The Procedure

"State your name for the record." A digital voice spoke with metallic precision, echoing weirdly in the stainless steel laboratory. The Professor's hand patted his shoulder encouragingly and the old man's wizened face smiled down benignly at him, the electrodes and other wires connected to him made it difficult to see the rest of the room.

"Adrian Devitt." His own voice sounded strange to him, it shook with his nerves and seemed almost to come from somewhere else. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling above him were bright and intrusive, his pupils contracted themselves in defense.

"Thank you," the Professor's voice carried to him from out of view. "And how old are you, Adrian?" A sharp smell came with the question… rubbing alcohol? He winced when the cold touch of cotton on his inner arm confirmed that.

"Tw-twenty seven." He tried his best not to fidget or tighten his muscles against what he was sure was about to be an injection. The restraints upon his wrists and ankles began to feel slightly tighter.

"Subject Sierra is a twenty seven year old Caucasian male," the Professor's voice again echoed about the room, this time with an almost reserved and cold tone reserved for documentation. "Medical records show no congenital issues or current problems, for all intents and purposes, subject Sierra is in perfect health. CAT scans nominal, beta and alpha wave activity is well within expected parameters." The voice stopped for just a moment while, presumably, the Professor was checking things off an invisible list.

The Professor's face came into Adrian's field of view again for a moment, his dark eyes seeking Adrian's own, looking for all the world like a concerned parent. "And you are comfortable? You agree to what we're doing here today?"

Adrian closed his eyes as best he could and focused on his Bethany. His sweet six year old daughter, suffering in a hospital not far from this very room. If the Professor was telling the truth, this could change everything for her… for everyone.

"Yes, Professor." His voice was thick and only shook a little, but it was clear as a bell in that surgical silence.

"Very well. Let us begin." A low hum began to fill the room and what sounded like an industrial cooling/fan system kicked in. Furious clacking at a keyboard as other laboratory figures emerged from the background to play a part in the ritual.

"The sedative should be almost in full effect, Adrian. Close your eyes and tell me about Bethany…"

His arms felt cold and his tounge was heavy. He could almost taste something sweet. Fingernails scrabbled at the edge of wakefulness as he slipped quickly into inky blackness as he slipped into the void.

And then there was light.

Beautiful, bright and almost painful in its intensity.

Awareness came back instantly, he was Adrian Devitt! He was. Was.

Light.

There was no body, no heaviness in his limbs or taste in his mouth. A voice resonated around and through him as multicolored light danced around his view.

"Subject saved and formatted. Process completed?"

"Yes Professor." A feminine voice Adrian didn't know answered.

"Very well. Prepare to sever connection."

"Ready."

Adrian was confused. Where was he? Could they hear him? Professor! Bethany!

"Severing connection now. Time of death 12:52pm."

"Digital mapping at 90 percent, Professor. Subject Sierra files are intact. Zero point zero seven degradation, digital neural mapping completed."

The Professor's voice became louder in the light-realm that Adrian found himself in.

"Adrian? Can you hear me?"

Silence hung again in the room as picoseconds passed but felt like hours. A reply came from the computer, a stilted and digitized version of his own voice!

"Yes, Professor, I can hear you."

And in the weightless light-void, Adrian screamed in protest.

THE END