Future Findings

When I woke up, my first thought was; I’ve been knocked out too many goddamn times in the past few days. Then I remembered that I had been captured, and was now being held captive in a megamind hive of technology. Except-- I wasn’t. I was sitting in a chair in front of some desk. My hands weren’t tired, there weren’t shackles on my feet, and my mouth was not gagged. However, I could feel the nasty bruises on my ribs, and a handful of cuts on my face. As the world came back into focus, I discovered that there was someone in the room with me, sitting behind the desk.

It was Laura. Laura Baker. Her black skin gleamed like amber in the white light of her office.

“You’re awake,” she said. I shook my head, still too disoriented to say much.

“How did you know that I was awake? I should still be asleep in my cryogenic chamber,” I responded.

“You think you woke up based on an accident? Oh no, I knew.” What? How? But it didn’t matter how she knew. What mattered was that I was here now.

“Well, I’m awake.”

“I’m glad,” she told me. Glad? Why would she be glad? “I’m glad because our first test subject made it through! And now, you’ve got the chance to be the first in something else!” she clapped her hands together, obviously excited about what she had in store for me. My head was swimming, but curiosity was pushing me to the limits of my capabilities.

“What.. do you mean?” I struggled to say.

“I mean, we’ve developed something far greater than simple cryogenesis. See, after Troy tragically passed away… I took over the facility. And after cryogenesis was deemed successful, it was my idea to forge ahead into some different, uncharted territory.” Troy had died? But he had pioneered cryogenesis, and succeeded! Why didn’t he just arrange for his body to be frozen, and then revived in the future after the technology was available to save him?

“How did he die?” I forced out, still trying to pull my brain up from the depths. Laura didn’t like this question, but still answered me.

“Robbery turned bad. My poor husband lost his life sleeping right next to me-- he was too far gone to put him in the machine(coffin),” she said. But somehow, that didn’t seem right. There was no sorrow in her eyes-- only money. It dawned on me that she may have had something to do with his death, but I pushed it away before I could think about it too much. My goal was to find her in this new time, but now I wanted to get away from her. She was different. I didn’t want to be here with her anymore, though it had been my whole focus to find her. Even though I wanted to leave, I also had the urge to stay. Something about her was just so entrancing. It made sense that she had married Troy. He wanted wealth, and she was rich in beauty and love.

“As I was saying,” she started. “I’d like you to be the labrat of an even more brilliant machine!” But I didn’t care what machine it was. I was with AMO now. Eddie had saved me from going back to the coffin, and I saw through their eyes now. The world truly was corrupted by technology, and I saw that now. I had entered this world loving it, but I saw the hatred and illness in it now.

Those too poor to afford the new world were cast aside and left to rot in abandoned cities. The whole Earth was covered in smog and toxins. People sat in the comfort of their homes using phones and computers instead of engaging with the real world. The business of technology was corrupt. And Earth wouldn’t be able to handle the pollution. I realized that I hadn’t seen a single tree in the time that I had been here.

I was working to help put the corrupt megaminds of this new world down, and working with their technology was not only counterintuitive, but blasphemous. I had to get out of here and get back to my friends. I stood up out of my chair, and looked around for a door. Laura didn’t even blink.

And yet, the world was so new. There were people surviving solely with the help of technology. People could have their eyes, hearts, and even parts of their brain replaced with machinery. Cyborgs were finally here, and they were destined to become the peak predator in this world. I could work with Laura. I wouldn’t even have to leave here, I could just be the lab rat for all kinds of new ideas and thoughts.

“You can’t leave just yet, Abid.” She didn’t stand up from behind her desk. I found the door-- it was right behind me. Laura thought that she could stop me, but she couldn’t. I turned on my heels and rushed to the door. My head was still too foggy to think about where I would go after I got out of her office, but that didn’t stop me. I stumbled over to the door, knocking my chair over in the process. Except, it was locked. I jiggled the doorknob, but to no avail.

“It’s locked Abid.” she said. But I already knew that. “You can’t leave until I tell you about the new invention. The one you can be the very first to use.”

“And what if I don’t want to use it?” I asked furiously, suddenly full of rage. She smirked, and finally stood up. Her long brown hair fell down past her shoulders, and her slim figure dazzled my eyes for more than a second.

“Then you can leave. I won’t stop you, honest. But let me at least tell you what it is! At least give me that,” she said. Her voice was so soothing, and I supposed that she and her husband had sent me here in the first place. I supposed that I did owe her something. So I returned to my seat-- holding in my anger at being stuck in this place.

Laura smiled, then sat back down in her own chair. She pulled open a drawer that I couldn’t see, and rummaged through some papers. I sat there waiting for her to show me whatever she intended to. It seemed to take forever, and I wondered more than once if I could just kick the door down. I didn’t want to be in this place any more than I had to.

Finally, she slammed the drawer shut. She dropped a large folder onto the top of her desk, which I just now realized was completely bare. This must not be her only office, I thought.If it was, it would have papers and pens spread across. Or at least, a computer. She pushed one wall of the folder over, and pulled out a small stack of blueprints, handwritten notes, and diagrams. These she turned around, and slid the papers over to me. I blankly stared at them, having no idea what they were. I didn’t want to seem stupid, however, so I began rummaging through them and occasionally nodding my head. She obviously knew I was confused, but thought me pretending to know was funny. She sat across the desk with a small smile frozen on her large lips.

I dropped the papers, defeated. Even after looking through them all, I had no idea what they were. The diagrams and blueprints made no sense. The handwritten notes were rushed and practically illegible.

“Tell me what I’m looking at here,” I finally said. She let loose a broad smile, and threw her head back. At first it reminded me of some sort of possessed girl, but then she laughed. Her laugh was like the voice of an angel. Yet it was coming from a creature that couldn’t be anything angelic. Siren, I thought. She was a Siren. Laura crossed her arms, and began to speak.

“They’re plans. For a time-teleportation machine,” she said smugly. “The prototype is in the basement.” What? How is that possible? I flipped through the papers she had handed me again. And it clicked. The blueprints showed a chamber not unlike the one that had held me during cryogenesis. I felt a shiver rush down my spine. I didn’t want to go back into the coffin again.

“Why would I want to use that?” I asked, but I already knew why. I would be able to go back to the time I had been frozen. I would be able to go back to my old life, or create a new one for myself. I could see my parents, my old friends. I could leave this polluted, dying world in favor of my younger one.

“You know exactly why. So, what do you say?” she asked me.

“What’s the catch?” I wondered, though I already knew my answer was a big ‘no’. Laura smirked yet again, and I knew that there inevitably was a catch.

“Once you go back, you’re stuck there. You go, but the machine stays here. It’s a one way trip, Abid.” Nope.

“It’s been fun catching up, but no thank you,” I returned. I stood up, and waltzed over to the door. I knew she was angry, but she held it in surprisingly well.

“See ya around. I know you’ll be back soon. Maybe even just to try out some other things. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. ” Laura said, and smiled. I thought that in that moment I was utterly in love with her. I tried the door, and this time it was unlocked.

I walked throughout the building fearlessly, knowing that if someone caught me they’d just send me to Laura and this would start all over again. It took me a while to find the elevator. But once I did, I took it down to the main floor and made my way to the exit. Different guards were there, and they didn’t seem to have any recognition of me, nor will to stop me. I made my way to where Angus had originally parked the car, though I knew it would likely not be there anymore.

Big surprise-- it wasn’t. However, I sat down on the curb. Eventually they would come back, Eddie would force them to. My friends wouldn’t leave me. Or would they? As time went on, I put my hands around my knees and rested my head. That was how I sat, for much longer than five hours, though I couldn’t be sure. I had no way to tell time, other than the movement of the sun. But even then it was hard to tell, because the smog constantly covered up major segments of the sky.

At some point I fell asleep. I had tried to remain conscious, as the thought of falling asleep on the side of a busy street made me feel incredibly vulnerable. Nevertheless, I dropped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

When I was awoken, I felt very calm-- up until I remembered who and where I was. There was somebody standing above me, gently shaking my shoulders. I couldn’t see who it was, but Eddie’s voice rang true.

“I’m so glad you got out! Angus, help me pick him up. Let’s get you back home, buddy.” But I wasn’t heading home. I was heading to the AMO facility, not my house.

I slept most of the way back. The wounds the guards had inflicted on me were just starting to smart and heal over. In my dreamy daze, I could hear Eddie and Beck conversing, and Angus grunting in agreement every once in a while.

Once we had parked, we all quietly got out of the car. There it was. The desolation and ruin of mankind. People in tattered clothes, barely weighing enough to stop from floating up and away, wandering aimlessly through the streets. Bricks and slivers of buildings lay on the ground in front of their original setting. The pollution hung heavy in the sky-- almost definitely a result of the megacity in which we had just left. It was sickening, just seeing it.

We got into the base, and took our time going down the stairs. Every once in a while I would stumble-- but Angus or Beck or Eddie would be there to stop me from falling down. Once we made it to the bottom of the staircase, we headed down to the Living Quarters. I had lost my pack after the guards caught me, but nobody else had theirs either. So they had come back to base before they picked me up. My face mask-- it was gone too. The guards must’ve taken that, too.

“How did you find-- me?” I asked. We were navigating the hallway quite slowly, with Angus in the lead.

“We came back,” Eddie started. “But we knew you’d make it out-- so we headed back for you. The Elders aren’t too happy that we risked going back and getting caught, even after our mission was somewhat successful.” We had entered the room, and Eddie led me to my bed. He quickly spread the sleeping bag out, and helped me into the top bunk.

“You better get some rest, we’ve got a post-mission meeting tomorrow with The Elders,” Eddie told me. I shook my head in understanding, and closed my eyes. I was out in a matter of seconds.