I heard the door slam shut behind me but I didn't move. I was still rooted to the spot when I saw the man slowly turn back and look at me.
His dark eyes met mine and I felt time stand still.
The man grinned widely as he looked at me up and down.
"Orange is so not your colour Kay." he said trying to hide his grin.
"Ernie. No.... It's Doctor Ernestein Schrader now. It's been a while." I couldn't help but collapse in relief as I realized I wasn't going to live the rest of my life locked up in a jail cell of the the most secured prison in the world.
"It's been so long since I last saw you Doctor Kaysar. How have you been?" my friend asked with a far away look in his eyes.
"Great! A bit overwhelmed with the recent happenings but gladly still a free man." I sighed sitting down on a nearby chair as exhaution took its toll on me.
He frowned.
"Did they treat you roughly?" He asked me seriously.
"I thought they were going to arrest me. Frankly speaking....I was rather confused and....terrified. But I.... I am okay now....knowing it was just an overreaction on my part. I feel rather foolish now." I laughed shakily.
He did not laugh as he looked at me with concern.
"They were supposed to make it look like you were one of the new prisoners in order to not attract much attention. The existence of this place in unknown to all except a selected few." he said gesturing about.
"Oh. I didn't....know that." I said nodding slowly in understanding.
It all made sense now.
I really overreacted back then.....
I must have looked really foolish panicking unnecessarily like that.
"Did they really not explain anything to you?" He frowned.
"No....They didn't." I replied honestly.
He clenched his fist and quickly dialed someone on his phone.
"Get those damn pigs here right now!.... Huh? Are you an idiot?..... obviously not! Are you daft?.... Yeah that's an order you nitwit!" he barked on the phone for some time.
I was quite startled as I hadn't ever seen this dominating personality in him ever before.
I reminded myself he was a confident, talented and capable adult now.
He was no longer the meek and scared child I once used to protect.
I was a bit proud as I noticed that the way he carried himself spoke of confidence.
He no longer slumped or looked wary like before. His head was held high and his body tall and self assured had signs of being well maintained and regularly exercised.
His voice was confident and firm like a voice of a leader that gained immediate obedience without questions.
His nervous gestures and squeaky excited voice was gone completely and in its place was well refined gestures and a firm tone that demanded complete obedience.
Ernie had grown up to be a brilliant man and I couldn't be more proud.
He suddenly slammed down his phone and sighed in frustration muttering a few choice words that I would never have even dreamt of hearing from him before.
"You sure have grown up well Ernie to become such a brilliant scientist." I said with unmistakable and obvious pride.
His bad mood disappeared and he gave me his shy grin that I couldn't help but be reminded of him in his youth.
"You have grown up to be even more brilliant yourself. I was especially fascinated by your creations 'Cyro' and 'APR'! They are part of the inspiration behind the current project!" Ernie said eagerly flailing his arms about in excitement as he spoke in a rapid pace.
There were some parts of him that haven't changed since back then I thought feeling a bit nostalgic.
'APR' or 'All Purpose Robot' was one of my greatest achievements that was considered as one of the greatest innovations of the technological era.
APR ( All Purpose Robot )
It was simply a robot companion that helps in everything whether cooking, shopping, learning, work or simply entertainment.
The most impressive feature was its quick learning speed. By simply watching a famous cook prepare a complicated delicacy, it could reproduce it simply like it was an exceedingly easy task.
It could solve complicated equations, help with tasks that were infuriatingly complex and even travel vast distances in a matter of seconds.
It had a fearsome eagerness to learn more and more.
Nothing would quench it's thirst for acquiring knowledge as it would try to learn something new everyday and accumulate more information to its infinitely vast memory.
However despite the public favoring APR so much, I was even more proud of 'CYRO' which had a deeper connection to me than 'APR'.
Despite APR's brilliant features, there were some defects. It didn't have any personality other than curiosity and intellect. It couldn't understand something as simple as what causes tears or makes people smile despite its limitless intellectual capacity.
It was simply a machine or a useful tool to me that would help make daily life easier.
APR's defects were CYRO's strengths.
CYRO was my passion.
CYRO was my obsession.
CYRO was my dream.
CYRO meant much more to me.
CYRO
It had a personality of its own. A mind and emotions. It had feelings. It had fears and dreams. It understood you and was like a little human which had a comforting and pleasant voice, a wide range of expressions, gestures and adorable features.
I treated CYRO like another human. It wasn't as brilliant or intelligent as APR.
If you ask it to walk a dog, it would wander away and gaze at the sea dreamily with its lens.
It wouldn't always play the song you tell it to and would most likely make up one according to how either you or it is feeling.
It was a clumsy cook and generally made a mess but was passionate about sweets and would make them without being asked to.
It would read books by itself having a special inclination to books related to either psychology or emotions. It would cry when it read something sad and laugh when it found something amusing. Sometimes it even recommended a good book in an excited and eager voice without being asked to.
But...
When you felt down, it knew exactly what to do. Whether to provide comfort, give you some time to yourself to spend in solitude or just listen as.....I spoke. It knew exactly what to do.
It understood me.
It was one of the reasons why it had great potential in therapy and counselling....if I were to make it public.....
There was just one CYRO in existence.
There were many APR's.
I was obsessed with making CYRO perfect and had forgotten the world as I designed it. I had foregone food, sleep and contact with the world as I focused on perfecting my greatest creation.
I had written about CYRO but held off on making it public as I kept on insisting it needed more updates or there were some major defects.
I kept on telling the world CYRO wasn't perfect yet...
But to me CYRO was perfect.
I just wanted to be the only one who has CYRO and I wanted there to be just one CYRO for me.
So there was just one CYRO.
But....if it was Ernie.....
I would let him know about CYRO's secrets. For this project, I would share my CYRO just for him.
CYRO was mine.
My obsession.
But Ernie meant much more to me. He was my little brother.
So if it meant sharing CYRO for him....
....Just for him, I would do that.
So....
CYRO would be ours only.
Mine and Ernie's.
"I heard you got promoted to the position of Head of the technology department in 'INTRO' which requires real talent" Ernie kept on speaking as I zoned out in between.
'INTRO' or Intelligent Robotics was one of the most well renowned company related to the robotics field holding the highest record for their worldwide famous inventions, greatest innovations and maximum amount of customer satisfaction.
I shook my head trying to not let my thoughts wander away as I beamed at him.
"I could say the same about you Ernie. Your innovations in accurate medical technology and pharmaceutical drugs are world renowned. Your contributions to military defense technology and several top government projects are extraordinary to say the least. Being the CEO of the Medtech enterprises on top of that at such a young age is unprecedented. Not to mention that your creation 'APC' or All purpose car that is limitless without boundaries was part of my inspiration to create 'APR' " I said excitedly, my exhaustion forgotten.
"Really?" He asked me as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes! A car that keeps on going without stopping whether it be on plain ground, mountains, sand, snow, water or air..... I thought why not create a robot that is limitless without boundaries too.....can do everything without limits or constraints. I also especially loved your book on 'AI - A mind of its own' and 'Understanding the human brain'....It was....how I found out you were still alive..." I choked feeling a sudden wave of sadness.
"I...am sorry Kay. I couldn't tell you back then..."
Ernie began with a sincerely apologetic expression as he gently squeezed my hand.
The door suddenly burst open and the two guards who were earlier with me broke in panting and red faced with an expression of terror on their faces.
"S...Sir you asked for us?" They stammered.
I froze in shock as I saw them. I didn't know they could express emotions.
The cold stern faced guards were gone and replaced by scared children who were about to be punished for being bad.
Ernie suddenly let go of my arm and clicked his tongue in annoyance as he glared at them.
"What is the meaning of this? Could you gentlemen care to perhaps elaborate on what happened back then?" he asked smiling calmly.
The room froze. His smile was deadly. Despite the smile, there was a cold hidden fury that showed in his eyes.
"We are sorry sir! We were ordered to keep this under wraps and not say anything unnecessary so w...we...did as we were told...s...sir....." the tall one began courageously but lost his confidence midway as he saw Ernie's unwavering smile.
"We t...thought...we...were told we had to bring him to you at once. We didn't mean to startle him sir!" The other guard continued.
"You thought hmm...how do you think Doctor Kaysar must have felt? Not even explaining the procedure to him, restraining him and dragging him here against his will without explaining anything to him..." Ernie said no longer smiling and turning deadly serious.
The guards visibly shook and trembled in fear.
"Doctor Kaysar Brind is a very important guest, not one of your prisoners. He was to be informed of the situation and escorted respectfully. I see...you haven't even bothered giving him a proper change of clothes before he had arrived here." He said glancing at my orange jumpsuit with clear distaste.
His gaze suddenly turned to the metal ring latched around my ankle and he looked furious.
"Why is an important guest of mine still restrained? Couldn't you incompetent blithering fools at least bother to remove that?" He growled pointing at my ankle.
I blinked in confusion.
"Oh...I thought it was a location tracker....to keep a track of my location in here...." I muttered thoughtfully.
"It is. A slightly moderated version of the original." Ernie began explaining calmly as the flustered guards nervously began to remove the restraint.
"A moderated version?" I asked curiously.
"Yes. It was designed to explode with the person wearing it should they excape the prison grounds." He said frowning.
"Ex...plode....with me...if I escape...." I paled at the implication.
"No! It can identify prisoners! It only does that if you are recorded as a prisoner here. Don't worry! It wouldn't have exploded even if you tried to escape!" Ernie was startled and explained hastily trying to console me.
"That's a relief!" I sighed.
The guards suddenly looked pale.
"S...sir?" one of them stuttered.
"What?" Ernie barked looking at them in disgust.
"H...he would have...uh if he escaped. W...we recorded him as a prisoner."
"You...what?" Ernie grabbed him by his collar and said slowly, his face inches apart from the guards face was threatening.
"W...we...recorded his fingerprints and e...everything. Thought y...you wanted p...prisoner....the d..doctor for....that....as another 'tester'. So we a....actually a..arrested him and brought him here to...you." The guard explained nervously not looking at Ernie in the eye as he was pushed roughly away and hit a nearby wall.
"We d...didn't know he was to be treated as a g...guest." he shuddered.
I felt sick.
"I f...feel sick...." I said weakly turning paler than before.
"The washroom is on the door to your right. Go ahead. I need to discipline some foolish dogs. Don't worry! I will fix these idiots mess." Ernie barely finished the sentence as I ran stumbling to the restroom.
"DO YOU BLOODLY MORONS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE!" I heard him yelling furiously as I retched.
I felt weak. My knees buckled and I collapsed on the cold floor as I tried to regain my strength.
I tried to grab the edge of a nearby bathtub to get up and regain my balance when I slipped and hit my head against a hard surface.
My head was throbbing and burning. I felt tired and weak and it was painful.
My body was aching everywhere and I felt sick.
I slowly touched my forehead to reduce the pain when I felt something sticky and warm on my hand.
Blood.
My head must have hit the floor harder than I thought.
I tried to call for help but my voice wouldn't come out.
I felt a lump in my throat and I choked a sob as I pressed my hands on my forehead trying to stop the bleeding.
"WHAT YOU IDIOTS JUST DID WAS BY FAR THE MOST IDIOTIC, CARELESS AND RECKLESS THING YOU MORONS HAVE DONE YET. I WILL MAKE SURE YOU PAY FOR THIS! DO YOU WORTHLESS MAGGOTS UNDERSTAND ME OR DO I HAVE TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND?" I heard Ernie's yelling and I knew that my weak voice couldn't be heard over his booming voice.
I looked around desperately and found a decorative glass nearby with some marbles in it.
I stood up weakly and shakily and threw the glass on the floor using all the energy I could muster.
It worked.
The sound of the shattering glass was loud enough that there was a sudden silence and Ernie wasn't yelling anymore.
It was then that I realized that this was a very bad idea.
I didn't have the strength to keep standing and I immediately collapsed on the floor covered with glass shards.
I hissed in pain as I felt the glass pierce me. A larger glass shard stabbed my leg and the orange fabric of my jumpsuit turned red as it was drenched in blood.
I heard the sound of running footsteps and suddenly the washroom door swung open.
I felt the room turn blurry and as I slowly lifted my head from the ground and glanced up with bleary half opened eyes, I saw three figures look at me in horror and shock.
"Help....me." was all I could say.
My eyes felt heavy and I felt exhausted.
I thought I heard voices screaming something and one figure shaking me as they repeatedly said my name in a desperate pleading voice.
I was very tired and didn't have the energy to focus on what was going around me.
I closed my eyes and sleep overtook me.
Everything went dark
...and I was surrounded with only the sound of silence.