doctor
finished talking, he made it clear that Geoffrey was to head to the
shower, without further delay. The doctor led Geoffrey through a
virtual maze of hallways that were as large as the entranceway
corridor but, as the doctor had said, not as brightly lit, until
the two of them at last came to the sterilization
shower.
The shower was unlike any normal
shower Geoffrey had ever seen. He expected as much: This whole
fiasco was like a crazy dream and a normal shower would’ve been too
close to reality to be properly at home in this dream. The room the
doctor led him into was, for all appearances, just like the others,
except that the light was of a much different and lesser quality
than the rest of the facility. The lights were regular lights and
it was amazing how dull and dirty they looked now that Geoffrey’s
eyes had grown accustomed to the Cleaning Lights. The difference
was so profound that it was almost like stepping out of the noon
day sun into relative darkness. When Geoffrey’s eyes adjusted to
the gloom, he saw the other obvious difference in the room. The
walls and the ceiling, even the floor were all permeated with
small, shallow grooves. Geoffrey looked at them closely. He didn’t
think they were cameras, but he couldn’t tell what they
were.
“All right, Son,” said the doctor,
“You will only be in here for about fifteen minutes. Shortly after
I leave, you will hear instructions on what you’re supposed to do.
I will meet you afterward. I have another patient to attend to.”
Geoffrey had the distinct feeling the doctor wasn’t talking about
Mr. Reynolds. Before he could ask any further questions, the doctor
had closed the door behind him and was gone.
“Right.” Geoffrey whispered to
himself. “And so, the fun continues.”
“Geoffrey Summons?” a voice that
sounded amazingly close, asked, just then. Geoffrey nearly leapt
out of his skin.
“Yes?” he answered tentatively, once
he could steady his breathing.
“Disrobe, please.” the
voice said blandly. Geoffrey couldn’t tell if it was a woman’s
voice, a man’s, or computer generated for that matter. Either way,
it sounded devoid of any particular interest. Geoffrey mused to
himself that this was probably for his benefit. With the unexpected
voice reminding him that he was being watched, he was glad that the
person using it wasn’t giving the impression that he, she, or it
was enjoying this little moment of voyeurism (especially since he
couldn’t tell with any certainty whether or not it was a woman’s voice). Even as
he disrobed, he was still uncomfortable. This seemed to be just
another link in the chain of unusual things that he had been
involved in lately. Geoffrey took off his shoes, then his shirt,
with the unassailable hesitation of man undressing in front of an
audience of strangers for the very first time.
Then, he thought about the
aliens the doctor had mentioned studying. How must they feel, being
monitored and probed, as Geoffrey was sure they were? Did they feel
as humiliated as he did now? Were they able to feel humiliated at all? What did they feel, being in
the hands of absurdly foreign entities as human beings
(certainly humans were the aliens to them) and that, being endlessly tested
upon and perhaps even vivisected, for the sake of furthering
knowledge?
“Would you completely disrobe,
please?” the voice said, startling Geoffrey a second time. He had
been so lost in his own train of thought that he stopped
undressing. He looked down. His fingers hovered, frozen, over the
buttons of his pants. He finished unbuttoning his pants, slowly
lowered them to the floor, then stepped out of them. It was truly
unnerving to undress before an audience for the first time, even if
that audience was well hidden behind camera lenses
somewhere.
He wedged his thumbs into the
waistband of his briefs as he had done countless times before and
again, he hesitated. He was painfully aware that this was his final
article of
finished talking, he made it clear that Geoffrey was to head to the
shower, without further delay. The doctor led Geoffrey through a
virtual maze of hallways that were as large as the entranceway
corridor but, as the doctor had said, not as brightly lit, until
the two of them at last came to the sterilization
shower.
The shower was unlike any normal
shower Geoffrey had ever seen. He expected as much: This whole
fiasco was like a crazy dream and a normal shower would’ve been too
close to reality to be properly at home in this dream. The room the
doctor led him into was, for all appearances, just like the others,
except that the light was of a much different and lesser quality
than the rest of the facility. The lights were regular lights and
it was amazing how dull and dirty they looked now that Geoffrey’s
eyes had grown accustomed to the Cleaning Lights. The difference
was so profound that it was almost like stepping out of the noon
day sun into relative darkness. When Geoffrey’s eyes adjusted to
the gloom, he saw the other obvious difference in the room. The
walls and the ceiling, even the floor were all permeated with
small, shallow grooves. Geoffrey looked at them closely. He didn’t
think they were cameras, but he couldn’t tell what they
were.
“All right, Son,” said the doctor,
“You will only be in here for about fifteen minutes. Shortly after
I leave, you will hear instructions on what you’re supposed to do.
I will meet you afterward. I have another patient to attend to.”
Geoffrey had the distinct feeling the doctor wasn’t talking about
Mr. Reynolds. Before he could ask any further questions, the doctor
had closed the door behind him and was gone.
“Right.” Geoffrey whispered to
himself. “And so, the fun continues.”
“Geoffrey Summons?” a voice that
sounded amazingly close, asked, just then. Geoffrey nearly leapt
out of his skin.
“Yes?” he answered tentatively, once
he could steady his breathing.
“Disrobe, please.” the
voice said blandly. Geoffrey couldn’t tell if it was a woman’s
voice, a man’s, or computer generated for that matter. Either way,
it sounded devoid of any particular interest. Geoffrey mused to
himself that this was probably for his benefit. With the unexpected
voice reminding him that he was being watched, he was glad that the
person using it wasn’t giving the impression that he, she, or it
was enjoying this little moment of voyeurism (especially since he
couldn’t tell with any certainty whether or not it was a woman’s voice). Even as
he disrobed, he was still uncomfortable. This seemed to be just
another link in the chain of unusual things that he had been
involved in lately. Geoffrey took off his shoes, then his shirt,
with the unassailable hesitation of man undressing in front of an
audience of strangers for the very first time.
Then, he thought about the
aliens the doctor had mentioned studying. How must they feel, being
monitored and probed, as Geoffrey was sure they were? Did they feel
as humiliated as he did now? Were they able to feel humiliated at all? What did they feel, being in
the hands of absurdly foreign entities as human beings
(certainly humans were the aliens to them) and that, being endlessly tested
upon and perhaps even vivisected, for the sake of furthering
knowledge?
“Would you completely disrobe,
please?” the voice said, startling Geoffrey a second time. He had
been so lost in his own train of thought that he stopped
undressing. He looked down. His fingers hovered, frozen, over the
buttons of his pants. He finished unbuttoning his pants, slowly
lowered them to the floor, then stepped out of them. It was truly
unnerving to undress before an audience for the first time, even if
that audience was well hidden behind camera lenses
somewhere.
He wedged his thumbs into the
waistband of his briefs as he had done countless times before and
again, he hesitated. He was painfully aware that this was his final
article of
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