What The Blind Can See

New Land

     Alice's eyes widened with surprise as she saw Ethan appear out of literally nowhere.  "Ho-" She started to say before her body collided with Ethan's, and all of sudden, in a flash a purplish black light, the world went out of focus before returning with a dark hue.  They were still falling, but quickly decelerating.  When they were just a foot off the dirt, there was another flash of light and they fell to the ground.  Whatever the fuck just happened had slowed their fall, absorbed all the impact of an otherwise inevitable death for the both of them.  "What just happened?!?" Alice screamed.  "How did you-" "I... I don't know..." Ethan replied.  "Why were you falling in the first place?" "I was on a plane, there was this guy... he started attacking people... and he threw me off the plane." Alice tried to explain, clearly still traumatized recalling the events of a terrorist attack.  Ethan wrapped his arms around Alice, petting her soft hair. "It's ok, you're safe now.  We may never know why these things happen, all we can do is carry on.  Now come on, let's get out of... Where are we?"

     Alice and Ethan had been living like this a week. Living in a shelter made out of rocks and sticks, surviving off of fruits, drinking water from the river, stranded on a small island that they didn't know on what ocean.  For the past week, they had seen no signs of human life on or around the island.  Their clothes were torn, their hair wild, their bodies dirty, but they had managed to make it this far.  They both knew the impending doom of Ethan's eyes, but they needed to stay strong.  They had nothing really to live for, except each other.  The current situation had brought Ethan and Alice closer together, relying on each other purely for day by day survival.

     "Ethan, better come look at this," Alice yelled.  As Ethan approached, he could see Alice, and a now revealed trapdoor - definite sign of human life.  Whether that was good or bad, he didn't know.  Carefully, cautiously, they lifted the trapdoor, revealing a cold, dusty, metal spiral staircase.  Glancing at each other nervously, they lit their makeshift torches, walked down the staircase to whatever may lie ahead.

     As they walked down, Ethan couldn't escape the feeling that someone was watching them, a predator in the shadows.  He looked back, seeing nothing there except what he swore was a flicker of a shadow running to hide.  He shrugged, continuing on.  However, as he started walking, he could hear the faint clunking of footsteps behind him.  It wasn't Alice, she was walking in front of him.  Ethan abruptly stopped.  He heard the clunking continue for a second before it, too, stopped.  Ethan shivered.  If there was something behind him, the only way out would be to have to face it.  He readied his stone spear.  But that felt stupid.  Maybe he was imagining things.  Quietly sighing, he pushed on, before they made it to a metal doorway.  Alice tried pushing it with little to no luck.  They both tried, but again to no avail.  Suddenly, a shadow was cast over them, and a light chuckling was heard.  Ethan and Alice whipped around, getting into a battle stance to face the stranger.  "What do you want?" Alice managed in the strongest voice she could muster.  The figure again chuckled.  "Oh, nothing, I was just taking care of some pests trying to intrude my lair," an oddly feminine voice said.  "Look, we can get out of tne way," Ethan said quickly.  "Oh, this is too fun!" the figure exclaimed, before taking another step forward.  Seeing this as a move of aggression, Alice and Ethan charged forward with their spears, ready to protect themselves.  The figure did nothing but pull out a contraption from her cloak. With the quick press of a button, Alice, who was slightly closer to the figure, was sent flying back with some sort of invisible force field.  "Don't make us hurt you!" Ethan said as he walked with a balanced stance, ready to counter the force field.  The figure again pulled out something from her cloak, aiming it at Ethan.  Seizing the opportunity of her pulling out her weapon, Ethan slammed his side into the figure. The figure stumbled, before reaiming her weapon and pulling the trigger just as Ethan was going to go in with a thrust of his spear.  Instantly, a faint blue light slammed into Ethan. Ethan's normally swift motions slowed to the speed of a snail.  The figure sidestepped, avoiding Ethan's spear moving at a whopping 0.01 miles per hour.  While this was happening, Alice had slipped behind the figure, preparing a tackle.  The figure again whipped around, releasing a net trap contraption, constricting Alice's motions.  "As much fun as it is to annoy you guys, I'm not here to hurt you. This was just to have a bad ass way to introduce a new character."  The figure said.   With a flick of a button, the traps holding Ethan and Alice were released.  Tne figure sighed.  "You don't open the door, you walk through it."  The mysterious figure aimed an even more mysterious gun at the door, and in a familiar purplish black light, a hole was created.

     "Now, Ethan, if you would follow me," the strange figure said, before walking quite literally through a door.  Alice and Ethan followed tentatively behind, the portal closing after them.  They were still wary of any funny business.  "How do you know my name?" Ethan asked the figure. "And who are you, for that matter?"  The figure chuckled before saying, "I know your name, because I helped make you.  You would have been born blind, but I stopped that.  I looked at every gene you had, and spliced it until you were perfect for what I need you to accomplish. I am in many rights, a mad scientist, specializing in genetics and mathematics.  Pretty strange combination, huh?  I am Dr. Emma Klinger, and I am going to change your life."