The First Awakening

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. She was waiting outside his office to ask him a question. When she saw the colors coming from this odd square on his wall, she exclaimed, “Woah. Hey Doc, what is that?” Closing his door and letting out a sigh, Doc responded with, “505, what are you doing here?” “Well, they said I was done with all my tests and to come see you. Did I fail them or something? Research seemed like she was pretty disappointed in me.” He expressed the same disappointed look but then shook his head at himself. Kneeling down to her eye level, Doc smiled and said, “No. You did perfectly fine, 505. You did so good, in fact, that I will show you what is in my room. You have to keep it a secret though. Can you do that?” 505 smirked and gave him a thumbs up, as if she were the greatest secret keeper of all time.

Doc turned and unlocked his door, leading 505 in. She looked towards this square on his wall in awe. It was the complete opposite of the white walls and grey floors in the lab. It was made up of different panels that all made up one image. It seemed to be glowing and as 505 kept looking, she started to recognize parts of the image. “Trees,” she exclaimed, “and water!” “Yes, that’s right. Trees and water. You’ve heard them described in your lessons,” Doc replied. “How do you have them here, Doc? What is this thing?” “Well, it is a window. You are looking at what is outside of the lab.” “Outside?! What do you mean, outside?” Doc sighed and sat down at the table and said, “Sit down 505. I have something to tell you.” She couldn’t take her eyes off of the window but slowly backed up towards the table and fumbled with the chair behind her until she found her place.

Doc began, “505, I know this may seem hard to understand but there is an entire world outside of the lab. Teach has told you a bunch of stories. Like about the trees and water. All the things that you have learned about that you don’t see in here, is out there.” 505 looked away from the window and towards Doc to say, “I don’t understand. Am I not allowed to go out there?” A pained expression came across his face as he replied, “Of course you can. One day soon, I promise that you’ll be allowed to go outside. For now, you should go back to your room and get ready for lunch. You can come back and look outside tomorrow, okay 505?” She slowly pushed herself out from the table, stood up and shrugged, “Okay. Tomorrow then.” “Tomorrow.” 505 grinned as she quickly got over her disappointment and left the office.

Doc turned to a box on the table and pushed a button saying, “Director?” After a moment of static, a voice came out through the box, “I have heard already. Another failure, it seems. How annoying.” Doc winced at the harsh words and began to respond but was interrupted. “Failures take up time and money, Doc. We can’t waste anymore time with how things are going out here. Dispose of them within a week. 506 will be arriving soon. Your team has made more than any other lab, but I can’t be lenient with all of the recent failures. I hope you know what that means. I need results. Good bye.”

Doc rested his head in his hands and began to weep. “I can’t keep doing this anymore. These are still children. Someone, stop this madness. Please,” he cried out. Then a voice appeared behind him and whispered, “Your wish will be granted.” Just as Doc was about to turn around to see where the voice came from, he passed out.

505 was skipping down the hall towards the dinning hall, humming some cheerful tune to herself when she heard an explosion. The lights went out and an alarm began to ring. She gasped and thankfully remembered the words of Teach from a year ago. “If this alarm ever goes off, hide until one of us finds you.” 505 took off running down the hall and slid into the dinning room under the table and looked out into the hallway. A few moments later, people dressed in all black were marching passed the room holding a light in their hands. She saw them point it into the room but they didn’t seem to notice her as she held her breathe. Once the sound of their footsteps were no longer able to be heard, she got up and headed to the hallway. “I have to get to Doc. Maybe these people are after his window,” she muttered to herself.

Luck seemed to be on her side because she made it back to Doc’s room without running into anyone. She reached towards the door and it started to open by itself. She gasped and waited but no one was there. As she pushed the door open the rest of the way, she whispered, “Doc? Are you in here?” Then she looked and noticed that he was laying on the ground. 505 rushed over to him, leaving the door open. “Doc? Doc?” She pushed him over as she called out to him. A voice behind her said, “He’s okay. He’s just sleeping.” 505 turned and looked to see where the voice was coming from and saw a tall man in an all purple suit with a puffy hat on his head and a big grin. She knelt in front of Doc with her arms stretched out, as if she were protecting him, and shouted, “Who are you? You don’t live here!”

While keeping his creepily big grin and without moving his lips, he said, “We are here to help you escape this place and you’re going to save the world.” It took her a moment but she soon realized that she was hearing this voice in her head and her jaw dropped. “How are you doing that?” “This is something you can do too, and far more. Now leave that man and come. He asked for us anyway. They were going to dispose of you.” “Dispose?” “Yes, they are trying to make people like me here and you didn’t pass their tests, so they were going to get rid of you. The only thing is that you didn’t fail, you just scored higher than they would ever be able to measure. Now, let’s go.”

Doc reached out his hand and grabbed 505 as he began coughing. She turned around and patted his back as he started to slowly sit up. “Doc? Doc! Are you okay? Help. This man is here.” He coughed some more and then finally started to say, “I heard everything you said. Is it true? Did we succeed?” The man in purple said, “Succeed? You did far more than succeed. All of the others are just like the Beasts compared to her. Speaking of which, they are here” Doc turned to her and held her shoulders as he said, “505, listen to me. You have to leave with this man. I don’t have the time to explain everything to you but you are far more special than you could ever imagine. Go with this man and change the world.” Then, looking at the window he said, “I’m sorry. I have been lying to you about everything. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Doc stood up and started to walk towards the door. “I’ll buy you some time. Get her out of here” 505 latched onto Doc’s leg and started to cry. He knelt down and patted her on the head. “505, from today onward, you have to go by a different name. The world is different on the outside and no one can ever know that you came from here. Would you let me give you your new name?” She wiped her tears from her eyes, like she was beginning to understand, and nodded. “Today and forever, you will be called Rishon.” The man in purple chuckled and said, “Good one, Doc.” Doc made eye contact with the man and smiled. He then let go of Rishon and started out the door.

“Well, Rishon. You have a lot to learn and we have very little time. Let’s get you outside.” She moved towards the window and hit it, sending cracks through it. The image went away and the window turned black. She stepped back in confusion. The man laughed and said, “Ah yes. I can see why you thought that, but that was just a picture of a distant past. Come, you’ll see.” The man walked to the door and peaked out then started one way, waving on Rishon to follow him. They passed through a few corridors that Rishon had never been down, or even knew existed. After a while they made it to a large opening in a wall and the man snapped his fingers.

After a few moments, a huge armored van pulled up to the opening and the door slid open. The man got in and held out his hand for Rishon to join. She looked around and saw nothing but dark sand. For as far as she could see, there was nothing but the sand in all directions. She grabbed the man’s hand and got in the van. He closed the door and said, “These are windows,” pointing at the front and back of the van. “Everything you have ever been told is a lie. Don’t worry though. You have new teachers. Rishon, you will soon meet a bunch of people with various abilities like how I can speak into your mind. We each have only one, but you have the potential to have all of them and will become the one to take down a group we call the Beasts.”

Rishon looked around and stared out at the passing landscape. She slowly said, “This group. The Beasts, you said? They have hurt my family haven’t they?” “By now, yes that is probably true. I don’t believe they are going to be around anymore. Neither will your home.” Rishon took a slow inhale and then released a sigh. She turned around and started speaking as a woman, “If I am as powerful as you claim I am then I will join you. On one condition. Once I have fulfilled this hopeful role you have for me, I will be free to live as I please, wherever I wish.” The man paused, stunned, and then knelt down before Rishon, “It seems that you have already begun to awaken so there is no point in lying. Yes, of course. We would appreciate your assistance greatly, your majesty.”