I lie still and stare at the black ceiling of my basement.
Dr Shaheed prods and pokes at my half living carcass. She: listens, looks, shines a light through my ears and into my eyes. She smacks a small hammer against the balls of my feet, pinches and flicks various parts of my carcass. Eventually she concludes her examination and addresses Mom and Dad, “No – there’s no sign of any live response, the body is wholly deceased; I see no evidence of tissue regeneration.” Mom and Dad look disappointed at this news.
Dr Shaheed continues, “However, The Scientific Research team at The Association have isolated DNA from the sample I took from Kirk. But, as of yet they haven’t made a match. We don’t know whether it’s Dale’s, or indeed if it’s human DNA, it may be some kind of hybrid.” Mom and Dad seem quite happy with this news.
Dr Shaheed continues, “What’s really interesting is that Kirk’s progress seems to be entirely cerebral, he appears to be having intellectual thought which he is using to affect his physical and emotional decisions,” she says, while staring me directly in the eye.
She continues to stare, like she is waiting for me to give her an answer.
I remain silent as my carcass begins to quiver, “He’s starting his feeding cycle, I need to prepare him for a feed,” says Dad.
Dr Shaheed continues to stare at me with her questioning eyes. She addresses Mom and Dad without taking her gaze from me, “You guys need to keep a very close eye on Kirk. If he’s having independent thought, he could be at risk from Dark Side infiltration,” she says.
Dr Shaheed continues to stare at me as Dad leads me away, “I’ve also checked over all his implants, they’re working real good,” she says, without taking her eyes away from mine.
……
I’m naked and shackled in the darkness of my cold basement. “It’s for your own good,” is Dad’s response when I ask him why they cannot begin to treat me a little more like a human now that I have a little insight.
……
My carcass may be shackled, but my soul is not: it ponders – I am surprised that with all her scientific and medical experience, Dr Shaheed cannot ascertain the reason for my increased thought process herself. It is quite simple: my soul, returned to my carcass, carries memory.
I remember snippets of my life, and can use this data to inform my decisions in this half-life.
My living self knew it would be very wrong to eat human flesh, so that is why I did not eat Associate Bradbury’s corpse. I will not lie though, it was incredibly difficult to resist – I am still a monster.
……
Despite not liking being shackled in my basement, I welcome the time alone, away from all the adult talk and reanimate mayhem.
……
I have intermittent flashes of concern about what Dr Shaheed said about removing Jess from life if we discover that she is reanimating for The Dark Side.
I struggle to understand this idea. If it is Jess, or whoever it is, there has to be a more human way to deal with the situation?
But the humans in my half-life have made this decision.
……
I am hit with an overriding urge to be free of my restraints.
So – I yank the shackle at my ankle.
Casey, I want to talk with Casey.
I stand and kick my leg with force. The shackle rips into my grey skin, exposing the dazzling white of my shinbone.
