Sunday, August 27, 2017

Indigo Ultra


            There, laying in a pool of my own sweat, I awoke from yet another nightmare. My heart screamed in my ear, hammering like crazy. I was out of breath like I had just run a marathon. Shivers ran down my spine as the cold sweat chilled the heat emitting from my body. I sat in my bed, surrounded by my wet sheets in the dark. Someone was coming for me. That’s how my dreams, nightmare, always end; me getting caught in someone’s game.
            The chase felt too real. My dreams were way too vivid. From my feet stomping in the pavement while I escape from men in black suits who somehow end up finding me no matter where I hide to the air scrapping behind me as I run for my life. The street buildings to the blue sky. People posing as ordinary by standers who then turn, become agents that ignite the chase that never ends. It all felt, looked, too real to be unreal. It’s almost as if I were in a simulation to test my resilience.
            Sometimes they capture me other times I end up getting abducted. I always seem to wake up when they begin to run experiments on me, thankfully. Either way, the events that take place in my head, in my imaginary world, feel too real to be passed for dreams. What if they are real, I thought to myself. What if it actually happened, this recurring nightmare, only in another dimension; to another me? One thing was for certain, someone is out to get me.
            My eyes adjusted to the dark as I sat there in my bed. Light coming from the street dimly lit my room while I gathered my thoughts. Something told me they were coming. That feeling I always get that’s never wrong told me, whispered in my thoughts, that they are coming. I didn’t want to believe it but I knew better. Every time I deny that same feeling that tells me its right always end up being right. The more I shook the voice in my head that predicts the truth, the more I knew it was bound to happen.
            I stood and made my way to the window. Off in the distance, sirens echoed beyond my sight. I heard them coming but still hoped I was wrong. If that were them, I thought to myself, I at least have time to prepare. I made my way to the door and blocked it knowing nothing I did would prevent them from barging in, so I unlocked it instead. I thought of places to hide, to go, but knew they would find me; they always did in my dreams. So, I just sat in the living room and waited. I waited for the inevitable to happen.
            The sirens were closer. That voice, that gut feeling, I always get since I could remember was right; but what’s new? They were coming for me only this time it wasn’t a dream. This time, I wouldn’t wake up from their grip if I wanted to or find myself in another place if I shut my eyes then open them again. This time, it was for real. I remained as calm as I could. My dreams, in some twisted way, prepared me for them. I wouldn’t be caught off guard. I’d be ready, prepared, to face any outcome.
            The door opened just as I foresaw. A group of black figures entered, the opposite of what I was expecting. They came not as armed forces but as cautious allies. “I told you he would be expecting us.” One began as they approached me. “We got here just in time. Hey kid, quit pretending and let’s go before they get here.” Knowing what he meant, I stood and did as he instructed. I followed them knowing they weren’t them. “I told you he was the real deal.” Their leader later added as we left my studio apartment.
            We snuck through the fire escape and made our way down to an old minivan stationed in the alley. As we drove off, the sirens became louder until they approached the complex building to my apartment. Red and blue lights whirled around as armed agents quietly stormed the building. I looked back and watched my dream play out in real life. It felt surreal watching fiction become reality but I was use to that. As my apartment disappeared into the night I began to wonder when they would capture me, they always did in my dreams.
            “Have you ever experienced an outcome only you knew the results to?”
            “What?” A young pale girl answered, dreamily confused. She knew nothing of the person sitting before her despite their daily meetings.
            “Have your dreams ever come true?”
            “What?” She replied, unsure of what to say. “What are dreams?”
            “Have you gotten an answer without asking the question?”
            “Is that what they are, dreams?” She asked, still hung up on the last question.
            “Remain focus and answer the question.”
            “Why are you asking me these things? Why am I here, tied to this chair? Where am I?”
            “Do your dreams ever come true?”
            “Please let me go.” She tried to free herself from the bonds that tied her to them but couldn’t.
            “Maybe another session in hibernation will clear your mind.”
            “No, please.” She began to beg, in a state of panic. “Don’t take me back there, don’t let me sleep!” Four men in white entered the room. One sedated her while the others untied her bonds. She couldn’t move but she plead them not to lock her up in isolation. Tears poured from her big alien eyes as she begged them not to take her away. “Yes!” She mumbled. “Yes, to all your questions. Please, don’t take me away! Please!” The four men in white carried her to her cell, despite her pleas.
            The ride to wherever they were taking me was long and quiet. I sat opposite of them as they simply stared at me. I knew that they wanted to ask me something but they kept quiet. It’s almost as if they were expecting me to read their minds. “No, you can’t read minds.” One of them added as they began to unmask themselves. “That’s my job.” Three guys and one girl revealed themselves to me as they gave their introductions. “Not all of us were born with blessing like you and me.”
            “Blessings?” I repeated. “Is that what we, you, call it? Whatever happen to labeling them powers or abilities?”
            “Because we’re not five year olds,” the only girl in the group replied. “You can call me Hack.”
            “Is that your code name, or do you not trust me with your given name?”
            “Pick one.” She answered.
            “Real childish.” I replied. “What should I call you three then?”
            “Call me Dig.” One said.
            “Wire.” The other added.
            “Cyber.” The leader introduced himself. “You can call him Network.” He patted the driver on his shoulder. “We’ll call you Eyes. Don’t bother giving us your name. Not that we don’t trust you, don’t take it personal, it’s more for our own safety and yours.”
            “Say no more.” I replied. “Not like you got in a car with complete strangers or anything.” The tension was unsettling to say the least. “Where we heading? Some underground lair? Underwater dome?”
            “Better,” Wire replied, “We’re headed to one of their facilities.”
            “Fun,” I answered. “Do I get a weapon or am I sitting this one out? Should I put on armor or am I good in just jeans? They’re a bit constricting if I’m going to be running to be frank.” They remained silent. “So what? Should I know some hidden codes, secret gestors? What’s up?”
            “This is the guy you told us about?” Hack nagged. “I thought you said he knew everything. He’s nothing more than some lazy nerd who’s not even qualified to be called a nerd.”
            “Wow, I’m right here you know.” I said. “You know some people talk bad about others when they’re not in the same room as them, it’s called manners.”
            “No, I’m just not two face like that.” Hack snarled.
            “I said he was the key.” Cyber came to my defense. “We’re going to need him if we want to succeed. We have no back up.” Cyber turned to me, “All you need to know is that we’re here to keep you away from them. Judging from your expression, I can tell you know who I’m talking about. That’s how I can read your mind.”
            “Wait, so you can’t literally read minds?” I asked, a bit let down. “You’re just good at reading people?”
            “It’s a blessing most can’t master.”
            “Nothing compared to your blessing though.” Dig added. “You can actually see shit before it happens.”
            “How does that work by the way?” Wire asked, Cyber and Hack listened carefully.
            “To be honest, I’m not sure.” I replied. “Sometimes they come as feelings. Other times they come as answers I never even asked the question to. Sometimes though, they come as voices. It’s confusing and psychotic but they never seem to be wrong. No matter how much I try to deny it, I always end up being right.”
            “You would be the first in our group to actually possess true blessings.” Cyber began. “No one is born anymore, people are created. Well, at least 1% of them are. There are a smaller percentage of people that are born naturally who end up blessed. Those created in science labs are manufactured to be blessed with abilities, as you called them. That’s why they are after you, the government, because your DNA has what they call the organic gold strain.”
            “Dig was fortunate enough to have listened in on their plans to capture you.” Cyber finished. “It was Hack who found your location before they did, even though they found you seconds later.” Nothing he said was new to me. People know, or at least they suspect, there are genetically modified humans. What people don’t know is whether those accusations are true because those allegations are never settled in court. The internet reveals everything regardless without even missing a syllable.
            “None of that matters.” Hack replied. “They have everything they need. DNA samples, face recognition, voice samples, finger prints; everything. If they want you dead, they’ll produce whatever you use on a daily basis that only affects you and others like you. The game is set, there are no more levels. All we can do is find and unite those they are tracking, that’s the only good thing about their agencies; they help us find people like you before they get to them.”
            “How could they have gotten my DNA? I’ve never donated blood or gone to the hospital. How did they get my face, finger print and voice?”
            “You use cell phones don’t you?” Dig answered. “Phones are their main source to get everything they need about you because aside from your wallet, phones are the second most item one carries with them at all times. The government, the military to be precise, manufactures nano technology. They created mosquito robots that take samples of people’s blood. They also inject them with poison that either kills them instantly or slowly.” More accusations the internet already claimed were becoming true.
            “We here.” Network called as he stopped the van.
            “Listen,” Cyber began, “Just stick with me and you’ll be good. Don’t stray or you’ll end up as one of their lab rats. Got it kid?”
            Somehow, I already feel like a lab rat. “You got it boss.”
            Like ninjas, we crept into the enemies home. Armed guards patrolled every corner while beams glazed around. Hack managed to knock one unconscious with her tranquilizer buying us time to enter through the back. The facility was spotless and new. Spacious white marvel walls trailed as far as I could see. Cyber gestured us the opposite of where I was looking. It wasn’t long before the security alarms blazed throughout the halls. We had little to no time to accomplish whatever it was Cyber and his crew wanted to do.
            We were on the run, running from agents who have yet to find us. My dream was becoming a reality before my very eyes. I stopped and turned to one side. I remember this, I thought to myself. I know where to go. Even though I knew nothing of Cyber’s mission, I knew where he wanted to go. “What are you doing Eyes?” Hack screamed, the alarm was louder. Cyber followed me with the rest trailing behind.
            “I told you he was the key.” Cyber briefly added as he passed her. They were following me this time, to some cell locked away for no reason. Shots blocked our way as guards found us. They knew what we were up to. They knew what Cyber wanted, they knew what his mission was. “Eyes, come with me. Wire, Dig keep them distracted.” Cyber took me to another section of the facility with Hack behind us, guarding our backs.
            The narrow hallway Cyber took me gave me a sense of familiarity. It’s almost as if we were destined to take this route. “Wait, I’ve been here before.” I told them. “In my dreams.” I ran without a care, despite the armed guards threat at every corner. Somehow, I knew they weren’t near. I ran until I stood before a door. The door had no labels, just a number code to unlock it. “Hello?” I called, not knowing who I was calling to. Without hesitation, I pressed a series of eight numbers and the door opened.
            Far in the shadows, a young fearful pale girl sat; scared as ever. “You’re safe now. Come with us.” Cyber told her. She stood, debated for a second then stepped into the light. Her hair was long, brown and curly. Her face resembled mine, to her nose and her chin, to her eyes. She was my height, she mirrored my expressions. She could pass for my twin but I had no twin. “No Eyes, she’s not your twin. She’s your clone.”
            We stood face to face, almost mimicking each other from head to toe. “That’s what they do. They clone those who were born with God’s blessing to enhance the ability. They say they do it for the greater good, but the only good they do is for their cause.” I couldn’t believe it. My clone was a girl, staring not at me but at my soul; as I did to hers. “That’s why we must, have to find the rest before they get them because they’ll kill you and clone you to be a better, enhanced version for their control.”
            Shots glazed over our heads as armed guards found our location. Hack kept them away as she instructed us to make a run for it. Cyber lead us to an exit as I held my clones hand. Her touch was like mine only smoother. Our connection felt astronomical. I could see her thoughts and she mine. Flashes of her experience, of my dreams, in their facility ran through my visions mind. I could feel her pain. She looked at me and knew I would protect her as she would protect me. Cyber and I lead her to her liberation as we ran for our lives.

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