Chapter IV: From the slumber she woke

After hours of tender sleep Anna awoke on a bed in a room tat reassembled a clinic, dim lights but the colors were different, all in grays and black with no white except for the occasional stripes light in the floor that lead to two doors, one surrounded in a red light and other in a yellow. The room was elegant but familiar, the white lights in the ceiling, the nightstands with a glass of water on a circular light that took a tube out automatically when Anna left finished the drink.

She looked around the small room, the bed against the wall, no mirrors only gray and black with the lights guiding. From the ceiling came a metallic noise and a strange creature emerged from it, it looked like centipede but metallic, chitin won’t make those sounds against metal. A red light from it’s head and the army of small legs that propelled the thing inside the tube moved to the front and formed thin metallic arms with three sticks that pretended to be hands. Some of the legs formed a cover around the red light to cover its insect’s design. “You seem particularly calm to see me, nothing impressive about a caretaker?” – the light turned yellow and the arms feel in what one could interpret as disappointment.

“We were sent by our master to watch over, you were sedated by a powerful cocktail” – the caretaker´s hands clashed and took a praying mantis position with the three fingers scratching each other. “Your belongings are distributed in the drawers, I added more clothing, the books you had are ordered alphabetically and the papers are on the desk”- a desk erupted form the wall a few inches from Anna’s side.
Slowly Anna took the glass of water and noticed it was full again, she threw it directly to the caretaker whom used the pincer looking hands to stop the object with absolute futility. “I expected more screaming and less violence from a lady with a degree and published books on her field of expertise”, from the wall a machine reassembling a robot vacuum cleansed the glass’s remains. “A talking centipede, I am in shock and hallucinating”.

“Did you experience another contusion in the past hour?”- the caretaker’s body went as low as to be in front of Anna’s body as a red horizontal bean scanned her– “You have not. Human NE-711 in optimal condition. The bishop will see you now, follow the glowing yellow trail and have this tracker”, a cube with a red face was the blinking button while on the side a carved in white text read “CT-NE-092”, the caretaker’s hands deconstructed into countless legs and as disappeared beyond the blackness of the tube.

She looked between drawers and saw in fact that all her items were in order, nothing was lost and more impressive the fact that the machine did order the few books in her backpack as it did was somehow disturbing, besides the fact that she was completely clean and wearing black clothing, with nothing on her feet. She went through the door and gazed the hall, with multiple lights of different colors but still the same black flooring, purple and red lights went on all directions, different blinking times and the same men that fought in the forest where following them, all in helmets taken from medieval knight’s dream, all them with dents and scratches yet perfectly black. Holding gray folders with golden symbols running from places and to places as the day had no hours left the troopers wore their uniforms like their skin, all in gloves and helmets, she couldn’t stop staring at the light inside the helmets, walking like men and women yet seemed so artificial somehow.

After turns and stairs of black and gray, crossing metal doors that opened when anyone came close and slowly closing to avoid harming anyone yet imponent by design, whoever ran this place was really concerned with privacy and security as all needed clearance, the troopers were always scanned by some silent cameras with red lights that allowed them to cross oblivious of the security. Malcolm always noticed these things, after so long with someone one tends to learn and implement traces of them into oneself.

She noticed a purple light in parallel to her pointing at a door in the middle of the hall, a trooper with a gray uniform and the insignia on the black folders at her office walked next to her while reading the file extensively. “It’s the first time those critters don’t eat a human in sight, I never knew such thing was possible and less that she wasn’t torn to stripes in the cottage by that howler. Good thing last night there were no preachers around, I like these arms of mine.” – by the moment she realized the man wasn’t aware of her just a few steps to his left she saw him entering the room were both light beams ended. The helmets were different but the one to her left seemed some futuristic approach on a crusader’s helmet, blue lights filled the gaps where the face should be.

“You are those soldiers”- Anna said after entering the room where the man was sitting in gray sofa chair that matched his uniform. The light of the helmet directed at the door and the man stood from the sofa and approached her - “Lady of the forest, lovely idea to write the note at the beacon last night, if you didn’t talk to the wind so much we probably wouldn’t have gone to look for you. Perhaps you want to improve your hiding skills, I could have track you down from a mile while blindfolded.”. Anna approached to the table at the corner of the room and went for another glass of water, she threw away the water in the floor as the drones would cleanse anything and from the cabinet below the table poured a drink. She sat of the gray chair – “Let’s assume I believe I’m safe and you didn’t kidnap me in the middle of a forest and somehow you haven’t used me as a sex doll” – the trooper took the glass before she could take the first sip and slapped her hand like a child - “Let’s assume you actually believe that your husband disappeared without a trace in a vortex and have no intention to develop epilepsy with all these lights to guide everything around here and just listen”.

Her only feeling was anger amid a rampant confusion, she longed to drink and there was no alcohol in sight –“I’ve seen those things and all that happened, I have trouble getting a grasp of anything at all not even my husband in all his episodes couldn’t figure his deliriums…”- the gauntlet opened and raised at her face – “The rant and the attitude are unnecessary, let me explain this in your mischief. Whatever you thought you knew, it’s a lie, formalities in the face of despair. You are alive while all the men, women and children that lived near that forest were infested and Deimos and I purged the area. You are alive because the reaper man ran too slow.” – from a pocked on the trooper’s armor, folded in a square and in two fingers held, pointing at her face.

The paper was from Anna’s notebook, it couldn’t be she thought as she opened and looked at the letter she left before venturing into the forest. The man in the helmet whose lights where blue approached the door and faced her – “All of that was real, all of this is real and the journey ahead is long. Don’t be a fucking twat, we have been assigned as your personal guards after five centuries of warfare and Deimos is quite fond of humans, you know the other git with a bolt thrower ripping howlers to bits, you found his knife.” – the trooper opened the door slamming the wall with a closed fist and took a black file with the golden symbol on it under his arm – “From now on you will follow the purple lights as Deimos and I”.

Anna stood up gazing the helmet, for some reason his voice was organic and didn’t seem to be confined to his suit, looked like a man but there is no movement on his chest of breathing pauses in the speech. “Fine, I’ll go along. But I’ll take the bottle with me.”- as soon as she finished grabbing the bottle she headed through the opened door and stopped to stare the helmet – “Whatever the fuck is happening I told you I want out.” – the helmet stared at her as the body stood firm and said – “The name is William, Scotland’s Yard finest lady.” – she left with bottle in hand and Will following.

The halls were silent this time and there were just the closed doors, scanning cameras and the glowing trail of purple that guided them to a vast room where the tall humanoid William called bishop was in the center, another trooper similar to William but with a different helmet, this one reassembled a roman centurion helmet with a visor that gave the impression of hiding a face with red lights instead. “This is your full escort, me and the git over there”- the red lights turned and the centurion only gave the finger before saying “You met the idiot, good. Inter arma.” the figure approached and spoke with a cold voice, modulated and harsh – “I am Deimos.” – he held his knife on his waist and looked down showing his other three blades, Anna stared at the tall figure in the middle of the room lightened by a dim beam of purple. The bishop stood in the middle without lights emanating from him, when the door closed behind William its gaze came alive, this taller figure had a head without a face, a black hood covered him forming two eyes in the screen that seemed a face. It walked to the wall in front of him and the floor raised to form some kind of throne, the tunic couldn’t cover his whole body so the black skin was seen with ease, legs and arms half covered in this black tunic with only yellow lights forming random shapes in its chest.

“Greetings Anna, we have been looking for you” – its hand extended and a chair formed out of the wall, she fell into it and the seat adjusted so she could suspend her legs. “I am a bishop but this is not a church or any religious institution. They are my pawns, they are stories of their own you will discover in time.” – the troopers looked at the bishop left the room in silence. “Go on child, ask forth. Worry not for them.”- the voice was modulated and artificial –“The sacred machine will guide us”.