Go Canucks! I hope they have an exciting season with plenty of wins to keep you happy :)
I've been told I'm going to Kyiv on Saturday, which is rather short notice, so I might be a little erratic for the next couple of days. So for this morning's prompt no Kraulik and co, but I will get back to them :)
Back in action
"You've been in that bed for far too long," said a quiet voice. "We need you back in action." There was a hesitation, perhaps deliberate, perhaps not. "Sir." It was nice where I was; I was warm, and that was a luxury I'd not had in two years of being on this infernal planet. I didn't feel hungry, which was another benefit. Oh there was food here, but it tasted dreadful and we all ate the bare minimum we had to, so we were all feeling hungry all the time. And it didn't matter how hungry you were, your appetite disappeared when you looked at the squirming red-yellow fist-sized lumps that the Norgs considered food. They were, apparently, plants or fruit of some kind and the squirming was nothing to do with being alive but rather some kind of electromotive reflex that occurred as the plant tissue broke down after being harvested. Looking at a plate of those things made me think of open-heart surgery.
"It's quiet here," I said. I had to think about how to do that, and my lips felt gummy when I made them move apart. When had I last spoken, exactly? "You're in isolation," said that voice. It was starting to sound familiar. I considered opening my eyes, and then decided against it. At least, not until I rubbed them to check if they were gummy too, and I didn't want to move my arms. "Initially it was for quarantine, but when we were certain you weren't contagious it was downgraded." That hesitation again. "Sir."
"What happened?" It wasn't what I'd intended to say, I'd been thinking of something much more banal, but the question surfaced in my mind and my voice, obvious eager to be of use again, grabbed it and ran with it. I guess it wanted to be back in action more than I did. I had blank patches in my memory, although not really blank, just... dark? "You were at Station Gamma," said the voice. A name materialised in my mind: Meredith. Meredith owned the voice, whoever she was. "There had been reports of unapproved procedures on the biological samples... do you remember?" I tried to shake my head but I got confused as to which one I should be shaking. While I tried to work that out, because it didn't seem right, a memory opened like a flower to the morning sun. "Someone was trying to produce food plants that didn't taste so awful," I said. "We were told to stop it." "You knew that," said Meredith. "You hadn't told anyone else then." "Contamination," I said. "The idea's noble, and gods know I could use something that doesn't wriggle down your throat and then wriggle in your stomach for twenty minutes after, but if we modify those plants and they get loose, we could hurt the Norgs badly. And we can't afford to do that." An itch started on one of my arms. Something nagged me about that thought too. "There was an accident," said Meredith. Another memory opened. Meredith standing behind me, stepping away. I don't know how I could have seen her though, as I was facing forward at the time. "You were caught in a release of mutagen." "You pushed me into it," I said as the memories returned properly now. "This... you're trying to tell me you're sorry?" "We need you back in action," said Meredith, still quietly. "No matter what." I opened all six hundred of my eyes and wondered what I'd become.
2 comments:
Go Canucks! I hope they have an exciting season with plenty of wins to keep you happy :)
I've been told I'm going to Kyiv on Saturday, which is rather short notice, so I might be a little erratic for the next couple of days. So for this morning's prompt no Kraulik and co, but I will get back to them :)
Back in action
"You've been in that bed for far too long," said a quiet voice. "We need you back in action." There was a hesitation, perhaps deliberate, perhaps not. "Sir."
It was nice where I was; I was warm, and that was a luxury I'd not had in two years of being on this infernal planet. I didn't feel hungry, which was another benefit. Oh there was food here, but it tasted dreadful and we all ate the bare minimum we had to, so we were all feeling hungry all the time. And it didn't matter how hungry you were, your appetite disappeared when you looked at the squirming red-yellow fist-sized lumps that the Norgs considered food. They were, apparently, plants or fruit of some kind and the squirming was nothing to do with being alive but rather some kind of electromotive reflex that occurred as the plant tissue broke down after being harvested. Looking at a plate of those things made me think of open-heart surgery.
"It's quiet here," I said. I had to think about how to do that, and my lips felt gummy when I made them move apart. When had I last spoken, exactly?
"You're in isolation," said that voice. It was starting to sound familiar. I considered opening my eyes, and then decided against it. At least, not until I rubbed them to check if they were gummy too, and I didn't want to move my arms. "Initially it was for quarantine, but when we were certain you weren't contagious it was downgraded." That hesitation again. "Sir."
"What happened?" It wasn't what I'd intended to say, I'd been thinking of something much more banal, but the question surfaced in my mind and my voice, obvious eager to be of use again, grabbed it and ran with it. I guess it wanted to be back in action more than I did. I had blank patches in my memory, although not really blank, just... dark?
"You were at Station Gamma," said the voice. A name materialised in my mind: Meredith. Meredith owned the voice, whoever she was. "There had been reports of unapproved procedures on the biological samples... do you remember?"
I tried to shake my head but I got confused as to which one I should be shaking. While I tried to work that out, because it didn't seem right, a memory opened like a flower to the morning sun.
"Someone was trying to produce food plants that didn't taste so awful," I said. "We were told to stop it."
"You knew that," said Meredith. "You hadn't told anyone else then."
"Contamination," I said. "The idea's noble, and gods know I could use something that doesn't wriggle down your throat and then wriggle in your stomach for twenty minutes after, but if we modify those plants and they get loose, we could hurt the Norgs badly. And we can't afford to do that."
An itch started on one of my arms. Something nagged me about that thought too.
"There was an accident," said Meredith. Another memory opened. Meredith standing behind me, stepping away. I don't know how I could have seen her though, as I was facing forward at the time. "You were caught in a release of mutagen."
"You pushed me into it," I said as the memories returned properly now. "This... you're trying to tell me you're sorry?"
"We need you back in action," said Meredith, still quietly. "No matter what."
I opened all six hundred of my eyes and wondered what I'd become.
Greg - best of luck with your Ukrainian adventures!
Ugh. That slow build. That final line. Really well done.\
... and also ugh.
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