Subject 23:59

2. The dream

The clock struck 23:59.

From inside his cage, the turtle could see the outside of the laboratory; so close to him, yet so far. He was as if he was being mocked at. The worst thing was, the turtle knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to break free of its glass tank.

It was dark outside. The trees looked lifeless while the wind found joy in pushing their branches this way and that.

"Take test subject 23:59 to the testing room now!" A sharp cry reverberated around the utterly silent room. Before the turtle knew what was going on, something or someone grabbed it from behind and threw him into a different box-like object. The confused turtle started panicking as he tried to comprehend his new surroundings.

While the turtle was struggling to find his feet, the floor suddenly disappeared from beneath him once more as he got tossed and turned around wildly by its mysterious abductor.

"I shouldn't have left my home... ...", the turtle whimpered softly as two fat tear drops ran down its tired face. A few clips of sweet memories played through its mind, haunting him.

The turtle sighed quietly to itself.

Why? Why did I leave my comfortable home to go for an adventure? I just wanted to go to faraway lands and seek undiscovered places. Guess I got what I deserved... ... However, no amount of regret could bring the poor turtle back to his safe haven.

Suddenly, the wild turning stopped and the giddy turtle blinked before slowly regaining its composure.

The turtle peeked his head out slowly and surveyed his new surroundings quickly. His mind was a blank and his heart was palpitating wildly. He appeared to be in some sort of confined space - a cage, he could see through the thick metallic bars and the glaring light from outside the cage, as it reflected on the silver bars. He peeked out of the iron bars before shivering and shrinking back into his shell, the only comfort zone the turtle had. Two voices were heard in the distance

"Are we going to experiment on test subject 23:59 now?" A man standing in front of the cage, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a perfectly white, smooth and crease-free lab coat whispered.

"Yes Bill. We'll be getting on with that," came a brief and hushed reply that instantly sent chills down the turtle's spine. The turtle felt his blood suddenly dropping to an extremely low temperature, so low that he was probably colder than the steel-hard floor it was lying on.

All of a sudden, the turtle felt his body being lifted along with the cage and swayed from side to side.

No! Not again! The turtle thought helplessly.

He shut his eyes tightly, his heart beat quickening as the ground below him started shaking so violently that he started to feel light-headed and dizzy all over again. Panicking, he shut his eyes tighter with a silent prayer. He landed unceremoniously on the hard ground and opened his eyes slowly, his head throbbing as if needles had been stabbed through it. Everything was blurry and it was as if stars were dancing everywhere.

Where am I?

"It's time now," one of them spoke in a voice that seemed to hold the promise of a dark future.

The turtle broke out in cold sweat.

What's going to happen? he thought, gulping nervously. His heart hammered against his chest as he held his breath. What are they going to do to me?

Some sort of machinery was placed in front of him - a metallic object that towered well above him, seeming to emit an ominous energy from every inch of it. With it came an ominous shadow that loomed over the whimpering turtle.