Bob attached the wires to Boris’s and my foreheads. He inserted a curved tube in my mouth and it stayed in place. Suddenly, I felt a warm liquid drip down my throat, and Bob said, “Just stay breathing normally Lina. The liquid is slowly dropping down.”
I looked over at Bob and turned a little to look at Boris. Bob came closer to Boris’s neck, and inserted the needle in him. Boris’s eyes slowly closed, and I kept looking at him.
Suddenly, I was in a dark room. It was wide and empty. I looked around, but no one was there. I walked forward for a bit, and suddenly, I saw Boris laying on the ground. I ran to him, kneeled down and said, “Boris! Wake up!” His eyes opened and said, “I am here with you.” He raised his body and stood up. He put his hand out and said, “Come on.”
I grabbed his hand and he said, “Stay close to me and never let go of my hand.”
I nodded and just looked at him. He said, “So your head is filled with dark empty places?”
I said, “Umm, I’m not sure.”
He said, “Should we go anywhere?”
I said, “How do I look?”
He stared at me and said, “Well, your head bandage is gone. You hair is a little messy and long. You look a little pretty.”
I said, “Little?”
He laughed and said, “That’s all.”
I frowned and looked away, and he said, “Don’t be sad. I am just teasing you.”
I said, “Fine.”
He said, “Well. How long do we wait?”
Then suddenly, a light from the distance beamed and shined. As it approached I said, “I wonder if it’s Sara.”
The light was only a few feet from us, and slowly, someone appeared. It was not Sara, but Sam.
Sam looked at us, but he stared at Boris. Boris looked at him with a little disgust and didn’t say anything. Sam finally said, “Did you replace me?”
I said, “No.”
He said, “It appears so. Why are you lying to me?”
I said, “I’m not lying.” I tried to let go of Boris’s grip, but he kept grabbing my hand and pulled it back. Sam looked at Boris and walked closer.
Boris said, “You need to stay away from us.”
Sam said, “She is mine. You can’t have her.”
Boris said, “Lina. Make him go away.”
I said, “Poof! Go away. I don’t think that will work.”
Sam stared at us and said, “Sara, come with me.”
I said, “You must be mistaken. I’m not Sara.”
Sam walked closer and Boris stepped back, then suddenly, Sam struck Boris with a knife. Boris screamed and held his side. I said, “No!”
Sam said, “Sara, let’s go.”
Boris kneeled and kept holding his side in pain. I kneeled down next to him and he whispered, “This isn’t real Lina. You have to convince your mind that I am fine and Sam is not here.”
I was sobbing and said, “You are bleeding. I can’t. I can’t.”
Sam said, “Why do you chose him?”
I looked at Boris and he shook his head. I looked up at Sam and said, “I don’t chose him. I will come with you.”
I stood up, walked over to Sam and he said, “Let’s go.”
He walked back and I followed him. I looked back, and Boris was gone. I stopped and said, “Is he gone?”
Sam looked back at me and said, “Don’t you want to see our garden?”
I said, “Garden?”
Then suddenly, we were in a small garden. It had different kinds of colourful flowers and vines hanging on the walls. There was a small fountain in the middle. I walked over to the fountain, and Boris was sitting next to it with his head down. Sam said, “Why is he always here?”
Sam took out a small gun from his waist and said, “Time to go.” I looked at Sam and yelled, “No! You aren’t real!” Sam looked at me and pointed the gun at me. He said, “Why Sara? Don’t you love me anymore?”
I hesitated, looked at Boris and back at Sam and said, “You are not real! Just go away!”
Boris quickly tackled Sam, and Sam fired the gun. It missed me and I jumped back. Boris yelled, “Run Lina!”
I ran back, out of the garden and into an empty field. I stopped to catch my breath and I looked around. No one was there. I kneeled on the floor and wondered, “Do I like gardens? There are many in the Intelligence compound used for experiments, but I didn’t care much for them.”
I looked up and Boris was standing in front of me. He said, “Gardens? Knives and guns? What’s next? Fruits and vegetables falling from the sky?” I smiled at him and stood up. He grabbed my hand and said, “So is Sam good or bad in your mind?”
I said, “I’m not sure. But he seemed protective.”
He said, “Defensive too?”
I said, “I guess. Is he gone now?”
He said, “It’s your mind. You decide that.”
I said, “Umm. I can decide anything?”
He said, “Just don’t do anything bad to me.”
I said, “I won’t.”
He looked around and said, “Well, what do you want to do here?”
I said, “I was in this field before. There was a door though, but I never went through it.”
He said, “This door is not here.”
Suddenly, there was a loud sound, then fire started burning the grass. It spread around us in a circle. Boris said, “Things are heating up.” He carried me and ran as fast as he can and jumped over the fire to the other side. Then the fire appeared in front of us.
He said, “Oh boy. It’s everywhere.”
I looked up and said, “The sky is clear.”
He said, “Then turn it gray and let it rain.”
I closed my eyes and imagined it was a hot summer day, and small rain clouds were over us. Suddenly, I felt drops on my head. I opened my eyes and it was dark and rainy. Boris said, “Great job!” He let go of me and I stood up.
He said, “There is something over there, but tiny.” I looked back at the direction he was pointing at, and the rain stopped. It was still gray, and the small object came closer. As the object came closer, it came into focus. It was a little girl. It was me.
I said, “She is me when I was four.”
He said, “Why four? What happened to you then?”
I said, “I don’t know, but I have pictures of me at that age.”
He said, “On paper?”
She spoke and said, “Don’t go.”
I said, “I won’t go. I am here.”
She raised her head up and said to Boris, “Are you going to take her away mister?”
He said, “I’m not.”
She said, “Yes you are. You said so when she was sleeping. Remember?”
I looked at Boris and he shrugged. He said, “What should I say?”
I said, “Umm. Listen. He won’t take me, but you have to tell me where Sara is.”
She said, “Who is Sara?”
I said, “Umm. I guess you don’t know her.”
She said, “Will she hurt you?”
I said, “She is trying.”
She said, “Then you should run away.” She came closer and held my hand. She said, “Let’s go.”
I walked with her, and Boris grabbed tightly my other hand. We kept walking for a while, and suddenly she stopped. She let go of my hand and said, “Here we are.”
I looked around and the scenery didn’t change at all. I said, “Here or back there, what is the difference?”
She giggled and said, “I saved you.”
I said, “How?”
She pointed behind us and said, “There’s the door.”
I looked back, and a black door was there. I looked at Boris and said, “It’s locked.”
She said, “Let’s open it!”
I said, “How?”
She walked towards the door and enthusiastically said, “Boom!” The door slowly swung, she giggled and said, “Let’s go!”
Boris said, “Now I know where your joyful attitude comes from. You were always like that.” I said, “So?” Then she said, “Double so!” She stuck her tongue out and I laughed. Boris didn’t seem impressed at all.
We came closer to the door and I said, “We should all go through eh?”
She said, “Yay!” Boris shook his head and said, “Do you really want to Lina?”
I said, “Where else do we go? It’s the only way.” Boris nodded and said, “Lead the way.”
I walked slowly through the door. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything, and I felt Boris’s grip on my right hand, and little me on my left. As we kept walking, the darkness turned into white. No one spoke, but then, there was a loud bang. Boris tucked me closer. He said, “Come closer.”
I said, “What’s that noise?” Little me let go of my hand and walked in front of us. She turned around and said, “I got to go. I can’t stay little forever.” Suddenly, she disappeared.
Boris said, “Great. She brought us here and left.”
I thought for a minute that I don’t know anything about my parents, not even how they look like and I said, “She brought us because I needed to know the truth.”
He said, “What truth?”
I said, “Where my parents are.”
He said, “They died. They had mutated genes. It’s in your medical records.”
I said, “Why didn’t I die then?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
I said, “Something doesn’t make sense then.”
He said, “You’re right. They didn’t discover the mutated genes till years later. Maybe we were fourteen.”
We heard another loud bang and the ground shook. We lost our balance and fell on the floor.
Boris said, “Wow. Earthquake!”
I said, “Look above.”
Boris looked up and shiny sparkles filled the sky. I said, “I love sparkles!” He said, “So maybe you’re hallucinating now things you love?”
The ground stopped shaking and I quickly stood up. I raised my arms high and tried to catch a sparkle. When I did, I made a fist and looked at Boris and said, “I got one!” He smiled at me and said, “Why do you act like a child?”
I frowned and said, “Is it wrong that small shiny things make me happy?”
He said, “So little you brought you to a much simpler part in your mind. The time when you were a child?”
I kneeled down, grabbed Boris’s hand and said, “Let’s go!”
He said, “Where to?”
I said, “Find everyone!”
He looked at me not sure what to answer. He stood up and he held my hand tightly. I said, “Let’s go that way! We will find them!”
I skipped and Boris kept looking at my direction with his eye brow raised. I said, “Finally! We are here!”
Suddenly, the room was filled with people. They were walking and had strollers too. I said, “Well Boris! Let’s find them!”
He was puzzled and said, “Who?”
I squinted my eyes and said, “My parents you silly Boris!”
I walked around and looked at each group of people. I stopped and asked each ground, “Do you know Lina?” They would shake their heads and say, “No.”
I kept asking every couple that was there. Boris said, “Can we stop? I don’t think they are here.”
I said, “But why!”
Suddenly, a couple appeared with a baby in a stroller. I walked over and asked them, “You have a lovely baby!” They looked at me and smiled. I said, “What’s her name?” They continued smiling, then the baby, about one and a half years old said, “Lina!”
I looked at Boris and said, “See! We found her!”
I looked at the couple and said, “Why did you leave Lina?”
They looked at me and the father said, “We had to.”
I said, “You did! What a shame, but she will be so lonely!”
The father said, “We have to go.” He looked over to his wife and said, “Dear, we have to go now.”
They turned around, but left the baby in the stroller. I said, “Umm. What about the baby?”
Suddenly, everyone left, but the stroller stayed in its place. I looked at the baby, grabbed her slowly and took her out of the stroller and said, “I was so cute! Look Boris! I’m so happy!”
Boris stared at me not knowing what to say, then raised his arms out for me to give him the baby. I said, “Here you go!” He held her and said, “I don’t think you should hold her.” I said, “Why not! She is so cute!”
He pursed his lip, looked behind me and said, “That’s why.”
I turned around and she was there. It was Sara.
I said, “Look! It’s me!”
I ran towards her and Boris yelled, “No!” As I got closer, I froze and light beams burst from the ground and shocked me. I screamed loudly and cried from the pain. I fell on the ground and I barely held my head up and said, “You don’t want me to know the truth Sara?”
She looked at me, and then back at Boris. He no longer had the baby in his arms. He ran and kneeled down next to me. He said, “She is not real. You have to stop her.” He brought me close to him and wrapped his arms around me.
Sara stared at us, but she seemed bored then said, “Can we go back now?”
I said, “Back where?”
She said, “In time. You don’t belong here. We control time and we have to go back.”
I said, “What if I don’t want to.”
Boris squeezed me tightly and whispered, “You have to stop her.”
I said, “You know, I like your dress Sara. Why do you keep wearing it?”
She seemed uninterested and said, “It was my mother’s.”
I gasped, looked at Boris and he whispered, “No it’s not. She wants you to believe it.”
I said, “Umm. So, what can you tell me about my mother?”
She stared at me and didn’t reply.
I said, “Ok? Umm, what about my father?”
She tilted her head to the side and stared.
I said, “So you want me to go back in time, and there is nothing to go back for?”
She finally said, “Who said that if we go back then we will see them?”
I said, “What’s there to see then?”
She said, “The human destruction!”
I said, “Great. You want me to relive that?”
She said, “What did machines do? They destroyed us.”
Boris whispered and said, “I think she will tell us something now.”
I said, “Well, machines have a positive, and they do help us.”
She sprinted closer and yelled, “NO!”
I looked over to Boris and he stared at me with a scared look. I said, “What about Ellen?”
She said, “Ellen lied! They all lied!”
I said, “Who are all? What did they lie about?”
She frowned and said, “They said I will go. Leave this place and go back.”
I said, “Go back to reality?”
She said, “No.”
I said, “Then where?”
She hesitated and didn’t reply.
Boris whispered, “Ask her about the plan.”
I said, “What about the plan to end all machines? Can you tell me about it?”
She said, “I don’t know.”
I said, “You don’t? Of all people, you should!”
She sighed and said, “I have to die.”
I whispered to Boris and said, “This isn’t going well.” He stared at me and said, “I think you need to go with her alone so she will talk.”
I said, “Why? No I can’t. What about you?”
He said, “I brought you here safely, and that’s all I can do.”
I looked at him and he smiled. He touched my cheeks gently with his fingers and kissed my forehead. He said, “You need to go with her. If anything happens, we will wake you up.”
He stood up and walked back, then he disappeared. Sara kept staring at me and finally said, “We have to go back.”
I said, “Ok. I will go.”
She smiled and said, “Ok.”
She raised both her arms and light came down blinding me, and the ground shook.