Specimen

“Cranium.”

The large machine suspended by a robotic arm in the ceiling began whirring and lowered over the woman lying flat on her back on the stainless steel table in the center of the empty room. The machine resembled that of an optometrist’s phoropter and various parts of the machine began moving and rotating. After a few seconds, its parts began slowing their movement until finally ceasing a few feet above the woman’s forehead.

“Centered.”

“Commence.”

“Commencing extraction.”

Various lightbeams emitted from the machine onto the woman’s forehead. Some of the beams were a few inches in diameter while others were as narrow as a laser pinpoint.

“Bypass semantic.”

“Bypassed.”

“Extract episodic.”

“Episodic accessed. Extraction pending.”

“Extraction complete. Mapping overview.”

McKayla's eyes remained closed and her body remained motionless on the stainless steel table.

“Bypass prenatal.”

“Bypassed.”

“Bypass initial biennium.”

“Bypassed.”

“Bypass initial quadrennium.”

“Bypassed.”

“Locate sexennium.”

“Located.”

“Delve.”

“Delving.”

McKayla's eyelids began twitching slightly.

“Advance per annum.”

“Advancing.”

“Hold.”

“Holding.”

“Standby.”

“Standing by.”

McKayla's nostrils began to flare and her mouth opened slightly as her breath began flowing from her lungs.

“Activity detected in pons.”

“Noted. Proceed with imaging.”

“Proceeding.”

Although McKayla was not fully conscious and the room was silent at the moment, her sense of hearing activated and she began to faintly hear her own breathing.

“Focus image one thousand sixty one.”

“Focusing.”

“Analyze.”

“Analyzing.”

McKayla began hearing the voices as they continued speaking and a dim light appeared in her mind while her eyes remained closed.

“Enhance.”

“Enhancing.”

“Activity detected in medulla.”

“Noted. Proceeding.”

“Enhance.”

“Enhancing.”

“Enhance.”

“Enhancing.”

“Enhance.”

“Enhan-”

“Hold.”

“Holding.”

The dim light in McKayla's mind glowed brighter and began to take shape.

The voices were silent for a few moments and then resumed.

“Non-human subject.”

“Inanimate or organic matter?”

“Inconclusive.”

“Expound.”

McKayla began hearing sounds associated not with the voices speaking or the room around her, but rather produced from the image itself within her mind.

“Inanimate subject exhibits…movement.”

McKayla heard the sounds of children.

“Movement?”

The jubilant cheers of the children became louder in McKayla's mind.

“Movement confirmed.”

“Expound.”

“Limb extension. Human subjects.”

McKayla's mouth cracked a smile as the image of the memory in her mind became clear. Her right hand became visible in front of her as the purple dragon mascot waved back at her. The other children waved and cheered alongside her.

“Focus image one thousand sixty two.”

“Focusing.”

The image and sounds in McKayla's mind shifted. Her mother now stood looking up at her from some distance below. Her smiling face was visible between the brightly colored bars surrounding the platform at the top of the jungle gym.

“Human subject.”

McKayla faintly heard her mother's voice echoing slowly as she shouted up to her. “Five more minutes until cake!”

“Context.”

“Situational.”

“Expound.”

“Event.”

“Expound.”

“Possible reference citation located.”

“Expound.”

“Party.”

“Expound.”

“Possible reference citation located.”

“Expound”

“Birthday.”

“Focus image one thousand sixty three.”

“Focusing.”

The image of the memory in McKayla's mind shifted once more. She could almost feel the air rushing through her hair as her body made its way downward through the corkscrew turns of the brightly colored tube slide. As she arrived at the bottom of the tube slide and placed her small feet on the brightly colored confetti patterned carpeting, she gazed up at the massive jungle gym behind her. The brightly colored structure of multiple levels encased in safety netting towered over her. McKayla observed many other children were climbing through the various levels within the structure, gleefully calling out to one another.

McKayla turned to face forward. The expansive main room of the indoor playground featured rows of long cafeteria style tables and several arcade games lined the walls. Groups of adults and children made their way around the tables as they began their respective birthday parties within the event space. McKayla no longer saw her mother or father amongst the crowd.

“Activity detected in amygdala."

“Expound.”

“Emotion.”

“Expound.”

McKayla's eyes darted around the room looking for her parent’s faces among the other families. After a few moments, her unsuccessful search gave way to confusion which in turn gave way to fear.

“Fear.”

“Expound.”

“Fear detected.”

“Expound.”

“Distressing.

“Exp-”

“Transition pending.”

“Expound.” A moment of silence passed.

“Expound.” More silence.

“Exp-”

“Panic.”

McKayla recalled her eyes watering as she took steps in random directions throughout the indoor playground while calling out for her parents. Some of the other adults glanced down at her briefly as she made her way around the room but continued attending to their own children.

As the memory continued in her mind, McKayla’s body remained flat against the stainless steel table.

“Cardiac activity detected.”

McKayla’s fingers began twitching slightly.

“Noted.”

McKayla’s breathing intensified.

“Heartrate increasing to fifty-five BPM.”

“Noted.”

“Heartrate increasing to fifty-eight BPM.”

“Noted.”

“Heartrate increasing to fifty-nine BPM.”

“Noted.”

“Heartrate increa-”

In one swift movement, McKayla gasped loudly, her eyelids flew open, and her eyes continued to widen in shock at her own consciousness. Her body bolted upright on the stainless steel table and a single word escaped her mouth in a shrill scream that jarred the observers.

“DADDY!”

The room remained silent with the exception of McKayla’s panicked breathing. McKayla spun her head around, looking in all directions trying to make sense of her surroundings.

McKayla began speaking between breaths. “What…what is this? Where am I?”

McKayla looked upwards at the machine suspended above the table. The robotic arm made a slight whirring sound as it began to slowly retract the machine upwards toward the ceiling away from her.

“Who…who was that? I heard someone just a second ago,” McKayla asked while still breathing heavily.

McKayla looked around the room to find it was empty. The walls, floor, and ceiling appeared to be entirely padded with white cushioning. McKayla wiped the beads of sweat that had appeared on her forehead while continuing to catch her breath.

“Can she hear us,” one of the observers said to the other.

“Uh, I think so?”

McKayla looked towards the wall directly in front of her, sensing the voices were coming from the other side.

“What is this place, where am I?” McKayla demanded from the blank wall in front of her.

“I think we can just talk to her.”

“Okay.”

After a moment of silence, the observers addressed McKayla directly.

“Are you McKayla Norwood?”

“Yes,” McKayla answered in a tone mixed with equal parts confusion and anger.

“Can you confirm your date of birth please?”

McKayla looked closer at the white cushioned wall in front of her without answering.

“Can you confirm your date of birth please,” the observers repeated.

McKayla slowly slid herself off the exam table and walked across the padded room to examine something towards the top of the wall that caught her eye.

“Can you confirm your date-”

“No,” McKayla finally answered, staring up at the two black dots at the top of the wall in front of her. McKayla realized upon closer examination the purpose of each dot: one being a camera lens, the other a speaker that appeared to be the source of the voices.

“Not until you tell me where the hell I am,” McKayla said firmly, while her gaze remained on the camera lens and speaker.

“Very well. McKayla, we are studying human emotions from your time.”

McKayla stared into the camera with a confused expression. “My time?”

“Yes, your lifetime.”

McKayla shook her head slightly with confusion. “I don't - I still don't know what you mean.”

“If we can proceed with our questioning, I believe it will help you understand.”

McKayla sighed and rubbed each of her temples simultaneously with her thumb and middle finger. “Okay, what was the question again?”

“Can you confirm your date of birth please?”

“It's January twenty-seventh.”

“And the year?”

“Two thousand nineteen,” McKayla replied in an annoyed tone.

“And your date of death?”

McKayla stared blankly at the side by side camera lens and speaker. “My what?”

“The date of your expiration, your death,” the observers repeated.

“How in the hell-”

“What is your current age,” the observers asked, interrupting McKayla.

“I'm fifty-five years old,” McKayla responded shortly, feeling she was getting nowhere in her attempt to understand where she was and who was communicating with her through the speaker.

“What year is this, McKayla?”

“Jesus Christ, it's two thousand seventy four. Now, for the love of-”

“Incorrect,” the observers interrupted.

McKayla let a sardonic chuckle escape before asking, “What does that even mean?”

“The year you have provided is incorrect.”

McKayla looked down and for the first time since being awakened, noticed that she was not wearing her clothes but rather what appeared to be a hospital gown.

Believing information would be provided to her more quickly if she began speaking in a calmer tone, McKayla decided to temper her reactions to the questions as they continued.

“What-” McKayla stopped short to readjust her tone and lower her voice slightly before beginning again. “What do you mean it's not two thousand seventy four?”

“You are correct that your date of birth on record is January twenty-seventh, two thousand nineteen however,” the observers replied before pausing briefly, “the current year is twenty one ninety-seven.”

McKayla's eyes darted back and forth slightly between the camera lens and speaker mounted at the wall before a look of despair began forming on her face.

“But that…that's impossible.”

“McKayla, you must know that your date of death was seventeenth of August, two thousand seventy four.”

“Are you saying that I…that I’m dead?”

At that moment the machine suspended by the robotic arm that had been analyzing McKayla’s memories a few moments earlier began moving and slowly adjusting itself to aim towards the wall in front of McKayla.

“Can you confirm this information is correct McKayla?”

The machine then began emitting beams of light that projected text onto the wall in a crisp, green holographic font. McKayla flinched slightly, surprised by the information suddenly projected in front of her.

NORWOOD, MCKAYLA

DOB: 01/27/2019

DOD: 08/17/2074

5335 SE 45TH AVENUE

PORTLAND, OR 97206

“Does this information look correct, McKayla?”

McKayla found herself grappling with the feelings that arose upon viewing her own birth and death dates displayed on the wall as if they were etched into a gravestone.

“Yes, but this isn’t making any sense. How can I be here if I’m dead?” McKayla asked while slowly shaking her head in confusion.

“You were dead until a few moments ago,” the observers began to explain. “You were reanimated so that we could study you, your memories, and your emotions to learn more about life in your time.”

McKayla looked around for a moment before continuing. “What is this place?”

“You’re safe McKayla. You’re currently aboard Starlab thirty-seven, a permanent research facility located on the Ocean of Storms. Several of the other research modules were destroyed in the nuclear blast which is what ultimately ended your life on Earth.”

McKayla appeared deep in thought for a moment before giving a slight gasp as images from her recollection began surfacing. “So that’s what happened.”

McKayla looked up once more to address the camera lens and speaker at the top of the wall where she stood. “But how - I mean, why would someone do something like that?”

“We don’t know which country it was,” the observers began, “but we do know that while the superpowers of the world were busy building and staking their claim both on Mars and here on the Moon, one of them somehow covertly transported or built a nuclear weapon. It was detonated on Mars but we’re not sure why. The blast wave destroyed almost all of the outposts on Mars and some of the ones here on the Moon. It was the debris from the blast that drifted to Earth killing you and many others.”

“I met my daughter for coffee that morning,” McKayla said with sadness in her eyes. “We had just sat down outside the cafe. I let her try some of what I ordered when we suddenly saw a flash of light in the sky that I swear was brighter than the Sun. Someone in the parking lot screamed…it all happened so fast.”

“McKayla, what is daddy?”

McKayla stared at the speaker in confusion.

“What is daddy - I don’t know, what do you mean?”

“When we awoke you McKayla, you screamed it.”

McKayla began recalling the memory she had viewed just before awakening.

“I - I don’t know. I must’ve been having a nightmare or something.”

“No. Not a nightmare. We have nightmares just as you do. What you were viewing was a memory coded the sixth of May, two thousand twenty four.”

McKayla’s eyes gleamed upon recognizing the date. “That’s my cousin Lee-la's birthday. Well, Amelia. Her name is Amelia but I called her ‘Lee-la’ when she was born because I couldn’t pronounce her name and it became her nickname as we grew older.”

“Confirmed event type, birthday.”

“Noted.”

McKayla sighed in annoyance at the observers’ technical comments and rolled her eyes slightly.

“Please continue McKayla.”

“My mom told me all of this as I got older. Especially after-” McKayla was suddenly unable to speak.

“After what McKayla?”

McKayla looked down at her feet for a moment and covered her face.

“McKayla?”

McKayla sniffled before removing her hand and gazing back to address the observers with tears in her eyes.

“After my dad died,” McKayla said with a shaky voice.

“Secretion visible, source appears to be…eyes. Translucent.”

“Noted.”

“After he died, I had a recurring nightmare. Well, what I thought was a nightmare. I guess at some point I must’ve told my mom about it because she figured out it was actually a memory of my cousin’s birthday party. I was five, she was turning four that day. Whatever you showed me before I woke up was just so…so vivid. It was like going back in time and reliving it.”

“Are you feeling sadness at this moment McKayla? Your eyes indicate what we believe is sadness.”

McKayla swallowed hard and let out an exasperated sigh before continuing. “Yeah. I mean, I guess so. I just haven’t thought about my dad in a long time. My mom - she lived well into her nineties but my dad, it’s hard. I mean it’s gotten easier over the decades but for the longest time when I was a kid and well into adulthood my birthday, anyone’s birthday, if it were on TV or in a movie or something, it would just depress the hell out of me.”

“Why is that McKayla? Is that related to the trauma you experienced during the memory we extracted?”

“No, I mean I panicked at the moment because I was just a little kid, you know? I eventually found my parents a few minutes later.”

“Then why are birthday parties an emotionally taxing event for you, McKayla?”

“Because my dad died on my birthday just two years later.”

“What was the nature of his death?”

“My mom invited a bunch of my friends from school over to our house for a sleepover party. She asked my dad to go to the store because my friends and I decided we wanted to make rootbeer floats,” McKayla chuckled slightly as her eyes welled up once more.

McKayla apologized to the observers for getting choked up. “I just haven’t thought about all this in a long, long time.”

“That’s alright McKayla, we are learning much from you. Please continue when you’re ready.”

“He uh, he didn’t make it back from the store. Some guy about a mile and a half from where we lived, shot his wife after finding her in bed with another man. He shot both of them actually. He got in his car and was driving erratically. He hit my dad after running a red light doing seventy in a thirty.”

“I don’t understand McKayla, how were this man and your father able to drive themselves? Were autonomous vehicles not in use back then?”

“No they were, I mean some people had them but they weren’t mandated by law until two thousand thirty-eight.”

“I see.”

McKayla sniffled and sighed heavily. “I’ll never forget the look of worry on my mom’s face as I blew out the candles on my cake. He had been gone for some time and she didn’t want to keep everyone waiting so they sang happy birthday and-”

The observers interrupted. “They did what?”

“They sang happy birthday. It’s uh, it’s a song. Just like a little melody people would sing on the anniversary of - well, your birth. It’s easy it’s uh-” McKayla cleared her throat and slowly sang the song despite her voice still shaky with grief.

“Thank you for explaining McKayla.”

“What do you not understand about all this? All these questions I mean. You’re asking me about my emotions and birthdays and such. Do you not celebrate birthdays on the Moon or something?” McKayla asked incredulously.

“McKayla, our kind has been devoid of emotion for generations now. At some point in the early twenty second century, the pharmaceutical companies had become one with the food manufacturers, distributors, and government. Every part of the Earth’s agriculture was consolidated to keep humans, those of our parent’s generation, numbed and complicit with various psychoactive additives. Chemically engineered depressants mostly. We simply do not fully understand emotions because we never observed them with the previous generation. And although we are human, we are not Earth-born. We were born here on the Moon.”

McKayla took a moment to process everything. “My God, so much has changed with the world. What’s left of it I guess.”

“Yes, McKayla. Most of what you called North America was destroyed by parts of the various structures and outposts that drifted down through your atmosphere after the nuclear blast. We may not be naturally equipped to process emotions anymore, but we can learn much about what life was like when humans of your time naturally possessed them.”

“My God, I’m glad I don’t remember any of that. I mean no one likes to revel in their own death I suppose. That’d be a bit morbid but I’m just glad I didn’t have to see any of the aftermath. I can only imagine.”

“Yes, McKayla. It would have been extremely distressing by our calculations. We’ve pieced together images of the aftermath extracted from the other bodies that were eventually recovered as yours was. Those that did not die as quickly.”

McKayla gulped nervously at the sobering realization that she was fortunate enough to have been killed instantly rather than suffer a much more prolonged state of agony.

“So, what you’re saying is by studying me and the other people you’ve recovered, you can learn to be more…human?”

“Precisely, McKayla. We have built a reference database from memories extracted consisting of empathy, joy, and excitement however, our knowledge is limited. You have provided much insight from your childhood memory into how you and other humans from your time experienced fear and panic, emotions we are less familiar with.”

“Wow. I guess I just…I just never imagined I’d be donating my body - well, mind, to science.”

“The only problem is our limited time. Or rather, yours.”

“What do you mean?” McKayla asked with a look of concern on her face.

“McKayla, our reanimation methods are only temporarily sustainable. Our technology, while effective, is limited.”

A dreadful inkling crept into McKayla's mind as the observers continued.

“You can only remain alive for a very short time before your body naturally begins decomposing once more.”

McKayla felt her stomach drop. “What…what are you saying? That I’m going to die all over again?”

At that moment, the information that had been projected earlier onto the wall changed to display new text.

NORWOOD, MCKAYLA

REANIMATION DISSOLUTION:

04 HRS, 29 MINS

“Yes, McKayla.”

McKayla felt her anger quickly boiling to the surface as she clenched her jaw upon reading the glowing green holographic text that now showed a countdown. “What do you mean I have to die again?” I mean why even bring me back if you can’t even keep me alive for more than a few hours?”

The observers remained silent.

McKayla felt her veins suddenly full of rage as she began shouting up at the speaker and camera lens.

“What am I then? Am I just your fucking guinea pig? Huh? Are you gonna dissect me like I’m a fucking frog in science class? Am I just a fun little experiment in your sick-”

“You have a choice to make, McKayla.”

“Choice? You've left me no choice! Is this some sick game you're playing? Just a cruel tease? I didn't ask to be brought back!”

“McKayla-”

“Are you gonna dig up my dead daughter, my son, my whole-”

“McKayla, if you-”

McKayla continued vehemently ranting over the observers attempts at interjection.

“You want to learn about emotions, well this is a lesson in rage! You want to play God and-”

“McKayla, please. If you would just-”

McKayla's fury crescendoed with no response from the observers. As the room fell silent, McKayla felt her hopelessness mentally and seemingly physically weighing her down. She sank to her knees for a moment before crawling a few feet to rest her back against the cushioned wall just below where the machine's holographic text was still projecting the time remaining until her demise.

After several minutes of silence and McKayla attempting to process her doomed fate, the observers offered something of a consolation.

“We can show him to you.”

McKayla's chin raised slightly with guarded optimism. “Show me what?”

“Our research indicates ‘daddy’, the word you screamed during your childhood memory extraction, to be something of a term of endearment. Is that accurate McKayla?”

“Yeah. I guess I must've screamed it while looking for him. I couldn't find my mom anywhere but she told me years later she was helping my aunt, Lee-la's mom, with something in her car but I can't remember much after that though. I guess when I didn’t see her I started calling out for my dad.”

McKayla rose to her feet to face the speaker and camera lens at the top of the wall once more before continuing. “You're saying I can see my dad again?”

“In your memory, yes. We can resume the memory that was extracted while you were still comatose.”

McKayla looked down slightly at the countdown still displayed on the wall in front of her and thought for a moment.

“But we have to act quickly, McKayla. These memory extractions are fragile. They will degrade over time.”

McKayla exhaled deeply. “Okay. Let's do it.”

“There is no coming back McKayla. We cannot revive you once the memory replays and we conclude our extraction.”

“Okay, I understand,” McKayla said solemnly with a nod.

“As you wish, McKayla.”

Without needing instruction, McKayla made her way back to the steel table and laid herself upon it.

The machine above ceased projecting what remained of McKayla's life expectancy and began whirring and lowering itself over her once more.

“Thank you for your valuable insight McKayla. We have learned much from you.”

McKayla remained silent and closed her eyes as the machine began emitting the beams of light that had drawn McKayla's childhood memory from deep within her psyche before awakening.

Within seconds, McKayla was reliving her memory through the eyes of her five year old self. She slumped under the water fountain in a corner of the room away from the other families and began sobbing.

McKayla faintly heard her name being called over the sounds of the other children but assumed she had imagined it. Then another moment later she was certain she heard her father's voice trying to cut through the noisy room.

His voice echoed slowly in her memory. “McKayla!”

McKayla looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes to see her dad standing about thirty feet away with his back to her. His hands raised slightly in distress looking in all directions. Before McKayla could call out to him, he instinctively turned around and locked eyes with her. Relief washed over his terror stricken face as he ran up to her.

“There you are! Jesus Christ I went to the bathroom and mommy came back from getting her lighter out of the car for the candles and-” his frantic voice stopped short as McKayla slid out from under the water fountain and embraced him.

“I couldn't find you daddy and I didn't see mommy. I was scared,” her voice echoed.

“God I was about to tell the staff, I thought maybe somebody kidnapped you or-” his voice stopped short to pull away just enough to put his forehead to McKayla's and smile while locking eyes with her before continuing. “I'm just so glad you're alright.”

McKayla's body laid motionless on the stainless steel table while the memory continued in her mind. The machine whirred as a singular round shaft similar to the objective lens of a microscope lowered just a few inches above her forehead amongst the other lightbeams the machine continued emitting.

“Commence dissolution.”

“Commencing.”

The metal shaft emitted its concentrated laser light onto McKayla's forehead. A small smoke trail floated upwards from McKayla's forehead as the red beam burned through her skin. The smoke trail then became mixed with bone dust as the red laser light began to bore through McKayla's skull. A moment later, a single drop of blood trailed from the opening in the middle of her forehead and made its way to her temple, before finally trickling down her cheek, running parallel to the tears of joy still wet on McKayla's skin.

“Specimen shows no cardiac activity. Neuro penetration successful. Extraction complete.”

“Noted.”

“Wait.”

“What?”

“What is that?”

“Take a closer look. Examine lower third, oral cavity.”

“Examining.”

The machine ceased emitting light beams and the red laser that had pierced McKayla's brain and instead produced a single circular shaft that telescoped outward with a lens on the end of it just above McKayla's mouth.

“Magnify.”

“Magnifying.”

“Do you see that?”

“Inconclusive.”

“Possible reference citation located.”

“Expound.”

“I…I think she's smiling.”

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