12 May 2012
“I would keep the mask on if I were you”
I jumped with the shock, searching all around for the source of the voice whilst struggling against my restraints. A segment of the wall in front of me suddenly broke apart from the rest and slid to the side leaving a gaping hole. It was as though it had appeared from nowhere.
“The mask is keeping you alive; you should put it back on”
If I could possibly have heard any sound other than that of the mysterious voice, it would have been the soft crescendo of tapping footsteps as the creature slowly advanced from the shadows. The wall slipped silently back into place behind him as though by command, leaving no trace of its existence. The creature was dressed entirely in some black clothing; a dark mask covered his head. Slowly the creature reached for the mask and pulled it off.
His face was pale, his skin soft, or at least it appeared to be. Many of his facial features were recognisable in their similarities to that of my own species, but with small differences; two sunken eyes sat above a protruding nose, his red mouth showed hints of blunt white teeth, and rounded ears were positioned on either side of his head.
One of the most noticeable differences was the way in which the creature walked; upright, straight backed, very different to our somewhat slumped posture. The creature motioned towards the mask dangling at my side and I reluctantly reached to put it on. Instantly my breathing calmed and my heart soothed into a silent rhythm.
The sudden flow of oxygen to my brain triggered a stem of thoughts. How could I understand him? Could the creature speak our language? His voice seemed to reply:
“It’s the way your mind interprets what it is given.” He simply stared right into my eyes, his mouth didn’t move the entire time he was speaking. How could I possibly hear him if his lips were sealed shut?
“I’m currently sending you signals from my brain, images if you will. Your mind translates these images into something you can understand, and vice-versa. Any sound you may be hearing is invented by your brain as an optimal method of understanding my thoughts. As a side-note, I’d appreciate it if I wasn’t called ‘creature’, I know this doesn’t exactly seem like a friendly encounter but I assure you I am no creature.”
He appeared to smile, and his arms gestured widely towards the curved walls of the room.
“It’s called an Apperception Chamber. In the process of saving your life, our medical team had to quickly assess your biological makeup. It is truly incredible what they achieved in such little time.”
I stared into his unblinking eyes and gently ran my fingers along my injured arm, tracing the outline of a long line of thread stitched into the skin.
“Unfortunately, your passenger was dead on arrival. We wouldn’t have been able to treat you without the information gained from his autopsy.”
A sting of guilt jolted through my body at those words and my heart crumpled. The creature continued without noticing my discomfort.
“In our analysis, we discovered that your brain and ours are similar, remarkably similar in fact. So similar that we were able to set up this conversation we are having now. Two different species separated by worlds, having a conversation. Extraordinary isn’t it? We’ve had this technology for a while and have only ever successfully used it on other human beings. Our encounter here has tumultuously furthered our understanding of the concept of ‘consciousness’. We now know that a consciousness of any kind can only exist in a very specifically designed host. Yours and our species’ brain have developed to these exact specifications, hence why we can have this convers...”
He looked into my eyes and saw my sadness, changing his expression to what I assumed was concern.
“I’m so sorry, did you know him well?”
“No,” I thought, for the first time hearing my own voice, “but it’s always sad when someone dies.” I hoped that I had masked the unbearable guilt I felt for what I had caused my passenger, the real reason for my tears, but somehow I knew I hadn’t.
“Why do you refer to him as your passenger? Does he not have a name?”
“Name? No we don’t have names.” An impatience suddenly stirred up inside of me and I raised the tone of my voice.
“Why is this important? Why are you keeping me here? Are you going to kill me?”
“No we’re not going to kill you. That was never our intention, we saved your life remember?”
“Then what is my purpose here?”
His demeanour changed instantly from excited curiosity to seriousness.
“We have a problem..."
Weathered Worlds: 8/10 • Opuss № I