MACHINE

3. Eyes of Glass, Windows to a Steel Soul

Everything was dark once again. I felt numb and hollow as I tried to recollect what had happened to me. Where was I? I thought to myself absentmindedly. My mind felt foggy and it took me a couple moments to even remember my name. Jeremy. That's me, isn't it?

I could hear faint voices saying things that didn't make any sense to me. It sounded like they were coming from the walls as they all talked over each other in hushed conversation.

He's coming to...I want to see his reaction...will he remember... there were some issues...we should test his systems...will he open his eyes...he's definitely awake, look at the brainwaves...what if he's incompatible...the tests worked with dregs, this should be the same...

One of the voices breathed a familiar word. "Lucas." I said. "Where is Lucas." My voice sounded strange and stilted. There was no emotion in it, although I felt as though I could cry or scream in anguish any second. It had a strange quality to it. Interrupted by static, glitchy, wrong. My voice was wrong.

I couldn't remember exactly what had happened, there was a thin but impenetrable veil separating my consciousness from certain memories of mine, but I remembered Lucas's face. I remembered I loved him, and I remembered he was in danger.

I looked around the room frantically. It was dark except for a pale blue light that seemed as though it was coming from behind my eyes, and patterns of glowing blue along my body. I barely thought about that though. All I said was, "Lucas." My voice was weak and I could barely speak above a whisper, but I tried with all my might to speak louder.

I heard another one of the voices muttering, "I've never seen one learn to use their voice this quickly. This is progress." it said.

I didn't understand. What did that mean? "Lucas." I repeated weakly.

I slowly tried to move my limbs but they felt heavy and cold, colder than I had ever felt in my life. But there was no pain. I didn't shiver. "Lucas." I said again, pathetically. "Where are you, Lucas."

I heard a weak reply. "I'm here." It said. The voice was just like mine. Fake. Wrong. But if it was really Lucas, none of that mattered.

"Jeremy." The other voice trembled slightly. "I'm here."

Across the dark room, a pair of eyes opened to stare at me. Two irises glowed pink focusing on my face, illuminating the dark room, and patterns of pink glow revealed a pale synthetic body.

"Jeremy." He said again.

"What did they do to you?!" I asked, my robotic voice raised to a shrieking point. I looked down at myself and saw a similar pale, glowing, body. I screamed loudly and struggled against my restraints. "I'm a machine! I'm a machine! I'm a machine!" I yelled frantically.

I was drowning in dread and fear. I felt as though I could barely breathe, but I didn't breathe. I would never breathe again.

I felt as though I was swimming in an endless void where anguish was my only companion. It was the moment I realized I had lost my humanity entirely. I was merely a consciousness riding in a body of metal. I was no longer a man. I was the memories and the pain of someone who used to exist. I was nothing.

My robot voice shrieked at an eardrum-splitting pitch as I struggled against my constraints. Scientists and Deathmongers threw open the doors to the tiny room and flocked to me before my thrashing led to any damage or denting of my new body. No harm was to come to their new 'product'.

The lights were on now and I could see Lucas pinned to the wall across from me, his head hung low, defeated. Throughout all of it, as they fiddled with the settings on the back of my head to immobilize me, all I could feel was anger. I wanted to break out of here, I wanted to kill them all. I wanted them to pay.