The Perfect Getaway

Epilogue

"Several days had passed since that incident,  luckily we could see the shore from the boat we had taken, it looked similar to the one we had escaped earlier, the one with the strange building, yet as we got closer, we could see...", I was interrupted by a strange voice emitted from behind me.

"Could you stop talking to the white wall?", said the strange voice. I looked back and there she was, standing tall and mighty. The witch's name is Circe, she is a devil incarnated in the form of a woman. Her beautiful black dress masks the malicious will that lays in her heart. If she even had a heart, it didn't seem to beat. Her keen eyes glared at me with hatred. Anger rose in me as I wanted to tear apart and kill this vicious woman. I stood up from the white bench, the only place to sit in this desolate, white place. This room has three ivory walls surrounding me, while the fourth wall that faced me was made of a thick crystal glass. On the top, there were three rows of tiny holes, which allowed me to breathe. It's strong and seems unbreakable as whenever I punch it or hit my body against, it wouldn't budge. I have tried to escape from this maddening area, but nothing has been useful.

"So, have you decided to speak out the truth?, she asks, standing behind the glass. I grind my teeth and rush toward the glass, banging my body against it. Pain streamed through my body. "Why are you trying so hard? Tell me where is the chip." "Never!", I replied. "Thomas!", she called out. A few minutes later, a man wearing a lab coat enters and stands beside her. "Have you checked his vitals?", she asks him. "Yes, ma'am, they seem to be fine after the dose".

I sit by the floor, and slowly rise by putting my hands on the glass. I feel weak and fatigue  overwhelms me. My balance regains and I see her in the eyes, her small sclera surrounds a blue iris. Those eyes of evil intentions, they mock me for the state I find myself, but I won't surrender. "Odysseus will find you, Circe, and he will kill you!"

She looks at me and chuckles:" You still remember that you are considered dead to the world. Nobody knows you are here, that includes Odysseus." Her malignant smile crushed my hope of escape, of freedom, of liberty. I remember that unfortunate day, the deadly ambush where we all fell, where nothing remained and everything was gone. She was the one behind all this insanity.

"You will fall, Circe, one day you will fall. You will suffer as you have made me and my comrades, friends suffer. You use us as your guinea pigs for this ruthless experiments. Remember my words, Circe, a day will come when your creation shall lead you to your demise! Remember my...", I lose my balance and fall to the floor. My feet ache from the strain, I hold myself together. She lowers down and says:" Don't make it hard for me, Eurylochus. Simply tell me where you hid the chip and I shall free you from this misery."

"Lies! All lies! I hear the cries of my comrades every single day, and I see what you do to them. You drug us with those needles and then leave us to die. You agonize us and promise us freedom, what a joke."

"If you had not taken the chip, this would have never happened. Eurylochus, are you going to sacrifice your life over a piece of technology."

"You would have killed us either way. The news sprouting about the existence of such a technology would be disastrous for your status and reputation, right Circe? You won't get anything out of me."

"He won't listen, Thomas. Activate the neurotoxin." She commands the man beside him. The man opens a tablet holder, which he held since his arrival. He moves his fingers rapidly over the small screen and says: "Done, ma'am."

A strange feeling arouses me, I try to keep it inside, but it begins to grow and grow. My helplessness develops the creation of this new sensation inside me. I feel as if a current is running through me, it is slowly starting taking control of my body. I cannot let it take my self, my soul. I fight it. I fight myself. My nails scratch my skin in fury. I yell with all my might, I repeat in my mind to stay in command. "Stop fighting it", she says. I won't fall for this trap, not again. I  clutch my fingers and start beating the floor, sustaining this feeling, holding it inside my body, not letting it wander across my mind. I regain my stability, calmness begins to build up. I see my hands, scratches and deep wounds cover it. Some splatters of blood taint the white floor. I begin to feel well, I won the battle or so I thought. My body begins to tremble, this wasn't as before, this was different. It empowered itself on me, I was losing consciousness. This wasn't right.

"What have you done, Circe?" I asked, but it seems my voice was inaudible for she never replied.

My body began to shake furiously, I tried to calm myself. I couldn't endure this feeling anymore. The feeling of pain, torture and misery, they seemed to be conquering my body, changing myself, destroying my identity. The pain was unbearable, every inch and corner of my body felt as if it was burning in flames. Sweat rolls down my forehead. I was losing myself. I remembered my comrades, the defiant Odysseus, the friends I saved from the strange island. I couldn't let them down, their lives counted. They were part of my life, as I was in theirs. I won't let this feeling overcome my mind and my body. "No! No! Noooooo!", I yelled as I tolerated it. I looked back at my hands, they had thickened and grown in size. Was this all an illusion or was it real? Is it a hallucination? This questions started to fill my mind. Were my eyes tricking me? I looked at her, as she smiled at my torment. No, what I feel is real. I know that, but my body is not me anymore.

With the last of my strength, I yelled: "What have you done to me, Circe!" She smiles at me, "Don't worry, Eurylochus. This is only bringing out the real you, the one hidden inside you. You are being reborn."

My senses were getting clumsy, and I couldn't feel my body anymore. Numbness filled me, my hands slipped and my head fell to the floor. I couldn't move my body, my arms and legs became all stiff. I was paralysed. I could just hear and see.

"Ma'am, his heart beat is soaring."

"Just a little bit more, Thomas."

My arms were growing in size, it looked as if they were swelling. It turned out to be bulky, and muscular. I couldn't move my lips. I felt hopelessness. I lay over the floor motionless. The corners of my eyes were darkening, I was losing my vision. Everything around me was slowly darkening its color. I couldn't fight back, I had been defeated. I am sorry, Odysseus. Sorry, I couldn't keep up. Then, everything went pitch black and before I lost myself, all I could hear was:

"Welcome to the Omni Project, Test Subject 2-11."