The Monster Machine

The Experiment

Many years in the future...

Deep below the surface of the Earth, miles beneath the rock and stone, sits an entire underground civilizations where the last of the humans remain. But this place isn't exactly the utopia they dreamed of either. Down here, it's dark, damp and dirty. No one trusts anyone. They only live off what they know and will risk everything to get their hands on anything if it means surviving for another day.

And within the depths of this city, there is a large building with pipes and electrical things that keep the rooms inside bright and warm. Inside the building was a small room, and inside the small room was a girl.

Long blonde hair, a slightly dirty white dress and a sullen expression on her face. The young girl was sitting on an old mattress with an equally old blanket. The room had no lighting, besides a tall window that carried the glow of the city from outside. You can't actually see anything through the window as it just faced a stone wall. But somehow, the light from below managed to find it's way into the room, making it dimly lit. There was a small stack of books in the corner next to a broken table which served as a small desk and a mirror you could hardly look into.

The girl doesn't seem to move. She just sits on the old mattress, not really looking at anything in particular. She's not thinking about anything either. Her face is as stoic as ever. Until the door to her left suddenly opens and she looks up. A middle-aged woman peers her head in.

"Tova, your father needs to see you now," she says.

Tova looks up at her and stands. She breathes and walks towards the door without a word as she follows the woman down the hallway. She keeps her head down, knowing what's about to happen. The lights in the hallway flicker occasionally, and the rusty pipes along the walls make noise often. Suddenly, the woman stops at one of the old doors in the hallway.

"Tova, wait here for a minute." she says.

Tova steps off to the side and stands by the door while the woman enters and closes the door behind her. Tova stands for what feels like a long time and she goes back to looking at nothing in particular, but she holds her left arm close to her side. Somewhat nervous of what was to happen when she goes behind that door.

Suddenly, the pipe above her head starts to make a funny rattling noise and begins to hiss. Tova stares at it, before looking off to the side and sees the little wheel sticking out of the pipe. But it's out of her reach. She looks at the door for a moment.

Tova looks for something to stand on and soon finds an old stool near the end of the hallway. She quickly grabs it and puts it underneath the pipe, stepping onto it carefully as she reaches for the little wheel. She turns it to the right a couple times until the rattling noise stops. She suddenly hears footsteps approaching the door and she quickly steps down to her original spot.

The door opens as soon as she steps back and the woman returns. She looks at Tova for a moment, pulls her inside by the arm and closes the door behind them. The room itself had only two lamps that light up the entire room while an old computer on a desk stands in the corner of the room. Despite how old it is, it seems to run with little to no issues. In the top left corner of the room, there's a big metal pipe that runs through the room and goes down into the floor. There's a tiny window that allows you to see inside, but all you can see with small bubbles that float upward. A few other skinnier pipes follow this one, and on the far side of the room stands a long table. A dirty tablecloth hangs over it and Tova steps over and hoists herself on top of it. She waits for further instructions.

There is a tall man who stands over the computer, hand on the mouse as he stares at the screen. He adjusts his glasses on his face and tells the woman that she can leave and come back later. The woman glances at Tova before leaving them. The man stares at his computer a while longer before finally looking at Tova. He walks over to her and looks her over. He takes her right arm and looks at it closely, then takes her other arm and does the same. His face is stern as he looks at her. He then tells Tova to lie down on the table. Tova did so and stared up at the ceiling. She's all too familiar with this procedure. It still makes her nervous every time they go through this, but she knew it'd all be over soon.

When the man finished the procedure, the woman came back and asked if everything was finished. Tova opened her eyes and slowly sat up on the table. She felt a little delirious.

"Yes, she's done now. But please, if you could do me one favor, get her cleaned up." the man said as he turned back to his computer.

"Yes, sir."

The woman turned to Tova.

"Tova, come with me," she motioned. Tova looked up and hopped off the table, following the woman out the door. They went back down the hall and down a flight of stairs.

"Did everything go okay?" the woman asked. Tova didn't say anything. She looked down at her arm where a bandage was placed and she lightly touched the area. It was only a little sore, a familiar pain that Tova got used to over time. The woman didn't try to continue the conversation.

When they made it down the stairs, they turned to the left and the woman opened a door. It was just an old, unused room. It looked fairly normal. A small bed, a closet and a desk with a few drawers on the right side. A small mirror hung on the other side of the room.

"Go ahead and sit down." the woman said. Tova didn't hesitate, she walked over to the old bed and sat down comfortably. The woman opened the closet and started looking through all the random stuff that had been tossed in there. She moved a couple dirty boxes out of the way and spotted something.

"Here, Tova. I think I found something that would be better for you." the woman said. Tova looked up at her. The woman pulled out a plain white shirt and a pair of black shorts. But as the woman looked at the clothes further, her smile faded. There was a hole in the shorts and one of the buttons was missing. The shirt only had a large stain on it that wasn't pleasing to look at.

"Hmm, you know what? Let's get you cleaned up first." the woman said. "Could you go ahead and turn the water on? I'll get your bath ready and get these clothes cleaned up too."

The woman opened the door and Tova followed after her. They went back upstairs and headed into the bathroom. The bathroom itself was somewhat small, and the sink wasn't functional. But this was the first in a long time that Tova had been properly cleaned. The woman waited by the tub as Tova knelt down under the sink and picked up a large wheel. The pipe behind her was where the water was turned on and off, but only for this room. Tova placed the wheel on the spigot sticking out of the pipe and used all her strength to turn it clockwise, then turned towards the tub. The woman turned the little handle and there was a loud groaning noise from the pipes behind the walls. Finally, the water began to flow through loudly. The woman picked up a bucket sitting nearby and held it under the faucet, waiting for it to fill up enough.

"You think you can clean yourself up while I get these fixed?" the woman asked. Tova nodded. The woman removed the bucket carried it out of the room as the tub began to fill with water. Tova waited for it to fill before turning the handle counter clockwise and shut off the water. She closed the door, but not completely. Undressing herself and handing the dirty dress to the woman standing on the other side of the door before closing it all the way. The woman took the bucket and the pile of clothes and went to find some soap. If there was any left...

Tova was capable of cleaning herself, but she was afraid that the bandage on her arm would fall off. When the woman came back, she left her new clothes ontop of the sink and waited for Tova to finish. There wasn't enough soap to get the stain out completely, but it was enough to rid the smell. She had also found enough thread to fix the hole and other various tears in the shorts. But there wasn't a button to complete it. Tova hadn't had any new clothes in a long time, but they felt comfy. She hoped she could keep these clothes clean for as long as possible. When she opened the door, the woman was waiting for her in the hallway. She hid a smile behind her face, but didn't say anything. She escorted Tova back to her room before leaving.

Tova went over to the other side of the room and looked at herself in the dirty mirror that stood on her broken desk. The shirt was a little tight, but nonetheless comfy. The shorts were only a little loose, but with the missing button, she'd often have to adjust them to keep them from slipping. She sat on her knees in front of the little table and reached her hand underneath. She pulled out a small hairbrush and began gently pulling it through her hair. Every now and then she would stop and look over at the door, staring at it for a minute before going back to brushing her hair softly. When she finished, she combed her hands through it, feeling how soft her hair was now that it was clean. She looked at the door one more time.

And she stared at it for a long time. Waiting for her to be needed again.

When she thought she was okay, she got up and sat down in front of the window. She stared through it for a long time, just sitting there. She let her head rest on the glass and tried to look as far down as she could. But all she saw was the glow of the city below her. She tried to focus on them, hoping she could catch a glimpse of something, but her head couldn't go any further. She pushed her face against the glass, but there was nothing more for her to see. She wondered why there was even a window here. She sat for a long time, just staring through the glass. Looking at the stone wall in front of her.

Later, she began to notice that she was starting to drift off. And she'd been sitting in the same position for so long that her legs began to fall asleep. She got up and moved herself to the old mattress against the wall, pulled the old blanket over herself as she dozed.

Sometimes when she slept, she dreamed. She dreamed of falling.

Lights passing from her. Passing as fast as comets. And sometimes she would even see things passing her by. Sometimes objects, sometimes buildings or some other abstract object she couldn't quite focus on. She landed on top of things that made her tumble and sometimes they fell with her. But not as fast as she was falling. She didn't even feel the pain. In fact, it hardly felt like she was falling at all. And she wasn't even afraid.

And every time it feels different. Like falling through a kaleidoscope. Sometimes it was dark. Sometimes lights flashed. But she doesn't dream all the time.

But every time she woke up from these dreams, she couldn't remember anything about it.