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Reality; Story concept
Topic Started: May 18 2016, 11:25 AM (276 Views)
Beetleboy
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Disclaimer
A recent post on CM Koseman's (Nemo Ramjet) online book, Tangent Worlds, inspired me to dig up this old story that I wrote a while back, as Tangent Worlds strongly reminded me of it. After reading through it, correcting some typos, I decided to post it here, and maybe update it sometimes, continuing the story.

Warning:
This story may contain some slightly disturbing content, violence, some gore, very mild language (i.e, bloody), and talk of animal reproduction (though I doubt anybody here would be bothered by this).




James's legs were playing him up that day. The muscles were sore and tender, and the prosthetics were stiff and responded a few seconds after his brain sent the message to move. They dragged along the pavement, his shoes covering the 'feet' clunking against the ground. A little boy stared as James limped along.

“Bloody legs.” he growled to himself. To be fair, it wasn't always this bad. But today it was, and right then, there was nothing in the world that he hated more than his legs.

As usual, his thoughts wandered back to the time when he'd had real legs, not prosthetics. He remembered the wonders of running with ease, climbing trees as a boy, spashing in the swimming pool . . .

Then, the bang which sent him flying sky high. He remembered hitting the ground hard, being unable to hear anything, and for a few seconds, he didn't realise that part his legs had been blown up. The stumps had been jagged and uneven, filled with debris from the explosion. He'd taken the choice to have the tips amputated, to leave a smoother cut with more intact muscles and nerves, allowing for the prosthetics to be fitted.

He had nearly made it to the shop when suddenly, James felt dizzy. He stumbled, his feet dragging against the pavement, and he tripped against a curb. He hit the ground on his shoulder, and lay for a second, oblivious to the nearby people asking if he was alrigh, trying to help him up . . .

Stars spun before him, and then, nothing.




Log of Dr Jane Arlton
 
June 15, 2016

It has happened again, another to add to the fast increasing number of patients. Officially, he is Patient #61, but his real name is James Brown. Of all our 61 patients (including him) I believe that he is of the most use to us. Other patients are dying of heart failure during the Sleeps, and Patient #09 died shortly after going into the Sleep, after suffering injuries as he crashed his car as he became unconscious. This is no use to us. We need someone who can survive, and most importantly, tell us what he is seeing as he Slept.

However, James Brown has history as a post marine. Our information shows that he has survived a great deal, and has a resolve of steel. In dangerous situations, our sources show that he has little or no fear, and had a stronger heart than his fellow marines. A mine blew up his legs and left him partially blinded in 2013, but his hearing has recovered, and he now has prosthetic legs.

James Brown, now aged 42, retired shortly after losing his limbs, returned to his home in Chicago, where he lived alone and unmarried, with no children, until June 15 of this year (2016) when his coma began. Nearby CCTV cameras showed that he collapsed on the way to the shops (he insisted on keeping his independence despite this prosthetics, and did many hard jobs himself). He suferred no major injuries on losing consciousness, and was soon shipped to the nearest hospital.

There, Mr Brown was examined for signs of heart attacks, a stroke, or anything that could have caused this. There was nothing. Physically, Mr Brown was completely healthy – so it was another case for us at UCRC.

Mr Brown is still entirely healthy, and as to yet he has suffered minimal heart palpitations, shaking, muttering, and restlessness that we have observed in other patients previously. As with all of UCRC's patients, we have a feed tube, and a low-volume sound-recording device near his mouth in an attempt to record anything that he may mumble during the Sleep. In previous patients, we have recordered a handful of words, such as “Where”, “Hello”, “Thank you”, and somewhat ominously, “Help me”. As to yet, we have been unable to record any of Mr Brown's vocalizations.

As I was saying, I have high hopes for Mr Brown. His history shows that he has a strong heart. I believe he can make it through this, and maybe even wake up one day, and tell us all about what he has seen – just imagine what we would learn! This is exactly the sort of opportunity that UCRC has been waiting for since Patient #01.

I can't help but wonder what he's seeing in his mind as his body remains sleeping . . .
Edited by Beetleboy, May 19 2016, 09:42 AM.
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Beetleboy
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Floating

Darkness. A lot of darkness, thought James to himself. It was all black, and there was nothing but the darkness.

It was a strange feeling – like he was falling, but there was no wind to buffet him. No, it was more like being in water, drifting in slow-motion, light as a feather. He felt completely at ease, like he'd been spinning in this darkness all of his life, and it was just another average day.

But where was he? A variety of scenarios raced through his mind, each of them more proposterous than the last. Perhaps he was dreaming? It certainly had the not-quite-real feel of a dream, but he had never had such a vivid dream before, in which he could think everything through so clearly. It was like he was awake but dreaming at the same time. Perhaps he was lucid dreaming? He'd heard about that, but he'd never put much stock in it. Experimentally, James attempted to alter the dream.

I want there to be light., he thought to himself repeatedly, but nothing happened. Either he wasn't lucid dreaming, or he just wasn't very good at it yet.

It was silent, too, he realised. He'd never known silence like this – completely quiet, nothing, nothing. It was so quiet that it was almost a sound in itself.

I can't be thinking straight., James thought to himself. I'm going a little bit mad.

Then, something – voices, speaking without saying anything, distant and murmuring. They smoothly breached the silence like the sleek fins of an orca breaching the surface of the water. Then, the voices were gone again, and there was just silence.

A distant speck of light was approaching, James realised with a jolt. What was it? Was the darkness going to end? It was coming closer, closer – now it was a thread, almost impossibly thin, glowing and twisting. It was like it was a rope in zero gravity – bobbing along gently, twisting slightly. The almost microscopicly-small tip gently touched James's hand, cool and soft. He looked down at it, wondering what on Earth it was.

Then, without really thinking about, it James reached down and grasped it. It felt cold but somehow, almost as if it wasn't there in his hands, it was so small. It convulsed and twisted, dragging him along. His grip loosened, but the fiber wrapped around his wrists and continued to drag him into a glowing spot, which grew larger and larger and larger-

The light engulfed James, and for a moment there was only white. The thread convulsed, going from red to green to blue to purple, then shattered into fragments that looked like lens flares. They spiralled away into nothingness, then the light slowly dimmed, and James was no longer floating.
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Finncredibad
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Yes! I was wondering when this would come out.
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Mr Mysterio
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Just a bit of a tiny nitpick: You have the log being written in June 15, 2016, but in the log, you mention that this actually takes place in 2020, and that Brown lost his legs in 2018. Unless this is some time-travel stuff, that should probably be changed.
Other than that, this sounds very interesting.
Edited by Mr Mysterio, May 18 2016, 04:51 PM.
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Beetleboy
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Mr Mysterio
May 18 2016, 04:50 PM
Just a bit of a tiny nitpick: You have the log being written in June 15, 2016, but in the log, you mention that this actually takes place in 2020, and that Brown lost his legs in 2018. Unless this is some time-travel stuff, that should probably be changed.
Other than that, this sounds very interesting.
Oh, yeah, thanks for pointing that out. The time frame has changed several times, and it would appear that I did not properly edit it . . . it should be in 2016, not 2020 or 2018.
Edited by Beetleboy, May 19 2016, 09:42 AM.
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