In the blackness, I was only hearing some whispering. I could feel that I was laying on my back, but I had no memory of doing so. The last thing I could remember was being on Lodos' habitation - no, actually the bridge.
Suddenly, I saw parallel, bright rays of light. Their contrast began increasing and the pure white started turning into colored shapes.
"He's waking up." someone said. I could then start making sense of the sounds.
As I tried to move around, I noticed various things around my body, preventing me from turning.
"Easy there." someone said. I knew he was talking to me.
My body was feeling heavy anyway, so I let myself softly drop back to the previous position.
My vision was then mostly restored. I knew this place; I was in the small medical deck of Lodos, laying on a hospital bed. Plastic pipes were running around my arms and chest, and computers were monitoring my status. Two people were watching me by my sides, both of whom had doctors' uniforms.
"Can you understand us?" the one on my right asked. "If you can't talk, try blinking twice."
I was confident I could talk, until I tried. Only then I discovered that my control on my own body was greatly diminished.
"Is it like the last time?" the one on the left asked to the other doctor. His response was a nod.
"Hey, I am fully conscious!" I wanted to scream out, but I couldn't. Instead, I waited for the doctor to look into my eyes, then blinked twice. He seemed slightly surprised.
"Wait." he said. "If you can hear me, blink three times in a row."
I blinked three times, rapidly. With excitement, both doctors walked closer to me.
"Thank god, this time, you are actually conscious." said the one on the left. "Unfortunately, aboard this ship, we have no brain interfaces to translate your thoughts into words, but if you are okay with using your body language, we can make it work."
"What is the last thing you can remember?" asked the one on the right. That was not a yes-no question, so I wasn't sure how I could answer that. However, the one on the left noticed the situation.
"Okay, let's try it another way." he said. "Do you remember waking up on this bed before? If your answer is yes, blink twice. If not, blink three times."
I blinked three times.
"Alright." the one on the right said. "Do you remember being carried to the medical bay? Answer method is the same."
I blinked three times again.
"I see..." he said. "Do you remember the last thing you ate or drunk?"
I blinked three times, once more.
"Force your memories please." he said. "Where do you remember being the last moment before you found yourself here? The access corridor?"
The answer was no again.
"The lifts?"
...
"The bridge?"
This time, I blinked twice.
"Very well." said the doctor on my right. "For your information, you've been in coma for the last five months."
FIVE MONTHS! I must've missed a lot during that time, but on the bright side, at least I was still alive.
"You have been poisoned AND infected with potentially deadly chemical substances and microorganisms. Luckily, most were found to be in trace amounts, so the permanent damage should be minimal. Unfortunately, the human body can not replace damaged neurons naturally. We had to repair your nervous system using artificial neuron sets, so it might take some getting used to. Some of your body parts may not be as responsive to your commands as it would naturally be, or things might get itchy at times. It can be configured, but only through additional surgeries; so please take your time to try things out before the configuration."
"Your immune system has been weakened as well, so you will have to be extra careful from now on." the other doctor added. "Two other people were brought to the medical bay in similar conditions, both of which were engineers. Neither one made it, but one of them did survive for three months. Admiral's investigation indicates that the potable water system was contaminated somehow without setting off any alarms, and the major points of suspicion are hydroponics or the engineering deck lines; but no one can say anything for sure. Regardless, the potable water reserves were cleaned and the pipelines were replaced - no other incidents occurred since."
I tried moving my body once again. This time, my attempt was slightly more successful.
"I'm sure you have a lot to ask or do, but for now, I would suggest that you take some more rest." said the doctor on my right. The one on the left continued.
"If you wish to talk to anyone, we can ask the admiral for a list of crew members so you can tell me what to do next."
I nodded.
"You are lucky to be alive. He deserves a lot of credit here, with his outstanding efforts on keeping you alive. " said the doctor on my left, pointing to the one on the right.
"Oh, I did nothing." he replied and turned to the doctor on my left. "Well... Could you please relay the news to the admiral and get a list of crew members? I... I have a chronology of events for the last five months, and I'm supposed to brief the president on them on admiral's orders, once he wakes up; which he just did."
"Effective use of time, you say!" said the one on my left. "Well then, I will be on my way!"
Before he left, I suddenly started moving around as if I was having some problem.
"Oh no." said the doctor on my left. "Spasm? Maybe the artificial neurons were too sensitive!"
With my eyes, I tried to tell the doctor on my left to not leave the medical bay. Just as I expected, he didn't understand. He turned to the doctor on my right. "You know what to do if things go wrong. I will be back in a moment."
I tried faking violent spasms again, but this time, he didn't care. The other doctor, whom I was left with, looked into my eyes.
"I know how uncomfortable it is, try to relax." he said. "You are sending way too many signals to your body. I suggest that you just close your eyes and lay still for a while. You are being way too hard on your 'new' nervous system."
I had no intentions to relax.