When the opening in the wall closed as abruptly as it had appeared, now in the open space there was only a group of about 30 women prisoners. To a sound like a zipper, a new wall opened opposite the first one and identical to it. A powerful beam attacked the young captives. Irradiated by the warm light that they found blood-curdling, each woman turned to face the threat speaking to them.
— Women. You go forward. Now.
Following the example of the young men, the group of young women began walking in the direction of the eye of the light beam. They had barely crossed the threshold of the opening when the dazzling light shut off. The women felt their way inside the undefined space where there was no wall stopping them from continuing on. They were not at ease. Huddled together in a tight group, each one moved forward the same way, with fear in the pit of their stomach.
Sally, who had put their argument behind them, went over to Julia and took her by the arm to make herself feel a little better. Side by side, the two friends exchanged glances filled with apprehension. You could read anxiety on everyone's face.
— Women. You stop. Stop.
On hearing this order, the procession of prisoners stopped in their tracks. After a short silence, one light, followed by a second, and then a third one began moving around the women's silhouettes. The lights scanned them and their beam revealed each woman's bones and organs. Through this process that caught their attention, the young women could clearly see at the level of their lower stomach, the fetus of a child growing in their uterus. At this stage of pregnancy, an embryo measures barely four inches and is curled up like a bean.
Aside from Julia and Sally who already knew, their fellow prisoners were frozen in place, stunned by the incredible news. Before they even got a chance to react in any way, the scanner stopped and the lights withdrew, again returning the group to darkness and leaving it with the terrifying discovery.
So she wouldn't give in to fear, Sally took Julia's hand when bright lights shaped like saucers illuminated the floor and indicated specific locations. Right after that appearance, there was an umpteenth recommendation from the robotic voice.
— Women. To the light. Now.
Perfectly docile as a result of the fear that brought them together, in a military choreography, each woman started to move. As Julia looked on doubtfully, Sally let go of her hand and moved away from her to take her turn going to one of the designated marks.
All the women were now lined up in a formation that put them perfectly equidistant from one another. Without warning, from above a mechanism designed to encircle the nape of the neck and muzzle each woman came into position to lock and slam shut. Julia immediately tried to get free by putting her hands on the metal fastener. As she redoubled her efforts, a second apparatus, similar to the first one, closed around her legs and forearms.
Now totally immobilized by the yoke preventing her from struggling, Julia felt herself falling backwards. Her feet were no longer touching the ground. Thus stabilized, the whole exoskeleton seemed like a gynecology examination chair that inhibits any movement whatsoever. Julia, who was still trying to free herself from the trap, could tell that her attempt was useless when she saw a new mechanism sticking out from the vaguely visible ceiling. Deploying itself like a tentacle, the articulated device had a syringe at the end of its hand for giving intradermal injections.
Julia looked on helplessly as the tip came into position, touching the skin of her forearm. With a quick and characteristic sound, she was given a sedative, as was each of the other women prisoners also being restrained in an identical metal yoke. Their job done, the robotic mechanisms withdrew and disappeared in a perfectly synchronized choreography.
As a result of the drug now running through in her veins, Julia, and the rest of the prisoners as well, fell into in a deep sleep in a matter of seconds.
7
Inside a house bathed in daylight, a young red-headed girl with emerald green eyes is being taken away by a man wearing dark clothing. Holding the crying child as someone would a heavy bundle, the kidnapper doesn't even try to console her. The two silhouettes now forming only one plunge into a sordid whitish halo and disappear.
Though her vision was still dulled by the sedation, Julia aroused herself from the dream and slowly resurfaced. She was still restrained in the metal yoke that prevented her from moving. She discovered the enclosed space around her: a tube roughly six feet in diameter. Plunged into anxiety that instantly put her stomach in knots, she tried to get out of this new form of incarceration.
Julia fought as best she could and called out for help in spite of the gag in her mouth, but she soon wore herself out. She took deep breaths to get her wind back. Through her muzzle, the breaths sounded strange, her gaze again drifted, and, facing her, she saw the only way out of the chamber: a smaller chamber with a small window to an outside that you could not distinguish.
From the top of the installation and to the sound of mechanical workings, a light so bright is was blinding came rushing in and caught Julia's attention. The light abruptly stopped moving when it got to her face. At that point, it became less intense and you got a glimpse of a robotic arm with a scalpel blade in its hand. With surgical precision, the metal tip touched Julia's forehead, right at the hairline where her red hair and very pale skin met.
As she held her breath and had her eyes unusually wide open to be able to focus on the cutting tool, helpless, Julia watched the instrument begin its work. Driven by an articulated mechanism, the blade at first lightly touched the end of her eyebrow and then ran along the edge of one eye. Her deep, dark pupil followed the movement. Huge drops of anxiety formed on the top of Julia's forehead and as they fell, they came dripping down, winding their way along her temples. As the metal tip traced the dripping sweat and coldly continued its journey, it left behind red-dotted eyes. It then skimmed Julia's lips and as it traced around her attractive mouth, it ended by emphasizing the round shape of her chin.
When it reached the lower part of her face, Julia couldn't see the scalpel blade anymore and that made her shiver with anxiety. Goose bumps caused hundreds of thousands of little dots to form all over her skin. Continuing a progression that had become unbearable, the cutting tool touched Julia's chest lightly as a lover would do with the tips of the fingers before caressing the contour of a breast. As Julia held back a murmur, the blade stopped its journey at the piece of fabric covering her breasts. With a circular movement, the articulated arm positioned the metal tip under the band of cloth. Once it was cut on either side, the filthy, white piece of clothing fell to the ground.
Now exposed, Julia's pink breasts were in perfect contrast to her milky skin and its scattered freckles. The scalpel blade continued moving along, to its victim's genital area. As discretely as possible, Julia tried to free her left hand, which seemed to be less firmly restrained. The feel of the metal against her skin as it skimmed her navel was even more agonizing. As deep inside she sensed the unhealthy path being taken, Julia tried harder to get herself out of the predicament.
Using the same surgical precision as earlier, once the end of the articulation was at hip level, the blade moved to the side in a circular movement to slit the panties. In a supreme effort that caused a cut to her wrist, Julia managed to free her hand from the fastener that was restraining it. In a quick movement in the nick of time, Julia grabbed the robotic arm before the sharp metal was able to cut her underpants.
The firm grip forced the mechanical tentacle to withdraw. Pricked up like a scorpion's stinger, it threatened Julia with its scalpel blade. With one eye on the surgical instrument, which brandished its ability to strike at any moment, Julia used her free hand to exert force on the fastener around the nape of her neck.
— You stay still. Now. Not move, scolded the tentacled machine in a voice imitating a human.
Listening only to her own will and after removing the gag from her mouth, Julia tried to release the restraint on her other arm. There was a turning movement and an accompanying
sound where the blade was replaced with a syringe for intradermal injections. While Julia continued to struggle with the shackle on her right hand, the plastic tip at the end of the articulated arm came into position on her left shoulder. When she felt the contact with her skin, Julia gave the mechanism a violent backhand before the sedative fully entered her body. Because of the blowback in the small space inside the chamber, the tentacled mechanism slammed against the wall, twirled in every direction like a disjointed puppet, and then regained its balance. Now again holding the scalpel blade, it was in a fight with the captive that seemed would have an uncertain outcome.
Still dealing with the fastener on her right hand, Julia saw the threat attack. With a surprising reflex reaction, she tipped backward to evade the first blow. The tip of the robotic arm ricochetted off the metal exoskeleton and then got back into position to go after Julia for a second time. To prove its intelligence, the system stuck the blade into its opponent's thigh. When the sharp metal went into her muscle, Julia moaned but remained focused and succeeded in freeing her other hand. Her upper body was now totally free. With both hands, she grabbed a hold of the articulated arm that still had its blade stuck in her.
Struggling with all her might and screaming contained only by terrible grimacing, she removed the blade from her flesh. In the tug of war with the machine, using a sharp and quick movement, she managed to rip out the tentacled mechanism. Separated from its command center, it crashed to the floor and after a series of electric spasms and spurts of sparks, it was no longer a danger.
Julia barely had time to get over the shooting pain from the gash in her thigh. She went about undoing the fasteners that were restraining her legs. Inside the chamber, a signal indicating the incident sounded the alarm. Amid the racket but now fully free of all the restraints, Julia managed to put a foot on the floor. Still affected by the wound that handicapped her, from the floor she picked up the piece of white cloth that had covered her breasts. She made a flimsy knot and positioned the cloth like a bra. Once that was done, she turned her attention to the part of the chamber with the small window that let you to see outside. Limping slightly and using the walls for support to get closer, Julia put her hands on the surface of the chamber and used her fingertips to try to find a release mechanism. As she felt her way along in relative darkness, her hopes vanished when, after several second of intense investigation, she realized that there appeared to be no opening to the outside.
She beat hard with her fists against the window that wouldn't budge and collapsed against it. She didn't immediately notice that behind her, a new threat loomed. Another mechanical arm was being extended, discreetly. There was a gun barrel at the end of its hand. As she gazed toward the outside that she most probably would never see, a metal clicking sound alerted Julia to the danger. Very slowly, she turned to confront the announced peril. She took a defensive stance and was prepared to react.
Using a survival maneuver, in the nick of time Julia succeeded in evading the first round of gunfire. The bullets put holes in the chamber's glass wall. By throwing herself on the system the same way she would grab a wild animal by the scruff of the neck, she deflected the second round of bullets. In a deluge of flames and sparks, the bullets unlocked the only exit even though it had been made impregnable.
By enlarging it carefully, the smaller chamber would soon be large enough to escape through, but for the moment, in the small tubular space, Julia was still fighting with the articulated arm. She was being pushed from one side to the other. Clinging firmly to the mechanism and twisting it for all she was worth, she managed to deflect yet another round of bullets. This time, the threat signed its death warrant. In a grand finale of smears of molten metal and microcircuits twirling in the air, the iron beast stopped functioning. Inert though receiving jolts from a piece of ripped wiring, it was no longer a threat to Julia. She snatched the gun that was attached to its hand. Now with something to defend herself, Julia got out of the space that was now completely open. But she had barely put one foot out when she tottered and knelt down on one knee.
The effects of the sedative that had partially been administered hit her violently. Everything around her became blurred. In a hallucinatory deluge along with the blaring alarm that had not stopped, Julia found herself in a vast corridor that resembled a drunken ship. She managed to crawl along the metal floor like a drunk party girl and was able to get to a chamber facing her and leaned against it. Several hundred yards away, though Julia could not imagine it, a drone similar to the ones that haunted her prison cell had been deployed. It was weaving its way at high speed through a labyrinth of corridors lined with chambers, all identical one to the other.
Julia didn't yet know that she was the focus of the threat speeding in her direction. She stood up but felt dizzy and collapsed against the wall of an adjacent chamber. She paused for moment. With her face against the small window, she could see what was happening. Just like she was moments before, a young woman was being held prisoner and was restrained in a metal contraption. Julia wasn't really able to tell whether her mind was playing tricks on her or not. She thought she recognized the familiar face of a woman she had seen die in the passageway with the yellow light: the woman with blond hair.
Julia rubbed her eyes to chase away the potential hallucination and in a burst of lucidity, she took off. She sprinted through the maze, which from where she was seemed endless. She didn't realize that the flying predator was at the other end of the tube-like construction. It levitated up to the smashed open chamber and from its viewpoint, that of a surveillance camera, it was able to tell that a prisoner had escaped. It took off immediately, chasing Julia down the corridor.
With a slight limp and supporting herself as best she could so she wouldn't fall, Julia continued along the interminably long passageway. It was identical to the previous one and was also lined with individual chambers with women in them. She let her eyes wander as she made progress at a pretty good pace among the strange series of chambers. She noticed that each of the prisoners was at a more or less advanced stage in their pregnancy. But she barely had the time to wonder about the indescribable horror she was seeing when death was about to strike her from behind. Out of the underside of the machine chasing her came a gun barrel, ready to fire. Inside the corridor, an initial shot just missed killing Julia. In a flurry of sparks that tore open a chamber right nearby, the bullet ripped through the young woman inside as it would a mere sheet of paper.
Despite her wound and the sedative still running through her veins, Julia managed to speed up, helped by a rise in her adrenaline. She was able to stand up straight and without knowing how, she had almost managed to lose the drone when there was gunfire directed at her feet. She lost her balance, and making an unusual movement, did a forward roll. Time that became suspended with a sluggishness like a slow motion of a sporting event was a true moment of grace. As Julia moved amid particles of molten metal spurting in every direction, she managed to turn around to face the danger. The stunt, which demonstrated Julia's both unbelievable and sudden physical ability, ended only when she positioned her arm to aim her weapon at the drone's gun barrel and fire.
In an electric burst, the bullet entered the flying module's gun as it was readying to fire. From the impact of the two opposing forces, it literally imploded in a blackish haze. The pieces of what was left scattered in the air like magnificent shooting stars, bounced on the ground, and ended up barely inches away from Julia. Once the craziness of the feat died down, the gun she still had in her hand brought her out of a split second of rejoicing. A continuous beeping caught her attention. On the side of her weapon, she could make out a red light indicating that the gun chamber was empty. As the last graduation on a scale that had five, the light turned orange after a moment and the characteristic, prolonged sound stopped. Without really knowing how it worked, Julia understood that, like a battery, the weapon had just started recharging.
In the corridor lined with individual chambers, Julia, stood up,
despite the wound to her thigh. Without realizing it, she had her back to a mechanism with a double door that unbolted with a noise that said hostilities had resumed. She moved away suddenly and turned around as, in the threshold of the passageway, hidden behind a light haze, the workings revealed two figures wearing dark-colored protective coveralls. Julia managed to clear the path and just barely get to a chamber right nearby when, a few feet from her, the mysterious creatures took their first steps into the corridor.
She used the only switch on the outside of the chamber she had just gotten to, released the access mechanism, and rushed inside. Out of breath and her adrenaline low, she literally collapsed on the floor and dropped the weapon she had with her the whole time. Her eyes, suddenly totally overwhelmed by the effect of the sedative, were now trying to find any kind of reality to cling to to ward off unconsciousness.
When the door to the chamber closed right behind Julia, in the corridor, the strange beings discovered before them the still smoky remains of the module that had been shot down. Wearing a helmet with an opaque visor that hid physical features, one of the beings triggered the appearance of four new drones by pressing a control button on its forearm. The flying threats deployed close to their masters and started the chase.
Despite the fact that her vision was blurred, inside the small space where Julia took refuge she discovered a young woman across from her imprisoned in the chair mechanism that prevented her from moving at all. She was totally nude and sound asleep. She appeared to be in the final stage of her pregnancy. Julia's eyelids had become extremely heavy and her body would nearly no longer respond. She almost couldn't move at all. Frozen in a position that resembled lamentation, she barely reacted when from the top of the chamber, a robotic arm came down with a shiny scalpel blade in its hand.
Of Meat And Bones - Episode One Page 6