Not so mindless
The first thing I can remember is warmth.
Long before my eyes formed, my skin already told me I was submerged in some kind of liquid. It was slimy and viscous, and yet, being surrounded by it was surprisingly comforting.
I couldn't move, so I just was there. In darkness. In a place that could be enormous or barely bigger than my body. And I waited. At some point, I discovered I could feel something completely new. Something amazing. I could hear.
I heard the liquid bubbling around me, the humming of a machine, and the beating of my heart.
And I heard something else. It was very quiet, but someone was walking and talking outside of where I was. "So, how's the new creation?" "Looking at it right now, it will be another failure." "So another batch of the Failed Ones? Alright, finish the process as always and then move them to the 'waiting room'." "Yes, sir." I didn't know what they were talking about, even though for some reason I could understand them. I didn't know why. This was the first time I heard those signs, so how did I know what they meant?
I still couldn't move, so I waited longer. The sight came next. And just like the hearing, it was marvelous. So many shapes, so many colors.
Finally, I knew where I was. Even without being able to move my neck, I could see that I was submerged inside some kind of tube. It was about 20 centimeters between me and the glass that separated me from the outside world. And on the outside, there was a laboratory. I watched monitors and countless blinking lights before me. And there were humans, most of them clothed in white labcoats, some walking, some running, and some just standing. For the second time, I wondered how did I know all of the names of those things. And yet still I knew. In the corner of my eye, I could see another tube, the same as the one I was inside. So there could possibly be more like me in this place. The people outside worked for some time, then left, turning all of the lights off. Only the glow from inside the tubes illuminated the laboratory at night. Another three days have passed before I felt I could move for the first time. In the middle of the night, my fingers twitched for the first time. I looked down, and my head followed.
My hands were incomplete. There were pieces of flesh missing, exposing muscles and bone. Nothing like the bodies of researchers. As I regained more and more control over my body, I could see that not only my arms were like that. My whole body, including the face, was afflicted in the same way. Fighting the viscosity of the liquid I was submerged in, I turned to the side. Aside from my tube, or as the researchers called it, 'growth chamber', there were many more others. And almost all of them were filled with others like me, malformed and warped in some way. Some missed the parts of their bodies, others were covered various growths, all broken. I tried to wave to them, to see if anyone would react.
No one did. So I waited longer. Two days later, a group of men dressed in orange entered the laboratory. There was one of them that looked like someone important.
He started writing something on one of the computers. When he finished, he looked up towards us. The tubes started to buzz and beep. The liquid level inside started to drop. For the first time, I wasn't submerged.
I tried to take a breath, but it seemed like my lungs weren't working. I tried to mimic the way researchers communicated and speak, but only a wheeze escaped my mouth. Before I could try some other way to talk with them, the chamber started to hiss and white smoke filled it.
I lost control of my limbs. I remember they put us on carts and carried us somewhere. I remember the big doors opening. Then, the fall. And darkness.
And the sound of the hundreds of breaths, grunts, and groans. When I regained consciousness, it was still dark. But I could see.
We were dropped into some kind of a large pit. There were more of us than I could count. I stood up and approached someone. He missed part of his face and the right arm.
I tried to speak to him. Again, only the wheeze escaped my mouth.
I waved at him. He ignored me.
I touched him. He didn't even flinch.
It's like I didn't exist for him. I tried the same with others. One, two, fifty, hundred...
No one responded. Was I the only one sentient here?
I don't know how much time has passed since then, but one day the big doors above us opened again.
Two men entered the room. I could hear them talk. "Change of plans. Instead of the incinerator, they will be sent on a mission." "I still don't understand why someone would want to buy them." "If I had to guess... psychological warfare? Have you seen them?" "Yeah, I get it. By the way, have you seen that new..." they left the room. The next day, the whole room was filled with the same white smoke. This time, I remembered someone carrying us through the series of tunnels. Being thrown on the metal floor. The sound of the engine. The intense shaking. Being carried again and then thrown on the large pile.
When I opened my eyes again, the light was so bright, it blinded me for a second. Everyone else also started waking up, so I didn't have to push them off myself before I was free. I looked around.
It was the first time I saw such an open area. We were in some kind of desert. The others stood up and started moving in one direction. When I looked that way, I could see the village.
I went with them. The villagers must have seen us, cause they started shouting something to each other. Some of them brought their guns and climbed on the roofs of the buildings. The first shot hit someone next to me. He stood up, with a hole in his chest. The rain of bullets followed the first one. Some even managed to kill some of our group. Still, they were walking forward and I walked with them. When we entered the village, the screams began. Others like me started tearing into the flesh of the people, crushing, biting, clawing them. It was a massacre. I didn't join them. I hid inside one of the houses, waiting for it to end.
At some point, both the shots and moans quieted down.
Someone entered the house I was in.
It was a teenager, holding a rifle in his hand. He didn't notice me sitting in the corner.
I stood up, raised both my arms to the air and again tried to speak. And again, just the air escaped my lungs.
He jumped so much, the firearm fell out of his hand. He looked at me, the fear in his eyes.
He backed away, I tried to calm him down with gestures. But my sluggish movement must have looked like an attempt to attack him, as he panicked more and more. And then, the bombing began.
As one of the bombs exploded nearby, a part of the roof collapsed, trapping the young soldier's leg under the rubble. I could see that the rest of the roof could also fall in a few moments. Without thinking, I got close to the kid and started lifting the heavy debris that crushed his leg. I could feel that something ripped in my backside, but I continued, millimeter after millimeter. Soon he was free, but he couldn't move.
I picked him up. He protested and screamed, thinking I would kill him. Instead, I moved towards the door.
But then I heard the sound. The roof was about to collapse. So I swung my arm and threw the teenager through the doorframe, as the whole weight of the building crashed on me. In my last thought, I hoped he survived it.
Long before my eyes formed, my skin already told me I was submerged in some kind of liquid. It was slimy and viscous, and yet, being surrounded by it was surprisingly comforting.
I couldn't move, so I just was there. In darkness. In a place that could be enormous or barely bigger than my body. And I waited. At some point, I discovered I could feel something completely new. Something amazing. I could hear.
I heard the liquid bubbling around me, the humming of a machine, and the beating of my heart.
And I heard something else. It was very quiet, but someone was walking and talking outside of where I was. "So, how's the new creation?" "Looking at it right now, it will be another failure." "So another batch of the Failed Ones? Alright, finish the process as always and then move them to the 'waiting room'." "Yes, sir." I didn't know what they were talking about, even though for some reason I could understand them. I didn't know why. This was the first time I heard those signs, so how did I know what they meant?
I still couldn't move, so I waited longer. The sight came next. And just like the hearing, it was marvelous. So many shapes, so many colors.
Finally, I knew where I was. Even without being able to move my neck, I could see that I was submerged inside some kind of tube. It was about 20 centimeters between me and the glass that separated me from the outside world. And on the outside, there was a laboratory. I watched monitors and countless blinking lights before me. And there were humans, most of them clothed in white labcoats, some walking, some running, and some just standing. For the second time, I wondered how did I know all of the names of those things. And yet still I knew. In the corner of my eye, I could see another tube, the same as the one I was inside. So there could possibly be more like me in this place. The people outside worked for some time, then left, turning all of the lights off. Only the glow from inside the tubes illuminated the laboratory at night. Another three days have passed before I felt I could move for the first time. In the middle of the night, my fingers twitched for the first time. I looked down, and my head followed.
My hands were incomplete. There were pieces of flesh missing, exposing muscles and bone. Nothing like the bodies of researchers. As I regained more and more control over my body, I could see that not only my arms were like that. My whole body, including the face, was afflicted in the same way. Fighting the viscosity of the liquid I was submerged in, I turned to the side. Aside from my tube, or as the researchers called it, 'growth chamber', there were many more others. And almost all of them were filled with others like me, malformed and warped in some way. Some missed the parts of their bodies, others were covered various growths, all broken. I tried to wave to them, to see if anyone would react.
No one did. So I waited longer. Two days later, a group of men dressed in orange entered the laboratory. There was one of them that looked like someone important.
He started writing something on one of the computers. When he finished, he looked up towards us. The tubes started to buzz and beep. The liquid level inside started to drop. For the first time, I wasn't submerged.
I tried to take a breath, but it seemed like my lungs weren't working. I tried to mimic the way researchers communicated and speak, but only a wheeze escaped my mouth. Before I could try some other way to talk with them, the chamber started to hiss and white smoke filled it.
I lost control of my limbs. I remember they put us on carts and carried us somewhere. I remember the big doors opening. Then, the fall. And darkness.
And the sound of the hundreds of breaths, grunts, and groans. When I regained consciousness, it was still dark. But I could see.
We were dropped into some kind of a large pit. There were more of us than I could count. I stood up and approached someone. He missed part of his face and the right arm.
I tried to speak to him. Again, only the wheeze escaped my mouth.
I waved at him. He ignored me.
I touched him. He didn't even flinch.
It's like I didn't exist for him. I tried the same with others. One, two, fifty, hundred...
No one responded. Was I the only one sentient here?
I don't know how much time has passed since then, but one day the big doors above us opened again.
Two men entered the room. I could hear them talk. "Change of plans. Instead of the incinerator, they will be sent on a mission." "I still don't understand why someone would want to buy them." "If I had to guess... psychological warfare? Have you seen them?" "Yeah, I get it. By the way, have you seen that new..." they left the room. The next day, the whole room was filled with the same white smoke. This time, I remembered someone carrying us through the series of tunnels. Being thrown on the metal floor. The sound of the engine. The intense shaking. Being carried again and then thrown on the large pile.
When I opened my eyes again, the light was so bright, it blinded me for a second. Everyone else also started waking up, so I didn't have to push them off myself before I was free. I looked around.
It was the first time I saw such an open area. We were in some kind of desert. The others stood up and started moving in one direction. When I looked that way, I could see the village.
I went with them. The villagers must have seen us, cause they started shouting something to each other. Some of them brought their guns and climbed on the roofs of the buildings. The first shot hit someone next to me. He stood up, with a hole in his chest. The rain of bullets followed the first one. Some even managed to kill some of our group. Still, they were walking forward and I walked with them. When we entered the village, the screams began. Others like me started tearing into the flesh of the people, crushing, biting, clawing them. It was a massacre. I didn't join them. I hid inside one of the houses, waiting for it to end.
At some point, both the shots and moans quieted down.
Someone entered the house I was in.
It was a teenager, holding a rifle in his hand. He didn't notice me sitting in the corner.
I stood up, raised both my arms to the air and again tried to speak. And again, just the air escaped my lungs.
He jumped so much, the firearm fell out of his hand. He looked at me, the fear in his eyes.
He backed away, I tried to calm him down with gestures. But my sluggish movement must have looked like an attempt to attack him, as he panicked more and more. And then, the bombing began.
As one of the bombs exploded nearby, a part of the roof collapsed, trapping the young soldier's leg under the rubble. I could see that the rest of the roof could also fall in a few moments. Without thinking, I got close to the kid and started lifting the heavy debris that crushed his leg. I could feel that something ripped in my backside, but I continued, millimeter after millimeter. Soon he was free, but he couldn't move.
I picked him up. He protested and screamed, thinking I would kill him. Instead, I moved towards the door.
But then I heard the sound. The roof was about to collapse. So I swung my arm and threw the teenager through the doorframe, as the whole weight of the building crashed on me. In my last thought, I hoped he survived it.
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