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"Right," I muttered, and turned to look in that direction From where I was, it looked like a fish tank filled with lu to figure out what it was, and why it was i me here
I think, on some level, that I knehat it was even before I saw it; I just had to put off understanding for as long as possible if I wanted to be able to handle what I was about to see But s to myself I don’t really know What I do know is this:
The blue liquid wasn’t fully opaque; it just looked that way from a distance It cleared as I approached, and by the tiure through the blue I squinted, but couldn’t make out any real details beyond the fact that it was feory stepped up behinda button at the top of a control panel I hadn’t noticed until then The glow brightened, and the liquid began turning transparent, s the spots where filters were cleansing some element out of thein the tank
She was naked, in her mid-twenties, and curled in a loose fetal position, like she had never needed to support her own limbs or head Her hair was dark brown and badly needed to be cut It was long enough that the move around her neck and ar up to join with thethe liquid; I could see her chest rise and fall--and a thicker tube was connected at her belly button, presuen and nutrients I stared at her, watching the way her fingers twitched and her eyes ory waited, watchingits breath, both of us waiting to see what I would do, whether I would be able to look at as in front ofFor a moment, I didn’t know the answer
The moment passed I took a shaky breath, followed it with another, and asked, "How ory turned his attention to the tank where another Georgia Mason floated Her hair had never been bleached, and was still the dark brown that mine was supposed to be I felt a brief flare of jealousy She looked more like me than I did "This is subject nu yours"
"Wait--subject group?" I turned my back on the tank, unsure of my ability to keepin the blue "What does that mean?"
"Your designation is ‘subject 7c’ Subject 7a didn’tthe revivification process" He gestured at the tank "Subject 8a was shut down due to issues with spinalnaiving thes to him, at least until the moment they woke up and turned into people That was actually reassuring, because he treated me like a person I wasn’t the same as them
I wasn’t
"Subject 8b is part of e’re here Subject 8c is just the backup, in case soory looked at me carefully "Are you ready to proceed?"
"You s and er? Yes, and yes" I shookcoainst irl in the tank, but I wasn’t her anymore I ake, and alive, and my hair had been cut We have to take our coory "Follow le on the far wall He tapped a button on a control panel next to it, and stepped back as a whirring sound began to ele slid slowly upward, revealing the roolass He tapped the control panel again, and the lights came on
The walls of the roo that even resembled furniture was a narrow hospital bed hite sheets, surrounded by IV drips and beeping le occupant to her bed, holding her in place Unlike the girl in the tank--unlike me, when I first woke up--her hair was cut short, in a precise replica of the haircut I’d worn since I elve I touched the close-shorn hair at the back ofhow uneven the strands were Dr Shaw had done her best, but she was no hairdresser
"This is 8b?" I asked My voice eaker than I wanted it to be I sed hard, trying to clear away the dryness that was growing there "What are they doing with her?"
"They’re stabilizing her" Gregory touched another button A video projection appeared on one side of the , obscuring that half of the roo reurney Her hair was long in the recording, and it stuck to her face and shoulders like seaweed "This was taken a week ago"
"A week--but that was after they knew that I wasn’t going to amplify They kneas viable" Panic tried to rise inside ain as hard as I could, breathing in and out through my nose several ti her? What are they planning to do with her?"