Finally the intercom switched on. �Mr. Alexandros, go into room nine,� an androgynous voice cracked over the speaker. Sounded like the doctor needed a new system.
Raeh hadn�t noticed it at first, with all the white on white, but another small hall led at such an angle to make it impossible to see down it from the entrance into the foyer. He walked through, noting the steel doors. That didn�t help his nerves at all. Room number nine was at the far end; he pushed a small button and the door slid open silently. As he entered, the door slid closed once more with a click and the sound of grinding gears. Oh shit . . . He was locked in, now
The large chamber was fairly dark; most of the lighting came from monitors, buttons, and multicolored indicators. A large computer set up rested to the left of the door; there were also many large pieces of machinery that did God only knew what, and a few bulky things that were covered with grey sheets. In the dim atmosphere, the room took on a rather intimidating appearance, everything but the lights hidden in deep shadow. Raeh walked over and examined something that appeared to be made of many long, thick needles varying from as long as his arm to half the length of his index finger. He shuddered, and wondered what the hell it was for.
�Ahh, so nice to see you!� A voice crackled from behind him. Raeh spun about; before him was a stooped old man, little over half Raeh�s six two. He was wrinkled, with small bifocals and thin wispy white hair that Raeh could see the man�s skull beneath. Age spots mottled his face, making him look distinctly odd. �I take it you are Mr. Raeh Kenneth Alexandros?�
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. It was turning out to be a whole world of surprises. �Yes . . . And you are Doctor Almasy.�
�Hm . . . Bright, I suppose, but not too quick. Tall, physically fit . . . Seems to be in prime condition and top health.� The elderly doctor walked over to him, quick despite a slight hobble, possibly indicating the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Almasy poked Raeh in the stomach. �And doesn�t seem to overindulge, at least not too often. And how�s that libido?�
Raeh almost choked, until he saw the mischievous gleam in the doctor�s pale brown eye. �Best in early mornings and late evenings, sir.�
Almasy chuckled and stepped back, folding his arms and giving Raeh one last appraisal. �I suppose you realize you�re not here for a checkup?� He cocked his head, looking like a wren from a child�s storybook, little spectacles perched on his beaklike nose.
Raeh shook his head slowly. He hadn�t actually thought of it, but... This equipment doesn�t look like the sort of thing I�d expect to see in an examination room. I wouldn�t know, but still... No stethoscope, no standard blood test equipment or blood pressure monitor, no vision charts or sample containers. �I suppose not, sir.� The only thing that might slightly pass for such a room was a table sitting at a forty-five degree angle in the opposite corner; but although there were white sheets and thin paper on it, it also had various tubes and wires nearby, and several things that looked like binds.
�Exactly so. You are here to receive your enhancements. After all, the EDF does not have a high survival expectancy... Your only hope of survival is through nanotechnology and cybernetics. You will be fighting to capture and exterminate Trans and Psionic humans... Beings who could obliterate a true human with little more than a flick of their wrist. Do you understand?� Almasy�s voice had taken on a tone Raeh rarely heard outside of the halls of the fire and brimstone cultist groups... Someone sure of righteous death and damnation.
�Yes, sir.� It wasn�t anything Raeh didn�t know already... Most of the members of the Defense force didn�t live longer than a year or so, if they were lucky. They were all crack fighters and tacticians, but the odds weren�t necessarily in your favor when you picked fights with what seemed to be supernatural abilities. Another reason why members of the EDF were feared and reviled; they were known to be wild, reckless, and hedonistic. Joy. Another score for Raeh�s already pitiful reputation. Raeh felt the sudden urge to run out of the room; his gut instincts had been wailing when the door shut and locked itself, but now they were screaming klaxons. (There has to be a way out of here... I don�t want this, do I?) No choice now... I allowed myself to be backed into a corner.
�Well then. You will be receiving nano-robots that will allow oxygen into your bloodstream and absorb it into your muscles faster, and also increase the strength of your muscles and decreasing the output of pain-causing chemicals and deadening pain nerve endings. What this will do is increase your stamina, speed, and strength, while keeping you from feeling pain from wounds and the like,� Almasy explained in his cracking, thin voice.
Something sharp stabbed into the back of Raeh�s neck while an arm wrapped around his mid-section to restrain him. Raeh struggled for a moment and began to feel sluggish and weak. He made a last-ditch effort and slammed his fist up and back, cracking something and driving it up before he finally passed out on the cold floor. His last thought was, This is going to be one hell of a week.
******
Raeh stood alone in a vast plain, healthy wild grasses swaying gently as far as the eye could see. Nothing besides he himself stood in the plains that he could see; the only sound besides his breathing was the wind whispering through the plains. There was no sun, but it was almost painfully bright, the sky a particularly vivid shade of cloudless blue. As he had nothing to do, Raeh chose a random direction and began to walk. As he went, the grasses went from merely knee-high to waist high.
There didn�t seem to be any particular temperature; indeed, although he was dressed in blue jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, he was neither hot nor cold. He glanced up at the horizon and noticed a black point on the horizon. He altered his course slightly and continued walking.
The grass grew steadily higher; soon it reached halfway up his chest. The black point grew into a grey tower, although its base was obscured by the grass Raeh was walking through. He soon had to thrust it aside, and began to stumble as green, vine-like things began to twine around his ankles.
Raeh abruptly fell into a still, barren patch of land. No tower was in sight, only a deep crack in the ground. He cautiously approached it, slowly as not to disturb the ground into a cave-in.. Looking down, he noticed some light patches that seemed to move and slowly change forms. He glanced up; was it imagination, or was the other side of the crack farther away? He peered back down into the darkness. There seemed to be no bottom, and the more he contemplated it, the more confident he became that those were not just random splotches of white, but clouds... The other side of the crack was definitely moving. The opposite edge had become hazily distant, moving in distorted waves like someone had dropped a pebble into the pool of reality.
He heard something crack, and the thin barrier between himself and the Abyss gave way, sending him tumbling into eternal darkness. Thin needles of pain pierced him; he cried out, his voice changing into a dull metallic whine. The last vision the dream gave him... A grey tower that shifted forms into a darkly shining blade... Blood.
*****