431 Years of Death: The Origin Read online



  431 Years of death: The Origin by Divya Singh

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means-except in the case of brief quotations embodied in the articles or reviews-without written permission of the author.

  Copyright © 2016 by Divya Singh. All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Divya Singh

  All rights reserved.

  Index

  Chapter 1: I was reborn at 1.30 am on 01 Jan 2461.

  Chapter 2: Reanimation Trial on my original body

  Chapter 3: A new body for me - A male body!

  Chapter 4: The First Nightmare

  Chapter 5: The Vision shared by ZA-vi: Conversation between SHELLY and VON

  Chapter 6: The next day of adventure: Sneaking into the ship

  1.LEVEL 0: The Navigation Chambers

  2.8Th floor: Agricultural research facility

  3.Last floor: -18

  Chapter 7: ZA-vi got ‘repaired’

  Chapter 8: My new face

  Chapter 9: The story of KEAH, the clone

  Chapter 10: New growing hair

  Chapter 11: Disclosure by VON & revelations about the Contamination

  Chapter 12: The Navigator

  Chapter 13: The heinous act

  Chapter 14: The man from the past: I was not alone

  Chapter 15: Dr. Doom and a heated argument

  Chapter 16: I took to violence again

  Chapter 17: DEVON!

  Chapter 18: The Lone Wanderer

  Chapter 19: The exploration at The Navigator’s room and cockpit

  1.History of the ship

  2.Ship Information

  3.Ship Interior

  4.Ship Amenities

  5.Ship Redesignablle

  6.Ship Biology

  7.Ship Safety

  Chapter 20: revisit to Despondra

  Chapter 21: A brunch with Devon; Love You Are Not Welcome

  Chapter 22: First Dive; probing the dystopian ocean with Devon: The Monster of the murkier waters.

  Chapter 23: The scientific explanation

  Chapter 24: Tour to the penultimate floor: The Quarantined floor

  Chapter 25: Confronting the Horrifying creature at the lowest level and saving Lois

  Chapter 26: Hospitalized again! Receiving medical attention from Despondra herself!

  Chapter 27: Another Ripple; The going down of the ship

  Chapter 28: The Ultimate Explosion

  Chapter 1: I was reborn at 1.30 am on 01 Jan 2461.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (Electric Shock is being administered to the subject DS1, Case No. 13701, in an attempt to reanimate her cryopreserved brain)

  I heard vague sounds, it was dark, but feeble spots of unidentifiable figures of people were visible to me.

  Suddenly, I felt a painful quivering jolt. It felt like I was struck by the lightning

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

  (The intensity of electrical shock is increased and is given again to the subject in an attempt to wake the brain up)

  After some time: - ………………………………………… I felt a slight pain, I saw nothing, not even light, and just the pain was spread all over. I tried opening my eyes and with a lot of effort this time I succeeded. My vision seemed to be drastically blurred, but then gradually, I was beginning to see some hazy images, but it was still dark. I thought what I then heard were garbled voices, which I did not seem to understand.

  ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

  (The intensity of the electric shock is raised again and the brain is subjected to it)

  Later, I woke up with a startle. If I was right about it, I was looking at the fuzzy images of two people. Was it really water through which I was looking? But for sure, I was in a cylindrical glass enclosure, filled with liquid and different types of equipment attached to it, I knew not of.

  ‘It is finally done, it appears we have reanimated the brain successfully’, is all I could hear.

  I think these two people I was looking at, through the colorless Liquid and glass were really strange. There was a thin, bald woman with a side pony and a bob cut blue haired, black-bearded guy.

  The woman must not be aged anything more than 28 years old and the man must be 35 something. They communicate in a different manner and language as between themselves, but seeing me watching them closely, they stopped talking-

  The man said, “Hello case Number 13701 “.

  Seeing me, filled with suspicion, he talked to me back again-

  The man, “How do you feel?”

  Then he drained the liquid, in my enclosure out, by pushing a knob on a column on my left side opening the cage-like enclosure a little.”

  I uttered, “Wh-where am I?” This was all I managed to say that time but given the delusional state I was in, at the moment, it was a lot of effort.

  “Um, you are on a ship called Perpetua sailing somewhere in the north of the once North Pacific Ocean……….”

  I interrupted: “No! Why am I inside this enclosure?” I said, rolling my eyes at the sides, indicating the presence of abnormal surroundings.

  But it went like nobody had heard or understood me-

  I stressed: “Why? What had happened?” I interrupted the informational speech. ”And why are you guys dressed up like clowns?” They were really strange to my eyes which were still adjusting.

  They both fluttered their dresses and hair and looked at each other.

  I screamed: “Turn off these damn lights! They are hurting my eyes! I can literally feel them burning.”

  “………An- And my head is smoldering up in pain.”

  “What has happened to me?”

  I reached to my head with my hands, but I failed, then I wished to cover my eyes with them to avoid the lights………

  The guy: “Try to relax case……..“

  I interrupted again: “I th-think that my arms are numb, I can’t feel and lift them.” I tried to move my head which I couldn’t; then I tried to gaze below to look at my arms.

  I screamed in disbelief: “What? Where are my hands? Where is my body? I don’t…...”

  The guy: “At ease case ……..” The guy was trying to move towards me to contain my shock! But what was wrong with me?

  I cried again: “I don-don’t have a body! “

  “I don’t have hands!”

  I yelled in distrust: “There is nothing below! No! Noooo! I am not alive!”

  I saw them both panic, but doing nothing to help me with my answers.

  I yelled uncontrollably: “No! I can’t be alive!

  I cried again: “How can I be….?”

  “What has happened to me? What have you done to me?” I couldn’t express my anger and disappointment with my body.

  I kept crying out loud in despair, shock and grief.

  The guy: “Please relax Case! At ease. Let me explain!

  The woman is registering her log:”Case 13701, Brain and head reanimated successfully, has Ultra sensitive vision, disrupted and aggressive psychological response, and severe pain. I have administered pain suppressants. The Brain has suffered a minor stroke from shock in
stigated from the knowledge of the physical state of affairs. Minor robotic surgery imminent to overcome the stroke……….”

  I woke up again and now I knew what I was, in fact, this time, I did not even want to wake up to this bitter reality. I saw nothing below me again and was awestruck at the harsh reality confronting me.

  “Hello, Case! Welcome back!” a voice, which was electronically produced, came from the Blue haired guy.

  The guy continued: “I am ZA-vi, your personal android.” he continued, “How do you feel now?”

  I uttered: “Who am I?” But it was all I could use my sluggish and grief struck voice to ask

  ZA-vi: “You are DS1 Case No. 13701 of Meta.More.PHD International…...”

  I interrupted him: “Please tell me who am I? Am I a person? Please tell me about my existence honestly as I am willing to understand about anything right about now. I request of you, ZA-vi!”

  ZA-vi: “Sorry Case, but we cannot disclose your real identity. You had signed the agreement yourself with full knowledge thereof, understanding and implication of clause X(a)(i) of the agreement.” We have only complied with your ‘wish deed, word by word and spirit to guide us where we needed it.” ZA-vi said in absolute denial.

  I begged them: “Please………. “I turned towards the woman. “Please tell me who am I? How did I reach here?”

  I added: “….and where is here?”

  The woman: “Hello Miss DS! Your Android is incapable of Human psychological construct. I will try to answer as much as I can.” He woman promised.

  She continued: “You can call me KEAH. I am your personal cryosurgical assistant and Major fellow. I take patients for personal and surgical concerns. I also take into account the procedural functioning of the robotic surgeons and also the analysis and supervision of surgical procedures in this facility XZ-13.”

  KEAH went ahead: “You have come from a different time, so I cannot answer anything about your pre-animation life, especially personal life. But I know you were an important, intelligent person and most importantly nice, and benevolent at heart that is why you were voted in for cryopreservation.”

  “Cryopreservation?” I bewildered, “Please explain.”

  KEAH:”Cryopreservation is the preservation of the brain or body at the legal death of a person with his consent. So that when in future the medical sciences have advanced, the body or brain could be brought back to life again.” You opted for a whole body preservation in liquid Nitrogen at -196.01 0C.”

  I raised an objection: “But I cannot see my body, I just have a head”

  KEAH:”your case was complicated, Miss! The head was preserved separately. Your body was partly damaged before the preservation due to terminal illness, I know not of, and partly was it damaged due to the toxic effects of vitrification, tissue damage and crystallization and due to prolonged preservation. You have to take a decision, whether, we should work on reanimating your salvaged body or should we use another lab-cultured new body. The factor which made us consider, waking up your head first. “

  I asked, “Do you have my body?”

  KEAH:” Yes we have! But we have not yet ensured whether it is reanimatable or not, first analysis to me says even if it is, your body’s life cannot be ensured even if a few years. This age we are living does not have such acumen as to create a healthy re-animatable body using damaged raw material.”

  I cut her midway: “Wait, what is this year?” I asked.

  ZA-vi:”It is 01Jan 2461. You died or shut down your body’s life on 23 Mar 2030 at 09:30 am. The process of preservation was completed in 57 minutes starting at 10:00 am, so preservation age was set sharp 10:57a.m., 23/03/2030”

  I cried in disbelief: “What, I have been dead for over 400 years!”

  I would have got up in shock if I had a body. I was not able to believe this crap-

  I shouted: “Why did I not wake up any time earlier?

  KEAH:”A lot of things have changed on earth in all these years Miss. But your preservation was prolonged by your sponsors and their generations which declined steeply in 4 centuries. “

  I begged again: “KEAH! ZA-vi! Please tell me who am I? What was I like before I died?”

  KEAH: “Miss, I wish I could and trust me, I would but I had been made ages after, instead this android of yours, ZA-vi has been storing all your data during Cryo, and I believe he has all the data of your previous life too, but he was programmed to keep it a secret, as was included in the agreement you signed, so it is between you and him. All I know about you is that you were a woman before all this. Aged 32, as my dating system says.”

  I said: “A woman? Yes, my head says so, I am a woman. But why I do not remember the rest? My life!”

  KEAH:”During the preservation, memory loss is the first visible occurrence. W are not sure if it is going to return to you. But some long-term memories do come back with time. Also, you miss, have woken up to a gender-neutral era. We don’t have roles of sexes anymore. But I know you were a woman back then.”

  “You got to be kidding me. No sexes? Come on!” I chuckled.” Wait you can see it from my face. Yes?”

  They looked at each other surprised.

  I replied to their strange reaction: “Wait! Well, I want to look at my face……Show me how I look I need to see, I know…..”

  KEAH: ”Miss you must be at ease now, we have done a lot of talking…..”

  I begged over again: “KEAH! Please! I have faced enough of horrors today I cannot die out of anxiety, so please show me my face.”

  KEAH: “Miss I request you not to ….”

  I screamed: “KEAH! Say no more! Show me right now!”

  KEAH: ”Miss you have to prepare yourself for the worst. I do not know what shock you can bear at this moment.”

  I nodded: “OK! I am ready.”

  But I was not. I had a faint memory of how people looked when I was alive, but not my own face. But I would like to kill the anxiety anyway.

  In 5 seconds KEAH pressed a spot on the screen in front of her. My head turns 180 degrees towards a mirror in the cylinders.

  “Noooo…. It cannot be! Is it my face? Do they call this horrible sight, a face? I think it would make for the most horrific thing in my previous life.”

  The bulging skin was swollen, red, with white open wounds, it was white at the sides where it joined another portion of skin, and it was hanging from the bone structure, and on it ran Blue Violet veins. No eyebrows. No eyelids, just balls of white with brown iris with blue ugly spots on them. But the red veins as should be in them are blue. It is not a regular skin. It is red rotten flesh with white open blisters as if the skin was peeled, taking hair follicles, brows and eyelids with it. At least I have had lips, but they are with a tinge of blue not red. I have had a short neck too, but it is without any skin on it, just blue veins criss-cross in the red rotten flesh with bones visible. I have no hair, and the bald head is horrible with wounds and red lines as if it was closed after a recent surgery.”

  Well, my worst nightmare was before my eyes. Why did I wish to wake up to such a horror?

  I said as peacefully as I could: “Turn me back again……”

  KEAH” Miss we are about to give an aesthetic touch up to your head, but not anywhere before you are fully healed after the reanimation process.”

  “Case, you are looking so fine to me!”Said ZA-vi

  I yelled: “Hey! You robot! ZA-vi, were you made to mock my miseries only?”

  ZA-vi: “Case I was programmed to make you feel at ease. To assist the case I was assigned.”

  I protested: “But you are not helping my case. I think your silence shall assist me better. Especially a robot sans a heart…….”

  ZA-vi: “I was made as humanly as possible with light alloys and human tissue, but as the time passed by human tissue had to be self-destructed and replaced by alloys. But for the skin keeps on growing, on replacing stratum by stratum over time and hair grow too.”

  I said: “Ah! But I would better pr
efer to talk to an original human who was born as a human KEAH……”

  KEAH: “But miss! I was not born; I was fabricated in a facility. Women do not actually give birth to babies nowadays. It all happens in the labs these days. With time, the reproductive ability of genders degenerated a lot. In women fibroids, myoma and uterine cancers led to surgical removal thereof. Soon it became prominent in younger ages of women. In the last two centuries, we had to surgically remove uteruses and Fallopian tubes of all women before they reached puberty. Also, the male members lost their potency due to major hormonal shifts with time, climatic changes, stress etc. So the reproductive organs became vestigial. Other complications therein led to surgical removal thereof…….”

  I registered surprise: “So you are also not human….?.” I interrupted.

  KEAH with a smile: “I am the maximum of what a Homo sapien can be in this era.”

  I objected: “But you are a woman, of what age? How were you made?”

  KEAH: “Yes Miss, I am a woman 21 years of age. I am mutated a clone of Basic model K1E2A3H4 i.e.KEAH-131. That means 130 clones of the basic frozen embryo, named KEAH were mutated before me……”

  I found it hard to get: “Basic embryo, older looking clones… let’s just stop it here. It is all that I can take with just a head without a body. Stop it right here. So tell me when do I get my body?” I interrupted again.

  ZA-vi: “Your highly damaged irreparable body is being reversed for vitrification, and is chemically warmed up, and then it will be analyzed for any success rate of reanimation. But the truth is that we are only wasting our time because of the want of your dead body your head will suffer death soon. “

  I repelled: “I swear you say another word robot, and I will break your voice box.” I began to find my agony. I was furious. My brain was capable of anger.

  KEAH: “Miss your body is ready for reanimation trial. But we have also to consider other alternatives. With a prima facie analysis that we have run on your body, there are not presenting very promising chances that it will survive reanimation trial. The chances are also strong that we lose the original body forever; we have to be ready to face the worst. “

  I said: “KEAH 131! Were you made psychologically speaking, capable of relating to the human emotional quotient? Do you have an understanding that whatever be the damage I have to have my body? That is what my brain wants. I did not understand how, but my head can feel emotions, anger and love for its body. It is beautiful to be a human. “

  KEAH: “Yes Miss I understand, But the history of reanimation says that if bodies are damaged during the previous lifetime and subsequent cryopreservation the reanimation process has a low success rate. Our technology is capable of giving life only to the bodies which are capable of carrying life. Now you need to rest because precisely in 8 hours we have to start reanimation trials on your original body. Try to be at ease miss, your brain must be calm to be able to connect to your body. Now you must be feeling that your eyes are getting closed for the necessary sleep. You feel tired and need to rest….” She said while ZA-vi turned all the lights off and I could feel the words turn meaningless then I would not hear a thing…..

  Chapter 2: Reanimation Trial on my original body