Chapter Text
“What’s two plus two?”
Something about the question irritates me. I’m tired. I drift back to sleep.
A few minutes pass, then I hear it again.
“What’s two plus two?”
The soft, feminine voice lacks emotion and the pronunciation is identical to the previous time she said it. It’s a computer. A computer is hassling me. I’m even more irritated now.
“Lrmlm” I say. I’m surprised. I meant to say “leave me alone”-a completely reasonable response in my opinion-but I failed to speak.
I open my eyes and blink a couple of times to adjust to the light. I look around the small room. I can’t see much, my vision is blurred. The walls are completely white. There’s a ladder towards the center of the room.
I’m laying down on something soft. A bed. LED lights shine down on me. I try to lift my hand to cover my eyes, but I can’t. That’s worrying. Probably nothing though. Hopefully nothing.
Cameras on the ceiling watch my every move. Creepy as that is though, I'm much more concerned about the robot arms.
Two brushed-steel armatures hang from the ceiling. Each has an assortment of disturbingly sharp-looking tools where hands should be. Can’t say i like the look of that.
Suddenly, I hear what I think is a door opening. I see what looks to be a person climbing down the ladder, though significantly blurred because my vision still isn’t fully back.
Great! I’m not alone! I’ll try to say hello.
“Hlllch?” I say. Wow. Mission failed.
“Incorrect. What’s two plus two?” The computer says again. I flinch when the robot arms move closer.
“Four.” The person says for me. They’re close enough now that I can vaguely see what they look like. They have long orange hair, sharp blue eyes, and they’re wearing some kind of orange jumpsuit. Space suit? Why would they be wearing a space suit? Am I in space? I look down at my own clothes. I’m wearing the same thing. Okay, I'm getting way ahead of myself. There’s no way I'm in space. Is there? Maybe I should just ask them.
“Where am I?” I try to say, but it sounds more like “Whrmi?”
The person looks down at me. “Dr. Grace, you’re awake.” They say. “I suspect you don’t know much of what’s happening. Tell me, how much do you remember?”
I try to process the sentence. Okay. I know my name is Grace. That’s a start. What do I remember? That’s an easy answer.
“Nothing.” I say. It sounds much more like an actual word than the last couple times I tried to speak, but I still definitely need to work on my pronunciation.
“I see.” They say. “You seem incredibly tired still, so I'll leave you to rest for a moment. I can answer your questions later, I’m certain you have plenty.”
There’s no way I can rest without even knowing where I am first.
“Where…am…I?” I wheeze as they start to turn around. They look back.
They stare for a moment, before speaking again. “I’m afraid that’ll leave you with more questions than answers, Dr. Grace.” They start walking towards the ladder once again.
“For now, just rest.” They say, before disappearing back into the hatch on the ceiling.
I don’t want to sleep. How can I? I don’t even know where I am! I have too many questions! Unfortunately, the person was right. I am incredibly tired. I close my eyes, just for a moment, though. i’m just resting my eyes, I won’t fall asleep.
I drift back to sleep against my will.