Advanced Clockwork: Young Writers Prize 2014

Chapter 13

Cold.

It was so cold. Those were the first thoughts that she had, how cold she felt. She couldn't feel anything really, not even the simplest touch, except for that cold that covered her whole body like a blanket of ice. She felt different too, very different. Taller, thinner, heavier maybe? Smarter too, she knew all these weird tidbits of information from all through history that she never really knew she knew about, but there was this little red flag in her subconscious that made her want to open her eyes.

She tried, but she couldn't. Something was off here, what were they doing to her? She tried moving her arms and legs, trying to get her body to wiggle or move, but was met with no response. She couldn't hear anything, couldn't open her eyes, couldn't move...

Was she dead? She shook her head. No, no she wasn't dead. This is not what death felt like, the afterlife didn't look like a void. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be. The doctor said she wasn't going to die, not like she had a choice in this, and it looks like he lied.

She felt herself want to sob, a wave of confusion and fear coming over her. What were they doing? What had they done? Was this what happened to the others? Were they sucked into that blinding white room and put under like she was? All these questions were floating around her head, echoing off the darkness like it was a room, as she screamed out in fear.

It felt like hours, hours of screaming and crying and asking 'why' and 'what' over and over, until she just stopped all together. This was crazy, she was going crazy. If this was death, then she was in a special part of Hell. That was the only rational conclusion she could come up with, she was dead and went to Hell. And now, she was left there to pay for what she had done. In her mind, she felt herself slipping, the cold gripping her more and more. "Funny, really." She mused to herself silently. "Hell was said to be a burning pit.... It must have froze over."

"Actually." A voice from the distance rather monotone and metallic sounding mused. "Hell is only a figment of mind. And that is were you are, in your mind."

She looked around, her eyes widening as she saw something horrifying a ways behind her. It wasn't scarry really, more of a surprise she wasn't prepared for. A girl stood there, seventeen years old at least, completely made of a blue and silver looking metal she had never seen before in her life. It was looking at her with dead eyes, cold and lifeless as it glowed a yellow color that reminded her of cat eyes.

"Who are you!?" She shouted at the thing, mentally trying to wake up. This was a dream. This was a dream!

"I am your new mental uploader, patient 42." It explained in that rattly tone. "You are the lucky patient that has been prototyped with the new Mental Evolution Protection suit, or the MEP suit. You have undergone the metamorphosis, patient 42. You are the first to undergo this procedure and live long enough to meet me." It's cold smile sent a shiver down her spine as she fought to open her eyes.

This was all a dream.

The doctors wouldn't do this to her. Would they?

"What... What do you mean 'mental uploader'?" She shouted at it, the fear in her voice completely audible in her voice. The robot tilted it's head to the side, as if to show confusion.

"I am to upload to your brain everything that they wish you to know, as well as how to act around your superiors who have created you." "I'm no one's mind puppet!" She shouted, tears streaming down her face as she tried desperately to wake up. "This isn't real! None of this is real!" The robot woman shook her head slightly, as if disappointed.