Transhumans

Chapter 15

“New torments and new tormented souls I see around me wherever I move, and howsoever I turn, and wherever I gaze.” – Dante Alighieri

Raja turned her face away once the man’s screams ceased, knowing there was nothing she could do for him anymore. Vishnu took her hand in sympathy.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, You did well. I just lost it.” She sighed. “We must continue.”

They looked around the room, and Raja carefully uncovered a few bodies, carefully photographing the faces of women, men and children. Raja now had complete control of her emotions; watching the old man being brutally murdered had given her a renewed fury to bring that place down, and she knew she had to be focused in order to achieve that.

“Raja,” Vishnu called her. “I think there is some sort of storing cabinet there.”

She saw a metallic door on a corner, like a big kitchen fridge door. They approached it, reading the instructions written on a paper attached to it:

‘WARNING!

DO NOT ENTER ALONE. WEAR PROPER EQUIPMENT TO HANDLE THE SPECIMENS.

AFTER HANDLING THE SPECIMENS, PLEASE PLACE THEM BACK ON THE TANKS WITHOUT DAMAGING THEM.

DO NOT EXCEED THE 30 MINUTES TIME WITH EACH SPECIMEN.

IF A SPECIMEN STARTS RESISTING, REMEMBER TO DEACTIVATE THEIR FUNCTIONS AND PLACE THEM BACK ON THEIR RESPECTIVE TANKS.’

“Why do I not like this at all?” she asked.

“I have a bad feeling as well,” Vishnu replied. “Proper equipment... What is that?”

“We’ll have to find out,” Raja replied, opening the door.

They found themselves in a big room similar to a refrigerator, the dim lights strangely blue and spaced. There was a metallic table at the middle, and lined up on the back, what it seemed to be metallic coffins standing up.

“What the hell is that?”

Raja approached one of the coffins; it was completely sealed, with an identification sign:

‘Specimen 159

SH – 031245

Female, 17.’

“Oh dear,” she whispered, having an idea what she would find inside.

“Raja,” Vishnu called.

“More corpses,” she said with a sad voice. “They are storing more Sub-human corpses here. But why? Why are those ones here?”

“No,” he replied. “These are not corpses.”

“What?” Raja turned to him, confused. Vishnu was on the opposite side of the room, pointing his lantern at a chart on the wall. “What do you mean?”

“They are not dead,” he replied. “They are in suspended animation.”

Raja gasped, looking again at the coffin. Indeed, now that she looked attentively, the last two numbers on the identification indicated the person had been born in the year of 2045, yet she was 17 years old.