#3 Planes.
The dark lab was sat one hundred metres below the ground level. It was a shady place. It looked like it’s never been cleaned. Old pizza boxes lined the tables, chp bags full of other chip bags. Countless red bulls. But he’d done it.
Vicky M. Prometheus had been a protege. Straight A’s from Kindergarten until her PhD. She amassed a small fortune. Her life had been perfect. A loving husband and one child, even a small house. Until the accident.
She layed in bed, wriggling around. The moment played before her eyes like it was yesterday. They lost altitude, too fast. The clearing in the forest was stained with the blood of two very important people. Everyone else had survived with barely a scrape. It had been the least deadly plane crash in the history of aviation. It was like the knife being twisted. Only her family died. In the safest plane crash in history.
She awoke in a cold sweat. This’ll be the last time.
Every morning the lab was cold. It was like heating had never been installed. Because it hadn’t, no time to spare that expense, the DNA was moulding.
She hobbled around for the light switch, You’d figure I’dve learnt where it is by the fifth, or sixth, year. She found the switch, flicked it on, and the room illuminated. She waltzed over to her coffee maker, poured a cup, and drank it swiftly, like it was a cup of water.
She dressed in her fanciest clothes. I can’t look bad, it’ll be their first time seeing me in half a decade? More? The freezer contained some old hair, and skin flakes, both collected from old shirts.
The Machine activated itself. Bright light shone from it, and her husband and son emerged.
“Where are we?” Her husband asked.
“Oh, Percy, your back!”
“Back from what?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“You're crushing me!”
“Oh, sorry!” She moved to her son. Plucked him off of the floor, and squeezed him with all her might.
“Come, let’s have a good dinner.” she said. As they passed the machines and wrappers and everything. Percy coil’d help but ask;
“Where are we, Vick?” Is she okay? Where’d our house go?
“We’re somewhere safe.”
“But where is that?”
“It's a little construction I built for us. We’ll be back at the house in no time.”
“Okay then.” They passed into the dining room, and ate a cheeseburger meal she had prepared. Or, more realistically, that her machine servants had prepared. Between bites of food, as Percy and their son scarfed their food, He asked;
“Wait, if you have machine servants, why is there so many pizza boxes and food garbage out there?”
“It's all from before the robots.”
“Wow, how long have you been here? And how come I don't remember getting here?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. But it’s been sucky. I hate this place.”
“Then why didn’t you leave?”
“I had to stay.”
“Why don’t I remember the last five years?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure your memory will come back in time.” she needed a lie for the time being, before she could implant new ones for the gap in time.
“I don’t feel so good, mommy.” It was his first sentence since he was revived.
“Oh no. How do you feel bad?”
“I’ve got a headache, and my tummy aches.”
“Do you want something to help?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m feeling a little under the weather myself. I think I might go to bed.”
“Yeah, I guess its getting late, we should hit the hay.” The three of them retired to their rooms.
The morning came soon after they fell asleep. As she awoke, the compound felt warmer. Her bed was only half full. She went around the area, Percy was no where to be found. Eventually she decided he might be looking for some food, or something.
I’ve got to pee, He’s fine, I’ll find him in a second. As she opened the door to the bathroom an unyielding, horrid, smell of blood and vomit wafted into her nostrils. As she gazed upon the floor, a human mash sat there. It was like it had been hit in a plane crash.