Chapter three: Waking up?

I don’t know exactly how long I “slept”, but I will never forget the day I woke.
A chill ran down my spine as I suddenly became aware of the cold dry air around me. My eyes burned furiously as they cracked open. I blinked several times before realizing that my surroundings were pitch dark. I stared for several seconds into the dark void around me, trying in vain to make out my environment. Finally, I began to feel around, slowly at first I felt to the edges of the bed I had been lying in. As my fingers reached the edge I felt a cold metal wall on either side of me. My muscles ached as I rolled over weakly attempting to decipher what I was feeling. My hands slid up the smooth walls as they curved into the ceiling only a foot or so above the bed.
My stomach began to churn and I broke into a cold sweat as a deep panic began to set into my still foggy perceptions. I’m in a coffin…I was buried alive!? My breathing shallowed, not helping my already faltering grip on consciousness. With everything I had, I pushed on the roof of my imagined coffin, slowly the top moved creaking with the strain of timeless disrepair. A sudden breeze flooded into the tank I had been in, flushing out the cold stale air, and replacing it with a hot dripping tropical atmosphere. The sudden climate change rocked my vulnerable senses. My once shallow breaths were now labored, struggling against the weight of this new environment, but the humidity felt soothing on my dry throat and lungs. I pulled myself slowly from the metallic tomb. My bare feet landed on tile as I climbed out, but to my shock I lacked the strength to support myself. I flailed desperately trying futilely to grasp something to stop from falling. I crashed to floor in a heap, alone in the darkness. My exhaustion overwhelmed me and I once again slipped away from wakefulness….
…I don’t know how long I slept there on the floor, but I awoke with a start. Something crashed in the room. The sharp sound stunned my long unused ears. I once again tested my eyes against the darkness. “still nothing” I muttered to myself coughing as I used my voice. Another crash reached my ears from the other side of the room. An eerie feeling came over me. I was lost, confused, disoriented, and still exhausted. What was worse was that on top of all that ……I wasn’t alone.
Every muscle in my body burned as I fought to crawl across the cold tile floor. Dust and dirt kicked up into my face as I reached and clawed, trying to head away from the sounds in the darkness. I didn’t know what was there and I didn’t want to find out. Another crash, this time closer. “what’s happening?!” I cried softly under my breath. “Where the hell am I? Why do I feel this way?” My confusion was only overcome by my fear. Suddenly, I could hear a low, rough, panting slowly approaching my position sprawled out on the floor. Then it began to sniff at me, it sounded like an animal of some sort. For a moment, I wondered if it was just a stray dog, my tension temporarily lessened at the thought that it could be something so benign.
I slowly began to crawl again hoping the animal would simply leave me alone. There was a gruff wheeze, from the beast as I began to move again. “It must be a dog” I thought again to myself. “It sounds like one. I am just getting worked up because of everything else.”
At that moment the animal jumped onto me, like a mad dog the creature bit into my arm. I yelled in pain as its teeth sank deep into my skin. My blood went cold with fear. I was going to die. I was going to die and I didn’t even know where I was… ALONE IN THE DARK I WAS GOING TO DIE!
I flailed around for something, anything that could help me fend off the creature. My hands grasped a small cylindrical metal object that was simply lying on the messy floor. I grasped it weakly and used it to hit the animal on the head attempting to force the creature to let go of my arm. After a few, painfully pathetic blows the creature let go, not likely because I was hitting it so much as to attack another part of my body.
As soon as the beast released me I scooted myself against the wall. I felt my weapon again and realized it was a flashlight of some sort. I fumbled with it for a second, trying to figure out how it worked. Then like lightning there was a flash of power in the dried up cells of the contraptions power source. The blazing light burned through the thick blackness melting it away. My own eyes were nearly blinded by the sudden brightness and flood of visual information flowing in. The creature scampered away from me attempting to shield itself from my new power.
As my vision adjusted to the new whiteness of the world, I saw my surrounding for the first time. It was a warehouse looking place full of hundreds of egg shaped pods like the one from which I had come. The room was massive and barren with what must have been, once a white wall, was now a grayish yellow from mold. Long non-functioning florescent light fixtures lined the ceiling to complete the depressing ambiance.
I swung the beam of my light across the room attempting to relocate my assailant. Without warning there was another crash to my immediate right. I swung my light around just in time to catch a flash of the animal.
My eyes widened in horror as I saw that it was no dog. It reared up on its hind legs standing at least four feet high, hissing and clawing at the air its red eyes burning from the light in my hand. It was covered from head to toe in a thick matted gray fur. A long snake-like tail swung out from behind it. Its teeth were bared revealing a full mouth of razor sharp yellow fangs, but despite the various differences there was no mistaking what I was looking at. It was a giant rat…
The light held the beast there for a moment before it started to flicker. A sick feeling came over me as I understood my last hope was about to fail me. The last thing I saw was drool falling from the rats mouth as it lowered back to all fours. Then the room was recovered by the darkness.
In a panic I look around frantically, as if I could still see my surroundings. I remembered that to my left one of the pods was still open. I had no other option I threw all of what little strength I had into my legs and willed myself to stand. I quickly flung myself into the pod and grabbed a small handle on the hatch. I slammed it shut just as the monster crashed into my new found haven.
I trembled like a helpless child as it started scratching furiously at the exterior of my shelter. The scratching was endless and maddening. I felt what seemed like another eternity go by as I huddled alone in my synthetic womb. Then I heard my attacker scream in pain. There was a short scuffle as it seemed to wrestle with something outside then another scream, again from the rat…. Then a whimper… Then silence. My head spun as the pent up anxieties overwhelmed me, and once again I let myself fall from consciousness.
White angel
I awoke again as the hatched of my pod was slowly opened. She was the first thing I saw. My eyes opened slowly burning from the light of the still nearly pitch dark room. She was amazing She wore a form fitting full white suit that covered her from the neck down. It cover her completely hands and feet. She also wore a white vest over the suit that came down to about the midriff. On her head was a small burette also white. Her hair was a blondish brown. It was wavy and came down to just above her shoulders. She had a soft complexion with slightly tan skin that was perfectly silky and smooth, but it was her eyes that captured me. They were a light hazel and they looked at me with a kind carefree wonder. I thought that I was looking at an angel. Maybe it was the fact that she was the first person I had seen in almost an eternity, but I felt different about this girl.
“Could he be from before the war?” She asked someone I couldn’t see. “ I mean he must be, no one has been here since that time, but that would make him over a thousand years old!” I tried to fight it, but my exhaustion was still to much I blacked out again after that, dreams once again filled up my consciousness, but this time my dreams were different. They started out well, I was with the girl in white, and I was happy for a change. Then things went wrong. The girl vanished from my dream. I felt a voice. It was deep and it echoed in my mind. It’s powerful boom shook my senses.
“What is it?” the voice asked. “ Destroy it! It will ruin everything! What is this? How can that be? She’ll be ruined. What can I do then? What choice do I have? Fine assimilate it then.” I had no idea what this dream meant but after that I woke up and found myself in a world completely different from the one I had left. At first I wondered if I was really awake at all.
Chapter 3: The Dome.
The room around me was completely empty save a strange oval on the wall with a large slit that appeared could open and close. I could only assume that it was meant to be some kind of door. Next to the door was another small slit in the wall this time about the size to fit a card of some sort. The room itself was a strange gray color. It wasn’t metal, wood, or plastic. It was hard about the consistency and smoothness of a fingernail. The lighting in the room came from an indeterminate area in the ceiling. There was no light fixture only a kind of glow that lit the entire room. I was laying on a small raised portion of the floor that was soft and made a sort of bed for me.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to adjust to the dim light. My entire body ached, sore from the long sleep. My intense fatigue from before seemed to be slipping away and though it hurt to, I realized I had enough strength to move. As I went to stand, I felt a tug on my arm. I looked down and noticed there was a long cord extending from my wrist all the way into the ceiling.
I tugged at the cord. “Strange,” I said to myself. “ this feels like an IV.” I looked down at my other arm, there were several pin pricks running up and down it, showing I had had blood drawn recently, quite a lot. I rubbed my temples trying to banish the fog that seemed to cloud my thinking. “ Where am I?”
My eyes continued to run up and down my body. I suddenly remembered the attack and my hand instinctively rushed up to the wound on my shoulder. To my surprise there was nothing there, no bandage, or even scar. I slumped back onto the “bed” once again swimming in my own head. “Was it all a dream? I know that it couldn’t have been real,…..but it felt real.”
Not long after this, the “door” opened. In seconds the once barren room was alive with people. Twenty or thirty men and women dressed in black and white lab coats crammed into the small space scrambling around, all trying to get a look at me. They whispered to each other, looks of surprise and amazement covered their faces.
I fidgeted uncomfortably under their scrutinizing eyes. No one addressed me, they spoke rapidly to each other as if they didn’t think I could even understand them. The noise was to much all at once. My head was already throbbing, the dull roar of this crowd just made it all that much worse. I couldn’t take it anymore. Finally, I threw my hands up and shouted, “ SHUT UP!” The room instantly feel silent. A general look of shock hung on the faces of the people around me. “ what, on earth, is going on?” I asked slowly. Panting from the mixture of anxiety and pain welling up in my chest.
My audience stood there is silence for only a moment longer then they burst. They crowded around me pushing and shoving just trying to get a look at me. They shouted one question after another. If the dull roar they had made before gave me a headache then by now it was a migraine.
What was worse was the questions didn’t make sense. They were in English sure enough, but they were about the stupidest stuff. They asked me “when I was born? What I ate? If I was sick?” Things that seemed relatively unimportant they shouted at me like it was some new incredible discovery.
I covered my ears trying to shut out the ruckus. I felt sick I couldn’t get them to stop. I didn’t know how much more I could take. Suddenly the door opened again. In walked a girl. She was different than the girls in white I had seen before. This girl was a few years older than me. She was very attractive and there was kindness in her face, but at the same time a sort of frailness.
She took one look around and became very irritated. “What are you people doing in here?!” she asked sternly to one of the men.
He scowled at her and replied, “This is an important discovery, leave us alone.”
She stood toe to toe with him not in the least bit intimidated. “ This is my patient and he is in no condition to be entertaining questions right now.” She pushed through the crowd and stood between me and them. “Now leave so I can get my work done. When he is better I am sure he will be willing to answer what ever you want.”
The man tapped his foot impatiently. “Listen here, nurse I don’t know who you think you are, but we have every right to be here.” he said poking his finger into her chest. “ So leave and let us get what we need, or else I …..”
At that moment the door opened once again. In walked the girl in white that I had seen when I first woke up. She stood in the doorway for a second assessing the situation. Everyone in the room immediately fell silent. Her eyes moved from one person to the next finally settling on the man who had been arguing with the nurse.
The man cringed under her stare, indicating that this girl no older than them held a position of some importance. “Everyone out.” she said authoritatively, not taking her eyes off the man. The response was astounding immediately all the people filled quickly out the door without a single word of complaint.
The girl in white stopped the nurse as she was exiting. “Is he stable enough to leave?” She asked looking over at me.
The nurse frowned in concern. “He appears to be, but I think he should be getting rest right now.”
The girl in white nodded. “ I understand, but I think if he is stable enough he will probably like some answers. I will bring him in for a checkup tomorrow. Will that be alright?”
The nurse nodded then took another look toward me and smiled. “I’ll leave you two alone, I hope to see you again when you are feeling better.”
I smiled weakly back at her wanting to thank her, but I was still to overwhelmed to think straight, instead I simply nodded.
The girl in white walked up to me and sat down on the bed next to me. “Are you alright?” she said. “ You must be really confused.” I only nodded “ You do speak English, right?” She asked.
“Yes.” I replied. “Where am I?”
“ In the dome.” she said as if it needed no explanation. I cocked my eyebrow in confusion. “ Oh yeah.” She said. “ you probably don’t know anything about the dome. It wasn’t here when you were last awake. Was it?”
“When I was last awake?” I inquired shaken by the eerie scene around me.
“ You’ve been in cryogenic sleep for, we believe, at least a thousand years.” She answered slowly. My mind reeled. The dreams all flooded back into my head. I felt the room spin as she explained the events of the last millennia. She told me that a terrible war had broken out, probably not long after I had been frozen. She told me about how the war had taken a horrible turn when the nuclear warheads were launched. She didn’t know who started it or who finished it, but the result was a near annihilation of civilization altogether. I knew this is what my dreams had been about, though I didn’t know how. I wanted to pass out again to shake myself and find that this was just another dream, but for all my efforts the nightmare would not end. Slowly I began to regain some semblance of composure. I forced myself to continue the discussion.
“ So was this dome built after the war then?”
“ I guess you could say that.” she responded vaguely.
“ What is it made of. I mean it doesn’t look like any material I’ve ever seen.” I said trying to get off the uncomfortable topics we had been discussing.
“ Well it’s mostly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, but there are a few other trace elements here and there.” She replied inconsequentially. I stared for a moment my mind cranked back to the science classes I had had so long ago.
“Are you telling me this dome is organic?” I exclaimed in disbelief.
“ Of course it wouldn’t be alive otherwise.” she answered calmly.
My mind reeled once again. I was standing in a living building. This was a little much to accept. “How!” I asked.
She answered me slowly probably thinking back to what she had learned as a child. “Well, after the war most of the machines were fried from the electro magnetic pulses. So a group of geneticists and biologist that had survived the war got together and genetically engineered this dome.“ After a few minutes she said. “ How about I show you around. This place is hard to describe. Your questions would be better answered by seeing everything.
I didn’t know if I wanted to learn anymore about this place, but at the same time this girl….there was something about her that I was entranced by.
“ Wait.” I said. “I still don’t know your name.
“It’s Terry.” She replied. I repeated the name over in my head. Terry, the name kind of rolled off my tongue. She tapped her foot and cocked here head to the side impatiently. “Well, what about you?”
My cheeks got red. “ Sorry. I’m David.” I said quickly.
She smiled. “Nice to meet you David.” With that she helped me remove the IV and then withdrew a small card from her pocket and slipped it into the slit next to the door. The door then opened and she lead me out into a small corridor with the same gray color and glowing bioluminescent as the room. I asked her what the card was and how it had opened the door.
“ it’s a mineral card.” She answered. “ In order to work anything in the dome doors, lifts, and so on you insert mineral cards that stimulate that organ to do whatever it is that you need.”
“ Where do you get the cards at?” I asked.
“ They are given to us at the beginning of each day.” She replied.
“What if you need more?” I solicited.
She answered quickly almost without thinking “You won’t your given the exact number you’ll need, by the dome, at the beginning of the day.”
“ How does it know how many your going to need. I mean what if there’s an emergency?” I inquired. Everything was so strange here.
She stopped for a moment. A puzzled look came over her face. “ I don’t know I have never thought about it.” She shrugged her shoulders and kept going. We then emerged from the corridor into the main area of the dome. It was huge. The dome consisted of several floors that circled around the outer wall of the dome making a series of rings. The center of the dome was completely open save a network of pathways and lifts connecting the various floors. Everything was moving. The pathways compressed and extended moving people from one end of the dome to the other. There were tubes connecting the various floors as well. It was to one of these tubes that we approached. She slid another mineral card into one of the slots by the tubes. A space opened on the tube and I could see inside. The tube was full of liquid running swiftly. It was kept inside only by a thin membrane.
“Follow me.” she said, and then proceeded to push through the membrane. The membrane closed behind her enclosing her in a sort of bubble that quickly flowed away through the tube. I closed my eyes and pressed up against the membrane. In a few seconds I was flying through what seemed to be a dry water park ride. I was moving so fast I couldn’t tell where I was going. Suddenly without warning I was thrust out of the tube and landed awkwardly on the floor.
Terry laughed. “ I probably should have told you to watch the landing.” We continued our tour through the bizarre living city. Every question I asked she had an answer for.
“ What are those things hanging from the ceiling everywhere?” I asked.
“ Villi,” she replied. “ The dome exchanges oxygen from them. “ And that Chamber over there is where the heart pumps are.”
“ heart pumps?” I said surprised. “ This dome really is just like a giant living thing. What does it eat?”
“ It is photosynthetic and chemosynthetic. The dome uses both the sun and the remnant nuclear radiation and converts it to energy. Through a similar means like plants.” She answered.
“You mentioned earlier that the dome gives you the mineral cards. Does that mean the dome is sentient?” I asked.
“ No, it just does what we tell it to, but it is almost like a giant computer it keeps track of what we need and gives it too us.” She replied. The entire experience was more than a little surreal. I kept expecting that I would just wake up or someone would say that this was all some kind of bad realty show, but … it wasn’t. I was really surprised how fast I grew to accept this new world. I guess after being asleep for so long I was just glad to be aware of anything anymore. Even if it was different from anything I had ever dreamed of.