Two

Half Understanding

At first, I thought Mazu was just going to ask me in a nicer tone to leave. However, he asked me to follow him down a spiraling staircase. Down and down, it seemed endless. Occasionally on the side would be a door, yet in the dim candle-lit staircase, I couldn’t read the inscriptions on the doors. I didn’t know how long or how far we walked, but suddenly he turned into a room, almost slamming the door into my face. He seemed really in a rush. Inside the room was many tools I had never seen before, and I looked around amazed while Mazu was preparing something. He called me over, and told me to give him my arm. I did it hesitantly, because I saw what he had in the other hand. A sharp needle connected to a tube, holding some kind of silver fluid. He felt around my elbow, and slowly approached it with his other hand.

“This is just going to sting a bit okay?” He asked.

“If I say no, it’s not going to make a difference is it?” I replied. Apparently it didn’t.

“OW!” I exclaimed, “What was that?!?”

“Stop squirming or it’s going to hurt more.”

I obeyed, and squeezed my eyes and my hand as I felt the strange and cold liquid pushed into my arm. After he took the needle out, he rubbed some clear stuff on it, which instantly numbed the pain.

“Okay, we have to wait a few minutes for it to take effect, so why don’t you tell me what happened back there? Are you sure there are no other survivors?”

“Yes, I’m fairly certain. But I don’t know, I could’ve missed someone, maybe they were hiding underground or something, I just don’t – “

“Whoa, slow down and relax a bit,” he interjected. “I’m going to have to run some tests on you, so it’d be great if you calmed down and listened okay? For now, you can ask me whatever you want, given I can answer you.”

“Okay, yea, there are so many things happening I can’t think straight. There’s the Stronghold. Why did they attack us? I know that they’re terrorists, but why us?”

He replied, “To be honest, they attacked Dÿnæra because they discovered a secret weapon located there. They want to destroy it before it is activated. Any more than that, you will find out on your own.”

“How do you know this? And why do you have all these strange things here?” I inquired.

“Well, these are here so I can carry on with experiments. I know these things because I am informed by a higher command. Now, I think we’ve waited long enough. Let’s start.”

“Huh, start with what? What are you going to do?”

“Operation Golden Sun D-15: Codename Sol. Commence system activation, check, and purge. Override protocol Self-Destruct 18b,” he stated in a precise manner.

Suddenly, I shut my eyes, and I could feel my eyeballs flickering around, as if searching for something. Then, a transparent blue object came into view, on the right side of my vision. Numbers began to appear, and soon four lines were shaded in with 100 written next to them. I tried to yell, but I wasn’t in control of my body anymore.

When I spoke, all I could say was, “All requested commands complete. Thirteen items purged. Awaiting orders.”

“System switch to 50 manual. Allow all functions.”

I felt myself regain control, and yelled out, “WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED!”

“Sol, discontinue speech.”

My mouth shut, and no matter what I couldn’t force myself to talk. So I lunged at Mazu. He sidestepped, and said,

“Sol, discontinue outer body motion.”

Now my legs and arms were frozen. I couldn’t grin or even move my eyes! What kind of Wicca is this?

“Sol, access archives, slots 1-94. Allow all functions.”

The blue screen at the right of my vision now showed numbers, scrolling through, and I began to remember. I knew then that I was not a normal human, that they had transformed me. I saw my whole life replayed in a matter of seconds, from how they selected specific embryos, put in metal plates and all sorts of mechanic instruments at a young age, and why I never remembered that before. I realized what capabilities I had, yet my mind still doubted. I knew that my mind was operating half human and half machine, and that Mazu could change that at will. The whole village was built in a secret location surrounded by mountains for a reason, and I realized who Mazu really was. In my mind, a whole history of the world passed, and how every part of my life was planned, up until the Stronghold’s attack, and finally, I realized why they attacked. They wanted the weapon; they wanted me.

Afterwards, I stood there with a full understanding of what had come to pass, yet I didn’t know what had to come. And I’m not quite sure why I bothered to ask.