Cynetic Wolf

An Apple A Day

I awoke feeling weird. My head was—I don’t know… off.

The door opened.

Stay calm. Think, Raek. Look around, what do you see? It was an operating room. Everything was pristine and white: the walls, the floors, the table. Crap, the table. Why was I strapped to a table? No windows, two swivel chairs, a camera above me. To my right was a drawer filled with scalpels, saws, and all manner of horrible looking tools.

No! I strained my arms and legs, desperate to get out, but tiny red restraints dug into my hands and feet. Ah, that was tight.

What was going on? My heart pounded. What Thorn had said? “The nerds back at headquarters, they’re excited to open you up…”

Someone whistled an eerie tune in the echoey hallway. It made my skin crawl. There was a voice, but I couldn’t make out the words—my ears weren’t working right.

A small, slimy blob of a man walked in. He was hideous. So short, grossly overweight, and completely bald, a face covered in boils. He smiled at me, his tiny black eyes alight with excitement. “Our patient finally decided to wake up, Dr. P.”

Behind him walked—if possible—someone equally as ugly. It was tall and gaunt, skinny beyond any degree of health or youthfulness. And its skin was worse still, so pale and thin, almost translucent—veins and bones practically poking out of the decaying body.

I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman until I saw the hands. They were massive, much too big to be a woman’s, with long, smooth fingers and manicured nails. “It would appear so, Dr. R. It’s time to get to work.” He smiled toothily at me, hideous, perfect, pearly whites making me ill.

“Raek, my boy, you’ve been given a gift. It’s our job to understand that gift, to cut it out of you.” The fat man’s eyes were fanatical, stretched to the absolute limit of his revolting face. “We’re to peer into your soul, open your genome, and find what makes you tick. Ready for a little fun?” A tiny giggle escaped his disgusting lips.

Before I could respond, he grabbed a blade from the dressing table and stabbed my hand.

I screamed as spasms gripped me. Tears came.

“How did you get the nanoSTEMs?” Dr. P asked, voice rising. “Were you going to the Resistance? Did Lyam tell you where their headquarters is?”

Sobbing, I closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t, I swear.” My nerves were on fire, pain blinding.

Stay calm. No luck. Piercing agony brought me back to hell. “I don’t know!” I screamed. My SmartCore downregulated the pain until his partner hacked off my big toe with one efficient swipe that sent my nerves ablaze.

I passed out on the third toe. It was more than I could bear. Before everything went black, it hit me. I’d never walk again.

I came to in time to hear, “Got to take a trip to the little boys’ room. Don’t miss me.” Another disgusting giggle, and the door thudded shut.

“Raek, we need to hurry!” The skinny one unclasped the restraints binding my feet.

What? My eyes opened, widening. “What are you doing?”

“My name’s Robiert, I’m undercover with Rebel intelligence, spying on the GDR’s research programs. I’m on your side. We need to get you out of here! You may be our side’s last chance.”

He handed me crutches, and I stood speechless. What was he saying? It wasn’t possible, was it?

He unhooked my shaking hands.

“Did Harding tell you where to go? Where the new Resistance headquarters is? I need to get out of here too, my cover is blown after this.”

“No. Why?” Wait, who’s Harding?

“Follow me!” The sickly man locked the door Dr. R had gone through and opened another. “Down here, come on.” He hurried deeper underground, feet echoing in the tiny stairwell as I struggled after him. Where were we going?

The echo. Something about it was off. My ears again... they’d been acting up since the officer injected me. Come on, Raek, focus. I shook my head to clear the fog.

At the landing, he had another series of questions.

Something wasn’t right. If there were sound sensors in this hallway, talking made no sense. The things he was asking—it hit me. My ears, my eyes, my senses… everything was off. You can’t model consciousness, can’t know exactly how someone experiences life.

This was a simulation, it had to be. A virtual world.

Really?

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my breath. Please be right...

“Raek, hurry! Raek? What are you—Where’s the new headquarters? Raek?”

I blocked him out, blocked everything and went deeper and deeper. He stabbed me twice. Still, I fought, pain searing. Everything disappeared and I signaled my SmartCore to wake up.

A shockwave rippled through me.

There was light.