Adonis Chapter 1.04

The final room that Haley came upon was messy and disorganized, a stark contrast to the other expansive and simple rooms. Tables, computers, and all sorts of foreign machinery cluttered the room up greatly, which was at least interesting to examine—the technology provided a distraction to make up for the lack of human life. The door to the hallway sealed shut as the girl stepped into the room, sealing her in completely. After Haley had some time to get acclimated to the room, one of the monitors flickered on, text scrolling while the electronic voice from earlier spoke. “Please have a seat in the red chair by the monitor.” Obediently, the girl did so, ready to do whatever it took to finish these tests as fast as possible so she could get out of the doldrum facility.

“Please remain still during the entire testing process. We will only be administering scans in a non-invasive manner, but you must remain seated. While the scans are in progress, we will ask you some questions regarding your opinion and concerns about your overall health, your satisfaction with your current body, and your opinion on Adonis Laboratories.”

“Zero out of ten for that last part, this place isn’t hospitable at all!” she said, though the automated systems did not record that answer. Instead, whirring machines began to unfurl like a flower in bloom, particularly from the ceiling, as a robotic arm stretched down in front of the woman’s face, shining a light in her eyes. Various other sensors poked and prodded at her form as extensions from the robot, and the metallic limbs danced about her form without indication as to their purpose, their data being presented on monitors too far away for her to read.

“First question,” the automated voice began, devoid of emotion. “Is your current form as you perceived it would be before the procedure began?”

It was a question Haley could not answer with any sort of confidence. “I don’t know,” was her quiet response.

The machine didn’t seem to show concern with whatever answer was given so long as it was logical, and the response triggered a different string of queries. “Second question: are you experiencing side effects such as memory loss or amnesia to explain your answer to the first question?”

“Yes, yes!” She almost wanted to jump out of her chair, to focus her panic into the machine in hopes that it would suddenly have the ability to emote and show sympathy for the girl, but a head brace had lowered, keeping her still as a mechanical eye peered into her left ear.

“You will be referred to the appropriate medical facility after the tests, then.” The way the voice spoke made it sound like losing an entire set of memories was as fixable as ‘take two aspirin and call me in the morning’. Or maybe it was, in the twenty years’ time she had been dormant. “Question three: have you experienced any dizziness, fainting, nausea, lightheadedness, seizures, numbness, or other abnormal symptoms that could be related to your time in the Reconstruction Chamber?”

The girl tried to shake her head, until she remembered the requirement for her to stay still, especially with a dangerous-looking metallic sensor right above the location of her heart, no doubt taking a pulse. “No, nothing. I feel fine… better than fine, even.” The last thing she would needed right then was to experience symptoms like those–had she collapsed on the floor because of some flaw that the chamber built into her, who would have helped her? The man at the desk didn’t seem like he’d lift a finger to help her.

“Question four: have you had any difficulty in the motor functions or sensory intake with your new body?”

Haley thought for some time about that before speaking. She had no difficulty walking, using her fingers, moving her head, or anything like that, and no noticeable pain anywhere. She assumed her vision was ideal, an accurate conclusion as the computer had registered her eye test at 20/10 vision. Her hearing had been tested enough times already for her to have no noticeable problems picking up noise, and in the dining hall, the carrots tasted like carrots–things seemed fine in the taste department. Thoughts about her sense of touch, which sparked memories back to the relaxing shower, indicated that everything worked as it should. “No difficulty at all,” she finally said.

Once the machine had finished taking her blood pressure, the robotic arm retracted into the ceiling. “The test is complete,” the voice spoke again, “and everything registers as average or above average for human physical performance. From tests taken within the chamber before your reawakening, all internal processes are functioning at average or above average for projected results. The enhanced immune system is functioning with effectiveness exceeding projected results. The internal tissue regeneration system is functioning at average projected effectiveness. The mitochondrial regeneration system is functioning with effectiveness exceeding projected results.”

“That’s good, right?” Haley asked, her face showing a clear lack of understanding of what she was hearing, though it helped her conclude that she likely wasn’t a biologist before becoming a test subject.

“Yes.”

She waited a moment for an explanation as to why, and upon hearing none, she remembered that the machine probably did not realize she wanted one. “And what are those thingies you just said I was above average in?”

The machine took a moment to search through its memory, gathering the requested data. “All are features present in test subjects one through four. They are elements of the synthetic DNA structures developed by Adonis Laboratories to replace conventional strands in order to further construct advanced biological breakthroughs far surpassing the speed of effective evolutionary mutations. However, because of a law passed concerning the creation of a wholly engineered approach to the organic biological coding system and the ramifications that might develop from altering biological structures excessively, all subjects containing the synthetic DNA are created with slightly non-standard features to distinguish them from the general public. In Adonis test subjects, all who have non-standard DNA sequences are given white hair in accordance with this law.”

How come she wasn’t provided such convenient information earlier, she thought. That could have explained a thing or two, and the information gave her some hope that she wasn’t alone. Hearing that there were at least three other people that will have undergone this procedure meant that if she stuck around long enough, maybe she would meet one or two. Before rational thought began to negate that idea with the realization that they might be on different chamber schedules that could affect their completion time by years, the computer spoke again.

“Now that testing is completed, you have been cleared from quarantine. Please return to the waiting room desk for an extended map of the facility and the surrounding city. From there you will be referred to a medical professional to evaluate your amnesia, and information on housing and job availability will be provided in your complimentary Adonis Laboratories tablet computer, also available at the waiting room desk.”

Haley left without a word, as it would be odd to say goodbye to a computer, especially one she didn’t know very well. Happy that some problems were worked out for her thanks to some massive foresight on Adonis Labs’ part, she wondered why a project of twenty years would just be released instead of remaining in the facility for a series of checkups and exams and follow-up procedures.

Oh, right, there were no people here to do that, she thought sarcastically.

Reaching the desk quickly, as there weren’t many other paths for her to travel down and explore, she gave the man behind it a smile, trying to show a little bit of reassurance that she wasn’t just some disoriented test subject anymore. She still had questions, but at least had some guidance now as to where to get the answers. The man smiled back, and resting atop the desk was the promised tablet computer, with papers stacked on top.

He looked at the computer screen, and then turned back. “I saw from the results that your testing went well and you’ve been cleared to leave quarantine. Adonis Labs thanks you for your time, and while you are not required to remain at the facility, we urge you to explore the accessible locations in Adonis Laboratories to see what is in store for the future. Your computer is loaded with any information you may need to navigate the building and the city, and any information unavailable on there can be accessed through the local network at any time.”

Haley didn’t have much to say in response as she grabbed the documents and computer from the desk, immediately placing them into her backpack. Again within proximity someone who may be able to answer her most pressing question, she decided to scratch the itch.

“Where is everybody?”

The man looked at her, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Haley was confused right back. “What do I mean…? Come on, I have wandered the place the entire day and you’re the only face I’ve seen!”

It was apparent that the man didn’t understand why such a thing would be a problem, but he came up with his best guess to Haley’s question. “This level is a quarantined section, so only authorized personnel are allowed in here, after clearance. As well, security is very tight, as this facility has the potential of a four-phase lockdown past the first level of the complex, and so in order to eliminate threat of intruders and the need to trigger the lockdowns, only a few of the topmost scientists are allowed in this area. You probably just missed them.”

As unlikely as that sounded, Haley couldn’t argue with it. Or more accurately, she wanted to get the hell out of that place and find something interesting to see and do. Her mouth opened for a split second, but no words escaped. Instead, she shook her head a bit and gathered her relative thoughts. “So, how do I get out of here?”

A door opened up beside the desk, flashing arrows pointing up and down indicating the opening led to an elevator. “Take the elevator to floor 1,” the man responded, with eerie timing in conjunction with the elevator’s appearance. “From there, you should be able to find your way. Subject one…”

She was already walking through the door once her designation was spoken, and she spun around.

“Welcome to Adonis City.”