Inextricable (2) | Deeper Connection
caleb x mc reader as experimental subjects of the toring chip; looking at the effects on their body post chip implantation and escape !
what does it feel like to have your heartbeat fall into synchrony with someone else's?
The following files were decoded from a laptop recovered in the facility wreckage:
Sleep is the physiological process that allows our brain to consolidate memories, repair neural and bodily tissues and clear toxins from the brain. After observation, it seems that part of the chip's memory interference capabilities comes from being able to overwrite the body's sleep functions. Based on clinical observations, subjects implanted with the chip are often unable to be woken while sleeping (particularly in the REM stage) unless imminent harm occurs.
Saved Science Article > Today's Question - Why Do we Dream?
"For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream." - Aristotle
Dreams have existed since the dawn of humanity, but in 20XX, why we dream still remains an age-old mystery to scientists.
Some say that dreams help us process memories by transferring short-term memories into permanent storage. Other dream research suggests that dreams help us process emotions, or simulate scenarios in a safe space.
For a more introspective approach, philosophers and psychologists suggest that dreams are messages or memories suppressed in the subconscious...
It's highly possible that there is no singular reason to why we dream and in the near future, it seems that dreams will continue to remain an unsolved mystery.
[Data retrieval complete...]
You wake up to a hazed blur of a white sterile ceiling and kaleidoscopic fluorescence, bright spots swirling against your vision. In the background, the mechanical whirring of a machine drones on monotonously. Faceless figures appear before you, voices distorted and distant as they look down at you. Their movements are sluggish and time is tangled like a gnarled knot. On instinct, you try to sit yourself up, but your limbs feel like they don't belong to you. Your arm. It's stuck. You try to pull a little harder, but it only causes your vision to swim. The metallic glinting edge of a pole catches your sight and you slowly follow it down. It leads to your forearm and disappears. Confused, you groggily lift your head - only to realise the metal doesn't lead to your arm - it leads into it. You don't know if the shriek makes it out of you.
Your vision warps, and you see yourself from above, arms and legs pinned haphazardly to a metal gurney like a grotesque replication of an insect specimen waiting to be examined and displayed. (Who told you about that again?) You watch yourself thrash futilely as the shadowed figures wheel you through flickering hallways and that whirring sound grows louder and louder and louder until it consumes the sound of your screaming (It hurts it hurts it hurts) and everything else into a destructive din. The world goes black.
When you open your eyes again, you're alone. This time, it's silent, and all that stretches before you is a seemingly endless corridor made entirely of glass. You stumble forward, puppeteering your legs in search of an exit. There's no way to go but forward.
Your record of time passes like shifting sand and the next time that you're aware of anything is when you notice the glass walls slowly creeping towards you. You run forward frantically, searching for a door or a turn for escape. Nothing. The glass presses onwards, forcing you to face the side. And it's then - you see those faceless figures dressed in white pushing the walls forward relentlessly. You scream and bang on the glass, hoping to catch their attention but they look straight through you. (Why me? Why me? Why me?) You feel your back press into the cold surface as your heart hammers against the glass. You can't see the figures anymore - the condensation of your breath spreading like fog against the glass. Air seems to escape you.
5.13 AM - 4 Days After Containment Breach
Rain patters quietly against the window of the inn room, carrying only straggling remnants of the previous storm. The night before, you had clutched onto him tightly like a lifeline - and the two of you tangled together under the duvet as the stormed roared and fell into sleep. Now, a somber twilight peeks barely through the blinds.
The rhythmic thudding in his chest stirs Caleb from a dreamless sleep and he reaches towards you instinctively with a soft sound. He finds you clammy despite the fact that you've pushed away half the duvet and when he moves to tuck you back in your damp palm closes over his hand tightly in unconscious reflex. He moves closer, until you're able to curl into him like some sort of protective shield from the nightmare that you're having.
Yes, it must be a nightmare constructed by the chip's clutches over the mind. He can feel your fear through the way your chest heaves against his and the way your muscles tense intermittently like you're trying to escape the hauntings of your mind. Your feelings, your fear, are mirrored across to him in that same rhythmic pound in his heartbeat and minute twitches in his leg muscles, as though he himself is preparing to run with you. Caleb frowns, and brushes the hair out of your face and off your neck to help you breathe. It reveals a thin streak of blue veins, their faint blue light thrumming in time with your racing heartbeat. This is what the two of you are now intwined by. Your sensations, thoughts and emotions, mirrored onto each other in tangled, inseparable neural pathways. Caleb feels your fear.
Inside the facility, nightmares had been a common occurrence. A side effect of the chip's probing effects on the mind. He himself had the experience of being at the mercy of his own mind - the interference of the chip bringing about countless nights of his own worst fears from within the melting amalgamation of his subconscious. Trying to wake someone only seemed to make things worse, so the two of you would often stay close together while the other fought through a fitful sleep.
The faint sensation of your fingernails pressing into the back of his right hand (how long has it been since he could feel anything there at all?) as you take a strangled breath brings him back to the present. Caleb pulls you in tighter.
Not long after, you awake with a croaked scream that doesn't have enough air to sustain itself. Disorientated by the sudden breakaway from your own mind, adrenaline rushes through your veins and the sound of blood briefly drowns out the morning rain. It takes several moments for you to realise how tightly you're gripping Caleb's hand.
"You're safe now," he murmurs, allowing you to nuzzle into him. "Did you have a bad nightmare?"
You nod wordlessly into his neck as the last of the adrenaline seems to dissipate in your veins. The sensation of Caleb's steadying heartbeat allows you to take a shaky breath. You finally relax your grip on Caleb's hand, allowing him to press his palm against yours and interlace your fingers together.
"A long time ago someone once told me about how bugs were displayed to be studied," you start. "I dreamt that I was a butterfly."
Caleb stills momentarily. You look up at him in the dim light. "Something wrong?"
"No," he says softly, eyes focused on where your fingers are interlaced. "I was just wondering who could have told you that."
"It happened in the other place. Even before all this, I couldn't remember..." you trail off, trying to recall something amongst the sterile memories. A dead-end. "It was before I met you."
Caleb hums and wraps his arms around you. "If you still remember them, it might mean that they're still with you."
Your response is to nudge his chest lightly. "You know I'm not a kid anymore right? I know magic isn't real. Besides, does it matter if I can't even remember who they are?"
"Hey, who said that it was magic? If it's up there in your noggin somewhere," he pauses to softly caress the back of your head. "Then they're still with you, aren't they?"
"It doesn't matter," you mumble as you trace the outline of his collarbone with your finger. "I have you now."
-------
6.25 AM - 4 Days Since Containment Breach
Downstairs, the early morning light barely peeks through the clouds. Instead, the warm glow of lights illuminate the small dining area. As the two of you head downstairs, you can hear Josephine, the old lady running the inn, making breakfast. She waves you both over with a cheery smile. "Well, the two of you are up early again! Not many young people up by dawn these days," she says, carefully scooping out three bowls of rice porridge from the steaming pot.
"The early bird catches the worm," replies Caleb. Josephine chuckles as you head into the kitchen to help her prepare the rest of the meal.
"Not many worms to be caught in this weather, I'm afraid."
From one of the tables, Caleb unstacks three chairs.
Josephine carries a tray of food to the table. "Caleb dear, could you unstack the rest of the chairs today as well? There'll be a family coming to stay for a few days this afternoon."
"Thank you dear, having you youngsters around is a big help when I'm getting old."
Placing the jug of water down on the table along with the cutlery. The three of you sit down at the table.
"We're more than happy to help, especially since you're letting us stay," you say.
"Oh hush, sweetie. It's the least I can do. When I opened the door that night, it was obvious the two of you were escaping trouble. Who'd be out walking during a storm that heavy?" she replies, patting your hand. "Now that my grandson is off flying planes and my granddaughter is working in the city, I always hope that someone will lend a hand if they need it."
"Thank you Ms Josephine. We're more than happy to help you with anything while you let us stay," Caleb adds.
Smiling warmly, Josephine replies, "Then I'll make good of that while you're here. Come on, let's eat before the food gets cold."
The three of you eat in relative silence as the rain continues to drizzle on. Josephine's food, though lighter than your meals at the facility, warms you up more than anything you've ever had. In fact, being here has been the warmest you've ever felt. You realise that these nine days have suddenly made your life in the facility feel oddly distant. Maybe you still hadn't yet recovered from the exhaustion of escaping.
Afterall, you and Caleb had been almost delirious with fever after spending hours stumbling through the growing storm. You'd been so cold it hurt, and the both of you were barely able to feel each other as you dragged each other forward. Soaked to the bone, you'd both shuffled forward in almost complete darkness towards the faint light of the inn as the heavy rain pelted your skin and dripped down your faces.
The feeling of Caleb's hand on your arm brings you out of the memory. "Zoning out already?" He teases.
"Sorry. Must not be fully awake yet," you reply. "What were you talking about?"
"Josephine was asking if we could head into town to buy a few things for the other guests after we eat," Caleb prompted.
"More of a village, and there won't be many people. I'd go myself but I won't be able to carry everything back. Take it as an opportunity to get anything else you might need, sweetie. I know you've been making do with these old clothes."
"Oh, everything's fine Ms Josephine. We're already glad that these clothes fit us," you say.
"Don't feel shy about wearing them either, sweetie. Lately, the two of them barely make it back for the holidays!" she says, chuckling.
8.07 AM - 4 Days Since Containment Breach
After helping to clear a few broken branches around the inn, you and Caleb begin your walk along the side of mountain road towards the bus stop. The air outside is earthy and fresh with rain. The memory of the facility's humming ventilation system seems stale in comparison. Caleb holds a green umbrella over you both. The quiet patter of the rain against the umbrella is strangely peaceful - so different from when you'd both been trapped in the storm. In the day, the mountain trees seem so still and peaceful. Can one place really change so much in such a short time? The sensation of water droplets freefalling from the edge of the umbrella prompts you to press yourself closer to Caleb.
"What's wrong, Pip-squeak?" he muses.
"I thought you stopped calling me that," you mutter.
"That's only because Ms Josephine was there," he replies smugly. You poke his arm in protest. "Gettin' rained on over there?"
"It's because you're hogging the umbrella. My shoulder's wet."
"That's because someone insisted that we share one, even though Ms Josephine gave us two."
"I wanted to try sharing one... Like the couples in the movies we got to watch," you reply, kicking a stray pebble into the grass. More water droplets. "I didn't think that you're umbrella sharing skills would be so poor." Even though it's your first time using one.
"Well, in that case...I guess I just have to level up my umbrella sharing skills." A brief moment goes by. No more water droplets.
"Hm? What'd you do, Caleb?" you ask, looking back at him. There's a small smile tugging at his lips.
"I can't share my secret technique," he replies teasingly. "But I can give you a hint." The brown leaves on the side of the road briefly swirl in the air before falling back down into a puddle.
"Your Evol? I thought you said we shouldn't use it while we're here!"
"It's true that I couldn't use it while clearing branches from the yard for Ms Josephine, but keeping your shoulder dry isn't as obvious is it?" He tilts the umbrella slightly to your side. "Besides, there isn't anyone around on the road. Ms Josephine even said the bus would probably be late."
"That means we still have to carry everything back ourselves, doesn't it?" you grumble lightly.
"I thought you've always told me that you were a strong Pip-squeak."
"Let me guess, you're gonna call me a dummy again?"
8.34 AM - 4 Days After Containment Breach
The rain eases into light spittle by the time you both reach the shelter of the bus stop. Sitting on the bench lets you overlook the forest canopy from above. Green stretches into the grey horizon and birds call from below. A car passes by in front of you, the first one you've seen since coming out, heading down the mountain. The shallow puddle on the asphalt ripples as the tires pass through before stilling. Slightly startled, you turn back to Caleb, who is studying the small map on the side of the bus shelter.
"What are you looking for on the map?" you ask, peering out from behind him.
"Just where we might have come from," Caleb replies casually, tracing a path along the map with his finger. "We followed the path out of that place, and spent almost a whole day walking in the forest. I guess doing all those training exercises everyday actually help."
You scrunch your nose, remembering the hours you'd spent having your physical condition monitored. "We followed the river, didn't we?"
"Downstream," he replies, drawing a small path along the faded blue line from north-west to south-east. "But who knows how far out that place is. It's definitely not on this map."
"So we followed the river until it start raining, and then got lucky enough to have found a road to follow," you say, following his finger with yours.
"And now..." he points to a small point on the map marked Traveler's Mountain Inn. "We're here."
"Actually," you say, following the brown path downwards to the red dot marking the bus stop. "We're here."
Caleb ruffles your hair. "So pedantic," he teases.
The conversation pauses, leaving only periodic tink of waterdrops rolling off of the leaves above to fill in the silence. You're the first to break it.
"Ms Josephine... She must be very proud of her grandchildren," you start. "It must be nice for them to know that they always have somewhere to go back to." Your voice is almost wistful. "I suppose we're lucky that we ran into her, and not someone else."
A short stretch of silence follows before Caleb carefully places his hand over yours.
"I don't think it's the place that matters, Pip-squeak. As long as the right person is there, anywhere can feel like home."
You let yourself lean against him, a familiar action after all these years.
"Caleb, you won't leave me, will you?" You feel the faint sensation of butterflies bloom in your stomach as faint blue lines thrum against Caleb's neck.
"I'll always be by your side."
11.18 AM - 4 Days Since Containment Breach
Shopping bags in hand, you and Caleb just barely make it back to the bus shelter in the town center before the first few drops of rain fall from the sky and breaks into a drizzle.
"I thought the rain was over," you say, placing the heavy shopping bag down beside you. "It'd been so sunny the whole time we were shopping I'd forgotten about the rain completely."
"Don't worry Pip-squeak, I can hold the umbrella for you while you carry the shopping on the way back," replies Caleb as he sets two other bags down next to yours.
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"How will I see anything with you holding the umbrella?" teases Caleb. You click your tongue in mock offence then sit down. You stare at the worn fabric of the shoes that belong to you. They're slightly snug around the toes.
"I guess sunny skies can't last forever..." you sigh. The rain carries on.
"I have a feeling that you aren't just talking about the weather," replies Caleb.
Unsure what to say, you focus on some small, winged bug landing on the inside of the shelter. "I guess I just can't believe that we're actually outside," you say eventually. "Maybe the movies weren't as realistic as they seemed."
Caleb sits down beside you. "You know, I'm pretty sure they only showed us those to scare us from trying to escape," he says with a small smile, trying to be lighthearted.
"Don't pretend to be the bigger person Caleb," you reply, gently pinching the back of his hand. "I know that you feel worried too, even if you pretend you're not."
A conflicted expression crosses over his face, and you feel a twinge in your chest but Caleb stays silent.
"They must be looking for us," your heart begins to pound as the words leave your mouth. That unspoken fear between you both.
"We'll keep moving forward," he murmurs, taking your hand into his. The rain begins to pour down in earnest.
"What can we do, Caleb?" you say softly. Your voice is almost swallowed by the sound of the rain, but Caleb can still hear the tinge of regret that leaks through. "Do you think we can live like them?"
You feel your muscles tense involuntarily and your heartbeat quickens as the rainfall swells. Caleb's hand tightens as he feels your fingers tremble. It seems reflexive, like he's scared you'll pull away from him.
"If it were up to me I'd take us somewhere far, far away, where they won't ever find us." Caleb's eyes find yours. "We'd hide away in a secret garden and I'd bring anything that you want from the outside world to us..." you waver under his intense gaze.
As you try to think of something to say, Caleb's eyes dart behind you.
"Look alive, Pip-squeak. The bus is here." He smiles warmly as he helps you stand up, but his voice is strained when he lets go of your hand to pick up all the plastic bags.
They crinkle as you stand up empty-handed, and you can't help but feel a sinking weight in your chest.
The bus doors open in front of you.
end (part 3 coming soon, except im having some trouble with editing so i will release this part now !!)
