The A.I. Protoforms

Chapter Nine: The Dark

The next thing Jensi could remember is being taken away by these 'hunters' and put into a van. The next few moments he fell into a state of delirium which eventually led to sleep. The last thing his eyes fell upon was a rag laying right beside his head that he had laid down to sleep with.

He now looked around his surroundings and saw nothing. Darkness, an ever calling black hole lay before him. He tried blinking to make his eyes adjust, but even after his eyes adjusted, he still could see nothing. He stood up, and realized that was a bad idea, for his legs were very weak.

How long have I been asleep? He thought, half hoping it wasn't days.

"Ivan!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the black hole.

This led him to believe that he was in fact in a room and not outside. Which made him even more fearful. He was in fact trapped.

He called Ivan's name many times after that and heard nothing except for his own echoing voice.

He started to shake and grew very anxious and moments passed. He couldn't just sit here and die, while letting the world pass. He had to get up and leave.

Getting up once again, ignoring his shaking, weak legs, he began acting in a very peculiar way. A way he had never acted before. He screamed and ran around this dark room, reaching his hands out for anything and grasping nothing at the same time. He cried in anger and hopelessness.

Eventually, he sat back down, staying very still and quiet.

If he couldn't get out, he would just be patient. He had let out all of his anxiety and frustration that he could muster up, and now it was time to stay quiet. He listened as a substitute for yelling. He had already tried everything he could think of, so now it was time to try something new and different.

He eventually, after a long stretching silence, heard a very faint voice.

A female voice.

She was saying his name.

He listened some more and she said his name once again, this time louder. He wasn't that far from her.

He got up and walked towards the voice. It had sounded very familiar.

As he walked closer, he heard yet another "Jensi" and this time he knew who had said it.

"Amaya?" He asked, almost jumping up and down in excitement. "Is that really you?"

"Yes." She replied in a very hushed tone.

He was so happy he could scream, but he didn't. He was all out of screams for the day, or night, or whatever time of the day it was. Some more anxiety piled up as he continued tumbling down this rabbit hole of thoughts.

Thoughts passed through his head like he was wrapped up, endlessly, in a hurricane of emotion.

How many days have passed? Is it daytime or nighttime? What was this place? How had he let any of this happen?

He then remembered that he had found Amaya. It didn't stop the tornado living in his head, but it did make him feel much less lonely. And that was the most comforting thing he had felt this entire time being in this room.

"I can't believe you're here. I thought we had lost you for good and I felt so bad, but now they have me and Ivan...." He continued not sure where he was going. "But at least I found you, now we just need to find Ivan and get out of this place, wherever we are."

He heard nothing but silence, and half wondered if she had heard anything he had said.

"Jensi..." Her voice was shaking. She took a deep breath and continued. "We're stuck here for good. There is no escape. Might as well get used to it and accept the truth."