“Sit down, please,” the woman said after we entered a room with a chair similar to the one that guy had been strapped to. Next to it was a machine that looked like a monitor from hospitals, and two computers were on a desk nearby.
“I’m sorry, but could you please remind me of your name?” I settled into the chair, which, strangely enough, was comfortable.
“Kira,” she said and took hold of my wrist, strapping it to the chair with a piece of brown leather. “Don’t be afraid. We’ve done this a million times. I promise it won’t hurt.”
“I know. I just... I’m a bit nervous.” I couldn’t hide the tension in my shoulders as Kira bound my ankles to the chair and secured a thin strap around my head. When she was done, I couldn’t move.
“That’s okay,” Kira said, taking two small blue pads and attaching them to my head. Then she rolled up my sleeves and stuck more pads onto my arms, and finally, she slipped one under my shirt and pressed it against my stomach. A shiver ran down my body, and my throat constricted a little. Something like this had to have been done to me before, but I couldn’t recall it.
“Do you see that machine?” Kira pointed at the big device next to the chair, and I nodded. “It’s a special machine that can collect your elemental energy and also send all the information about it to our computers over there.” She stopped in front of the machine and poised her finger over one of the buttons. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I guess.” There was no need to be afraid of any of this, but why did the pads feel so cold and so wrong on my skin?
“Good.” She pressed the button, and the machine came to life with a loud sputtering noise. My elements, which I hadn’t really felt inside me before, stirred and the energy whirled inside my stomach, making me think I was going to throw up.
“You’re doing fine. Just let the feeling wash over you,” Kira said. “It’ll go away once the energy is sucked out.”
I closed my eyes as the energy built and built, threatening to rip me apart, but just as I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, it whooshed out of me and into the machine. The computer started beeping and Kira focused on it, quickly typing something and studying the screens.
“Your energy levels look good. After all is done, your energy will be stored in our special machines and used as electricity. The conversion process isn’t easy, but you should know that your energy is enough to keep a hospital powered up for a few hours. Thanks to you, lives could be saved. Doesn’t that feel great?”
“Yeah, it does.” A smile popped up on my lips. My elements were becoming weaker and weaker, and some sort of an empty feeling overcame me. “But what exactly do you do with this energy? Can it be turned just into electricity or into something else too?”
Kira’s smile faltered a little, but she quickly recovered. “We’re trying to find a safe way to turn it into water, but so far, it hasn’t worked. We had a great idea, but the energy was not strong enough, so while we did get it to turn into water, it would kill anyone who drank it.”
“Oh, God,” I whispered, staring at her. “But can we do something to increase the strength of our energy then?”
“Don’t worry about that. You’re doing your part amazingly, and I’m sure soon enough we’ll have an answer.” There was something in her eyes that I couldn’t identify. Was it disappointment? Or something else entirely? Had they thought my elements would be strong enough for this, but it’d turned out they weren’t? One of the computers started beeping, and the edges of my vision dimmed.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Very tired,” I said in a detached voice.
“Let’s turn this thing off. That’s enough for today.” She fiddled with the machine until it went quiet, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. My elements nestled deep inside me, and if I had to use them now, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get them to even budge. Kira released me from the straps and removed the pads from my body.
“Can you get up?” she asked, and I pushed myself up, but when I wanted to let go of the chair and make a step, my knees buckled underneath me. Kira caught me before I could hit the ground and helped me back into the chair. “Looks like your energy levels are too low. I’ll call the nurse. You should get some rest and then you’ll be fine.”
All I could manage was a weak nod as I rested in the chair. The nurse was a blonde with piercing blue eyes, and she strode in, pushing a gurney. Her gaze raked up and down over me, and then she and Kira talked about something in hushed voices so I couldn’t understand a thing.
“Let’s get you to your room,” the nurse said with a smile on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She and Kira helped me up and got me onto the gurney. As Kira started to wheel me out of the room and into the hallway, I noticed a key card attached to the pocket of her white coat.
“Is everything going to be okay?” I asked, and she stopped to look at me.
“Yeah, of course. It’s perfectly normal for you to feel weak after your energy is taken by the collector. You shouldn’t get alarmed. Your energy will be back and you’ll be able to donate it as many times as you want.” She winked at me and continued to push the gurney to my room. As I tried to sit up, the nurse forced me back down, her hand on my chest.
“You don’t have to move. You can sleep on this. Someone will wheel it out after you no longer need it,” she said, standing so close to me that I could reach her. My hand brushed against her coat and my fingers wrapped around her key card. “I’ll leave you now so you can get some sleep.”
“Thanks.” I pulled my hand back, pressing it flat against the bed, the key card resting under my palm. The nurse grabbed a blanket off my bed and placed it over me.
“No, thank you,” she said. “You’re a wonderful, brave girl. What you’re doing here for us and for the world is admirable.” With another smile aimed at me, she strolled to the door. Tucking the key card underneath me, I closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me. Once I was up, I’d find the dark-haired guy and check on him.