Kriegspiel [Sequel to The Turing Test]

7. Alive

Waking this time is sudden, like a switch being flipped. There was darkness, now there's light, and color, and—

I can't move.

I try to draw air into my empty lungs, but my chest won't rise. My fingers itch to clench themselves into fists against the rising tide of dread inside. All I want is to sit up and fling myself into a run, but I can't even close my eyes against the blinding light that shines down from above.

I'm dreaming again. I must be. But where is the voice? Where is Carlos?

The silhouette of a woman's head appears over me, blocking out the light. The only thing I can move is my eyes, and they dart to and fro, straining against their limits as I try to make out my surroundings.

"Don't panic." I feel a warm finger press gently into my temple. "Your system is just starting up. Your musculoskeletal matrix will be online in a moment."

I recognize the voice of Sven's doctor friend, and the tight emptiness in my chest crushes me from inside, a vacuum pulling me closer and closer to implosion.

Suddenly, all the signals my brain has been sending to my body kick in; I gasp, I shoot upright so fast that I send the lamp overhead swinging wildly, and my limbs flail in every direction as I claw at my captor.

"Ronnie!" she shouts. "Ronnie, stop! You're okay!"

Cold metal grates against my skin as I struggle off the table I lay on. My bare feet hit the floor, and the thin white sheet covering my body starts to drop. I catch it and clutch it to myself, backing away from the doctor as she raises her hands.

"Ronnie, I'm here to help."

"You kidnapped me." I sound out of breath, like I've run several miles at a high altitude. I curse my fallible body; it shouldn't matter. I don't even need to breathe. The only purpose of the mechanism is to make me look weak, look human. "What did you do to me?"

"Here." Instead of answering me, she hands me a crumpled pile of clothes and pulls a screen shut between us. "Get dressed. I'll explain everything."

I hesitate. I don't trust her, but I also don't see the harm in being fully clothed while I accuse her of kidnapping. I let the sheet fall to the floor and shiver in the cold, impersonal air. Beside me, a tray holds metal instruments reminiscent of a surgeon's tools.

Is this where Darwin attacked? The lab coat, the sterile atmosphere.... Unwilling to dwell on it, I begin to dress. I seize the pants and step into them, and as I fasten the button, I finally notice that my hands no longer sting with every movement.

I stop mid-button and stare, watching the graceful curl of my fingers as I pull back the screen like a zombie.

"What...?" I whisper, holding my hands in front of my nose and examining the smooth, unblemished skin there. "What did you do to me?"

The doctor glances up from across the room. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you, but I also didn't want to make things more complicated. I repaired your hands while you were under so as not to hurt you." Ayo sighs, leaning back as she studies me with critical eyes. "You can feel pain, can't you?"

I finally tear my gaze away from my fingers. "Should I not?"

She shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know anymore. You were a prototype. I didn't think you were capable of half the things you've proven capable of."

"Like...?"

"Like...." She bites her lip and stares at the ceiling, then finally sighs, shaking her head. "I didn't think we were creating anything that would ever care it had been created."