her wrist. They appeared in a very large room and it was very cold in there. Especially given the contrast from where they just were. “Look for yourself, but stay quiet, this time!”
She watched as some synth people with gloves and masks and something over their heads were loading the dearly departed onto a moving belt. She watched as they went into a machine and she could here its blades and the chopping of bone and skin. Then out from that came the remains. He grabbed her wrist again and they appeared in the rafters above where the belt leading the remains went. She saw them chopped into the units of the size of the food she had always eaten. Then she watched as they continued on a metal belt and then charred from three sides. Then he pointed. Their pieces were being cooled and put in the packaging she was familiar with. She gasped. He grabbed her wrist and they were back only a few feet from where the snake’s head still lay in the sand.
“Didn’t I say, ‘be quiet’? You never seem to do that when I mention it’s important.” Then he looked at her. Her hands were over her mouth. He realized she was thinking very deeply, her eyes were still wide with what she had seen. He felt for her. He had always assumed the people down there knew what they were eating.
She looked up at him with a pleading why on her face. Then she asked it out-loud, “Why would they feed people that?”
“Well, it’s meat. There aren’t a lot of things left to eat. There were a lot of people in the world and resources were low then. But then during the gathering of the people, they also took most of the animals that people used to eat. So the main resource is the people who have died. Which sadly is not too old because you can’t keep eating those so unhealthy they died and then expect to remain healthy and live. It was the only logical way to survive. It’s what they fed the synths before they were awoken.”
She looked at the snake and then at him. “How long before we get to shade so we can eat that?”
“I don’t know, but we have to gather some things to burn so we can cook it. Best not to eat things raw. I’ll explain that another time.” He reached a hand out to her shoulder and pulled her into him and hugged her. He could tell she had only ever been hugged by one being and that person was part synth. He held her and ran his fingers through her hair as he pulled her face against his chest. He realized it was probably a mistake to have shown her that.
CHAPTER 6
“She was beautiful and all I could do was talk to her while the cruel world made it impossible for me to stop it. I could hear the other people on the line, being changed, holding on to our conversations as if they were their own. It was at those times I felt my rare ability was a curse.” -- from the Book of Phillip
As he let go of her hand and knelt down beside her Phillip said, “I have new hope now. I want you to always look forward to tomorrow. Please don’t give up. You have a child to be born and your child should be a child, not a synth. I promise to do my best to keep that from happening.”
He drew on the ground aimlessly and then the line moved forward. He stood and moved forward and was next to her again. Then it came to him. He thought to her, “Do you know where I can get something to draw on or with?” He listened intensely for her thoughts, but the further down the line she moved, every day, the less she thought like a human. It was becoming difficult to interpret her thoughts. “Please, think hard. This is important. I won’t get caught. I haven’t been caught yet. I have a secret way of getting around. I can’t use it to get you out of here. You and your baby would die if you were unplugged at this stage. The plan will be soon, but you have to get through the next stage. I’m very sorry.” Then Phillip went silent and he
She watched as some synth people with gloves and masks and something over their heads were loading the dearly departed onto a moving belt. She watched as they went into a machine and she could here its blades and the chopping of bone and skin. Then out from that came the remains. He grabbed her wrist again and they appeared in the rafters above where the belt leading the remains went. She saw them chopped into the units of the size of the food she had always eaten. Then she watched as they continued on a metal belt and then charred from three sides. Then he pointed. Their pieces were being cooled and put in the packaging she was familiar with. She gasped. He grabbed her wrist and they were back only a few feet from where the snake’s head still lay in the sand.
“Didn’t I say, ‘be quiet’? You never seem to do that when I mention it’s important.” Then he looked at her. Her hands were over her mouth. He realized she was thinking very deeply, her eyes were still wide with what she had seen. He felt for her. He had always assumed the people down there knew what they were eating.
She looked up at him with a pleading why on her face. Then she asked it out-loud, “Why would they feed people that?”
“Well, it’s meat. There aren’t a lot of things left to eat. There were a lot of people in the world and resources were low then. But then during the gathering of the people, they also took most of the animals that people used to eat. So the main resource is the people who have died. Which sadly is not too old because you can’t keep eating those so unhealthy they died and then expect to remain healthy and live. It was the only logical way to survive. It’s what they fed the synths before they were awoken.”
She looked at the snake and then at him. “How long before we get to shade so we can eat that?”
“I don’t know, but we have to gather some things to burn so we can cook it. Best not to eat things raw. I’ll explain that another time.” He reached a hand out to her shoulder and pulled her into him and hugged her. He could tell she had only ever been hugged by one being and that person was part synth. He held her and ran his fingers through her hair as he pulled her face against his chest. He realized it was probably a mistake to have shown her that.
CHAPTER 6
“She was beautiful and all I could do was talk to her while the cruel world made it impossible for me to stop it. I could hear the other people on the line, being changed, holding on to our conversations as if they were their own. It was at those times I felt my rare ability was a curse.” -- from the Book of Phillip
As he let go of her hand and knelt down beside her Phillip said, “I have new hope now. I want you to always look forward to tomorrow. Please don’t give up. You have a child to be born and your child should be a child, not a synth. I promise to do my best to keep that from happening.”
He drew on the ground aimlessly and then the line moved forward. He stood and moved forward and was next to her again. Then it came to him. He thought to her, “Do you know where I can get something to draw on or with?” He listened intensely for her thoughts, but the further down the line she moved, every day, the less she thought like a human. It was becoming difficult to interpret her thoughts. “Please, think hard. This is important. I won’t get caught. I haven’t been caught yet. I have a secret way of getting around. I can’t use it to get you out of here. You and your baby would die if you were unplugged at this stage. The plan will be soon, but you have to get through the next stage. I’m very sorry.” Then Phillip went silent and he
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