Enduring - 1st Chapter.
Zoya Ray from Enduring.
The way Cass, the design artist from Two Horses Swift saw her. https://twohorsesswift.com
And here is the first chapter of Enduring for your reading pleasure.
Enduring by Marina Simcoe. Chapter 1.
Darkness. Utter silence. An eerie feeling of weightlessness. I was where I longed to be. Darkness was my happy place now. Without it, there was pain.
I couldn’t see or move. Then, the silence began to dissipate. Gradually, I could hear voices around me. After a while, it registered that the voices belonged to Dr. Zukov and one of his numerous assistants.
“Not sure how much more she can take, Doctor.”
“We can’t afford any doubts right now. I need to present some definite results.” Dr. Zukov’s tone was icy, clinical.
“We have results. She’s fluent in more than a dozen languages now. And she understands animal noises. We proved it last week with the rats.”
'Were they talking about me?'
“Rats? Don’t be ridiculous! I promised them telepathy, not an ability to converse with rodents. The immortality team had a complete success, even if with some unexpected results. And Dr. Travis will be presenting her work on invisibility soon. How will that make us look?”
“I heard Dr. Travis’s team suffered some setbacks—”
“So did we, Jason!” Dr. Zukov’s voice was sharp and cold as his scalpel. “We need to move forward. I want you to have her ready for the final protocol tomorrow.”
“The final protocol requires another invasive surgery, Doctor. She won’t survive it.” Jason’s tone was calm and indifferent.
“That’s fine. I’ll need to do an autopsy on her brain anyway to collect all information on the results of the experiments. Just select another subject from the ones I have preapproved for the next series of tests.”
“None of them has the same aptitude she does. Their natural abilities are pretty average.”
“We don’t need a subject with the same abilities.”
'They are talking about me.' Memory slowly filtered though the drug-induced haze. I was aboard the Concord, prison spaceship, and state-of-the-art laboratory, where I had been transferred after Dr. Zukov’s petition. He had visited me in prison on Earth, expressing profound interest in my ability to learn languages quickly. The tests, surgeries and laser procedures started right after my transfer. In between was an endless fog of interchangeable periods of pain and darkness.
“We have enough data collected to replicate the results in anyone. In fact, I would prefer to work with a new subject at this point. A fresh, undamaged brain. A blank slate, so to speak. We’re unable to move past this stage with her. It’s evident we can’t advance her to the level of telepathy. She’s useless now.”
'Useless.' That’s what Aunt Judie, my only family, called me that one and only time she came to visit me in prison. 'Useless, just like your mother.' Even though I hardly knew my mother and spent most of my life trying to please Aunt Judie.
Now, Dr. Zukov thought me useless as well. I knew this should make me feel sad, scared . . . something, but I had little emotions left in me to care at this point.
'She won’t survive this.'
Despite the mind-shattering headache, I thought I understood the meaning of these words. The finality in them brought unexpected relief. They meant that tomorrow the pain would finally stop and I would remain in the darkness forever.
The way Cass, the design artist from Two Horses Swift saw her. https://twohorsesswift.com
And here is the first chapter of Enduring for your reading pleasure.
Enduring by Marina Simcoe. Chapter 1.
Darkness. Utter silence. An eerie feeling of weightlessness. I was where I longed to be. Darkness was my happy place now. Without it, there was pain.
I couldn’t see or move. Then, the silence began to dissipate. Gradually, I could hear voices around me. After a while, it registered that the voices belonged to Dr. Zukov and one of his numerous assistants.
“Not sure how much more she can take, Doctor.”
“We can’t afford any doubts right now. I need to present some definite results.” Dr. Zukov’s tone was icy, clinical.
“We have results. She’s fluent in more than a dozen languages now. And she understands animal noises. We proved it last week with the rats.”
'Were they talking about me?'
“Rats? Don’t be ridiculous! I promised them telepathy, not an ability to converse with rodents. The immortality team had a complete success, even if with some unexpected results. And Dr. Travis will be presenting her work on invisibility soon. How will that make us look?”
“I heard Dr. Travis’s team suffered some setbacks—”
“So did we, Jason!” Dr. Zukov’s voice was sharp and cold as his scalpel. “We need to move forward. I want you to have her ready for the final protocol tomorrow.”
“The final protocol requires another invasive surgery, Doctor. She won’t survive it.” Jason’s tone was calm and indifferent.
“That’s fine. I’ll need to do an autopsy on her brain anyway to collect all information on the results of the experiments. Just select another subject from the ones I have preapproved for the next series of tests.”
“None of them has the same aptitude she does. Their natural abilities are pretty average.”
“We don’t need a subject with the same abilities.”
'They are talking about me.' Memory slowly filtered though the drug-induced haze. I was aboard the Concord, prison spaceship, and state-of-the-art laboratory, where I had been transferred after Dr. Zukov’s petition. He had visited me in prison on Earth, expressing profound interest in my ability to learn languages quickly. The tests, surgeries and laser procedures started right after my transfer. In between was an endless fog of interchangeable periods of pain and darkness.
“We have enough data collected to replicate the results in anyone. In fact, I would prefer to work with a new subject at this point. A fresh, undamaged brain. A blank slate, so to speak. We’re unable to move past this stage with her. It’s evident we can’t advance her to the level of telepathy. She’s useless now.”
'Useless.' That’s what Aunt Judie, my only family, called me that one and only time she came to visit me in prison. 'Useless, just like your mother.' Even though I hardly knew my mother and spent most of my life trying to please Aunt Judie.
Now, Dr. Zukov thought me useless as well. I knew this should make me feel sad, scared . . . something, but I had little emotions left in me to care at this point.
'She won’t survive this.'
Despite the mind-shattering headache, I thought I understood the meaning of these words. The finality in them brought unexpected relief. They meant that tomorrow the pain would finally stop and I would remain in the darkness forever.
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