Endless War (Complete)

Chapter 11 "Cells"

My mother, that I had never seen before this day, continues to speak though I don't hear what she says as she walks through the facility. I no longer see her face and now it looks as if I am peering through her eyes. I feel Grim is now standing behind me watching the screen over my shoulder. I would acknowledge him in some way but I cannot pry my eyes away from what is being shown to me. I don't want to believe what I am seeing, but I know on a subconscious level that it is true.

The walls surrounding her are all the color of grey cinderblocks, as they didn't even bother to paint them when they built these walls. There are no windows, only doors leading to the different containment sections, I hear her voice utter what they are called but it doesn't register in my mind. She walks to a door with a sign that reads "Nursery." She opens the door and I hear the cry of infants and small children. The expanse of the room is filled with small beds with children in every stage from newborn to three years. As the beds change from infant to toddlers they seem less like beds and more like cages.

She moves from the nursery to a room labeled barracks that is filled with plain metal bunk beds, without sheets, only a thin mattress. "This is home." She says as she walks to a bunk with no individualization from the one next to it.

Then she shows a room filled with tables and a line of women stand there waiting for something. Once she makes it to the head of the line I see what they are waiting for. A machine dispenses a dark grey liquid into a glass. She lifts the liquid to her face and it disappears from sight and returns to sight empty. "It is nutritionally balanced." I hear as she gags on the liquid. "But taste like mud."

She walks into a small room with a toilet in the corner and a mirror on the wall. I once again see her face as she talks to me. "Phoenix, you are my tenth and final child, I don't know how long they will allow me to live, being unable to have any more children. I know what you have seen so far is disturbing but what you are about to see is far worse. I am sorry for that, but you need to know."

She turns away from the mirror, to show me the next area. "These are the containment units." She says as she walks into a hallway lined with glass rooms. In each glass cell there is a bed, sink, toilet, tub and a small desk with a chair. All of the furniture is suspended from the clear walls and it too is clear. The only thing that has color are the dingy inch thick mattresses. Inside each enclosure is one child. As the child moves around the room the floor moves with them. Both male and female children are robed in no more than a long gown.

I hear sobs over the mumbles of the children and the sound of their movement. She stands next to one of the cells with her hands extended to the glass. "My sweet Phoenix." Is all she says as I look closer at the child. She doesn't see my mother there and her soft blue eyes follow something in the nothingness. As her face comes more into focus I see my own eyes, my own soft blue eyes as they move past my mother without pause.

I have seen all I need to see as I fall to my knees, tears streaming from pale blue eyes. I feel arms around me as Grim attempts to keep me from falling. The tech guy turns toward me as well, he gasps as he looks into my eyes and I know that he sees it too.

How am I supposed to process this? How do I continue knowing that everything in my life to this point was nothing more than a simulation on a microchip?

"I had no idea they did this to them." Tech guy speaks to the screen, then turns around. "Let me guess you are human, and not a sickly greenish alien." He looks at the man holding me up, but sees nothing more than an alien.

I hear Grim's simple response, come from beside my head. "Yeah." I can feel him nod his head as well.

I finally gather my thoughts enough to hear my mothers voice once more. "Install this chip into the special port located at the back of your neck. It is the center port, as all of the other ports are too large. You will need to install three other chips as well. You will know what they are once you install this one. Please know that I love you, Phoenix Aurora."

I look at the tech guy who is already in the process of ejecting my mothers microchip. "Bend your head down and I will put it in."

"Wait, we don't know what installing that chip will do." I hear Grim yell.

Tech guy ignores him and opens the port and inserts the card without a second thought.

My vision blanks out as another message from my mother plays in its place. "You are rebooting. In this chip is special program that will allow you to access any files you need from the main computer without leaving any trace that it was even you. You are now invisible to the system and invulnerable. There is a group of people that you need to locate, they call themselves The Knowing. They are responsible for developing this chip, many of their operatives don't even know who they are working for."

"The only problem is not even the operative that supplied me with this chip knows where they are located. The group is constantly moving, gathering more technology and intel. The knowledge that this group even exists is treason and punishable by a torturous death. Tell no one. They will find you, if they have survived. You need three additional chips to the original two and this one. The three are Classified, Medical, and Morgue. Morgue being the most important as it is their way to cover the diplomat chip that allows further access to classified information."

"My sweet child, I wish I were there to help you know what to do. All I can say is you need to stop this war, and The Knowing can help."