“miss, Ava?”
gasping I opened my eyes to find myself lying in a hospital bed with kerian at my side. “You're awake. I'm relieved.” He sighed before leaning back.
I could only stare at the ceiling and blink, confused. looking around I realized I was in the medical ward of the bunker. Two nurses were busy cleaning up across the room as Kerian sat In a chair next to my bedside watching me.
as one of them brought over a clipboard for him he looked it over before waving them off. Both nurses were quick to leave the room leaving us alone together.
I couldn't help but stare, unable to form any words or even comprehend what was happening.
“You seem confused. I assure you, that you are not the only one experiencing that feeling. Can you tell me what happened? you were sent into the observation room a few days ago to retrieve some samples, do you remember that?” He questioned.
I tried. I tried to think back to what happened, tried to remember anything past me entering the containment cell but my head started throbbing and everything was too blurry. I grabbed my head whining when the pain seemed to only get worse the harder I tried to remember.
He looked over his clipboard and flipped to the next page reading some of the notes and data on the sheet with great interest. “After losing contact with you we had to wait three days for s-59 to calm down and return to its vault. when the room was cleared of the dark mist we found you lying on the floor sleeping peacefully.
dragging you out of there you were quarantined and we ran tests to determine what might have happened. you seemed to have suffered from blood loss despite the lack of injuries.” kerians blue eyes moved back to me as I slowly lowered my hands from my face and inevitably clutched my chest.
“you don't remember any of it do you?” I looked at him confused as he stared at me, intrigued by the way I kept my hand on my chest. He then started pacing back and forth muttering to himself.
“you can't conjure up the memories of what took place in there but subconsciously you still have those memories locked up somewhere deep in the back of your mind.” He leaned in, Brushing my cheek with my fingers as he looked at me and smiled. “fascinating.”
shaking my head and blinking I tried to understand what kerian was saying but none of it made sense.
“i-i don't understand…what is happening?” I asked exasperated.
he looked me over, seeming to think about how he could explain the current situation. After a moment he sat on the edge of my bed. “we believe you're suffering a concussion. possibly due to s-59 lashing out. you might have fallen and hit your head while attempting to retrieve the samples the other day, hence why you can't seem to remember anything.”
something felt off about kerians explanation but it was the only thing that even remotely made sense.
“For now you are to spend the rest of the day here to recover until we are sure there's no changes or sudden declines in your health. If you remember anything at all or start to feel strange, tell the nurses to summon me immediately. I do not wish to lose you to some head trauma while under my care...”
hearing that last bit made my heart skip a beat. Does Kerian really care for me that much? his hand brushed the side of my cheek briefly, before he got up, returning to his usually callous self. “I'll check in on you tomorrow and we will decide what to do then. I feel sorry for sending you in there while the creature was unstable, I should have waited but I was desperate to get those samples under the director's orders. I hope you will forgive me…for now just rest, Ava.”
With that kerian turned to walk out of the ward leaving me alone in my hospital bed.
I feel uneasy and overall uncomfortable being here by myself. it's also clear that I'm missing something but what is it? Why can't I remember what happened? Did I really just hit my head and black out–but kerian mentions me being in there for three days… How is that even possible?
glancing around I saw no one in the room besides me. Climbing out of bed I decided to slip on some cheap sandals that were often given to patients, and made my way into the hall. looking both ways I didn't see anyone around who would try to stop me so I made my way to the observation room.
Once I got there I was disappointed to find the door locked, and I had no clue where my badge or belongings even were.
Cursing under my breath I realized it was pointless to even be here. s-59 was probably locked away in his vault so I wouldn't get to see him. my eyes moved to the vault door beside the observation room. that was connected directly to the hallway.
stepping over to it I gazed at the massive vault door with the number 59 painted on its surface.
he may have lashed out but I don't think he would have purposely tried to hurt me…right?
Thinking back to all my interactions with s-59 he may have been moody at times and perhaps a bit aggressive when we first interacted but he never truly hurt me. He was always so gentle.
closing my eyes I remembered a few days ago when I was in the observation room with him, how we talked about things we wanted. He was intrigued by my glasses at the time, finding it odd how I needed them to see properly…
~~~~
“This flimsy trinket is what enables you to see? then are you blind without them?” He lifted them off my face with her tail while sitting before me and I quickly tried to grab them back only for him to lift it higher above my head.
“no! I can still see, I just can't see that well! my vision is bad so I can't see things at a distance very well, it's all blurry. These make it so I don't have to squint or have whatever I'm reading directly in my face!” I reached for my glasses helplessly as he held them high above my head.
After a moment he moved closer to where his face was inches from mine before narrowing his eyes and tilting his head. “Can you see me like this?”
smiling awkwardly I put my hand on his face and gently tried to push him back. “yes I can but I'd prefer not having you in my face!” I laughed and relaxed as he finally handed back my glasses.
“human bodies are strange, your eyes are forever damaged then? What if you lose that trinket?” He questioned.
“Then I'll need to get a new pair.” I cleaned off the lenses with my shirt. “Trust me I wish I didn't have to have glasses, they can be a hassle to deal with sometimes but it's just part of life like many other unfortunate things.”
he eyed me curiously as I placed my glasses back over my face. “What else do you wish you didn't need to deal with?”
shrugging I sat back down beside S’59 against the wall. “I wish my co-workers were nicer. They are like high-school bullies and often make my life miserable any way they can.”
S-59 was quiet as he looked ahead at the mist before us in thought. “You know with all the stuff I've had to go through down here. there's been times I wish I could just leave and forget about all of it.
This seemed to catch his attention as he looked towards me. “You wish to forget everything?” His voice almost seemed saddened as he spoke up and I looked up to see him watching me intently.
“n-no! not everything! I mean…there's a lot of stuff that's happened that I wish never did, things that I regret doing most the memories I have here are not ones a person would hold dear, I think the only memories I would keep if I had the choice would be the ones of all our previous conversations. it's actually quite nice to be able to talk to someone, I've grown to consider you my friend.”
“friend? I've heard this term but never fully understood it… Can you explain it to me? What are ‘friends’ ? What do they do?”
“A friend is someone who you enjoy spending time with, they usually make you laugh and smile and would never try to hurt you purposefully. friends are people you can confide in so you're less lonely.”
“So we are friends.” he mused quietly.
~~~
“yeah. we are…aren't we?” I looked at the vault door before me, receiving nothing but silence for my answer.
s-59 isn't like jade or the others, he wouldn't hurt me purposely. I trust him. kerian has to be mistaken about what happened I mean no one else saw it right? The only one who was there was s-59. He's the only one who knows what really happened.
—2 days later–
“that close to the airlock if you can and stay on high alert if anything seems off with the creature you should exit immediately. I will be standing near the door waiting.” kerian said.
I nodded in response and glanced at the newly repaired glass wall. I think I briefly remembered it being cracked before but the memory was still so fuzzy.
I looked past the glass into the lit up observation room. slowly the vault door creaked opened and the red lights outside
flashed in warning as the gap widened.
me as well as everyone else in the control center waited for the mist to pour into the sterile room, for the lights to go out and for all visuals to become distorted but as seconds ticked by neither the mist nor S-59 appeared from the vault.
“he's not coming out?” I asked quietly to myself, concern taking over my emotions. taking over. Usually as the vault door opened the entire room would flood with mist but it seemed to only barely trickle out of the doorway.
kerian scanned his keyecard unlocking the airlock for me. passing through the airlock I kept my eyes glued to the open doorway of S-59's vault, only briefly glancing back at kerian as he watched on.
seeing how S-59 wasn't emerging I decided to approach the doorway. It was strange being in the open room with the lights on and everything I felt exposed almost.
“hello?” I called out to the darkness but got no response, surely he knows I'm here, why is he hiding?
“S-59?” I asked questioningly.
“leave.” was the only response I got from the darkness. ‘He wanted me to leave?’
“why do you want me to leave? Can you come out? Can we talk?” I asked a bit confused. as I stood in the doorway I couldn't help but fidget feeling numerous eyes on my back. It was quite uncomfortable standing in the open for all the scientists to gawk at.
“No! leave!! go away!” He angrily snapped and despite not being able to see him I took a step back. There was a small ache in my chest from him snapping at me but I was more confused than anything.
‘Was he angry at me? Why would he be though? Did I do something wrong?’
I was at a loss for words as I stood there staring into the darkness. “Ava, come out for now. we can try again later.” kerians voice came in over the speakers. I looked between the glass wall and the vault a few times unsure before deciding to give s-59 some space. I left the room with my head down in disappointment.
‘Maybe he's just in a bad mood… I'll give him some time to go back to normal.’
Kerian seemed curious about the strange behavior as well but we didn't speak of it, he just gave me instructions to wait. we could try again tomorrow and he would have someone keep an eye on the room over night to see if s-59 will come out.
somehow I had a feeling he wasn't going to…
–3 days later–
I exited the observation room once again. feeling dejected. glancing back through the glass wall, the room was still devoid of s-59’s presence. This was the fifth attempt to try and get him to come out or even speak. and the fifth failure.
Even with no one around and the vault door wide open he has refused to come out or interact. He's been more isolated than he ever has before and I feel like I'm to blame. even when I attempted to enter the vault at one point he pushed me out and got angry.
kerian elected that I don't try entering his space and risk getting attacked so any and all progress with research has been halted.
I've been more stressed out and worried about s-59 than getting on the director's bad side. kerian has been mostly quiet about the situation but I could tell he's also bothered by it. I can only imagine how much pressure he's under to get things back in order, but what could we do? S-59 has refused to say anything more than “leave” or “go away”.
sighing I looked towards kerian who was staring at the vault door quietly. he briefly glanced towards me and the rest of the staff in the room.
“everyone is dismissed for the day… I shall call upon you should there be any changes and we shall arrange a schedule for 24/7 observation.
I watched as everyone packed up and left the room but kerian stayed to peer into the room.
as if sensing my eyes on him kerian spoke up. “Miss Ava, go get some rest for the time being. I shall alert you of any change.”
I hesitated before nodding and leaving the control room. glancing back at the glass wall one last time I could only wonder why things turned out this way.
stepping into the hall my mind came up. with various theories as to what might have happened or how I could have upset him but nothing made sense. ‘maybe I should let it be for now? and give him the space he needs. That's all I can do anyway.
passing by various people in the hallways I made my way back to my quarters. My room was dark and cold, making me all the more achingly aware of how lonely I felt, not being able to talk to anyone. kerian was nice he cared for me but he was also a very busy man and I didn't want to be a burden.
glancing down the hallway I decided not to linger too much on my worries, stressing out wouldn't help anyone, I needed to destress and take some time to think everything over thoroughly. Maybe I've missed something.
I've just been too distracted and overwhelmed with recent events to remember it. Taking a swim always helps me to unwind and clear my mind, so why not use this time to have some fun?
grabbing some clothes I made my way to the pool area in hopes of finding some sense of tranquility. unaware that a set of eyes were watching me.