In search of

When the beeping started, she looked around to find out where she was. There was nothing familiar in the surroundings. The bare concrete walls with no windows, even the bed that was too high to be hers and to narrow for her liking, the single naked lamp above her head, the white bed covers and the absence of furniture told her she wasnt in any place she had seen before. Then the beeping stopped. There was only one door, a bare metal one with a small window. This looked like a prison or a hospital, but she had no idea why she could be in either one of them. She examined herself to make sure she wasnt hurt or anything, nothing was different, she was still the same she had been. No bruises, cuts, pains or anything different. Standing up on naked feet feeling the cold of the polished concrete floor she noticed that the ceiling wasnt much above her head and that she was taller than the door opening. One step took her to the small window peering anxiously at nothing. Just an empty corridor with sparse low lighting. Sitting on the bed, she examined her options. She could wait for an explanation by someone, or go look for it. She noticed to herself that she hadnt tested if the door was open. Then the thought startled her. Why? Why was she here? Naked in a strange room too small for her, on a bed that looked like a hospital bed. She struggled to remember where she was before this. Her last memory was entering her home. But anything before that was elusive, like trying to remember a dream. She knew who she was. She could remember her age, her name, her status. She pressed her left wrist on the black tattooed dot that marked the activation point for her screen. Nothing. The screen didnt activate in spite of the dot still being there. Running the tips of her fingers up her lower arm, she could feel the familiar faint impressions of the screen, but, she was unable to make it activate at her touch. Bringing both hands up, she tentatively touched the back of her neck looking for the smallish holes of the interface. They were still in place. She then examined the belly button implant, she could feel the small lump of the oval-shaped object she carried there her whole life. So, she was still protected by her nano parasites. Reaching a decision she jumped on her feet, stepped to the door and pushed it. It wasnt locked and it opened to the corridor. Looking at both sides she could see a few more doors like hers. But no one else. The corridor went straight for a long way, then it faded in darkness in the distance in both sides. The ceiling was higher there, reachable with a small jump and a stretched arm. The concrete was the same everywhere. Afraid that the door would close behind her, she went back in the room, to pull the bed to keep the door open. No luck, the bed was bolted down. She picked the bed covers, to try to use them to keep the door to close. They were far too flimsy and light for that, but, she could at least mark the door from the outside leaving the white tissue on the floor. Stepping into the corridor, the door kept open.

She started going from door to door to peer into the small windows, into empty rooms exactly like the one she had been in. She stopped. Where should she go. Both sides of the corridor looked exactly alike. Both stretched straight and long into distant darkness. Doors all the way. She felt a pang of fear. There was no threat visible, but also no obvious way for an exit or an explanation. The most intriguing was the absence of sound. The only thing she could hear were her own foot steps, strangely without echoes. The last thing she had heard were the beeps that brought her to conscience. She wasnt sure she had been asleep before, or, that she was even awake at the moment. Deep in thought she went back to the room with the fabric on the door. She resisted calling it hers. Not that it made any difference, she could use any of the other rooms, all doors she tried were unlocked and had open with no sound or effort. She wondered vaguely about food. Water. Bathrooms. She felt no needs. But she wondered all the same. Again she sat in the bed. The covers on the floor made her consider going back to bed and wait for anything in the possible comfort it provided. There was no point in waiting, but there was also no point in going without any idea where. Undecided she sat for what seemed a long time. She repeatedly tried to activate her screen aimlessly touching all along the length of her lower arm. The beeping started again. She jumped up startled trying to decide where it came from. Apparently from everywhere at once, again, with no echo. She peered up and down the corridor looking for any change, nothing. Suddenly a faint noise from inside the room made her jump. A small opening on the wall opposite the door peered at her. With two steps and a jump over the bed she was there. She couldnt fit in there, at most she could fit her head. There was nothing there. It was dark and didnt look too deep. With a tentative hand she touched the sides of the opening. They were smooth and even, no sharp edges. She put her hand inside feeling stupid for taking such a risk, and even stupider for feeling so scared. The hole wasnt too deep, half the length of her arm, but she couldnt feel the top or the bottom. There was an air current moving up. She could feel it in her skin, but, no sound except the beeping. Suddenly her fingers touched something in the back wall. It was a button. She removed her hand, fast. Almost expecting pain. She laughed nervously. Should she try to press it? Could she afford not too? She remembered vaguely stories about curiosity and strange buttons. She paused. Her options were clear. Do nothing. Press the button. With a deep breath she moved deliberately to the button. Paused to breath again and pressed it. Darkness. Long and complete silence. She could no longer feel her body. She couldnt tell if she was still standing by the wall, arm half inside the hole, pressing a button.

There was no notion of time. She felt nothing. No hunger. No thirst. There wasnt any sensation at all. Only her mind that tried vainly to find something to hold on to make sense of what was happening. Then the beeping started. She was again in the bed. Everything was exactly has before. No bed covers on the floor. Only her memory that told her that she had seen it all before. She got up, looking at her hand, the hand that pressed the button. There was nothing different. There was no point in staying there anymore. The wall showed no opening or any trace that it ever had one. If she was in the same room, something that she couldnt tell. There was no sign of any opening except the door. This time she didnt hesitate, the beeping was still going, while she walked decidedly in the corridor. Then she tried to run. It was effortless. Her body was used to run. Her steps got longer with the ease of long train, her breath even and paused, unconsciously rhythmic. She could feel her heartbeat, calm, strong, steady. She was enjoying this. She ran. And ran. Sweat dripping from her naked body, her wet hair beating on her back. She didnt feel tired. No hunger, no thirst. She felt like she could run forever in this seemingly endless corridor. The darkness kept retreating with each step. There was no difference in the corridor. Then the beeping stopped. She kept running. At long last she noticed something different in the corridor. From far away she couldnt tell what it was. She increased her pace, darting to that difference. Almost there. There. It was an open door. To an empty room. With a bed that showed signs that someone had lain there. She knew it was the room she had just left. Slumping heavily on the floor, she lay there crying. She couldnt do anything else. There was nowhere left to go. She picked herself up from the floor. Lied on the bed closing her eyes. Not to sleep. To wait. Waiting for the beeping to start. When it did and the opening opened up in the wall she exited the bed and went straight to it. This time she inserted her head peering up and down into complete darkness. Then she felt with both hands as high and as low as she could. Almost out of reach on the down tube she felt another button. This time she didnt even pause and pressed it. The beeping stopped. She felt the air current stop. She felt more than heard another opening on the wall on the other side of the bed. This time it was big enough for her to enter, and unlike the smaller one it shined a bright light. Stopping by the bed, she cleaned the tears and sweat from her face and body on the covers. Her hair was still wet with sweat, she dried the best she could, knowing fully well that it would look an amorphous mass

of dark brown rats nest. Somehow she didnt bother. She entered the bright lit room. And felt the familiar whirring of her screen on her left arm. Hanging on the walls where unfamiliar garments. All of the same color. Jump suits they looked like, but the shape wasnt familiar. Taking the hint she dressed the first one. It fitted her perfectly. Under the clothes were some foot pads. When applied to the sole of her feet they stuck there. She nodded appreciatively. Opposite the entrance was another door. Not a bare metal one. And with no window. No obvious push or pull would open it. She looked for any kind of pressure pad or button on the wall. Nothing. Then she remembered her screen was now active. She pulled the sleeve up, pressed the black dot and her screen was available. Empty and with none of the applications she had come to rely all her life, but with a new menu entry. It read only: Activate | Deactivate. She pressed Activate. The door slid open, retreating into the wall. On the other side a room full of busy people stopped to look at her. The man sitting in the center of the room got up and walked straight to her. He said: At last. We were waiting for you. We are what you were searching for.

To be continued