"Mr. Tee? Please get up"
T is in a darkened room, there are several people around him.
"Mr. Tee. Please get up."
'Where am I? His mind rapidly reconstructs his reality, 'Burgundy light outside, late afternoon, it was noon before, hotel room, after a long flight, must have taken a nap.' He is back with himself now. 'Who the fuck are these people?'
"Mr. Tee. Please get up" She looks tough. In her thirties, dark pants, dark jacket. Some logo on the jacket, which T can't read. She flashes a badge, which he does not inspect. "You need to come with us." Two of the men, "help" him sit, and he puts his shoes on. They are all wearing a similar jacket. "We will explain later." she says. They go out of the room. The corridor is deserted. They walk in a tight formation, the woman in the lead. Another agent is guarding the waiting elevator. No one speaks. He wants to get to the lobby, he hopes that someone there will be able to explain what is going on. The front desk is unattended. A few hotel guests in a side corridor, look on with curiosity, but an agent is blocking them from entering the lobby. It is eerily quiet as they pass through, and go out of a service door. T is ushered into a black van, and strapped into the single chair in the cabin. "For your safety" she explains, and closes the sliding door. Through a glass partition, he can see her sit by the driver, and pick up a microphone.
"Mr Tee, we have been informed that you are gravely ill. We are taking you for treatment. We have a long drive ahead, so sit back, and relax" She puts down the mike and turns away from him. He senses a musky odor, which he knows is familiar, yet he can't recall from where. He feels drowsy, and perhaps sleeps. When the van stops, it is dark outside. Several figures dressed in white spacesuits, are waiting. They help him out. He feels weak and unstable. 'Am I ill? Drugged?' One of the space-suited figures points at a gurney. 'I do want to rest', he thinks. A white outline of a human body is painted on the gurney's pad. T aligns himself with the markings. Soft straps emerge from the gurney, and secure his limbs and chest. Above, he can see stars. To the sides, he sees only a large structure. It is several stories high, grey colored, and vaguely circular. The van drives away. A transparent half-cylinder is placed above him, and clamped to the base of the gurney. A whisper of a sound, and air moves softly over his face. 'That smell again. What is it?' Through the enclosure, he can hear the figures talking in a language he cannot recognize. One of them maneuvers the gurney towards the structure. An opening appears, and he is inside.
They move through a long corridor. Doors on both sides. There are no light fixtures. Instead, the whole ceiling is glowing a warm white. The attendant beside him, does not seem to be exerting any effort in pushing or guiding the gurney. It moves smoothly, without any vibration or noise. In front of them, a door slides open. Inside, another group of spacesuits. In the center of the room, a large machine with a circular opening. The gurney, or more correctly, his cylinder, slides precisely into that opening, feet first. He is startled by the whirring sounds of the machine. The scent becomes stronger. A tingling sensation at his feet, then slowly moves up his body. It is not unpleasant. He closes his eyes, and drifts to sleep. He wakes up in another room. He is wearing pants and shirt, both pink colored, and made of a thin and stretchy material. The material is smooth, and feels cool on his skin. He may be running a fever.
"Hello, Mr. Tee"
A spacesuit in the room is talking to him. T can hear sounds from inside the spacesuit's helmet, but the voice he hears is different. It is clearly computer-generated, and a bit awkward.
"The scan says, you are ill. Maybe we make you healthy"
T asks some questions, but does not learn much.
"Now we do tests. Please lie on bed"
He lies down on a narrow bed, which, adjusts itself to his body contours. It holds him firmly in place. The spacesuit, guides several mechanical arms and attaches them to various parts of his body. Near his left arm, T can see his blood entering a small capsule. 'Strange, didn't feel a needle.'
"Thank you"
The probes detach themselves from his body, the bed relaxes, and he is free to sit up. The spacesuit shows T the location of the en-suite bathroom, and demonstrates the operation of the room's lighting and video screen, both are controlled by hand gestures. The spacesuit turns and walks away. A sliding door opens with a 'swoosh', and he leaves. Another spacesuit, enters through the sliding door, and places a tray on a table attached to his bed. The food on the tray is arranged in several compartments, each dish has a distinct color and shape. He carefully tastes a sample from each compartment. Some are spicy, some are delicately sweet, He enjoys the variety. He is hungry and proceeds to eat most of the tray's contents. After a while, he climbs into bed, gestures the room to darken, and falls asleep. He wakes up to a dim light which gradually becomes brighter. The hydraulic door opens and the first spacesuit enters. "Good morning. Time for tests" As before, the bed conforms to his body, holding him in place, the spacesuit, which T decides must be a doctor, attaches the various probes, and blood is painlessly drawn. T still feels weak and knows he is running a fever. Someone else brings a tray into the room. T makes an attempt at a conversation, without success. 'Nurses,' as he decides to call them, 'have no translation devices.' Just like the previous meal, breakfast is colorful, with unfamiliar texture and taste. Feeling stronger, he gets out of bed and inspects his room. There are no windows. The light comes from the glowing ceiling. The bed and an armchair are the only furnishing. A spacious bathroom includes a toilet and a shower. The sliding door does not open automatically as he approaches it, nor can he discern any buttons or handles. On the other side of the door, he can see a small room, with its own door on the opposite side. He presumes it is some sort of an air lock. He operates the video screen, flips through the channels, but none catch his interest. The tour exhausts him, and he goes back to bed for a nap. The rest of his day is uneventful. At night, he dims the light and watches TV until he falls asleep.
The next few days are a repeat of the same routine. He gradually feels better. 'Time to get out of here.'
"Today, you will take another scan "
The floating gurney is wheeled into the room and he climbs into it, the transparent cylinder is placed around him, and he is out of the room, through the air lock, and into the corridor. T observes the route carefully. He will needs the information if he attempts an escape. He is now familiar with the scanner, its harmonic mechanical sounds, the tingling sensations, and that scent. The next day, he questions the doctor about leaving
"Scan is good, tests are bad. You stay."
More days. He adds exercise and meditation to his routine. He can now place the probes on his own, and the doctor's visits less often. He discovers that he can move the video display to any spot on the wall, which makes it convenient for reading. He brings up a Pynchon novel, which he started a long time ago, and quit in frustration. 'This time,' he hopes, 'I will finish.' He pays more attention to the nurses. Their loose fitting spacesuit covers them from head to toe. In addition to the helmet, they also wear googles and mask. Yet he can now distinguish among them, and note the differences in reaction to his attempts at communication. With one in particular, he makes a connection. She lingers after delivering the food, and talks to him kindly. He learns her name, though he can't pronounce it. She brings with her the translation device, and they talk in short sentences. One night, she comes into the room, and hands him a pill.
"What is it?"
"Take it". He does. He is outside. A slight breeze, the sun heats his skin, and the warm water laps at his feet. He needs to cool down, and he walks into the gentle waves. The water feels good on his skin. He is chest deep, and she is beside him. Her long black hair runs wet and shiny over her breasts, barely covering her nipples. She smiles, and takes his hand. He touches her face and they embrace. Her body fits perfectly into his. His whole being is concentrated on the contact of their skins. His hands caress her smooth back as she presses her breast and pelvis towards him. They kiss, and don't break their kiss even as a wave passes over them. She lies beside him as they hold tight, cherishing every surface of contact. She twists and moans as she wraps her thighs around his leg. His muscles are tense, the whole body aching, he wants her. Now! Then he is inside her, and he can breathe again. They look at each other, and gently start moving. Their bodies, their breath, their thoughts are synchronized. He knows that her emotions and sensations are exactly as his. Their movements increase in speed and intensity. His whole being is focused on their points of contact, the surroundings fade. She gasps then shudders as she reaches climax, his energy rises to an unbearable level, and he explodes. She is standing by his bed, her hand oh his chest. Her eyes are smiling.
"You too?" he guesses.
"Yes"
She visits him almost daily, and often with the pill. Their encounters grow in complexity and intensity. He talks to her about leaving together.
"I want also, but talk to doctor"
On the next visit he does.
"You cannot!"
"Why? I feel healthy"
"Tests still bad"
"After tests are good?"
"Impossible"
A bit of linguistic struggle, and he learns that they cannot breathe the same air. For them, the high oxygen content in his atmosphere is poisonous. He stops talking abut the future, and lives one day at a time. Until one day, "You are healthy. You can leave"
The departure is as swift and unemotional as his arrival. A nurse comes in and brings his old clothes. Another, brings the floating gurney and he is inside the hermetic cylinder and guided out. She is not anywhere in sight. The familiar odor and drowsiness. He is in the hotel room. The date on the clock indicated his flight's arrival date. The front desk confirms. This is not an error.
'What happened to me? Was it a dream?' Yet, he knows he read all of Gravity's Rainbow.
