Little Memories

Little memories came to her, like remnants of past dreams flashing in her mind.

She lay on her back, the feeling of the ground beneath her, coming up slowly around her as the blue of the sky faded into view.

She watched with her mind's eye; memories of her childhood came to her. Licking the juices off her chin from a sticky sweet popsicle on a hot summer's day; the wind blowing through her hair as she glided along on her bicycle, passing lush, leafy trees that lined a dirt country road.

And then an electrical flash and a room amassed with computerized machinery and wires filled her vision.

She shut her eyes to the memory and tried to get back to another of her running through a field of wild flowers. The yellow pedals tickled the palms of her hands as she walked through the meadow; sweet breeze blowing softly on her smiling face.

Electricity ran through her again and the pain jolted her back to the room filled with machines. Faces of men standing above her with faces silhouetted; staring down at her with probing eyes that reflected light from the machines' glow.

Another shock and she was back laying on the ground, staring up at the sky, its blue hue dotted with the soft whiteness of clouds.

A muffled thumping sounded in her ears as she tried to move her head to see where the approaching noise was coming from.

Hazily, out of the corner of her vision a man came into view; his face shadowed by the sun's back light. His eyes reflected the bright day light and she felt a shock course through her body as she realized it was one of the same men from her memory.

He spoke kindly to her but she could not understand, his words garbled in her ears sounded far away. She tried to push herself away as he leaned in closer but she could not move. His hands moved towards her, passed her head, and then she felt a surge of energy pulsate for a moment then drain from her.

The sky began to drain away; her memories drained away. She could feel herself draining away until everything faded into darkness.

The man crouched down beside the slender woman that lay on the well kept grass, her limp body clothed only in clinical gown. Inspecting her bare arms and legs, cuts marred her fair skin, exposing not flesh but slivers of wires, clear and gray.

He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and touched her soft cheek tenderly. Gently he moved her head to the side and sighed as he saw the exposed circuits and wires inside the gash above her ear.

Her empty eyes stared out toward the tall glass building that stood a few dozen meters away. One of the seamless windows was smashed out a the top and a few figures in white lab coats looked down from inside the broken glass.

The man on the ground beside the woman looked back to the others joining him as they hurried out of the building's big front doors. They slowed as they approached and the couching man shook his head.

“The memories were too much.” he said with disappointment in his voice and the others rubbed their chins and heads as they pondered, looking from the girl on the ground to the broken out window high above.

The man straighten her head and looked into the robot's light-less eyes, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “But we'll fix you.” he said softly to her. “We'll make you perfect.”