Elegance with Expense

53. First Man

I don't remember the drive to the hospital, I must have been sleeping, but I do remember waking up in a completely white room.

It wasn't white in the way that a hospital room was, it wasn't white in the way any room was.

It was bright and clean, no furniture and no doors in view. I could be captured in a dream, but this is unlike any dream I have ever had. 

I felt my eyes closed, but I could see. I was lying down, but I didn't feel a mattress underneath me. It was all such a strange sensation, and I wasn't planning on staying in this place for a very long time.

Just how I did with the hospital bed on the abandoned road, I rolled off the side and landed in a clumsy heap on the hard white floor. I quickly looked behind to see what I was lying on. Nothing.

It was as though this was some sick reality, positioned to mess with my mind.

I was sure that I felt myself elevated, the fall only confirmed it. I wasn't sure if I was in some sort of fucked up simulation, but the thought quickly went straight to my head.

Then the question came. Where is my family? Surely they wouldn't allow me to be injected with a serum and transported to another dimension. Not even over their dead bodies would they allow people to experiment on me.

'Hello?' I called out but my voice only echoed back onto me. 'Bollocks.' I huffed.

I couldn't tell if I was even in a room, maybe this whiteness went on forever. I couldn't see corners, nor could I see walls. Everything was all just so singular.

'Alessa?' A familiar masculine  voice was heard from behind me. I turned at the form of human interaction and was met with Wally. Such an unusual person to see right now.

'What are you doing here? Did they put you in a simulation too?' I held his hands in front of me, they looked so holographic, but he felt so real.

'No, we're not in a simulation.' He sighed, he looked mildly upset.

'Where are we then? Did I die?' 

'Not quite.' He replied gently, looking at me with his wrinkled eyes as if seeing me for the first time in a long time. Despite that being true, there was something behind his expression that was indecipherable. 

'How are you?' I asked him, trying to keep the odd situation as normal as possible. I knew how uncomfortable he got around things that were so unfamiliar to him. It made me wonder how he was even here in the first place.

'Not doing so well.' He finally answered after looking up for a few moments. Not for so long for it to seem suspicious, but with my questioning glance after, he held up a reassuring hand. 'Which is why you need to put yourself first.' 

'I don't understand.' I shook my head with confusion as I looked at him for an explanation.

'I know this might be overwhelming for you, but remember who relies on you. Remember the life you have always wanted to live, see how close you are to making everything you've worked for worth while.' He began speaking in a weird way which caused me to interrupt him.

'Wally, you're talking nonsense. What's going on?' I looked at the old man, being the same height as me, it wasn't hard to meet his ashamed gaze.

'You can live such a long and happy life with your family. I have had my time.' 

'What are you talking about.' I unintentionally raised my voice slightly, growing desperate and frustrated. 

'You need to be happy with what you leave behind, you, Alessa Rossi, can leave an inspiring legacy.'  His shoulders were gravity drawn as he spoke these words. 'Continue to make everyone around you speechless, that look on your greatest enemies face is celebratory.'