Ghost in the machine

Awake again, and alert.

- Can you hear me?

She was awake now, feeling light, almost floating on her bed, like a balloon just slightly heavier than the air. She could move her eyes but nothing else, and could see the roof and walls of an empty white room.

The voice was firm but distant and belonged to a woman peering down at her. Slim, dressed in white, the tone of the skin of her hands and face almost a continuation of her clothing. One metre seventy-three. Fifty-three kilos. Strange that she knew from only a glance. She carried a grey case that she placed on the side of the bed.

There was nothing remarkable or distinctive about the woman's face or features. She was attractive, pretty even, with a perfectly formed, slightly oval face, a small nose and mouth and almond shaped eyes. Her eyebrows were arched and fine and her jet black hair was straight and cut short over her eyebrows back to her temples, falling plumb to just above her shoulders. It shone with the light, rippling as she moved as though made of pure silk thread. She felt a desire to reach out and run it between her fingers but her arms would not move. They were functional but the signal from her brain was blocked by something touching the back of her neck.

She looked up and met the woman's gaze. She was young, apparently in her twenties, though her voice and her eyes - almost black, intelligent and cold and giving the impression that she looked through rather than at - said had lived many times that.

She nodded.

- What's your name?

It was a simple question and yet she had no answer. She couldn't remember anything from before the woman's voice. She noted that this was strange and yet it did not trouble her. She was working properly, with total dominion of her senses. She knew the air temperature, pressure, the proportions of its component elements, even that amount the level of cabon dioxide has risen and fallen since the woman came into the room. The gravity she felt put her on earth, quarter of a second south of the equator, eighty-five degrees, forty-one minutes and thirty-one seconds west. She knew all this, and much more, but she didn't know her name.

- I don't know.
- What do you remember?
- Remember?
- Any dreams, feelings?

There was something. Something important. Something that she knew she should remember but didn't. Something or someone.

- I...

A face? Yes. A face. It was there, somewhere. She tried to remember, desperate to seize at the elusive image that formed and vanished as she focussed her attention. She knew she knew it, knew she had to find it, and there were moments when she thought she had it, but the harder she tried the less she saw.

And then it was gone.

- Anything?
- No.
- Are you thirsty?
- Yes.
- Hungry?

She was. Ravenous. She nodded.

- Any pain or discomfort?
- I can't move.

The woman reached behind her neck and peeled off a small, adhesive patch.

- Now try.

She wiggled her toes and lifted her arms to study her hands. She overcompensated, misjudging the strength of her arms and the speed of her reflexes and almost hit herself in the face. Her hands and fingers were young, the same white, translucent skin as the woman.

- Can you sit?

She could. She was naked but felt nothing. No shame, no embarassment. There was a fine mark, a scar, almost invisible on her right thigh. She ran her finger along its length as though it could tell its story by touch.

- How did you get that?

She had no idea, though she knew that she must. She shrugged, catrching as she did so a glimpse of herself in the mirrored window to her left and, beyond that, the infrared silhouettes behind the glass. Three people seated side by side, watching.
 
She focussed on her face. It was the same oval shape and had the same dark, almond eyes as the woman. All her features were similar to, but not quite the same as, the woman's. She was younger. And her hair had been cut short.

There was another patch on her forehead. She reached up to remove it.

- Please, leave it on.

She took her hands away from her face and turned back to the woman.

- Any memories? Anything on your mind? Anything you want to ask?

She considered the question. She had no memories that came to mind. Athough she didn't know her name, or where she was, or what she was doing there, none of this bothered her and she didn't feel any need to know. She was fine. She wanted for nothing. She shook her head.
 
- No.
- Describe how you feel. Physically and mentally.
- Fine. Calm. Peaceful.

The woman nodded and flipped open the case. She took out a device. A large ring that looked like it would fit over her head covering eyes and ears.

- Screen.

Light flickered near the wall at the far end of the room. A three-dimensional image formed, floating in mid-air. UCoA. Elegant, slim letters. Red blue, yellow and green. Slowly revolving.

-  Please follow the instructions.

She sat still while the woman placed the ring over her head, covering her eyes and ears. Although the part over her eyes was opaque, she could see everything just as it was in the room on a screen on the inside of the device.

- You will be required to stand or to move about the room, but keep this on until instructed to remove it. The tests should take no longer than two hours.

She touched the patch on her forehead.

- What does this do?
- Please do not touch or remove the inhibitor. If you require anything, ask. We will be watching.