The Reincarnation

Grey was out cold. John turned his attention back to the box with the toggle switches. What was I doing?

As if in answer to his question, he felt his arms go out to the switches, continuing to turn them off. When he flipped the last one, the room grew much quieter. He immediately turned to the box on the facing wall and repeated the motions, clicking off all the toggle switches he found inside. When he was done, the room was silent.

There was a smaller box inside each cabinet, and John saw himself open one, then the other. Inside each was something labeled “SURGE PROTECTOR.” The letters meant nothing to John. John saw himself remove the devices. He then dropped them on the floor and smashed them with his boot.

Picking up the crushed devices, he pulled two wires out of each of them, and connected them inside the areas where the devices were previously. He looked at Grey, who was still passed out.

“Come in, come in. Welcome.” Dr. Persey swung the doors wide open to welcome his guests.

“Hi. My name is Tracy. This is Father Dante.”

“My name is Rob.”

“I’m Juliet Ward.”

“Rudy Johnson.”

Dozens more filed past Dr. Persey. Then dozens more again. He had Patty lead them to the conference room, which was the only place large enough to hold them all. There, he was going to have the doctors pair them up with the person they were there for. The doctors didn’t need to do anything, though – each Other was drawn to a particular patient’s room, wanting to go inside.

Dr. Persey quickly realized they were overwhelmed. With only the doctors and his paltry staff, the Others he had waited so long to see were inundating the Lab. Some came alone, some came in groups. Dr. Persey didn’t know what to do with them all. He ended up letting them go into the patients’ rooms that they were drawn to. He then had the doctors lock the doors to the rooms.

He told himself it was a temporary solution until they could get things under control.

John connected the wires in the areas that previously held the surge protectors. They sparked when he slid them into place. He then found himself switching the toggle switches back on, all at once, using both hands to span the alcove with his arms outstretched. Sparks flew from the wires he had put into place. He reached into the areas where they were and slid the wires out until the contacts were broken.

Then he pushed the wires back in simultaneously. The wires more than sparked, they melted, fusing to the boxes. John noticed smoke coming from both his outstretched hands and his boots, and physically didn’t feel a thing. But mentally –

For a moment, John was back at the office party. He had just been congratulated by the Chief Executive Officer on his “stellar accomplishment” of being the youngest VP ever at the company. This time, though, John didn’t go along with the charade. He made sure everyone was paying attention to him, and then he started berating them – all of them. He told them what a bunch of self-satisfied assholes they were. How they didn’t give a shit about anything but their own greedy desires. He was pounding on the table with his shoe. He told them how they could all go to hell and take their goddamn company and shove it right up their assholes. He then went to the elevator, pressed “L” for lobby, and let the doors close on their ghastly, pallid faces. In his mind’s vision of the events, he was smiling widely –

John pulled his arms away from the electrical boxes, and looked out at the room. The metal boxes on the floor weren’t silent, and they weren’t humming. They were whining. The noise was growing, the whine becoming a wail. John looked toward the door and ran to it. He got out of the room and pulled the door closed. It hissed into place. Behind the door, John heard a series of explosions. Coming through the heavy door, they sounded almost comical, like firecrackers.

It was then that he realized Grey was gone.