Solipsis: Escape from the Comatorium Read Free

arm.
    “ I'm
fine,” he says. His furry arms are bone dry.

4
    From
behind a couch, Renee covertly watches Medved disappear into the
televator by the front door. With Medved gone, she sneaks to the
televator, closing the door behind her.
    “ Destination?”
a soothing computer voice asks.
    Renee
takes a second to work up the courage to say “Hell.”
    “ You
have arrived,” the televator replies. Renee takes a deep
breath. The metal televator door begins to glow red at the bottom.
Renee's shoes start melting to the floor. She rushes out, burning her
hand on the door.
    Her
small feet timidly crunch across crushed skulls. A horrid demon with
flaming horns approaches. “What kind of torture do we want
today? Huh? I'll show you a good time.”
    Renee
is frozen in fear. A dominatrix emerges from a fiery sky and lands
gracefully on the skulls, “Or did you have something more up my
alley in mind?”
    Renee
runs for the televator. Skull fragments fly from under her feet. The
bone gravel shifts under her and she stumbles, falling on her face.
Renee finds herself face to face with a decomposing head. The
deteriorating eyes, gray and dried out, swivel and peer through
Renee's scared eyes.
    “ Boo!”
the head shouts. Renee screams and runs. Renee finally gets into the
televator, slamming the door shut behind her. “Home! Home!
Home!” She pleads to the machine. Renee steps into the kitchen,
safe and sound.
    She
looks at her burned palm and finds it to be perfectly fine.

5
    “ What
are you still doing here!?” a female voice demands from the
doorway.
    “ I'm
working,” Nellie responds.
    “ It's
four in the morning.” The woman enters the dark lab and flips a
light on. It's Gwen. Her blonde hair is thinning, her face has taken
on many wrinkles of worry.
    “ The
fine motor control is coming along a lot faster than we thought. It's
really just fine-tuning at this point,” Nellie replies.
    “ You're
gonna kill yourself with this stuff. Dr. Rendrow said you need to
rest.”
    “ I
need to finish my work.” Nellie doesn't even look away from the
monitor as she adjusts a pressure sensor on one of her screens.
    “ You'll
finish it.”
    “ I've
got three months, Gwen.”
    “ What's
your hurry? Champ's not going anywhere.”
    “ It's
not the funding,” Nellie says, turning to face Gwen finally.
“Three months to live.”
    “ The
tests came back?” Gwen asks, her knees weaken, she needs to sit
down. Nellie simply nods and turns back to her work.
    Gwen tears Nellie from her seat,
hugging her hard, she begins to cry. “I just didn't want to
tell you yet,” Nellie says. “The good news is that I
think we'll be ready for a human trial in three months.”
    “ What?
You're sure you're going to do it?”
    “ My
body's dying Gwen,” Nellie says, “but I don't have to.”
Nellie gives Gwen a peck on the cheek and then sits back down to her
work. Gwen is in shock, feeling empty, weak, she half-collapses
against the wall, sitting on the floor.
    “ And
you're sure you want to do this?” Gwen asks, staring into the
glass enclosure. Two robots sit next to each other. These robots have
furry bodies, rudimentary expressive faces, but still have yet to
reach the uncanny valley. One robot sifts through the other robot's
artificial back fur, going through the motions of grooming, but with
nothing to groom. “I mean, what kind of life is that? They
can't be happy.”
    “ I
can send an impulse that makes them feel happier than they've ever
felt in their lives.”
    “ Maybe
you can stimulate some neurons and make them feel happy the same way
you whack a knee and make the leg kick. It's not the real thing. Look
at what they're doing. Their bodies are gone, but they're still
alive, they're monsters and they know it. That looks like hell to
me.”
    “ You
make it sound like there is some kind of authentic happiness,”
Nellie responds testily, “but even authentic happiness is just
the stimulation of those neurons. If I stimulate