When Dan woke again, he immediately knew something was wrong. He seemed to be sitting in something hard, but when he opened his eyes, it was too dark to see what it was. Everything was black. In addition, Dan instantly felt a multitude of bruises across his body begin to dully ache. They were everywhere, but seemed to be concentrated on his back and chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took Dan\u2019s eyes a few moments to get adjusted to the darkness. Slowly, the faintest of blue glows came into view, showing Dan only the roughest of outlines. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was in a square room. It was dark. The only light came from two blue strips running along the side walls. They glowed faintly, but hardly offered much light. Dan could just make out a single door set in the wall through the gloom. It looked very solid. That was it. Nothing else was in the square room, aside from the metal chair Dan was sitting in. Somehow the plainness, the single door and single chair, the darkness\u2026 it started to scare him. What was this place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan tried to get up, but fell back instantly, a terrible sensation in his stomach. His arms\u2026 something was wrong with his arms. They felt\u2026 wrong. He could feel them, and he could feel the chair they rested on through them, but it was as if the senses were dulled somehow. His fingers also seemed very clumsy to him, and both arms felt oddly heavy. Dan looked down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They seemed to be covered in thick metal gloves. Dan felt a surge of relief. He lifted one and looked at it. It seemed normal enough. There was no more electricity coursing up and down it, and the pain was gone. Curious as to why he was wearing gloves, Dan tried to pull it off. It wouldn\u2019t move. It seemed to be glued as tightly to his skin as if it belonged there. Dan gave up after a few seconds and just looked at it, wondering. It was a curious glove, covering his hand and going all the way up his forearm, stopping about two inches from his elbow. There was an identical glove on the other arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan scrambled back, but then relaxed as a familiar figure entered the room, closing the door behind her. It was RR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RR was a soulborg and, until last night, the only other actual person Dan had ever met. She had been with him since the beginning, and even though he had seen her only a handful of times, Dan felt at ease when she was around. He knew she would never hurt him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RR was comprised of dark gray metal plates, and an occasional dark blue one. Her eyes, glowing softly from behind a protective screen, were a calming shade of yellow. Aside from the fact that she was metal, she was humanoid, complete with a head, legs, and hands. She now approached Dan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExplain,\u201d she said shortly, pulling up a chair seemingly from nowhere and sitting down in front of him. Her voice was not metallic or robotic as one might expect. It sounded perfectly natural, like the voice any woman might have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan knew what she meant. \u201cI was bored,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted to see the sky again, but I couldn\u2019t get out. I was bored, and I didn\u2019t know what the Barrier would feel like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo you just jumped at it? Just because you were curious?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan nodded. It was more or less the truth. Something told him that RR didn\u2019t need to know the whole story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RR sighed. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that again. Do you understand, Dan? You must never touch that Barrier again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I\u2014 Wait,\u201d Dan said, realizing something, \u201cyou said the Barrier would kill me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt nearly did,\u201d RR said. \u201cWe got there in time, but a little longer and you would have been beyond our care. As it is, your arms\u2026\u201d She gestured to the gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan looked at them. \u201cWhat? Why do I have gloves?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose\u2026 aren\u2019t gloves, Dan. They\u2019re your arms now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan stared at the gloves. His arms? What did RR mean? His arms were right here, inside these gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Barrier you jumped at is a reactive pulse field,\u201d RR said. \u201cIt works by utilizing compressed shockwaves to knock back anything it touches. The force is very powerful. If an object stays in contact with the field for very long, like your arms\u2026 well, human tissue isn\u2019t designed to withstand that many pulses per second. Seventy percent of your arms were useless by the time we got you down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUseless?\u201d Dan repeated. \u201cI can use them just fine.\u201d He lifted his arms and opened and closed his fingers to show her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour bones were fragmented, Dan.\u201d RR said. \u201cYour muscle fibers were torn apart. Your veins were gone. Your nerves were overloaded. Your tissue was turned to liquid. A little longer and there wouldn\u2019t have been any arms left to salvage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe repaired you with soulborg technology.\u201d RR tapped her own metal arm. \u201cWe were able to fix the muscles and bones, but the nerve damage was extensive. The pulse field overloaded them so quickly that they couldn\u2019t sense much fine input through all the static feedback. We had to set up a resonator in each arm \u2013 a small-scale replica of the pulse field \u2013 to imitate the effects. That way the nerves sense what they expect, and can tell the variations which are sensory inputs. You won\u2019t feel things quite the same way ever again, Dan, but at least you\u2019ll feel something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan looked at his gloves again. \u201cThese are my arms?\u201d he wondered aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be as good as the ones you were born with,\u201d RR said. \u201cA bit stronger, a bit sturdier, but a bit less sensitive to what they\u2019re feeling. You\u2019ll have to get used to them. You can do that later, however. Right now, we need to talk about you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat about me?\u201d Dan asked, still looking at his glove-arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo you want to leave your home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question caught Dan off guard. \u201cDo I \u2014 Leave \u2014 What? No! Of course I don\u2019t want to leave!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t you get in the SR Unit this morning?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just wanted to see the sky again. To feel the sand. It was totally different than the SR Unit. I could feel the sand pushing against me, it was\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStop.\u201d RR held up a hand. \u201cDan, listen to me. You must not leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut\u2026 why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are safe here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was safe out there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou were abducted and nearly blown up. You were very far from being safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut\u2026 But Darren seemed like a friend. I liked him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RR was silent for a moment. Then she got up, and leaned forward close to Dan. \u201cLook at my shoulder,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan looked, and as he did so, the metal changed, fading, warping, until a red shape was visible. It was the outline of a red triangle, with a smaller triangle attached to each edge. He looked up at RR expectantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is the symbol of a friend, Dan,\u201d RR said, sitting back down. \u201cWhenever you see that symbol, you will know that you can trust the one who carries it. Anyone who does not wear that symbol, or carries a different one, is an enemy. Do you understand me, Dan? You cannot trust them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut Darren wasn\u2019t an enemy,\u201d Dan protested. \u201cHe kept me safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, Dan,\u201d RR said. \u201cHe took you away from us. He took you where it is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut\u2026\u201d Dan remembered what Darren had said. \u201cBut there\u2019s nothing out there. I saw it, RR. It\u2019s just a bunch of sand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is more than a bunch of sand out there, Dan,\u201d RR said, her tone serious. \u201cIf you try to leave again, I cannot guarantee your protection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Dan asked. \u201cWhat\u2019s out there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RR\u2019s eyes flashed briefly brighter. \u201cRedacted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redacted. Dan\u2019s heart quickened at the word. He had only heard it mentioned with one other topic before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean redacted. I can\u2019t tell you what\u2019s out there, Dan. It\u2019s for your own safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d RR held up a metal hand. \u201cI\u2019m doing this for your own protection, Dan. Do not try to leave again. Even if you were to get past the Barrier, there is no way out of this place. Do you understand me? No way out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan had no memory of being returned to his Home. In fact, he couldn\u2019t remember anything after RR had spoken to him. It had happened a few times before, so Dan knew that the soulborgs had wiped a portion of his memory. The next thing he knew after speaking to RR, he was sitting on his bed, watching the Barrier with a frown. RR\u2019s words still echoed in his head. No way out. No way out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy are they keeping you from getting out? Because there\u2019s something to keep you from<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan remembered Darren\u2019s words. RR could say what she liked, but Dan had seen what was out there. For the first time in his life, he began to doubt RR. Maybe Darren was right. Maybe she was<\/em> trying to keep him from something. Then there was the matter of \u2018redacted\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the first things Dan could remember asking RR was where his parents were. The answer had always been the same: \u2018redacted\u2019. Who they were, what they were like, why he couldn\u2019t remember them, the answer was always \u2018redacted\u2019. Dan knew what the word meant, but he had come to associate it with his family. Now that he knew whatever was outside his home was also \u2018redacted\u2019, he couldn\u2019t help but wonder: what if his family was out there too? What if his parents were waiting for him somewhere beyond that dune?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was probably a foolish hope, but Dan chose to hope for it all the same. It gave him something to do. And he did want to know who his parents were, and why he couldn\u2019t remember them. Until Darren had shown him the outside world, it was in fact the only<\/em> thing he had wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan clung to that hope throughout the rest of the day. He sat on his bed and imagined what his parents might look like. He pictured cresting the dune of sand and seeing them at the bottom, waiting for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Dan\u2019s dinner finally slid out of the wall, he pictured his parents eating across from him. When he crawled into his warm bed, he pictured lying next to his mother and father, wondering vaguely if that was why the bed was so big. It must be. It certainly wasn\u2019t made for just him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan thought about this. \u2018Maybe that means that one day they will<\/em> be here,\u2019 he thought. \u2018Maybe RR somehow knows that, and made this bed large so they would have a place to sleep.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so Dan\u2019s imagination went, excited thoughts chasing excited thoughts. It was long after the lights in the ceiling had clicked off that Dan finally fell asleep, his dreams full of cresting horizons and faces he couldn\u2019t quite recognize. When Dan woke again, he immediately knew something was wrong. He seemed to be sitting in something hard, but when he opened his eyes, it was too dark to see what it was. Everything was black. In addition, Dan instantly felt a multitude of bruises across his body begin to dully ache. They were everywhere, … Continue reading Chapter Five – Redacted<\/span>
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