Predominance (11 page)

“Victor!” Dr. Walker greeted me with great enthusiasm. He was wearing the same white lab coat he'd worn during the presentation; and although he seemed very eager, his eyes showed the weariness of many sleepless nights. “I'm so glad you can join us!”

“Good morning, Doctor.” I walked over to him and shook his hand, a quick look around made me realize that I was the only one from my group standing there. “I'm sorry,” I apologized, “Am I late? I hear that some of the others were brought down here earlier.”

“Yes, indeed. You all had different treatment schedules, but you, my friend, are just in time—come!” He beckoned me to follow as he stood proudly in the middle of this enormous two-story underground lab, which was filled with state-of-the-art computers and complete instrumentation tables. Dozens of busy lab technicians worked in an organized chaos, while shakers, incubators, and analyzers went off—all at the same time. It was enough to make you dizzy. “What you're seeing here, Victor, is history in the making. And you are about to become part of it.”

I chuckled uneasily, trying to register the moment in my mind.

“Come on,” he repeated as he walked towards a pair of strange body-size capsules at the end of the room. Their silvery metal sheathing shone brightly in the fluorescent lighting, while the thick, clear glass that sealed the tops of the cases allowed me to see their surprising contents.

“I just finished with Tom and Damian,” Dr. Walker said, checking the readings on a strange machine hooked up to one of the capsules. The two older men seemed peacefully asleep inside these impressive machines. I have to admit that a slight panic knocked in my chest the moment I imagined myself inside one of those things. “But I'm sure you'll be more interested to know how your friend Ms. Montgomery's doing.” Dr. Walker raised his eyes to meet my stare. “I heard the two of you made quite an impression on my security team last night.”

I stammered, “Um, uh... Yeah, about that. I, uh...”

“Don't worry about it.” He laughed teasingly, putting me at ease before I could finish. “Let's take a look at your friend, shall we?”

I followed him as he walked towards yet another capsule, making me realize there were more than just the two I'd seen—a lot more. “I heard she was the first one to go under,” I noted as we got closer to her capsule.

“Indeed she was,” he confirmed, checking the readings of her machine. “And I must say, Ms. Montgomery's brain waves are extraordinary.” His voice was merely a whisper by then, as if he were talking to himself. “A possible breakthrough,” he added just as quietly, his eyes staring blankly into space.

“Breakthrough?”

My question made him snap out his profound concentration. “Excuse me?”

I shot him a quizzical look. “Are you all right, Doc? You look tired.”

“Not at all,” he assured me. “We should see about getting you started, though.”

“Sure. Can I just have a couple of minutes?” I asked, letting my hand rest over Yvette's capsule.

“Of course,” he said, turning to the capsule immediately to his right, giving me as much privacy as one can expect in a crowded lab.

I leaned over the glass to see my Yvee. And there she was, lying completely still, lost in a peaceful dream. And although she was connected to a medusa's tangle of wires and electrodes, I've never seen anyone look so beautiful. “Yvee?” I tapped on the glass, hoping her captivating eyes would open for me—just long enough to satisfy my selfish desire to see them again.

“She can't hear you, Victor,” Dr. Walker said, reminding me that he was right behind me. “She's in a medically induced coma—they all are.”

I shook my head at the lack of privacy. “How long does she need to be in there?” I asked.

“It all depends on how she responds to the serum, but I'd say twenty-four to forty-eight hours—excuse me.” He walked away then to welcome the rest of the group, who'd just arrived. Then, before I could swing my eyes back to Yvette, a young nurse approached me with a hospital gown neatly folded in her hands.

“Hi, Mr. Bellator,” she said, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” I answered tentatively.

She handed me the gown and asked me to follow her. “I'll show you where to change.”

“I'll be right behind you.” I nodded with a forced smile, signaling her to go first. She returned the same sort of smile and walked away.

I turned back to Yvette's capsule and looked at her with a love that, until the previous night, I had never thought possible. “I'll see you soon, my angel,” I whispered softly, pressing my hand against her glass, hoping she'd feel my presence as well as my feelings for her.

“Mr. Bellator?” the young nurse called again, seemingly pressed for time.

“I'm coming!” I answered, giving Yvee one final gaze before I walked away.

After changing into the annoying open-backed gown, I stuffed my clothes in a plastic bag and was getting ready to go back outside when a sudden noise made me realize I'd dropped something. Quickly, my eyes swept the floor for the missing item, surprised to see that my dad's lighter had made it to the lab too—I honestly didn't remember having put it in my pocket. Thankfully, the pair of traveling pants I was wearing that day had a Velcro pocket. So I picked it up and stored it there, wondering if this incident might be another sign.

I shook my head and laughed.

I finally made it back into the lab, with one hand juggling my bag and the other swinging behind my back, trying to close the damned gown, which kept opening no matter what I did. “I really hate these things,” I told the nurse, who was waiting for me outside the door.

She shook her head with a big grin on her face and took the bag from my hand. After storing it in a compartment underneath my capsule, she put her hands on my shoulders and spun me around before I could say a word. “Are you nervous?” she asked, as she tightened the strings behind my back.

I laughed, feeling an excessive amount of blood rushing to my face. “Well, truth be told, I wasn't until now.”

She giggled as she finished tightened my gown.

She then grabbed a controller, with which she positioned the capsule at a forty-five-degree angle, opened the glass top, and asked me to hop inside. I have to admit I got very nervous at that point. I had no idea what was going to happen, or if this procedure was even going to work on me. After all, Dr. Walker had said that it all depended on how well a particular patient responded to the serum—and that of course, there were no guarantees. I was juggling these thoughts in my head when Dr. Walker arrived with his medical team. My heart began to race then.

“All right, Victor,” Dr. Walker said excitingly. “We're going to prep you now. These electrodes are going to keep track of your brainwaves as well as your vital signs and...” Dr. Walker kept on explaining, while the rest of the medical team began to connect my head and body to a series of electrodes, wires, and IV lines. The tumult was such that it became very difficult to follow anything Dr. Walker was saying.

Up until then, that is.

“You'll be awake for the first part of the procedure,” I heard him say, as people moved out of my way. “The serum will be injected directly into your bloodstream. Now, this may feel strange at first. But I need you to remain calm, okay? It's all part of the procedure. Once the serum reaches your brain, you'll be put under general anesthesia. Then we'll continue to Phase Two. Your brain will be exposed to a precise series of radiation pulses in order to activate the serum, just like I explained before. Clear so far?”

“Yes, Doctor…” My voice sounded shaky and unconvincing.

“There are cameras as well as microphones installed inside the capsule, which means that we can not only see you, but we can hear you as well. You have nothing to worry about.” He tried to reassure me with a warm smile, “Relax, Victor. Everything's going to be fine.”

They finally put an oxygen mask over my face, and Dr. Walker asked me for a good-to-go sign, to which I responded with solid thumbs-up. The capsule then closed on me with a loud thud and Dr. Walker did an audio test, to which I nodded in confirmation. The top of the capsule, just like the one Yvette was in, was made of clear glass, which allowed me to see everything going on outside. From a drawer in a table next to the capsule, Dr. Walker brought out a metallic syringe with a clear chamber in which I saw the thick greenish substance that was about to be injected into my bloodstream.

“Administration of serum RC-1000 through IV line to Subject 1105, Bellator, Victor, commencing at 0900 hours,” Dr. Walker said aloud as he administered the serum through the injection port of my IV line. I understood then that the entire procedure was being recorded. The green fluid travelled through the clear tube faster than my eyes could follow, and in a matter of seconds it was done. “Serum administration completed.”  

A warm, tingling sensation began to stream through the arm connected to the IV line. The sensation got warmer and warmer as it spread through every muscle, bone, and artery in my body. I tried to remain calm, remembering what Dr. Walker had said about this part being a strange experience. But strange was the understatement of the century. I truthfully believed something had gone wrong. Something other than my angst had increased my heartbeat, making my breathing more labored by the minute. Soon, the warm sensation turned into an unbearable burning pain that took root in my spine, reaching higher and higher toward my head. All my efforts to stay calm were defeated the moment I tried to move; my limbs didn't respond. I realized then I'd been completely paralyzed by this so-called serum.

“Dr. Walker...” I tried to scream, but a feeble whisper was all that came out of my mouth. “...something… something… is wrong.”

“Relax, Victor.” I could hear Dr. Walker's voice reverberating inside the capsule like the voice of God. “This is normal. Just breathe, hear me? Breathe!”

I tried, but my attempts to breathe soon became nothing but a desperate gasp for air. When the burning stream in my spine finally reached the nape of my neck, I felt as if a myriad of tiny insects had been suddenly released in my head and were now creeping and crawling their way in, burrowing deeper into my brain. The feeling was maddening.

I tried desperately to scream, but at that point I was no longer able to vocalize. Everything else had been incapacitated. I lay there, mute and paralyzed, helpless, my eyes wide open, screaming for help—yet no one would respond. The oxygen mask blasting air on my face made me feel I was underwater. I wanted desperately to run, but was unable to move. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest, while the feeling of crawling monsters inside my brain were driving me mad; yet my reflection on the glass showed a peaceful image of me, as if I were simply falling asleep.

Then, as if in a final cry for help, my body began to shake uncontrollably and dozens of silver spots flashed across my vision, as if my brain were ready to shut down. The spots became bigger and more intense; they almost matched the irregular rhythm of my exhausted heart. “Doctor!” I heard someone shout. “He's going into cardiac arrest!” 

“Stand by for defibrillation!”

“NO!” Dr. Walker's voice echoed in my head, followed by a dreadful yet familiar phrase—something I'd heard a few years before under similar circumstances.

“We're losing him!”

Then, like an old TV abruptly unplugged, a big flash of light sent me right into darkness…

What are dreams, if not the manipulation of our own knowledge and feelings by an unconscious mind? If that's true, then where do we draw the line? How do you use your logic, when such logic dwells in the ambivalent mind of oneself? These questions rambled in my mind as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. How can I believe what's happening? I thought. It must be a dream or something. And perhaps it was, but I swear, nothing ever felt more real...

I was hovering in the darkness of an unfamiliar place, where the emptiness of space was ubiquitous, and time seemed irrelevant. I was confused—and yet, I'd never been so content. A far, gleaming horizon appeared against the darkness, a sight that I could only compare to diamonds and rubies sparkling on water. I was compelled to reach that distant frontier without reason or understanding. The course was set as soon as I put my mind to it.

Mind... I often wonder if the word had the same meaning as the one I knew in this seemingly foreign world—

The horizon seemed closer every time I looked, though there was no indication that I was the one approaching it, rather than the other way around. I felt neither movement nor wind resistance that would prove that I was on my way to the boundaries of this chimera. For all I knew, the horizon might have been approaching me. But something changed along the strange journey toward the horizon; my will and conviction weakened the closer I got to the glimmering lights. Suddenly, it became difficult to breathe. And my course, once set toward the light, began to veer downward into a dark abyss. I felt myself sinking, all my energy slipping away, as if I were drifting off into a deep sleep; one so soothing that it promised to end all my pain and suffering.

That's when I realized that I wasn't falling asleep—I was dying.

“Victor!” A faint voice wouldn't let me doze off. “Victor!”

I opened my eyes as soon as I recognized the distant voice. “Dad?”

“You have to be strong, son.”

“Dad...? Where are you?”

“You are a survivor, Victor. You always were.”