Immortalia

Chapter 4 - Initiation

Chapter 4 – Initiation

Aurora stared at the different tools in the examination room. She didn’t know the purpose of any one of them: syringes, tubes, flasks, and a pair of tweezers that had been laid out on the table to her right. To her left, she spotted rows of filing cabinets with bottles of multicolored liquids sitting disorganized on top.

She was sitting on a flat examination table with a mirror above and below her. In the bizarre reflection, she saw levers and buttons beneath the table where a patient would rest their head; she hoped they were for comfort and not for restraints. She shuddered at the thought of being used for more experiments. With such a thought in her mind, relaxation was impossible. Every time she moved, the rustling of her clothes made her nervous.

She grabbed the sides of her white gown, which a Haw Tech official had asked her to wear. Even through her nerves, she felt ridiculous. As ugly as she found the robe, which was seemingly made out of toilet paper, she had begged to be allowed to wear a pair of pants. And so there she sat, in a jumbled mismatch of gown and trousers, looking like a bag of potatoes while shaking like a leaf, left with nothing but to contemplate her fate. Each time she shifted, the pants rubbed together and made a loud noise. She groaned.

Where are the others?

She’d been called to level B-7, far beneath the compound, but just as she was about to leave, a suited man had appeared, asking her to come with him instead. Apparently, there’d been some unforeseen trouble in the original examination room. And so he’d left her alone here in this room; the man’s only words before leaving had been instructions; she’d been told to remain seated, touch nothing, and await a laboratory technician to come examine her.

Aurora didn’t have a clock, but she was sure she’d been sitting there for at least ten minutes. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, cringing when the paper clothes rustled again.

God, I hate that sound. She glanced at the door in front of her. What’s taking them so long? Did something…?

Before she could finish her thought, the door opened and a woman in a white coat hurried inside. She was panting, and when she saw Aurora sitting on the chair she gasped. “My Gosh, I’m so sorry for the wait.”

Aurora didn’t reply—this equal respect thing was freaking her out a little. She wasn’t used to the kindness, and she had no idea how to react .

“My name is Charlesta Callan, but everyone calls me Charlie,” the woman said. She placed her clipboard under her arm and extended her right hand. “You must be Aurora, right?”

Aurora took the woman’s hand and nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Nice to meet you. We’ll be working together on this project.” Charlie smiled before releasing Aurora’s hand. She licked her lips, glanced down at her clipboard, and hummed to herself. Then she gave a nod of her own. “You’ve just arrived, I see. That means we have to do the mandatory procedures before we proceed to the fun stuff.” The woman winked playfully and turned to the table with the many tools.

Aurora waited patiently for Charlie to continue speaking.

“All right. I’ll do a brief rundown of the things we need to do today. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.” Charlie turned around, still studying the papers. She shifted between them before meeting Aurora’s eyes. “Is that okay?”

Aurora nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Charlie scoffed. “Please don’t use formalities with me. It makes me feel old.” She grinned before taking a chair and sitting down. “This might sound a bit weird, but the first thing we have to do is inject you with little robots that will collect highly detailed information about your DNA. See, we need this to tend to you in the event something … unfortunate happens during out experiments.” Charlie reached over to the table and retrieved a small tube, inside which contained a clear liquid. “This won’t hurt, but you might feel a bit dizzy.”

Aurora nodded again. “Okay, but … did you say robots?”