Time Bound

“You want what’s in her head?”

“…”

“We’ve been keeping her under sedation. She refuses to answer any questions. She is… Completely uncooperative director.”

“Change tactics. Use the screen. No restrictions.”

“Sir. That will damage the vessel and break all-“

“As the respected project leader of the company, I expect results from you. I haven’t been disappointed in your work yet. Do not give me a reason to doubt in your skills, yeah?”

The director gave a cold smile and the project leader immediately glanced down to the floor.

“Yes sir. We will start after the subject recovers-“

“Start now. We have very little time. You of all people know this.”

The project leader hardened her expression and nodded her head silently.

***

Wires connected and tangled around each other. Red, blue, green cables trailed up the stairs and arrived to one connection site.

A black box.

This black box was attached to a woman’s head. She was sleeping. Her eyes fluttered underneath her eyelids as though she was seeing something in her dreams.

Her nose twitched or her lips would. Her arms were lined with bandages and bruises. The bottom of her feet were covered with cuts.

The director sat down comfortably to watch the screen. The project leader turned on the monitor.

“Commencing Memory 30-A”

The screen was positioned above the woman and displayed her dreams and memories like a movie. At first the screen was blurry, but the project leader fiddled with cables to improve the image.

A desert. Golden sand for miles. Nothing.

“Change the sequence.” Said the director.

Following the order, the project leader played memory 230-D.

An ocean. It seemed that she were in a boat. Water surrounded the boat. Still, there was nothing. Not one clue.

The director curled his arms over his chest and laughed.

“Clever… she knows we are in her head. She is focused. That leaves us to break her concentration, yeah?”

The director got up from his chair and entered the lab. The project leader began to sweat.

“Sir, the subject is already unstable. If we continue, then she relapse like the previous subjects. We will have no way to recover her memory.”

The director smiled. The project leader looked down.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

He flipped a switch and the woman was forced to wake.

***

The subject woke up and the screen went black.

She looked confused and immediately touched her head. The director smiled.

“Awake sleeping princess. We have unfinished business.”

“I’m sure.” The woman smiled.

She returned his coldness. The director nodded his head in disbelief.

“So what will it be? You make me resort to dangerous roads. Is it worth protecting him? The rascal that left you here to die.”

“I am not going to fall for your words. Even if he did betray me, I won’t be willing to give you anything. You will tear the world apart… well, what little remains of it.”

“That’s where you are wrong. I will save it. I have the means of bringing the world together. Happiness comes once you allow us to help you.”

The woman blinked in curiosity.

“I know there were others before me. You killed them because they also denied you the answer you’re so desperately looking for. They were afraid of what your world would steal from people to achieve your happiness.”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. You should not be so guarded. It’s the actions of animals to fear what they don’t understand.”

“I’m not afraid.” Said the woman flatly.

She looked at the cables around her and dismissed the project leader. From her calm demeanor it was obvious that she was indeed fearless. It was easy to tell that her actions rested on one fact.

She was prepared to die.

The director stepped to the table and reviewed the cables with an idle finger.

“You know… I hoped to become the savior of the world. People will remember what I had to do to save the world. I was a resolute man who never caved into temptation. I never stopped until I conquered.”

“…” the project leader glanced down at her feet.

The woman laid her head back down on the table where she had been sleeping and smiled.

“You might have been a good person. Sure. Unfortunately, I don’t believe you. I sense a darkness in you. You would cast a shadow over the world and everyone’s happiness.”

The director stroked her head softly before savagely pulling the cables out of the black box. The woman’s whole body spasmed; he had induced a sudden shockwave in her head.

The project leader flinched and closed her eyes as she heard the test subject gasp in pain.

“I will not be stopped by a stubborn woman.” Said the director firmly with glaring eyes, “I’ve worked too hard to be stopped so easily!”

The project leader kept her head hung down. The director was staring down at the subject who lay smirking on the table. Her body was becoming numb.

Neither of them looked at the screen.

Thankfully.

Had either of them done so, then they would have found their answer.

It was the boat. From the looks of it she had arrived to the desert and someone was waiting at the shoreline.

A man.

He was walking to her. Memory 4901-F02. The memory of the one man who rescued her so many years ago. The same man who rescued all the others that had escaped this laboratory. The same man that the director wanted to find and destroy. Only this man.

His face came into view. He was smiling and pleased to see the woman. There was kindness in his eyes. An expression of desire to be near her. This was the final memory that the woman played before her final moments. She wanted to think of him one last time.

The screen blurred and finally grew dim.

***

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