Body/Light

In an instant, we landed right on the platform to the neon train. I'd never been up here, above ground. It was for people who were normal. All the buildings were lined with bright colors; blue, green, purple, pink. They stretched meters and meters high. People were sprawled out in the street, jumping and floating around. Right next to the station, there were old ruins of a stone park that had been preserved for 1000 years, centering itself in the city. Apparently, it was named Tokyo. 

The strangest thing was it was so quiet. Hardly any noise emitted around the city. It wasn't what I had imagined; I hated that sound. It left too much room in my mind. That girl who looked like me kept staring and staring, right back at me. 

A man held his hand out to welcome all the people boarding the train for the evening. "Tickets! Tickets! Wait in line and once I have scanned you, cross the threshold."

People started filing in and I notice that this man, Dr. Vex he calls himself, started to fidget around. "Shit! I don't have any tickets, I guess I should've thought about it before I came up here. Did they remodel? Well, everything always updates, that is no surprise. Did you get tickets?"

Why would I have tickets? Only time will tell if choosing to follow this man was worth it. I keep remembering that body double, me. Or at least it looked like me, eerily so. With that strange liquid on her face. The one that left a crater in my chest. We were next up.

The attendant had on a pink suit with a black-tie and focused his dark shades towards Dr. Vex and looked at him curiously. "Tickets?"

"Uh, well, see, you know, I left them! They're back at my house, can I telep-"

"Teleportation is against the law above ground in Nolan. Tickets? I don't sense a reservation,"

"Uh, well! It must be a mistake. I'm with the government! See, look," He drew a square with his finger and showed a green badge that started to flicker. "See? Government officials ride free, no? And don't bother checking her in. She's with me. It's a government thing. See, if you want, I can call the higher ups. You want a job, don't you? I mean, it's not like they come easy or-"

"Go. You're holding up the line." He stared at me, watching me cross the platform to the pink and green train. I felt that same burning sensation on the back of my head from before as I boarded and looked around to see if I was imagining it again. I didn't see anything.

"Ah, I forgot. Nolan does have a strict no teleportation law. It is the capital after all, man! To think they got me working below ground--no offense, but it sucks. The things I know, man!"

"How can you remember me?" I asked him. No one looked at each other on the train or made a sound. Dr. Vex had been the only person not to stare. I was certain he saw how I looked, why didn't he stare like the rest of them? 

The train took off at light speed and even with the glasses, I held tightly on to the armchair. A bit of wind blew by my face when he finally responded. "Hmmm. How should I answer that? With a question I suppose." He said, looking out of the window. We were floating in the sky heading off to who knows where. The pink and green track winded all the way around the city, endlessly it seemed. "We're going to meet Experience IIII. How much do you know about your condition?"

How much did I know? All I remember is going in and out of the hospital, the treatment, those nasty yellow pills. Day in, day out. When I was younger, I got rid of all the holographs in the house. I was always reminded how I looked through the eyes of others. Their stares, their contempt. It's only natural to believe it, I mean, it was true. I can't blame them for staring. 

I sat there quietly. I never knew that the city below had been so dark. If it weren't for the sky, it'd be as if below ground never existed. Experience IIII?

"Not much of the talker, hm? It's okay! I'll do the talking, don't you worry. He let us in, that was weird. I should've brought those tickets, but they can always scan to see if you had them. Anyways, well, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah. All members of the government know what memory is. Its why Experience is such a mystery. 1000 years ago, we made a discovery." 

He paused, looking around before continuing. The air seemed to get a little more tense. This sensation. No one on the train seemed to notice or move, per usual. But I don't know. 

"We could access up to 50% or more of brain power if we removed a certain part of the brain located in a section called Experience. It gave us sensory control of light, something that seemed a million years off. Regeneration, teleportation, photosynthesis, anything you could think of could be rendered possible. It begged the question, however, or at least to me, why did it remove the memory and why is it necessary for the government to repress it-" He stopped.

That sensation I felt. 

A man in a dark brown suit with a purple tie stood up toward the front of the train and put it to a halt.  Everyone looked up at the sudden stop and in a moment, they all disappeared. The man in front clasped his hands together and a purple film enveloped the entire space. We were no longer on the train but rather in a purple field of...flowers, I believe? I had only seen them in books, but it was a large open space of flowers with the man in the brown suit sitting on the top of a hill, looking down on us. Apparently, before 1000 years ago, these fields grew with light and natural liquids. Strange.

It was him. 

He took off his shades, revealing those violet eyes. A chill ran down my back and I felt paralyzed. Unable to move an inch. This time, however, he smiled. "Show me that trick you did last time, the one where you split your body." He stared at me, his gaze unwavering. I turned my face to avoid it, and there he was. He grabbed my face once again, but this time, Dr. Vex stepped in and knocked it away. 

The two of them stared at each other, taking a step back. The man with the violet eyes spoke. "To think there was beauty like this all around 1000 years ago, before the idea of Experience. It's corrupted the minds of the government." He knelt down to pick up a flower and held it to his nose, to smell it I suppose. These things have a smell?

"They're going to come after you, Vex. What you're doing," he paused to look at me, "is dangerous. See, I left. Their obsession with Experience and memory. I don't really care to know about what life was 1000 years ago, like you. I just want to know who the fuck you are. I sense no light from you. You're fragile and you're one of the few who, well, remember." He spoke to me. So, he does know this Dr. Vex.

"You interest me. Whether I have you now or later, no difference. I'm a patient man." The one with the violet man spoke softly. "Looking at you, it was foolish to ask a question that even you yourself have no answer to. I realize that now. You're empty. But interesting. Vex. Don't fall victim to this. Your life isn't worth it. And you," he pointed towards me, sitting back on top of the hill. "Come back to me when you are strong. Then we can discuss who you really are."

With that, he clasped his hands and released the purple film.

We were back on the train, full of people on the pink and green railway. Like nothing happened. 

Who I am…

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