Metal Organism Designed only for Cuddling

MODOC: Part 17 - Inner Vision

              Justin looked up and found himself in an arboreal forest. Trees of red and copper leaves waved in the wind. Large insects whirred in the air and swirled around each other as they danced in the hot sun.

              The sun! He could see the sun. It was big and red and not at all what he expected. Justin had dreamed in the past about the world as he thought it might be. He had lost his vision completely by the time he was three years old. He had learned the nature and names of colors and could remember some of the things like buildings and cars, but he hadn't seen enough to know the nature of the world completely.

              His father had made great efforts to expose him to the world using scale figures, texture models in clay showing him the towering scales of buildings in the environment, comparisons between trees and other organic things, but nothing prepared him for the panoply of color, of shapes, sizes. It was more than he could bear. He closed his eyes and fell to his knees. Tears welled up in his eyes and he brushed them away before opening them again.

              Looking at the sun, it was so large and so red. No matter that he had never seen the sun, he never remembered his father describing it as a large orb filling a section of the sky. He also did not remember his father describing a purple sky or red trees.

              He thought about it for a moment. His father did mention there were times when the leaves did change colors but then they fell to the ground. There were no leaves on the ground. And he remembered grass. Grass was green. This stuff was red with gold trim around each blade. He realized no matter what he was seeing and he was happy to be seeing, this was not home.

              And then he heard the voice. He first thought it was Max. Soft and barely audible. He did not understand it. It was talking but it made no sense. But it kept talking and soon he was able to follow only a few words. They walked and talked to each other in nonsense words and soon more language came out. Justin began to teach the voice how to use language and within a few days, the two of them were able to discuss more complex ideas.

              On the fifth rising of the fiery orb into the sky, the voice spoke to Justin, but it sounded just like his father's voice. Warm, strong yet gentle. "Justin, our time here will be ending soon."

              "What do you mean? We have been talking for days. Why can't we just keep talking?"

              "We can't because in a few minutes you will be waking up and you will barely remember this conversation. You will think you had a nightmare or at least a very strange dream. But it wasn't a dream."

              "Then what was it?"

              "I am inside of you. I am a part of you that is new to you."

              "I don't understand."

              "Do you remember the doctor's office when you were sick?"

              "Yes."

              "You were first exposed to me there."

              "Are you a disease?"

              "No. But what I am is less important than what I have to tell you."

              "What are you, why haven't I ever been able to see you? I can see everything else here but not you. Are you a monster? Are you going to jump out from behind a rock and eat me? Were you just talking to me to make me think I was safe?"

              The voice chuckled and continued. "No Justin. I am not a monster. You cannot see me because I am inside of you. You can hear me because I am inside of your consciousness. I created the landscape you are seeing because I missed my home. Your mind is particularly imaginative so I decided to see if I could make a place in your mind we could communicate. I tried to make someplace you would be comfortable, but I did not see anything to reference, so I made the place where I was first aware and thought you would enjoy seeing it."

              "When I wake up, I won't remember you?"

              "Probably not. From what I can tell, your conscious and unconscious state particularly in your current condition, seem to have barriers between them. So I am going to tell you something and you will have to trust me."

              "Trust you? How can I trust someone I just met? I am not even supposed to talk to strangers." Justin had stopped walking and looked around at the landscape and did his best to remember everything he was seeing. Every leaf, every shape, every tree, every insect, each stored away as best he was able.

              "All I can say to you at this point, is we are stuck together. I am bound within your lunon, your DNA, and can never leave. I have begun to reshape your lunon, to allow me to better interact with you. I can only make minor changes because I do not have sufficient mass or control over your body's processes. But I can do one thing for you, if you want."

              "I don't understand what you are saying? We are stuck together? For how long? What lunon, what's DNA? What can you do for me? I am sick. Can you make me better? I don't like being sick."

              "I will explain lunon in greater detail when we talk again. Your sickness will pass as I learn more about your body. I will put things back the way they belong or better. I will even be able to give you your vision if you want it."

              Justin looked at his hands and realized for the first time he was not seeing, he was imagining with some help from his new friend. "You can give me my eyes back?"

              "Yes, I hoped you would want such a gift and I have been working to fix the problem. It will be a while before I will be able to complete this. I do not understand much about your world, but from what I can hear around you, there is something to be afraid of. The others to whom I am now bound to, are experiencing fear. There is so much you will need to know, but for right now, all I can say is stay alive."

              The sky darkened as if black clouds had rolled over it and the beautiful red trees faded in the distance. The grass had turned the color of blood and Justin's vision shrank away until he could only see himself and a few feet all around him.

              "I am with you, Justin. Even in the dark."

              And then the darkness was complete.

              Justin woke sick and empty. His stomach had voided itself several times. He reached out to look at his hands and realized he couldn't see. He was lying down in someone's lap and for a moment got excited.

              "Mom," he croaked.

              "No, honey. Your mom isn't here. My name is Naomi. You just lay here. The truck had been stopped for a while but now it's moving again. I am sure we will be getting wherever we are going real soon. Just be still."

              "Miss Naomi, where are we going?"

              "I have no idea, honey. But I bet it isn't anyplace good. Go back to sleep. It will all be over soon. I promise."