The Blackwater Files: Saved Memory Part 2

Trying to find it again...

Ronald Everson/Jarvis Jones found what he came to Elysium to find but stumbled onto something much bigger, and stranger, in the process.

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Laughter echoed around the room as Jarvis darted inside. He dove onto his bed and burrowed under the covers. He clamped one hand over his mouth to hopefully contain his giggles.

            “Where are you little man?” his dad’s voice boomed from the hallway. “Are you in your room?”

            Jarvis peeked out, careful to stay invisible. He watched as his dad slipped into the room and looked around. The smile on his face was bright and full of joy. Hide and seek was their favorite game.

            After he checked the toy chest and closet his dad drifted to the bed. Jarvis tucked himself deeper and covered his mouth with both hands. He braced himself; he knew the round of tickling was about to come.

            “Perhaps you’re on the bed…” his dad said with a jovial chuckle.

            With a whoosh his dad yanked back the covers. Jarvis clamped his eyes shut and hugged his arms. He was ready…but nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes. He found the room dark and he no longer lay on his racecar bed but on a super thin mattress with a sheet so thin to almost be invisible. Fear welled up within Jarvis as he sat up and looked around.

            “No…” he whispered.

            “Little man…”

            The voice changed. No longer full of joy but darkness with a menacing undercurrent. A wisp of breath then hit the back of Jarvis’ neck. He froze and tried to keep from shaking.

            “I found you…”

            Jarvis slowly turned…

            “Ahh!”

            Jarvis shot awake with a shout. His breaths came in great heaves and sweat poured down his face. After several blinks he realized he lay not on the old bed from his childhood but on a high-tech hospital bed in the Elysium facility. He let out a long sigh of relief and laid back. It had all been a dream. Or more specifically, a nightmare.

            He rubbed his eyes as the events of the past 36 hours returned to his mind. After his childhood sojourn in the Undertow Jarvis had met the Doctor in the game console room. He had then been pulled back to reality and immediately put through an odd series of cognitive and psychological tests, most of which he had never heard of. The nurses and other medical people that ran them gave no indication of what they were for or what they hoped to gain with the resultant information. He was shuffled from room to room in the labyrinthine building but never saw another participant in this so-called study. He was given a quick bit to eat about halfway through, alone in a vast cafeteria, before continuing with the barrage of tests. It was as if none of them could hear, they ignored all his questions and statements.

            After a test that measured his vision for some reason Jarvis had been deposited into the room in which he currently lay. Sleep came quickly and now here he was, knowing even less about what was happening than before. A sharp pain erupted behind his eyes as his thoughts drifted to the revelation in the Undertow, if that’s what his experience could be called. He had no idea what had happened; the happy memory the Atari showed him felt 100% real, more so than any VR he had ever encountered, but at the same time he 100% knew that’s NOT what had happened in his room all those years before. In fact, nothing like that had ever occurred.

            A frown covered Jarvis’ face as another thought occurred to him, one not as confusing but much worse to consider. During all this he had forgotten the key. Again. He had tried to get a pad and pencil once he got out of the Undertow but the staff had ignored this just like everything else. Jarvis was afraid he had missed his chance. He exhaled and closed his eyes. To top things off the man he had hired to pull him from this place had either decided not to do it or worse, had been stopped by Elysium security. Perhaps THAT was the reason for all the tests. Did they think him some sort of spy?

            Before Jarvis could consider the possibility the door swung open and a pair of nurses entered. One moved to the variety of machines on the left while the other stepped right to the bed. He began to remove the cords that connected Jarvis to said machines.

            “Okay Mr. Jones,” he said with the same smile the other nurses and staff had sported since Jarvis returned from the Undertow. The kind of smile that looked incredibly forced. If he was in a VR room Jarvis would say it looked digitally enhanced. In a word, fake. “Time for a few more tests. If you’ll come with me…”

            He extended one hand forward. Jarvis stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

            “Not until I get some answers,” he said. “You’ve not explained what any of these tests are really for.”

            The two nurses exchanged a glance that went on for several moments too long. They looked to Jarvis to be communicating somehow, perhaps through body language he couldn’t recognize. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the other nurse stepped over and looked down at Jarvis with the same plastic-y smile.

            “They concern your experience within the Undertow,” he said. “But don’t worry, just a few more and we’ll be done.”

~~~

            There were more than just a “few more” and they lasted for the next 3 hours. Jarvis was once again ushered from room to room where he was asked to do everything from picking out objects hidden in a picture to balancing on one leg while trying to throw a ball through a hoop. He also underwent at least two MRI scans, an x-ray, and even had to sit between two arches that supposedly measured the amount of magnetic material found in his brain. He didn’t even know that was a thing.

            Once that particular test was complete the nurses drew his blood for the umpteenth time and then led him back to the cafeteria. Jarvis slumped on the stool once the staff placed a tray of food before him and left the room. It was the first time all day he had a moment to himself where he could relax a bit and think. But first he ate as his grumbling stomach had been longing for him to do since he woke.

            Jarvis tore into his food, a rather delicious plate of spaghetti, and tried to determine what was really going on at this facility. He couldn’t figure it out. What Jarvis really needed was to re-enter the Undertow. And not just to look for the key again. He had to know from where that happy memory of his dad had come. Did the O.S. have something to do with that? Could the condition somehow create a different set of memories? It didn’t seem possible to Jarvis that a condition caused by overexposure to virtual environments could affect memories from nearly 30 years ago. He didn’t know much about the brain, or O.S. for that matter, but he didn’t think it messed with his actual neurons, just the way in which they operated.

            He finished the last bite of spaghetti when a sharp blast of pain hit him right between the eyes. He grabbed either side of his head and leaned to the side. A short screech escaped his lips just before he fell to the floor. After an unknown amount of time groaning in agony, he felt a set of arms lift him back to the stool. A pinch to his arm later and the headache finally subsided. He let out a long breath and rubbed the fog from his eyes.

            “You okay buddy?”

            Jarvis looked up to the sight of the two nurses from earlier standing before him. They sported their weird plastic smiles instead of the expected looks of concern.

            “I’m fine,” Jarvis answered with a wave of his hand. He turned back to get a drink only to find that his cup and plate had been taken away.

            “Come along,” the other nurse said. “We need to get started on your afternoon tests.”

            Surprise and a bit of anger his Jarvis as he looked back to the duo. He stood and shook his head.

            “Oh no,” he said with more of a growl then he had intended. “No more tests. I want to see the doctor right away. Or I walk.”

            He pointed to the door and locked his jaw into place. He wasn’t the toughest of guys, he hadn’t had a physical fight in decades, but he knew he could take these two if it was needed. He hoped that message would be picked up by the nurses.

            They exchanged a look like they had in the room earlier and stared at each other for much longer than necessary. Jarvis had almost decided to make a run for it when they nurses finally turned back to him.

            “Very well,” the one on the right said. “The doctor will see you now.”

            He motioned for Jarvis to follow then headed for the door. Jarvis walked after him as the other nurse fell in behind. Perhaps the pair had been talking low and had earpieces that connected them to the doctor. Or maybe all this was yet another test of some sort. Jarvis had no idea.

            The nurse led him down a long hall, passing several branch offs in the process. Jarvis saw no one else during the entire walk. They reached the end and turned left, stopping at a nearby door. The nurse gestured toward it.

            “Go in here,” he said in a commanding voice. “The Doctor will be in momentarily.”

            Jarvis looked between the two nurses then nodded and walked through the door. It closed behind him with a click that he thought was a lock. He took in the room; a single table sat in the center with chairs on either side. Another door sat in the wall on the far end. The walls were bare and the color of some shade of off white. The place made him uncomfortable for some reason; he felt an urge to get out of there as quickly as possible. He pushed the feelings away and sat in the seat closest to him. Almost immediately the other door opened and in walked Dr. Karasevdas. Jarvis did a quick double take, the man looked almost exactly the same as he did in both the Undertow AND the intro video he had watched at the beginning of all this. It was somewhat unnerving. The doctor sat in the opposite chair and folded his hands on the table.

            “Good to see you again Mr. Jones,” he said as he flashed his megawatt smile. “I apologize for all the tests but they are showing some very promising results."

            "Um, that's good,” Jarvis said with a frown. “What have they been for? No one will say anything.”

            “I’m sorry about that as well,” the doctor said, his tone even yet strangely vague. “Protocol dictates that none of the staff apart from myself discuss the particulars of our work. Too much room for misunderstanding. I’m sure you can understand.”

            Jarvis did not but nodded anyway. A headache began to well up inside but he fought the urge to react to it. He didn’t want the doctor distracted from his questioning.

            “Sure, makes sense,” he said. “But you’re here now, can you please tell me what’s going on?”

            “I’ll do you one better,” Dr. Karasevdas said as he stood. “I’ll show you. Come.”

            He gestured for Jarvis to follow then walked to the door through which he had entered. He disappeared a second later. Jarvis hesitated, unsure why they had gone into this room in the first place. The doctor knew beforehand what Jarvis wanted, why not go directly to wherever he now wanted to lead him? Yet another thing about this place that made no sense.

            After following the doctor through a dizzying array of corridors Jarvis found that they had arrived back at the room where he had originally entered the Undertow. Dr. Karasevdas motioned for him to lie on the bed and then retreated to the wall as a couple nurses. These were not the pair Jarvis had been dealing with all day. They hooked him to the machines and attached the needle vest thing to his back. Once finished one of them produced a pill and handed it over.

            “That is my cue,” the doctor said as he stepped to the door. “I’ll see you down below.”

            A million questions came to mind as Jarvis watched the doctor exit. Did he himself take a pill somewhere? Could he somehow watch the goings on in someone’s subconscious on a video monitor?

            Such questions would have to remain unanswered for now as the nurse on the right motioned for him to take the pill. Jarvis obliged and began to count backward as he had done the first time. A headache started to build as he counted back to 40 then vanished as the world around Jarvis started to fade. His eyes fluttered closed and the next thing he knew Jarvis was back in the Lobby. It appeared as before though the ads on the wall did not look quite the same. The one behind the opposite couch caught his eye, looking vaguely like a scene from the dream he had that morning. He stood to investigate when the doctor's voice boomed from everywhere at once.

            “In the console room Mr. Jones.”

            The ad disappeared so Jarvis shook the feeling away. He entered the adjacent octagonal room to find Dr. Karasevdas next to the Nintendo GameSphere. He remembered playing that console probably 10 years ago which made him wonder what from that period of his life had anything to do with the testing he had just undergone.

            “Yes, there’s something in there I would like you to see,” Dr. Karasevdas said as if reading Jarvis’ thoughts. He picked up the controller and held it out. Jarvis stepped close and saw a list of dates had appeared on the screen.

            “June 7^th should work,” the doctor added.

            Jarvis hesitated a moment then took the controller. He highlighted the date in question and took a deep breath. He wished there was a way to jump from console to console without coming back to this room. Then he could get the key again and find a way out of here.

            “Go on now.”

            With a nod Jarvis hit the select button. The screen lit up and engulfed him in a thick light. The room seemed to spin and Jarvis knew he found himself in what looked like a laboratory. A few men in white coats worked here and there but Jarvis was drawn to the woman that stood on the other side of a lab table from him. She looked vaguely familiar but Jarvis could not place from where. She held up a vial that contained a red substance. She hovered an eyedropper over the open end and squirted a liquid inside. She swirled the vial around and the substance subsequently turned bright green. A strange look came over the woman's face, a mix of disappointment and excitement. She turned toward Jarvis.

            “You were right Dr. Jones,” she said with the slightest hint of a sigh. “I guess you are a viable candidate for the Blank program.”

            Jarvis did an auditory double take. Doctor? He frowned and looked around until he saw a glass enclosed cabinet to his right. He stepped to it and caught his own reflection. Jarvis knew he looked at himself, but not a version he ever remembered. He had a parted haircut and a closely trimmed beard. He wore a vest and a tie, he never recalled ever wearing those, and also had on a lab coat. His name was monogrammed on the upper right chest of the coat which read DR. JARVIS JONES. This was followed by a string of acronyms he had never seen before.

            “I’m a doctor?!”

            “You okay Dr. Jones?”

            Jarvis turned to see that the woman now stood right next to him. She was a good two feet shorter and looked up at him with concern. Jarvis had the distinct feeling that this had really happened though it seemed impossible.

            “You know you don't have to do this,” the woman said as she reached over and gripped his wrist. “We have several other promising candidates right there in the other room. I know I wouldn't want a whole new set of memories laid over mine. We're still not sure if it can be reversed after all.”

            Something in Jarvis’s mind popped up in that moment. He wasn't sure what, the thought was vague and formless, but its appearance had been triggered by the woman's words. Memories could be overlaid with fake ones? He had to know more.

            “What do you-“

            A sudden headache hit Jarvis with enough force to knock him to his knees. A scream forced its way out, loud enough to curdle his own blood. The room swirled around Jarvis and the lights brightened to an unbelievable intensity. He clamped his eyes shut and tried to focus on anything but the pain.

            “Did he just move?”

            The voice came from somewhere but was not from the woman. Was he back in the Lobby? Or in the hospital room?

            “You know cranial exposure can cause involuntary movements,” another voice said.

            “I know that,” the first said. “This looked conscious.”

            The sounds of machinery next reached Jarvis’s ears. He swallowed and let out several long breaths. The pain diminished and he forced his eyes open. He stared at a ceiling he recognized. He was in an OPERATING ROOM. He adjusted his gaze to the mirrored surface on the ceiling slightly behind the position of his head. If he could move he would have gasped. The top of the skull was gone, his brain exposed with a dozen wires extending from it. He felt his eyes widened; he realized he had been in a VR room from the moment the doctor had met him in the Undertow. He knew this because he now lay in the real world. There was no mistaking it, he felt EVERYTHING.

And he was in the middle of SURGERY.