Subject Twelve

He threw his arm over this face, trying to block out the odd yellow-green light that was trying to wake him. He stretched slightly and grimaced at the pain in his back. The ground was softer than he was used to, but it was no real bed. A screeching from deep within the jungle brought him fully awake in amazement. He blinked as he looked around at the strange plants that surrounded him.

“How the…” he stared, mouth hanging open. He could have sworn that he had been in a city when he fell asleep. A crashing sound brought his neck snapping around towards the direction the sound had come from. He saw nothing, but his nerves felt on edge. Carefully, he stood up. He felt better in this position, but not much.

He stared around bewildered for a moment. Nothing made sense. This jungle was alien to him. He had travelled before; although it seemed like another lifetime ago. He remembered visiting the rainforests of Brazil and the damp remote wilderness of northern British Columbia. He could distinctly remember the long sticky days he spent in the jungles of Thailand. This wasn’t like anything he had ever seen. This wasn’t Earth.

The realisation hit him slowly as stood there, trying to stare in every direction at once. Something fluttered lightly past his face and he jumped back startled. He watched the thing land on a bright purple flower. He decided not to stare at it for too long, it made him nervous. It reminded him of nothing he had ever seen or imagined before.

He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, the beginnings of hysteria starting to set in. He didn’t want to close his eyes on this alien world, but he had to calm down. Freaking out would get him nowhere. Cautiously, he closed his eyes and focussed on bringing himself to a calm centre; slowing his breathing until it was normal again.

With a refreshed and calmer mind, he looked at his surroundings again. As he really began to take in this alien world he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was just not right. He looked around again, really trying to examine every aspect of every little thing. It was without a doubt very alien, but there was something that he couldn’t quite identify that made it all seem a little off.

His contemplation of this was cut short by another loud crashing sound. This time the sound was much closer. He tilted his head to try and listen more carefully in the direction the sound had come from. The thought of dangerous predators passed through his mind. He had no idea what to expect. He could feel the hysteria he had fought off so successfully earlier creeping in on him again.

He jumped as the sound came closer still. He glanced into the dark forbidding forest and hesitated. He didn’t want to begin an aimless run in these alien forests for no reason. He tried to reassure himself that there was nothing to be scared of yet. For all he knew, it was a large fluffy bunny crashing through the jungle. He tried to tell himself this, but he didn’t believe it. He edged closer to the other side of the small clearing.

A sharp…something…poked him in the back and he jumped forward a bit. He glanced backwards at whatever had poked him. At the same time he realized that a small part of him was holding out for this all to be a dream. The pain in his back convinced this small part to give up all hope on the dream idea.

With a final crash the creature that he had been listening for appeared on the other side of the clearing. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a predator of some sort. From its sharp claws to its vicious teeth, it screamed dangerous. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up.

Its seven beady eyes stared straight at him. He felt locked in its gaze, unable to move. Thankfully, the creature didn’t move either; it just stood there examining him. A drop of drool fell from its gaping maw onto the ground below, yellowing the plants that it fell on.

After what seemed an eternity the creature emitted a strangled mew followed by a menacing snarl. It took a step forward. That was all it took to break the hold terror had upon his body. With no second thoughts, he turned and ran blindly into jungle. He didn’t have to guess at whether or not the alien beast was pursuing him; he could hear it crashing through the foliage behind him.

As hard as he ran, he was sure the crashing sound behind him was getting closer. He could feel his feet getting heavier with every step and his breath was coming in ragged, painful gasps. He couldn’t keep running much longer. It was only the thought of dying on this alien planet that kept him moving.

The ground in front of him sloped slightly upwards and try as he might he couldn’t lift his feet any further. He fell forward, barely having the strength to put his hands out to catch himself. He lay there, curled in a foetal position from the pain in his sides. Tears stung at his eyes as he listened to the beast come closer. He prayed for a quick ending.

The crashing stopped suddenly. The silence was deafening. It was at that point that he realized what had been bothering him earlier. There was no background noise. Every place he had ever been had been filled with all sorts of noises. This jungle was virtually silent. It was eerie.

The strangled mewing began, it sounded as though the creature was right behind him. He didn’t want to look, but he found himself turning his head ever so slowing in the direction of the mewing. He found himself face to teeth with the creature. He started to tremble uncontrollably. Each tooth was nearly as long as his head.

It mewed at him again and a drop of drool dripped onto his head. He could feel it burning him like acid. He didn’t want to scream, but he couldn’t hold his tongue. It was almost more moan than scream, but it was enough to set the creature off. He felt the giant claws tear through his core, skewering him. He didn’t even have time to scream before it all went dark.

********

“Well he isn’t dead,” Arro looked up from her computer with a small smile. “It’s an improvement.”

“Yes, it is.”

Arro looked sharply at Dr. Kline. The tone in his voice was not what she had expected. “Are you not happy with the results sir?”

Dr. Kline sighed as he started to disconnect the wires from the body on the table. “It’s not that I’m not happy, but I was really hoping we had worked the kinks out this time.”

“It’s not perfect yet, but we’re closer. He’s only comatose. He’s the first one not to die.” Arro tried to sound as confident as she wished her boss would sound. “There’s bound to be a few setbacks in any new tech. I’m sure we’ll be better next time ‘round. The data is promising.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will be.” Dr. Kline still sounded uncommitted as he walked over to examine the data on Arro’s computer. He was silent for a moment and then he smiled.

“Ah, looks like we still have to develop a more than just the interface. Look at this.”

Arro leaned forward to concentrate on the data that Dr. Kline was looking at. The readings were quite specific. The subject had identified something being out of sorts in the programme.

“We’ll need to watch the video review to see if we can identify the source of unreality. Of course, though, we need to improve the interface first. I would like to have a surviving subject to interview.” Dr. Kline walked away, mumbling under his breath. He stopped just before he reached the door.

“Oh, and have the cleaning crew dispose of this subject. He’ll be of no further use to us.” Without waiting for a response, Dr. Kline left.

With a sigh Arro sent off an email request for the removal to the cleaning crew with instructions on where to dump the body. She walked over to the body and took a look at him.

“Well subject twelve, you were good while it lasted. Now it’s time to go looking for subject thirteen.” Arro turned back to her computer at the same time the cleaning crew arrived. She smiled politely at them as they entered the room and then proceeded to ignore them.

“This virtual reality project is a virtual pain in the butt,” one of them muttered to the other as they hefted the body onto the cart they had brought with them. Arro pretended not to have heard them. The other member of the cleaning crew laughed at the joke.

“Yeah, but it’ll make all of us rich.”