With a gasp, Ilara jolted into consciousness. Or at least awareness. Her body felt strangely lethargic, barely listening to her commands. At least I’m not paralyzed, was her first thought as she slowly wiggled her stiff fingers and toes . Where the hell am I though? And why is it so dark? Her heartbeat started to pick up as panic started to rear its head. Why can’t I see? Why can I barely move? What the hell is going on?! Ilara started to struggle, demanding that her body move, to do something other than a weak wiggle.
Her struggle lasted an eternity. Or at least that’s what it felt like. In the end, she wound up gasping for air and her body shaking with weakness. Fuck me, she thought as she couldn’t even move her lips and tongue enough to speak. Okay, calm down. I’m not going anywhere. Regroup and assess. Maybe I really am paralyzed? Or received some kind of head injury? What was I doing before I woke up like this? She mentally frowned, trying to recall her last memory. As she looked back, it felt like there was a haze around her last memories. She backed up some more. I was on leave for three weeks and was going to visit some friends from high school. The high school reunion was coming up and the old gang wanted to catch up beforehand. In fact, I was driving up North to meet them in a rented car, taking my time and then… nothing. No matter how hard she focused, her last memory was driving the car and singing along to a song on the radio. Did I get into a car accident? That would suck. Here lies Ilare Dekare, decorated medic, who met her end by truck. Dear me, that would be shitty. I can almost hear the jokes. You know what. Fuck it. I’m going to take a nap. There better be something interesting or new when I wake up.
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Ilara woke up again after an undeterminable amount of time had passed. Goddammit, I still can’t see shit. Shouldn’t I hear something? Or feel more that… whatever this warm and heavy feeling is? She tried to move her body again, but all she could was wiggle her fingers and toes. Damn it all to hell and back, she mentally cursed. This is not normal. I never heard of people being this aware when unconscious. And if I’m paralyzed, I shouldn’t be able to feel what I feel. I’m a medic, trust me. Sure, I am more used to treating bullet wounds, blisters, sprains, and burns… but I know stuff. I actually paid attention in class, I promise! Hard not to, when you realize your knowledge and actions may make the difference between life and death.
Mentally nudging her mind to get back on track, she decided to count the time she spent waiting for something to happen. That way, I should get a better handle on whatever’s going on… hopefully.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …, 13, …, 113, 114, 115, …713, 714, 715…
With a start, Ilara woke up. Whut… She would have rubbed her eyes if she could have moved. Damn it, I fell asleep. It’s not like I was counting sheep. Then again, I’m surrounded by something warm and gooey, and it’s dark and… Wait! Warm and gooey? Ha! I didn’t feel that before. Progress! She did a happy dance in her mind. Now if I could only move… Nope, still not more than a wiggle. Guess I’ll continue counting. Where was I?
913, 914, 915, …, 1313, 1314, 1315, …
Ilara stretched a little bit before bumping against something, immediately waking up. Holy crap! I can move! I can move! I am aliiiiiiiiiiive! Her jubilation was quickly cut off as she realized she was awfully restricted, wherever she was. She could only move a few centimeters. Am I still trapped in my car? But I don’t feel any pain. Am I restrained in the hospital, so I don’t injure myself? So many questions and so little answers. Maybe if I make a lot of fuss, somebody will notice…
Holy shit, Houston, we have contact! After wiggling, kicking and pushing around, something suddenly pushed back! She kicked at the spot where someone pushed back, focusing intently on… well anything really. Again, something pushed against the… wall? Restriction? Trapping? She was in. Ha, I didn’t imagine it! Sweet ol’ progress. What does it mean though? Before she could really ponder this new development, she fell asleep again.
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So I’m guessing this is day 5. Or at least, 5 times I’ve regained consciousness, which is nice. At least I’m waking up. And I can… She wiggled around again. Yup, I can still move somewhat, but I’m still trapped. No new sensations. This is kind of boring. Then again, it may be known that I have a tendency to move. Constantly. Unless I’m in my zone. Then I could focus 100% on something without fidgeting. Thank God for that, otherwise operations would be a bitch. Anyway, I thought I specifically requested something interesting to happen, two cons ago (conscious days). Someone pushing back against my gooey restrains doesn’t count. Am I in some sci-fi regeneration gel? Oh my god, don’t tell me I’m abducted by aliens?
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Ilara promptly lost her ever loving shit.
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Con 8. Okay, so remember when I said I can’t sit still? Apparently, that applies to my mind too when my body can’t move! I feel like my synapses are firing away at light speed. I’ve went through about every song I know of and some I didn’t recall I knew. I’ve tried counting again and managed to get up to 5113 in between my naps. Just watch me, I’m going to pump those numbers up!
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Con 12. Those naps are treacherous. If not for them, I swear I would have reached 10K by now. Okay, I admit, I got distracted sometimes. But it is important to keep up my wiggles! Daily exercise is good for you. And okay, I didn’t need to spend so much time listing reasons why Lord of the Rings is the best trilogy every made. Everybody would agree in a heartbeat. But a girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do, right?
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Con 20. So, I’ve stepped up my game again and reached 15K! take that, you sneaky naps! Seriously though, how long is this going to take? I’m not sure how much more my sanity is going to take. This mind-numbing nothingness is killing me! I even started to do imitations of famous actors just so I wouldn’t have to hear my own voice. But hearing a badly imitated Arnold Schwarzenegger gets old, quickly.
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I think I’m on con 22 now… Or is it 23? Ugh, this truly sucks. There is nothing to do! At one point, I thought I heard some noise, almost like people talking, but it was so faint, I wasn’t entirely sure my mind didn’t just made it up. Even my wiggles can’t amuse me anymore, not even when something responds to it by pushing back. I’m almost at the point I wished my alien theory was real, just so something would happen. I’m sure they’ll be the friendly type and not the dismembering type… right? Right. So, in other news, I managed…
Threshold [24 weeks] passed.
System initializing.
Ilara jolted out of her musings as a blue screen popped up in front of her. Or at least, she thought it was in front of her eyes. She still couldn’t see jack shit besides the screen. What in the world is going on? Ilara mentally shouted.
As suddenly as the screen appeared, it disappeared just as quickly. Did… that just happen? She wondered. I know I’ve been going just a tiny bit stir-crazy and might have wished for something interesting to happen… but yeah.
Error.
Consciousness detected.
Scanning…
Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that. Error reports never lead to anything good. You better cut me some slack here!
Scanning complete. Soul detected.
Initializing reincarnation protocol.
Scanning memories…
Hold up! What is all this nonsense? And you better not be rummaging through my mind! That is NOT a safe place, as these past few days have indicated. Ilara could only read the messages in disbelief. Reincarnation… did that mean I died? A realization suddenly hit her. Oh God. Does this mean… AM I INSIDE SOMEONE’S WOMB RIGHT NOW?! Oh God, oh God, oh God, this is just… FUCK. Before she could slide into a full-blown panic attack, another blue screen popped into existence.
Scanning completed.
System updated according to Reincarnation protocol.
Status Screen loading…
Please remain calm.
It felt like she got shot with a dose of tranquilizer. Which was probably a good thing, as she was kicking and punching her FREAKING MOTHER TO BE in her panic. Sorry mom…
Status Screen loaded
Please state Status Screen with intent for it to show.
Oh goodie, it’s finished, she thought in utter peace. The system or whatever this is sure gives out the good stuff. I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages. Can I buy it? For medical purpose, I swear. Wait, what was I supposed to… Oh right… Status Screen, she mentally stated.