The First Implant

Adam walked through the alley as he had for several years. The high leaning towers swayed lightly against the natural breezes of the wind around them. It gave an ominous feeling that, at any moment, they would weaken and collapse atop the people below. Adam would often see the horror of that moment in his head. He liked doing that; his overactive imagination producing images in his head that might not happen but still held the potential of occurring.

The tight walls of the alley pressed at his sense of freedom. The flashing crackle of lights from the various apartment rooms against the dark stones of the walls and street added to the already blaring headache he had been experiencing. The ocular implant he had just received was part of a test program to help collect data and test its potential uses in the world. His eyes strained and squinted at the data that was flooding his sight.

Things that were once invisible to the naked eye now appeared without resistance to him. Digital images of hand and finger prints flashed and hovered over various areas of the alley. At the damp ground below were shoe prints and size information being displayed at him. His eyes squeezed shut against the data and he was left with the familiar black nothingness that lived behind his eyelids.

He stood silent and still in the center of the vacant alley. The sounds of the overhead autopilot driven cars were humming past one by one. He heard the slow trickle of water droplets on pipes and puddles around him. Taking a deep breath he readied himself to open his eyes again. The slow colors of the night began to come into view. The distant neon reds and blues that filled the corners and street sides washed in to his sight and he saw the digital information had ceased.

A sigh of relief escaped his mouth and he smiled as he felt the pain of his headache decline. He began to walk once more through the alley, the muffled arguments behind the towering walls being heard among the filling sounds of technology that the world had created. At the end of the long alley was the door that would lead to his apartment. From street level, he could hear his neighbors were already engaged in another hateful argument about yet another pointless issue.

"Why are they still together?" he thought to himself.

For as long as Adam had been living in this unit he had always known his neighbors to be there. He didn't care for them or even know them, not even what they looked like. They were usually up through the night fighting with one another. The biggest problem for him being that his bedroom was directly next to their living room which seemed to be where a majority of their arguments occurred. Loud "banging" and hard "thuds" were common in the night when it concerned his neighbors.

A defeated and already annoyed sigh passed his body as he approached the door. At his side were the unit’s dumpsters. Their fading blue and molded metal appearance never changed. It didn't matter if it had been raining or not, they just always appeared to be wet from some type of liquid or chemical. Aside that was the constant smell that was expected from a garbage bin and the rotten and decaying remnants of food that were once identifiable have now molted and changed their colors and shapes.

Adam reached into the pocket of the tight fitting jeans that he had purchased from the thrift store up the road and pulled out his wrist L.O.C.K. or Licensed Omni Controlled Key. They had been released to the public years ago and quickly took the place of traditional keys and phone systems. They could receive phone calls and messages and held the information needed to access private facilities once you were granted interior access.

Returning the thin metal clasp to his wrist he heard the "click" of the magnetic latch system tighten and link to his body. He raised his wrist to the reader at the side of the entrance to the housing complex and upon hearing the lock release of the door, grabbed at the door handle to turn it. As he pressed the door open and stepped inside he stopped with only a foot past the door sill. He leaned back out and looked to the rusted old trash bins at the side of the building. A faint and momentary flicker of white digital essence pressed and cracked at the sides of the bin.

He stepped away from the door and heard the hefty lock engage once more on the door. Walking slowly, he approached the cold bin and stared at the ghostly flow of white outlines as they pressed in and out of the solid material. As the shape twisted and breezed in the airless void of the technology it was held by he was able to see the clear outline of a hand that pressed through the side of the bin.

"That's strange." he thought.

He lifted the lid of the bins and saw only heaps of large black bags and discarded junk from passersby. Looking once again at the outside he realized that the figure was buried at the bottom of the bin and began to remove the garbage bags piece by piece. As he pulled the final bag up and out he saw the clear definitive shape of a young girl's outline. Her figure was motionless and deflated. His implant began pulling up data of the outlined figure and he read the information as best he could.

Jane Weaver

Age: 11yrs

Height: 52.5"

Weight: 78lbs

Hair Color: Brunette

Features of note: reported missing on June 3rd, 2165

Case status: Unresolved

"Oh shit!" Adam said.

He realized that this was possibly the last location that the young girl had been. He guessed by the resting position that her figure was lying in that she would have been dead and likely taken to a burn facility for garbage. If that was the case then there was no chance of anyone finding closure or answers about it. He stood from the rotted stink of the bin and felt the sick coils of his stomach begin to twitch and tense at the realization.

"Jesus, what the hell do I do with this information?" he thought.

He jumped from the bin and stood at the side of it, thinking about his next actions. He flipped his L.O.C.K to display the call feature and he spoke his command aloud.

"Call Ocutech." he said.

The screen went black and then prompted the phone number that was requested. A series of connecting clicks then led to the small hologram of the facility receptionist on his wrist appearing.

"Ocutech, How can I direct your call?" the small image said.

"Dr. Shaden please." Adam said.

"One moment."

The small hologram descended from view and another set of clicks saw him connected to the doctor.

"This is Dr. Shaden. How can I help you?"

"Dr. Shaden, this is Adam. I was there earlier this morning for the ocular implant test that you're doing?"

"Ah, Adam, yes. How can I help you?"

"Well I've been trying to adjust to these like you suggested but when I got home they started to show me some strange info and I think I just discovered a dead body from them."

"A body? Are you sure? They aren't designed for that kind of data retrieval or input. How did they lead you to it?" the doctor asked.

"Well there isn't an actual body here. It's more like a ...a ghost or something."

"A ghost? Adam I think you should just try to get some rest. Remember that I did say you might experience some strange adjustments to them in beginning but they shouldn't be showing you "ghosts". The only information you should be seeing is molecular breakdowns or data that helps you to identify certain technology systems."

"I understand that doc but I..."

"Adam, please. Just get home and remember to take the meds I gave to you. Keep in mind you might think you’re feeling things but they aren't all real. Both your body and brain need time to adjust to this type of change. If you still have problems in the morning then please, give me a call and we can discuss further action."

"Alright Doctor. Thank you."

The line went silent as the image faded from Adam's view. He took a deep breath and looked to the trash bin once more. Still seeing the ghostly image of the young girls hand he felt the slight chill and shiver of goose bumps at his backside. He shook his head at the feeling and decided to move towards the door of the complex once more.

"If I still see it tomorrow then maybe I'll go to the cops."

Adam moved forward and felt a tight clutch at his ankle. A cold and icy shock to his system brought him to his knees and he fell at the front side of the bins. As he looked to what had caused him to fall he saw the digital hand of the young girl wrapped around his ankle. He followed the small framed arm to the bin and watched in shock and fear of what he witnessed.

The once pale and skeletal image had come to life and was pulling itself from the metal confines of the bin. As she phased through the metal material, Adam watched as more and more of information became skewed and frantic. His eyes became flooded with information that contradicted itself. Reports of her body being located, reports of her being safe and home, and reports of her not even existing to begin with all invaded his mind. Adam strained and thrashed at the ground as his head worked to process what it was receiving.

Through the strained crack of his vision he saw the young girl lumber and crawl towards him as she pulled free of the dumpster. His ankle hurt and burned where he had felt her grab originally and to avoid further harm he crawled backwards. The frantic cry of terror he had retched out hammered against the walls of the alley.

"Somebody help me!" he screamed.

No signs of concern or notice were made to him though. He pressed back further and further until he felt the wall at his rear. He pressed against the wall while clutching at the pain in his head and stumbled towards the door. He lifted his arm out to the pad and listened for the release of the locking mechanism. Looking to where the girl had been he saw nothing and as the door "clicked" he pressed at it and screamed at the sudden appearance of the young child inside the entryway.

The pale figures child reached her hand out at Adam and caught his arm and he wailed against the chilling burn that his skin reacted to. A low sizzle could be heard as she clutched to him and pulled him closer. The impossible strength of the small girl pulled him lower and dropped him to his knees. Against the pain in his head he fell to his knees weakly. His eyes rose slowly to see the young girl, the image of her long hair wisping in the airless space around them helped to focus his sight.

"They couldn't find me Adam...They couldn't find me." she whispered.

She raised her hands at his head and as she closed in to his temple, Adam clenched his eyes shut in fear of what was about to happen. He felt the imminent cold of her fingers at him and as he took a deep breath she pressed her tips at his head. The searing freeze of her touch pressed into him like a dagger of ice. He felt his brain go numb and his skin run chilled and white. He gasped and shook from the lack of air that was in his body. His attempt to scream out was impossible and slowly he felt the senses of his body shut down.

The rotted scent of the garbage and pollution faded from his nostrils and the sensation of the pain he had in his head had subsided. The metallic taste of the blood that had formed in his mouth had vanished and as he fell to the ground in a limp manner, his vision slowly faded to a black and empty view.

Staring at the black screen, Dr. Shaden leaned back into his leather chair with a pleasing smile. The room was illuminated in a low manner by the digital candle that sat in the screen windows of his high rise office. their soundless flicker and rhythmic tossing was timed against the tapping of his own finger at the arm of his chair. He opened the top side drawer of desk and pulled out a small tablet and waved his L.O.C.K. over the blank screen.

"Greetings Dr. Shaden." wrote itself out on the single surface screen.

He tapped through several folders and prompts until he came to a list of names, several of which had been crossed out. As he scrolled to the bottom he saw Adam's name in the mix and dragged his finger across his name. A dark red line scarred itself through Adam's name before Dr. Shaden closed the tablet and returned it to the drawer of his desk. As he stood from the desk and approached the door he grabbed his coat and threw it over his shoulders. Turning the knob of the door registered in the room and the low lighting of the candles faded as it read him leaving the room.

A Note from the Author

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