Keeping Our Secret Alive

Project Shadow | Chapter One

A portrait of dappled light braved my eyes. Accompanied sharp ringing bothered my ears. It drowned out the voices of others around me. There was a heavy feeling on my shoulders. A man's hands. He had placed his hands on my shoulders. I could see the grays of his head peeking through an almond brown nest, though the wrinkles framing his face told me the color was from more than just stress. Everything of my environment felt unreal. I was aware of the fact that he was speaking, but the meaning of his words were lost on me. My senses were overcoming my obstacles, as he continued to speak. "- you're part of a remarkable experiment, and I am leading it. My name is Dr. Mika."

His eyes contesting the roots of a cornflower petal. Amber pebbles flicking through them. His expression seemed unreadable, but I'm left unaware if that's due to his skill, or my inexperience. In spite of my vision being clear enough to tell the doctor wasn't much to look at, there was something lingering that keeps one interested. I didn't like how his eyes spoke to me. I looked down to avoid them. My knees looked out of place against the black metal plates. The cold of the plates made me uncomfortable enough to look for somewhere else to stay. There was little difference between the walls of this place and the floors.

"W-Where am I" I barely put together the words. I'm not fully sure what is going on. "You are in a research facility in space, called the Ark. You will become more acquainted with it as you progress." Those words seem to keep aimlessly repeating in my head. 'As you progress.' Progress through the experiment. I am in a research facility, surrounded by presumably scientists, and I am what they are studying.

"What will happen?" I looked back into Dr. Mika's eyes, they held an intensity in them as I asked that question. Why, I'm unsure. "We will have you taken to another room for data collection. From then you will be instructed." Dr. Mika was gesturing to another scientist as he talked. An average height pale woman. She had chocolate hair and glasses so thick they could crack walnuts. I guess she would be the one leading me to the next room. I should take in my surroundings as we do so, at least know how to navigate this place.

"Come, I'll take you to your destination." She spoke with a stoic voice, but unlike with Dr. Mika, I could easily tell there was no hostility. I worked on getting up on my feet. Or at least I tried to. My legs felt like nothing but heavy lumps. Dead wood on a tree. I fell forward, on my first try. None of the doctors  made a move to help me. With more effort I was able to stand straight though.

Walking was another task. It shouldn't have been too hard, just on foot in front of the other. I lifted my right leg and put it in front of me. Going good so far. I picked up my left leg, and lost my balance. I was once again on the ground. I wish I kept my thoughts quiet.

It was all down hill from there. Walking is extremely hard. I had mostly given up. Everytime I would stand back up I could only move my right leg before falling back down. The doctors were virtually useless. I managed to reach the scientist meant to guide me, from there, I just latched onto her leg. She seemed surprised at first, but I don't think she minded. Just gave me an awkward glance.

She started walking towards the huge and probably freezing metal door. It stood out like a needle in a hay stack. In all the commotion of, I guess, me waking up,  I didn't really look behind me. There was a green tube of sorts. Surrounded by a strange liquid on the ground. That must have been what I came out of. I couldn't manage to get a great look at it, because of doors seemingly closing on me. I noticed how dreary the hallway looked, the same cold color of the room I was previously in. The doors on the Ark were silent, I didn't hear them opening.

    The hallway seemed to stretch on for as long as it takes Jupiter to complete its orbital period. But like it, the hallway was eventually complete. "I would like you to get down, now. Shadow." I guess she believed I  could travel the rest of the way myself. I got down off her leg, and took myself a minute to keep steady. I had better try to perfect my walking while I was here.

Standing wasn't the hard part. It was learning to use these legs, specifically my left leg. I still couldn't move it. It was just futile weight, dragging behind me.   Dr. Mika and the female scientist both walked with twp legs. So maybe I could walk with one. I would just try to follow the pattern of walking, removing the motion of the left leg completely. I was walking. Grant it, I was gaining more height than others did when doing so, but I was still walking.

The female scientist had her eyes wide at me, they maintained their round shape, yet added hints of curiosity and astoundment. "Hoping to overcome your defectiveness shows promising survival instinct." I don't quite understand what she said, but I  felt my cheeks heat up because of it. What was going on? I bring up my right hand to touch my check. Blush, I was blushing, because of embarrassment.  "Your emotions are developing quite nicely too." She was no longer looking at me, but rather, going through a file cabinet. She pulled out a beige folder and placed it open on a thin steel table. "Let's get started shall we?"

The data collection didn't last long. She tested me on my vision, limb and core strength, and took a chemical scan to check on things beneath my skin. She alerted me that I came out unlike the plan, and one of my nerval systems in my leg didn't have a chance to fully develop. But besides that, I was fully ready to start more strenuous trials.

She, having been the scientist of which I never learned her name, led me to another door. This one had a scanner by it. She explained that this was to be my habitat and that my door would always be unlocked unless a lock had been placed or a lock down started. Dr. Mika would also be by in ten hours. He  would be leading this project. She left me to my own devices after. The scanner was a simple rectangle, with a bright neon blue facing. I placed my hand, standing on the tips of my toes to reach, and a faint blue glow followed the outline of my hand. The door opened, just as silent as the others. But what lied inside the room didn't catch on. There were various sounds, seemingly water, and animals.

I gave a small smile as I walked into my room. It was big. Extremely big, compared to the other rooms I had been in. In fact, it could fit at least twelve of the original room I woke up in. Much of the space was taken up by trees, from what I could see, if not trees then by water. I could see the makings of a large pond, and somewhere off in the distance, I could hear flowing water. Above the pond was a large ball of twine. It appeared hollow on the inside. It was quite large, big enough to comfortably house two of me.
There were plants of many variety everywhere and a sun lamp on the ceiling, it gave the impression of moving with the 'sky'. It looked like it was about to set. And behind the sun lamp a different lamp was starting to move. It looked like the moon. It all looked pretty real. Even some stars were starting to appear on the ceiling

There was a window right next to the door. It stretched arms length from either side of the door. It was at head height with the scientists. If you were my height you would need a step stool or someone's shoulders to see into the room. The decoration of the room no longer interested me, so rather, I started walking around to discover the layout.

There was a door tucked away close to the back corner. I walk slowly to the door. Stumbling over things. Like rocks and roots. At first glance the room seemed to be air tight, but I could hear a large fan going somewhere in the room. They must not believe this entire forest will supply enough oxygen. Or perhaps this forest supply oxygen for more than this room. When I finally made it over to the door, I took note of it. The door was white like the walls in this place. Or maybe a very light grey or baby blue. The color was really bright. The handle on the door was an edged handle. It was a brassy color. It looked like metal, but when I put my hand on it, it was light and warm like plastic.

I opened it to be met with an extravagant bathroom. Nothing like the room I was just in. It had a sink, no two sinks connecting together with a counter that stretched across the wall. A mirror replacing the far wall. A giant tub, which looked more like a hot tub. A medium size shower as well. The room had fancy vanity light just above the mirrors. And the walls and floor tiles were a greenish brown type of color. Like a dark moss mixed with tree bark. But the brown being more over bearing. It was really beautiful. The lights seem to always stay on. As there was no light switch.

I made my way out of the bathroom and headed back towards the pond. For the most part, you could see the windows from the pond. I didn't like that, I would need to cover it later. The ball was closer to the center of the pond. So I had to tredge through it to reach the ball.  I pull my body weight up and flip into the ball. Staring up at the fake stars. I slowly start to feel myself slip off into sleep.