Low throbbing sounds vibrated trough to her ears. Constant and never ending. Always the same, never spiking up or down a notch. She just listened on, floating numbly in blackness. Without the need to breath, time flowed past her very being.

Never stopping a moment for her. An unending sameness.

Bonk

A dull sound came, a change. Slightly raising her ears, with a twitch of muscle. Giving her the last jolt needed. Breaking out of that sameness.

Bonk?

A slight frown was all that could be made out on her face.

“Hey Spiko, I will need to go outside for a bit. I nearly managed to finish, dammed be those fools!”

Who?

She knew nothing of any fools. Her Memorys and even thoughts, felt sluggish. Like wadding trough, the wet earth after a heavy summer rain.

… finish?

Thinking felt sluggish to her. Twisting her body very slightly, as invisible chains held her down. Straining against everything. Not only what was keeping her down the body, her mind strained against boundaries. Which were never before even noticed.

Was she always like that? She could ... remember. Yes, remember things.

… where … am I …

Ever so slightly her body moved in a viscous liquid. Never straying too far from a central position, where the pull on her body was weakest. Fragile tendrils of rope, made out of a more hard-gel like substance, held her just there.

The voice, raspy and old, came back again.

“Just wait there. Some business with the royalty ... again. War is brewing, bla bla blaaa oh please save us. Always coaxing me into helping them, just because I did it once I MUST do it as many times as possible. Haa ...”

So many words she knew. Had heard them already and understood them. But who was making them? The answer felt so close. But she just couldn't remember. Was it always there, she just hadn't noticed?

… who …

“Not like we haven't done this rodeo before ... hmm, at least 3 times already? I'm getting too old for this ...”

With a creak of old bones. An old man stretched out his back. A clear grimace on his face. Pain, simple but yet hard to get rid of. Nothing was as before, time never stood still. But she had her eyes closed, so all she took in was the faint sounds. Coming through the thick tubular borosilicate glass container, she had been stashed in. Created in.

Be-ep

A low beeping, un-steady and noisy. It made her ears twitch into its perceived direction.

… new sound?

“Yes, I will leave you in charge of the facility. Ray do prepare Spiko for hibernation and keep her monitored. I want to be there, when it's time.”

BeepBeep

Two more short beeps sounded. A short-lived prick of pain and a numbness spread slowly through her body. Cold icy fire spiked trough her. Making her muscles twitch involuntary, with evermore sluggishness in her motions.

I heard that sound many times before.

I felt always the same cold.

Dreaming of weird things.

Things made of metal and stone.

Shiny surfaces.

Things with no good name for them.

The burst of adrenaline from the sudden prick into her skin. Made her mind race with things, she even now didn’t fully understand. It didn’t last long although. Like a candle lit with a flamethrower, burning brightly for just a moment.

…. home …

Slowly her ears dropped back down at a relaxed ankle.

“He will look after you while I'm gone. As siblings should. Well, you mostly were quite fond of each other. Haha ... ”

A raspy wet laugh and coughing. Came from the old man. Laughter didn’t work out for him anymore. An old Bodys curse. He long ago stopped counting the years passing by. Only thing marking the passage of time in his mind, was the ever-increasing list of problems he had to fix. All of that flashed past his face, in a complicated series of wrinkles. If she had seen, there would have been recognition to those mannerisms.

Bonk Bonk

“See you in a bit. Ray. Shutdown everything that's not critical and go activate H.E.L.P Routines. I got my transponder in case of any emergency.”

Beep

Lights dimmed, sounds clacked noisily for a moment. As room for room, device by device. Everything was turned off or put into a standby mode.

See ... w .. wha .. se .. .

Sound faded for her. Dreams came again. The warmth of sunrays, shining down onto her while sleeping. The taste of fresh meat on her tongue. Many images flashed past her mind’s eye, many sounds made themself heard. Without truly being there. All while she kept floating numbly, silently. As she had before. As she always had for a very long time.

The constant low throbbing sound of machinery singing her a repetitive lullaby. Day ended and night came again. Time flowed past her, just like that. With the world none the wiser, hidden away in a stash deep underground.