Eva didn’t ask many questions, noting my shell-shocked face. She seemed sympathetic to my plight, and helped me back to my room. I didn’t stop to look out the windows on the way back, but sensed the movement outside. People speeding through this impossible city, to jobs and families that fulfilled them. And where was I? In the Facility, a science experiment without a real friend to turn to. I’d escaped death and had been brought back to life, to a utopia where I was expected to once again do the work I had so loved. Shouldn’t I be rejoicing? Instead I felt empty, fully realizing that I’d lost my world, as flawed and dying as it was, and all the people I had ever loved. I just wanted to sleep, and after scanning my body once with her little gadget, Eva left me to do just that.
When I awoke, bleary-eyed and still feeling low, Eva was awaiting me with a covered platter of something that smelled delicious. As usual, she was smiling broadly and I could tell she was hoping the food would cheer me up. I was hungry, and so dug into the burger that wasn’t a burger, along with fries and milkshake. Somehow they seemed to know the comfort foods I had always loved in my previous life. But I didn’t bother to ask how they knew. Eva was attempting to keep the conversation light and positive, telling me I was going to be allowed to leave the following day, and wondering aloud what the people in my apartment building would be like. And wouldn’t it be fun to get to know all the new people, both natural-born and cloned? We’d have so much to talk about….
I nodded in response to her questions but mostly began to think about the work I’d be doing. It had been my passion in my life before this new one, and I had no doubt it would sustain me in the days ahead. Aside from my insatiable desire for food, I also had a growing need to run. I wanted to try out this new body, see what its limits were. I asked Eva about the running trails around the city, and she reminded me that someone in my apartment would explain how things worked in the city and help me adjust to the new technology that had instilled such a sense of awe in me from the moment I had woken up. I thought about asking if I could run on a treadmill or whatever kind of contraption they’d have here, but knew Eva would be there monitoring all my responses. And I wanted to be able to run free from all constraint. This time after eating I didn’t feel sleepy, I felt on edge. I got up to pace around my room.
“I think you’re done acclimating. So you’ll be ready to engage in a full day’s worth of activity now,” Eva explained, having completed her monitoring of me. “Did you want to talk to our on-staff therapist? If you have more questions about your acclimation, you should ask them before you leave us.”
I said no, that I would need to figure things out for myself out there, and I didn’t need to have my hand held. I was terse with Eva and could tell it hurt her feelings, so I threw my arms around her and thanked her for all she had done to help me since I had woken up, and for being my very first friend here in this strange new city. That pleased her, and her wide smile returned.
“Well, there’s not much of anything you can do till tomorrow morning when we discharge you, so maybe you should rest up some more. It will be a very busy and overwhelming day for you.”
Sleeping again held an appeal, although I had napped for much of the afternoon.
“Shall I administer something to help you sleep?”
I thought about it, and decided I’d need to be reliant on myself for normal sleep. I wouldn’t have people to shoot me up with drugs while I was out in the world. So I declined an aid and lay down on the soft bed again. Eva repeated her hopes for my busy and exciting day tomorrow, and I decided I’d lie quietly and think about everything that had happened to me since waking up in that strange white room. But instead of wondering about my new job or the people I’d meet, or marveling at the advances in science and technology, I thought about Jack. I lay there for hours, thinking of my last day with him in Lagos before the tsunami had washed us all away and, with it, all my hopes for the future. More than anything, I wanted to tell Jack all I was feeling, all I had experienced, but he was gone forever. And for the first time in a long time, I felt tears slide down my cheeks and collect on the pillow beneath my head, the pillow that could monitor my brain during sleep. The absurdity of it all was just too much, and I cried myself to sleep, not caring that I was being monitored and some cold scientist was privy to my pain.
I slept through the rest of the day and barely moved during the night. With the total silence of the dormitories and no light coming in through any windows, I didn’t know what time it was when I roused. But I was immediately flooded with nervousness. Today I’d be going to my new home, meeting all the people living there, and would begin to learn about the new city of which I was now a citizen. Eva entered the room quietly, as if she sensed my trepidation. I didn’t mention my fears, though, and instead made my way to the fabulous shower with all its luxurious features, hoping that where I would be living would have something similar. I spent my time under the adjustable streams until I heard Eva call to me from outside.
“You’re going to be late again!” Apparently my nervousness wasn’t going to keep her from sticking to a tight schedule.
I sighed. It would be nice to be alone in my apartment, although I wondered if I’d have difficulty navigating the technological advances that would likely be all around the place. I picked up my pace, though, just to keep Eva off my back. I dried off and donned another tunic and leggings set, with the same shoes as the day before. Back in my room, Eva had placed a number of items on the desk and had produced a bag to carry them all in. The objects were foreign to me, and I looked at Eva questioningly.
“We can’t let you leave here without any possessions to your name. But these are all practical things you’ll need to get around the city. Your apartment is completely furnished, and there’s clothes and food and personal items all there for you. So you won’t have to worry about shopping or anything. Everyone who acclimates is installed in as stress-free an environment as possible.” She seemed pleased with herself at this fact. She continued, “So, let me explain what these things are and how to use them.”
She held up a finger-length device that most closely resembled a black and shiny playing card. “This is your communication device. It’s voice-activated but also has the ability to show the person you’re talking to on a projected screen. You just speak the name of the person you want to talk to here.” She pointed to the top of the device. “It will connect you immediately. If the person is unavailable you’ll be able to leave a message. It’s really easy to get the hang of.”
I somehow doubted that, and looked over the small device trying to see how it was capable of any of what Eva had described.
“This next item is something you’ll be more familiar with,” she continued. “It’s a personal computer. But it does things computers from your era never could. It will help you with your work out in the field, and I think you’ll find it indispensable. This button here will take you through a tutorial on how to use it.”
It was a small, hard square the size of my palm. She pointed to a tiny button on the edge of it. I didn’t even want to try to figure this little thing out. I’d have time to fiddle with it later.
“And this is your rail pass, which is pretty self-explanatory. Everyone travels by the rail system here, which is basically an upgraded version of the subway system you’re accustomed to. It’s pretty neat, actually. The trains levitate above the rails via magnetism. I think you’ll find the experience much more pleasant on our railways.“
She handed over a card with a metallic sheen on it and it did indeed resemble the subway passes I had used in Manhattan. I hadn’t asked what had become of my home city because I didn’t want to hear the answer. I didn’t think I could bear more disappointment. Eva placed these strange items in the little bag which, thankfully, resembled a normal old-fashioned carrier.
Then she turned to face me, her face serious now. “We’re going to walk out of this Facility now and go to the train. You’ll go three stops from here, where someone will meet you and take you to your apartment. Everything you’ll need to know will be explained to you there.”
She brushed a ginger lock back from her forehead and sighed. “So I guess this is pretty much goodbye. I hope we can always be friends, and see each other again. I have no doubt you’ll be a great success here in this city. I know you must be a little nervous and scared, but we haven’t seen someone acclimate as well as you have in a long time. I think you’re going to be just fine.”
Her smile wavered a little, and I saw she was growing emotional. I hugged her, and tried not to feel like I was going to my execution. I slung the bag over my shoulder, attempting a careless smile, but my palms had become moist. We exited the room that I looked back at with some longing, knowing I was leaving the relative safety of this place for a big, unknown city, and a big, unknown new life. We took a different route than we had the day before. The circuitous hallways led to a big, wide, and bustling main foyer with tall, domed ceilings that showed even more of the outside world than the hallway I had stood in the previous day. I tried not to stop and stare this time, but the immensity of it all was daunting. And I allowed myself a brief moment to soak up some sunshine that was coming in through the glass. It was my first sunshine in a very long time. I was thankful to be seeing and feeling its warm glow once again. I looked around at all the people who obviously worked here in some capacity—here in this place where human life was created, and who knew what else. They seemed pleasant and calm, even friendly, although no one spoke to me. But several people smiled at me as they passed us, and I wondered if they all knew who I was, what I was. Eva urged me on to the entranceway, and suddenly we were outside and the sounds of a city met my ears. The slight din of passing crowds talking, the quiet swoosh of doors on buildings sliding open, birds chirping in carefully aligned exotic trees. I inhaled, expecting exhaust fumes and hot pavement, but instead tasted nothing but sweetness. The light humidity in the air told me we were indeed in a tropical environment, but all I could see in all directions were enormous buildings. I was on a walk-way that wasn’t like the cracked cement of the sidewalks I had come to know so well in New York, and above me were the bullet trains speeding to and fro.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the train. We go up to the platform over there.”
Eva pointed, and I saw what looked like escalators taking many people up to the tracks above us. We walked over to the moving set of stairs, and I was relieved to see they were indeed escalators. I was grateful once more that some things apparently hadn’t changed. Eva and I stepped onto them; they moved a lot faster than what I had remembered from shopping malls as a child. We got off at the top, and I closely watched all the people moving around the platform. They didn’t look any different from the people I had known all my life, except maybe they looked more youthful, even the older people. Less haggard, healthier. No one looked like they were rushing to a job they hated, or feeling stressed out about the state of the world or the economy. These people looked free of worry.
Before I could really start analyzing their behaviors or studying their mannerisms, Eva was pulling me toward a massive train that people were boarding. I took out the rail pass she had given me and looked to see how it was being used, but Eva took it from my hands and showed me a panel on the side of the train doors where it needed to be swiped. I saw a screen beside it flash my face and name. This was definitely new. The train itself was sleek and shiny, and I heard no engine or roar of a motor anywhere. It stood silent, yet all the people boarding clearly indicated it was preparing to travel.
Eva was saying something to me and I turned to her with a bewildered look on my face. She smiled. “Here’s where we part. Remember, you get off after three stops. Someone will meet you there. Don’t worry about finding her. She’ll find you. All this will seem like no big deal in a short amount of time. You’ll do great.”
She hugged me again, and turned to leave. Then she stopped, turned around to me again, and said, “And hey, I don’t usually offer this to any of the other clones, but you’re my favorite so far. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to contact me, OK? Once you learn how to operate your devices I’m just a word away.”
Before I could reply, she was gone, down the escalators. And I was left to board this strange, tubular train. I could only hope I didn’t screw anything up too badly.