Excerpt: One

Daniel wasn’t sure what she expected him to find or what this room was, but he looked around, and the Dim to his right nodded and walked behind him into the room. There was a simulated window on the wall opposite the door-a lovely invention, Daniel thought-that made it appear as if they were above ground around midday. He expected that it changed to suit the real time of day like most things of its kind. He soon noticed, however, what Natalia probably wanted him to see. The once-white walls had been written over…on all sides of the room, near as he could see. It was very small, so he couldn’t make much out. He exhaled heavily and looked around. He noticed the Dim stood at attention with his…his? its? back to the window, rifle in hand same as before. He wanted to laugh at the image of a Dim guarding a fake window, and he couldn’t suppress his smile. The soldier looked to him for a moment, and he started to move his hands and open his mouth, to explain why it was amusing, but his smile failed soon, and he just waved dismissively. You wouldn’t get it, anyway. He returned to his survey of the room, pacing around slowly, he noticed a small blank space on the wall to his left. An indentation? He moved closer, and it did seem to be. It looked like it was the starting point for all this, so he figured he’d take a look. It read:

A wise man told me once that “I think, therefore I am.” was the truest proof of identity. I didn’t understand. But now, I see his intent with perfect clarity. I exist. I am real, and I am me. I do not know what I am, but I know that I am. It is an important thought that I have spent many nights awake pondering. I am a being. I am a person. I am not an animal. I am not a thing. I am a person. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not…

And so it continued. That neatly-written writing which slowly faded from black to reddish-brown stretched across the entirety of the room and its walls Daniel couldn’t help but whisper to himself as he read it, and thought aloud. “I…am not…a number...what the hell? What is this?”

Disturbing more than anything else to Daniel Weber at that moment was not the DIMS’ involvement. Not whatever mess Rint had inadvertently gotten him into-at least he hoped, inadvertently. Not even his own safety or the strangeness he saw on these walls. What disturbed Mister Weber at that moment was that what he saw before him felt…quite familiar. It was extremely familiar.