A Man Out Of Time by Laflan Christopher

Author:Laflan, Christopher [Laflan, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The barrage of data came at Alice from every direction at once. The blocks she had planted were in place, but she had not predicted this. The signal bombarding John’s body changed and adapted to everything she tried. INOs nearest the attack began going offline.

“No!” she screamed, tearing at foreign data structure.

From somewhere she could hear laughing. It wasn’t coming from John, but from somewhere within the signal. She couldn’t allow it to take control of the INOs. There was no other choice, but John wasn’t going to like it. She focused on the INOs around John’s heart and nervous system. Everything went white.

The floor was cold under his bare feet. John lifted one and tried to rub some warmth back into it. Where had the tower room gone? A light pulsated around him, but it wasn’t coming from any walls or light fixtures, because there weren’t any. Wherever he was, was empty except for the chair he was sitting on and a single door with a window. The door was not held in place by any frame or hinges he could see.

John stood, his white jumpsuit sleeves extended well past his fingertips. When did I put this on? He walked to the door and looked out the window. More nothingness. Turning away from the door, he walked back over to the folding chair and sat back down. The lighting made his skin look thin and gray. He studied his hands. Lines curved and bisected the other. The moisture deprived wastelands of his palms flaked, leaving red blotches. Time and time again he turned over his hands, studying one then the other.

“What are you doing, John?” Alice’s voice asked.

“I’m looking,” he replied.

“It is time to come back now. ”

“I’ve never noticed how different my hands are.” He licked the webbing between his ring and pinky finger, a particularly dry spot, and rubbed it with his other hand.

“John, you cannot stay here.”

“Why not?” he asked, moving to the next section of dry webbing.

“This place is not for you. Without your mind, I am unable to restart your basic life functions. You will die.”

“I don’t want to go back.” John could sense someone else beside him, but he didn’t bother to look up. “I can’t recall what she looks like. I know the color of her hair and how she smelled, but what kind of husband can’t remember his wife’s face? And Maddie. Did I really want to be frozen to give her a better life, or was it because I was scared cancer would take me?” The lines on his hands appeared deeper now. “Even now, I’m trying to save Rebecca, someone I hardly know, and it may cost me my daughter. The shit of it is, I don’t even know if either can be saved.”

The other person moved closer. Small bare feet stepped next to John’s. He looked up at the little girl standing next to him. “I told you I don’t want you using my memories of them.” His voice held no bitterness like it did when she used Emily’s voice.

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