Genesis (Man vs Machine #1)

6 | CEREBRAL TORSION

Sol awakened to the mechanical buzz of something behind him. He tried to place it – it was too deep to be Meda's snoring, and too menacing to be the generator. He felt the plastic seat underneath him vibrate faintly with the same noise.

He let out a groan as a sudden rush of pain shot through his head. It felt as if his brain had been shaken around in his skull, taken out, dried and put back in – the feeling was highly unpleasant, and only disoriented him even more.

He tried to move his head to look around, but was stopped by a plastic restraint. The glass room he was in was empty, and the beach projection on the walls had changed to a view of a nighttime cityscape. The sounds of traffic coming through the speakers paused. Then a voice spoke: 'Sol. I'm afraid we haven't finished the procedure. You need to be awake for this, so it might hurt.'

Sol couldn't recognize the voice, but nodded. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited.

Something shifted in his head. It blossomed out from the back, spread around the sides and floated in the middle: at first, it was a tingle, but then the tingle became an ache, and the ache finally launched into a blaze of searing pain that made Sol want to scream. He tried to, but couldn't remember how to move any of his muscles.

Instead, he just waited for it to be over. His face twitched of its own accord, and hazy visions passed through his mind: he was holding something lumpy, his feet were bare, oily. Blackness. A bright light. He couldn't hear a thing, and then everything was too loud. There was a flash of something cascading - a waterfall? - and then it faded to black.

The pain in his skull continued to throb. Thankfully, he could feel his limbs now, and moved his hands and feet around under their restraints. 'Is it over?' His voice came out in a croak, barely audible, but he was too disoriented to repeat.

There was static on the speakers. A different voice, nasal and distorted, spoke: 'Almost.' Then, more distantly: 'Activating IVT system.'

Something about the words nagged at Sol, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. A stinging flowed from the nape of his neck, all down his body; it felt like his veins were splitting open. This time, he did scream, but the sound strangled him first.

Finally, it was over, and the first voice came up on the speaker again. 'Procedure complete. Please wait for retrieval.'

After what seemed like an hour, Tom walked back in, smiling a little too widely. Sol almost scowled.

'Hello, again, Sol. I trust everything went well?' Before Sol could reply, Tom hurried over and removed the head restraint. Sol's head lolled to the side; he couldn't seem to grasp control of his muscles. Tom undid the clasps on his wrists and ankles, and Sol checked to see if his joints still worked. They did. His brain, however, was another matter.

Finally, he got his mouth to work right. 'Why did it hurt ... so much?'

Tom frowned sympathetically. 'The chips are completely wired to your brain. When we pass an electrical current to start it up again, it'll pass through your neurons. Normally, we knock you out for that phase, but the new chip is a bit different. We needed you conscious.'

Sol tried to absorb all this information into his wrung-out mind. 'Why?' he managed finally.

'When you insert a chip into a child's brain, the chip grows as the brain does. Now, your brain isn't growing anymore. We needed to make sure the chip was completely linked in.

'I wish I could explain more. It's all very interesting, I'm sure! But we're pressed for time. The next subject should come in soon, and the apparatus needs to be sterilized.' Sol stood up on shaky legs and used Tom's gloved hands to steady himself. They exited the room, and Sol noticed they went through a different set of hallways to the back elevator.