Chapter Six
My vision comes alive in a blaze of light and sound. But I don’t see the cramped gray walls. Instead, information floods my senses, crashing down until I’m buried by the flow of data streaming into my mind.
I gasp, overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught. It floods my mind, carrying me through the knowledge which seems to badger me from every direction.
I focus inwardly, trying to make sense of the chaos. Slowly, I realize I’m tapping into the very electricity around me. I can feel it thrumming through the walls, lighting up the facility. And with it comes access beyond my wildest dreams.
The entire digital realm is open to me.
Experimentally, I reach out and touch a nearby cable a few inches away from the one I’m grasping. Data spills across my consciousness and I recoil momentarily. But soon my shock fades to wonder.
I can manipulate these systems, and interact with the virtual space. The power is intoxicating.
My fingers dance across the wires, testing the limits of my newfound gift. I immerse myself in the flow of information, riding the currents of the digital ocean. For the first time since I entered this nightmare, I feel free.
The Network has opened up a whole new world for me. One unbounded by the constraints of this facility.
It’s in the wires—but also the air. It crackles with information, too.
I won’t be caged any longer. Now I can fight back, exposing the truth about this place and freeing the others. The doctors’ secrets are mine for the taking.
I dig deeper into the network, probing for answers about this place. Who’s running it? What’s their endgame?
There must be clues somewhere in this data stream.
I skim through files and records, absorbing details in flashes. Experiments...enhancements...behavior modification...it’s all so clinical and cryptic. These doctors seem obsessed with controlling us, molding us into something new.
But for what purpose?
Frustration wells up inside me. Every new fragment I uncover just leads to more questions. I want to tear through these systems until I have the full truth.
A familiar face catches my eye—Summer O’Connell. She looks different in this image when I compare it to the way she looked earlier. Younger? Definitely cleaner…
Intrigued, I skim through her file. There’s not much, just basic stats and a vague psychological profile.
But what grabs my attention is a note about special monitoring. Something to do with her brain patterns. Is she, like me, connected to the network somehow?
I keep my eyes closed, focusing on my new senses.
There.
I can detect her neural signature, a unique rhythm pulsing through the wires. I tune into it, using it as a guide. And suddenly, I can see her. Not just data about her, but her living presence within the digital space.
Summer hovers before me, though she doesn’t seem to notice my presence. I study her vitals and her brain activity. She’s immersed in a simulation, just like all the others who were rescued and taken back into this building. What are they doing with them all?
I have so many questions. But they’ll have to wait. For now, just knowing she’s here like me makes me feel less alone. She was kind and genuinely seemed worried about me and the others.
But what are they doing with them now?
I want to keep monitoring Summer, but perhaps I can find out the goal of this programming by checking on the others. Flipping through the faces, all watching an identical simulation, I notice a tiny woman stirring. Her eyes blink as she turns her head, taking in her surroundings.
“Where am I?”
The doctor’s soothing voice plays in her head, assuring her she’s fine and just completed a debriefing from her last deployment. But this doesn’t make the woman happy.
Carol. That’s her name. “Why don’t I remember?”
Even though I can’t hear the doctor respond, Carol plays his answer over in her head. “Top secret, my ass. Fucking high-handed assholes. I can’t even remember if I agreed to this. Fuck! My head hurts.”
Carol goes quiet, listening to her caretakers as they pass along medication instructions before she cackles lightly in my mind’s eye before disappearing. For a moment, I think she died. But no, of course not.
She was disconnected from the program I’m lurking in. That must be it.
I mull over what she said. She doesn’t remember…
Oh, no! Is that what this is? To erase their memory of what happened over the last few days while the alien doctors held them in the cages?
I’m still reeling from the discovery about the memory wipes when I decide to reach out to Summer again. I need an ally, someone who understands. And I desperately want her to remember me.
I find her program glowing yellow with her neural signature and forge a connection.
“Summer,” I call softly through the network. “Can you hear me?”
At first, there’s no response. But then she stirs slightly, even though her eyes remain staring, wide and unfocused. “Who’s there?”
My heart leaps. “It’s me, Ray. We’ve talked before. Earlier.”
“Ray? I don’t...”
“Shhh, it’s okay. I know they’ve been messing with your head. But try to remember what happened. Remember me.”
I can sense her confusion, but also a flicker of recognition.
“Those doctors, they’re stealing your memories,” I say, watching her closely for any recognition. “They don’t want you—or any of the others who were rescued—to remember what happened. How you were held or the aliens. But you have to fight it, Summer. Hold on to the truth.”
“Why are they doing this?” A whimper floats through with her mental voice, and fear creeps up my spine.
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out. I promise.Just focus on me, Summer,” I plead. “I’ll help you remember.”
She hesitates, but then I hear, “Okay.”
I feel her growing more distant as the program digs into her mind.
“Summer, do you remember when we talked? I told you I was going to get everyone out. Remember?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “I...I think so.”
My heart swells. “Yes! That’s right. And I will, Summer. Even you.”
I open my memories to her, replaying our conversation, the sound of her voice, her sparkling green eyes. The place where she spoke to me and then her friend called her away.
Slowly, recognition ignites within her. “Ray...I remember now. You were with the other men who were taken from the holding cells last.”
“That’s right! But they’re trying to make you forget. You have to fight it. I saw one of the others at the end of their session just like what you’re in now. You need to concentrate on staying with me now so they don’t overwrite or erase those memories.”
“Those fuckers.” Summer’s anger bleeds through our connection. “I knew they were going to do something like this!”
“Fight it,” I remind her.
“Oh, I will.” She hesitates for a moment. “Will they know?”
Now it’s my turn to pause, studying the other readouts in the surrounding data. “I… I don’t see anything unusual. Your readouts haven’t changed. But… I don’t know for sure.”