Ophelia lay on the table, her body numb. Her eyes blinded by the
bright light shining down on her. She could hear voices in the distance,
unrecognizable in her dreary state. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing
came out. She was conscious, but the rest of her body was not. She closed her
eyes trying to remember where she was or what was going on. The last thing she
remembered was flying in that plane with Douglas. She remembered looking at
Douglas, his eyes full of fear and the unknown. She remembers screaming and the
feeling of falling. Soon she found herself drifting away into the black
unconscious.
“We’ll still need to run more tests, but it seems she’s in a stable condition. Things will be much different now and she’ll need to learn to work with her new installments, but I believe she is going to be just fine.” Ophelia overheard someone talking next to her. She tried to make sense of what they were saying, but then she heard a familiar voice answer back.
“I…I..Just don’t know Doctor…I mean no one is going to treat her the same. She’ll be an outcast!” This voice was her mother’s. She tried to open her eyes, her eyelids felt so heavy. She could barely open them to a crack. Her mother was standing at the side of her bed crying.
“Listen Cecil, I know this isn’t what you wanted. But this is the only way to keep her alive.” Ophelia slowly opened her eyes more until she could finally see where she was. She was in a hospital bed.
“M-mom?” She spoke her voice frail. Her mother snapped her attention to Ophelia her face lighting up with relief. “Oh OPHELIA! My baby!!” Her mother hugged her.
“What happened?” Asked Ophelia. Her mother wiped away the new tears that fell from her eyes.
“You..were in an accident honey.” Her mother said. Ophelia sat in shock before swallowing the lump in her throat.
“An Accident?” Hearing it out loud made her remember. Tiny memories began to flood their way through her mind. She remembered how Douglas had grabbed her and held her tight as the plane fell.
“DOUGLAS!” She yelled. “Oh my god, Douglas is he..is he.” As Ophelia’s heart beat quickened she felt something different stir inside her. Almost like a mechanism. Suddenly tiny red letters flashed across her sight warning her to calm down. She screamed before sitting up in a panic. “What the hell?!”
The doctor grabbed her shoulder and steadied her. “Hang on Ophelia..just hang on. You half to calm down or your circuits will overheat.”
“MY WHAT?!” She was completely hysterical, everything was piling up and she became more and more confused. More tiny red letters flashed in front of her eyes cautioning her.
“Ophelia please! You half to calm down. If you don’t calm down your data chip will overheat and your brain will go into shutdown mode.” The doctor tried to explain, but the words just didn’t make sense to her. He was talking to her as if she was a computer. Her mother held her hand and tried to soothe her.
“You’ve undergone a serious operation Ophelia. After your accident it was clear you need certain installments to help you stay alive. You were in very critical condition. But we managed to save you by installing the latest Circuit System.” Ophelia could have sworn the floor collapsed beneath her. Her heartbeat only managed to get more erratic as the realization dawned on her. Circuit Systems were computer integrated parts for Cyborgs. There were only a dozen Cyborgs living in her town and now she was one of them.
“I’m….I’m a cyborg?” She asked. But before her mother or the doctor could answer Ophelia pushed her way onto the floor trying to stand. She could feel the metal exoskeleton in her left leg and her right leg was completely metal. “You let them turn me into a monster.” She said to her mother. Her mother began crying again. “I’m sorry..but I couldn’t just let you die. Not when there was a chance to save you. I couldn’t lose my baby girl.” She said.
“Ophelia you must be careful, you haven’t fully trained and prepared yourself for your new installments.” The doctor spoke trying to lead her back into the bed. Ophelia’s mind swarmed with confusion and hurt. She was a monster now, and outcast like the rest of the Cyborgs. Her friends wouldn’t want to come near her, and Douglas. Her mind went back to Douglas. “Mom, is Douglas alive?” She asked suddenly. Her mother sighed before shaking her head no. Ophelia wanted to cry, but nothing came. She began to breathe heavy realizing that she probably couldn’t cry anymore with her new installments. Her life was spiraling down a deep dark hole and there was no happy light at the end of this tunnel. Douglas was dead, and she was a Cyborb. A disgusting excuse of human.
“Ophelia sweetie I’m so sorry.” Her mother tried to comfort her. The doctor also said his condolences. But it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing was going to be the same. In that moment she wished she would have died with Douglas, and that the Operation would have never happened.
“We’ll still need to run more tests, but it seems she’s in a stable condition. Things will be much different now and she’ll need to learn to work with her new installments, but I believe she is going to be just fine.” Ophelia overheard someone talking next to her. She tried to make sense of what they were saying, but then she heard a familiar voice answer back.
“I…I..Just don’t know Doctor…I mean no one is going to treat her the same. She’ll be an outcast!” This voice was her mother’s. She tried to open her eyes, her eyelids felt so heavy. She could barely open them to a crack. Her mother was standing at the side of her bed crying.
“Listen Cecil, I know this isn’t what you wanted. But this is the only way to keep her alive.” Ophelia slowly opened her eyes more until she could finally see where she was. She was in a hospital bed.
“M-mom?” She spoke her voice frail. Her mother snapped her attention to Ophelia her face lighting up with relief. “Oh OPHELIA! My baby!!” Her mother hugged her.
“What happened?” Asked Ophelia. Her mother wiped away the new tears that fell from her eyes.
“You..were in an accident honey.” Her mother said. Ophelia sat in shock before swallowing the lump in her throat.
“An Accident?” Hearing it out loud made her remember. Tiny memories began to flood their way through her mind. She remembered how Douglas had grabbed her and held her tight as the plane fell.
“DOUGLAS!” She yelled. “Oh my god, Douglas is he..is he.” As Ophelia’s heart beat quickened she felt something different stir inside her. Almost like a mechanism. Suddenly tiny red letters flashed across her sight warning her to calm down. She screamed before sitting up in a panic. “What the hell?!”
The doctor grabbed her shoulder and steadied her. “Hang on Ophelia..just hang on. You half to calm down or your circuits will overheat.”
“MY WHAT?!” She was completely hysterical, everything was piling up and she became more and more confused. More tiny red letters flashed in front of her eyes cautioning her.
“Ophelia please! You half to calm down. If you don’t calm down your data chip will overheat and your brain will go into shutdown mode.” The doctor tried to explain, but the words just didn’t make sense to her. He was talking to her as if she was a computer. Her mother held her hand and tried to soothe her.
“You’ve undergone a serious operation Ophelia. After your accident it was clear you need certain installments to help you stay alive. You were in very critical condition. But we managed to save you by installing the latest Circuit System.” Ophelia could have sworn the floor collapsed beneath her. Her heartbeat only managed to get more erratic as the realization dawned on her. Circuit Systems were computer integrated parts for Cyborgs. There were only a dozen Cyborgs living in her town and now she was one of them.
“I’m….I’m a cyborg?” She asked. But before her mother or the doctor could answer Ophelia pushed her way onto the floor trying to stand. She could feel the metal exoskeleton in her left leg and her right leg was completely metal. “You let them turn me into a monster.” She said to her mother. Her mother began crying again. “I’m sorry..but I couldn’t just let you die. Not when there was a chance to save you. I couldn’t lose my baby girl.” She said.
“Ophelia you must be careful, you haven’t fully trained and prepared yourself for your new installments.” The doctor spoke trying to lead her back into the bed. Ophelia’s mind swarmed with confusion and hurt. She was a monster now, and outcast like the rest of the Cyborgs. Her friends wouldn’t want to come near her, and Douglas. Her mind went back to Douglas. “Mom, is Douglas alive?” She asked suddenly. Her mother sighed before shaking her head no. Ophelia wanted to cry, but nothing came. She began to breathe heavy realizing that she probably couldn’t cry anymore with her new installments. Her life was spiraling down a deep dark hole and there was no happy light at the end of this tunnel. Douglas was dead, and she was a Cyborb. A disgusting excuse of human.
“Ophelia sweetie I’m so sorry.” Her mother tried to comfort her. The doctor also said his condolences. But it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing was going to be the same. In that moment she wished she would have died with Douglas, and that the Operation would have never happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment