'da we do? We do nothing?" asked an irritated Dorian whose angelic appearance didn't go with his aggressive attitude.
"No," answered Julius. "That's not what I'm suggesting. I just think we need to be patient and act at the right time. Not stupidly get into the fight without knowing who our enemy is."
"If they're capable of killing without a reason," said Dorian, "then we can be sure that what we can expect will be worse. Have you given that any thought?" Dorian said in conclusion, taking everyone in the small group to task.
"Worse than death, are you sure?" Marcus continued, staring Dorian down.
"Yes, it could be worse than death," he replied.
"Like what, big guy? Starve us to death?" retorted Marcus whose stinging reply confirmed a terrible observation.
Without intending any harm, Marcus touched what had seriously become a sore spot. All the prisoners could feel in the pit of their stomach a slight feeling of hunger. The torment got worse as the minutes went by and made everyone think of much more basic considerations like when would they get something to eat or drink?
Compared with the discussion that had the three young men at odds, the one between Marcus and Sally at least distracted them a bit from the implacable truth. Lethargy had again taken over the small circle of individuals. And so, hesitating and nearly terrified at the idea of the reactions she might elicit, Julia finally spoke up.
"Don't ask me how I know, but our amnesia, I think it's retrograde amnesia.
Everyone immediately turned and looked at her as though she had two heads. Upset because of the stares she brought on herself, Julia was silent again. While the small group waited for an explanation about the truth hanging in the air, Marcus hurled at her.
"OK, now that you've let that out of the bag, I hope you're going to tell us more?"
Scrutinizing each individual with her green eyes, Julia understood there was no way out for her but to speak up.
"That's what retrograde amnesia is all about," she began. "You forget specific events in your life or longer periods of time, but you don't forget everything. In my case, I can remember what we're all suffering from. I think that before I was abducted, I must have worked in the field of medicine."
"Wait!" said Marcus. "Who said anything about being abducted? It could be that we all signed up for some stupid TV show."
"You serious? A TV show?" exclaimed Julius. "They herd us together, put us in a box, erase our memory and that, as you see it, is like a TV show?"
Then, raising his voice.
"Not to mention that two among us were killed before you got here!"
"Precisely," added Marcus. "That could be staged, special effects, like in the movies."
"Wait," protested Sally, suddenly coming out of her lethargy. "I thought there was only one death in your group and now you're talking about a second one?"
Caught misspeaking, Julius had to justify himself.
"It didn't happen in this room. It happened before. In that damn passageway," he replied.
"So what I saw and the blood stains I have on me, for you that's made up?" said Julia curtly, addressing Marcus.
"No, that's not what I meant," Marcus responded. "But that never occurred to you? That maybe it was made up? 'Made up,' in the sense of 'special effects.'"
Those last words now put doubt in Julia's mind and she calmed down. With each one in the small group as his witness, Marcus looked at them and spoke pointedly.
"All I'm saying is that all that — everything we're going through — seems so crazy to me, so unreal. Don't you think so? I can't be the only one thinking that? Can, I?"
After a brief silence that the question brought on, Dorian added.
"He's right. We could all be connected to a huge computer, a virtual reality kind of thing."
Julius, who clearly wasn't taking all of that lightly, protested.
"You know what, Dorian? You should wait for the next opportunity and get yourself killed by one of its lights. That way, you'll find out quick enough whether you wake up from some dumb-ass virtual reality."
Although Julius didn't raise his manly voice, he never before seemed to command such authority. Addressing each one and getting their attention by the look on his face, he continued.
"I was there when Julia tried to save a woman in the tunnel and I was there when a guy got his face blown up before our very eyes and then disappeared
behind one of the walls. I don't know why that happened, but it all seemed real to me. And I think it's real enough for all of us that on top of it we shouldn't have to deal with stupid ideas from would-be scriptwriters."
Julius, who as he finished speaking was staring at Dorian, paused until he looked at him.
"It's also possible that we were kidnapped by an extraterrestrial race," quipped Dorian. For that, he immediately drew expressions of exasperation.
The resentment that arose within the small group plunged everyone back into total silence. Then Sally, who had gotten very pale, felt like vomiting. She jumped up and went to one of the corners of the room. She bent over and motioned to some of her companions to move away. Onto the ground, she threw up a mixture of bile, saliva, and a whitish substance. Julia's reflex was to get up and go over to the sick woman. She instinctively placed a friendly hand on Sally's shoulder, to comfort her.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I think it's over," Sally replied. She spit up one last time and then stood up straight. "I feel better already. Thanks."
With a worried expression in her eyes, Julia turned toward the three young men. They were now over the dejection they had felt and a thing that partially lit them through the slits in the box had caught their attention. Along with the diffuse light, there was a mechanical screeching noise that made the room they were all in vibrate. Even though they weren't sure, what happened seemed to correspond to the kind of creaking a prison cell identical to theirs would make if it were located nearby.
After a loud slam followed by the sound of a magnetic locking system, the incident with the light ended. Quiet returned for a moment in the small space, but through the walls the captives could hear the same stifled, robotic voice that a little while ago had given them a similar order.
Of Meat And Bones - Episode One Page 2