Chapter 2 – Insight
“Hello and welcome sir. My name is doctor Shalin and I’ve been assigned to you as a guide for today. I would ask if you have any questions but I’m guessing for you to ask questions, you must first know where to begin” this man exclaimed.
Unphased and grinning slightly, I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time he’d been in this situation.
“It’s not exactly the easiest of things to explain, nor my job but welcome to ‘Insight’; an establishment built from the ground up to facilitate the birth of everyone in our humble city”.
What could really be said to something like that? I mean honestly, what does a man who says that kind of thing really expect from the person he’s saying it to. As if he were here to spread confusion, I thought I’d humour him by laying silent and posting an exaggerated face of confusion in response.
“If you want my honest opinion, I don’t know exactly how or why you’re here” he started.
“But you are so it’s my duty for today to make sure you settle in to your life easily and quickly” he said with yet another grin rising on his now less welcoming face.
“Well a nice start would be giving me some food” I whittled with a much quieter voice then his own. Speaking was a painful task which I had no intention of doing beyond what was needed.
“Ahh good, so your voice isn’t giving you too much trouble I hope. Please don’t be offended if my two companions accompany us to the dining hall, it’s merely a precaution”. At that moment, two men dressed in green and brown camo gear adorning a gun each, strapped to their chests entered my view. A gun, camo and a helmet. Surely if I can remember what these things are I could make some sense of why I was here. Why could I remember how to do things or their relation to the world, but nothing of what I had done to get to this point in time?
All I knew at that place was no gain would be made by crossing any of these men so I stood up and started “Sure, just don’t be offended if I’m not exactly in a very talka… (Cough) talkative mood” I struggled to clarify.
His grin grew wider and he reached into his top pocket filled with pens and grabbed for something. Revealing the palm of his hand I noted a card of some description which he then proceeded to wave in front of a panel on the glass itself. From my perspective it was just a plain white square shape but as the glass opened and I walked slowly out from my cell, it was made apparent it was a keypad of some sort. A single keycard attached to a chain. For any secure ‘establishment’ as he smugly put it before, one keycard for a ‘doctor’ as he called himself would surely hold the key to my escape. The now growing ponderings in my head were drawing me apart. My slumber surely did not help me to come to any conclusion faster; whether it be to use this card as a means of escape or whether I should ride it out and see what he had to say.
We walked in utter silence for the next minute or so, what with my stumbling hunger ridden body and his again smug expressions, all I would think of was food. Him being the tool to use for my own ends, there was nothing I could do but follow. Any sort of sustenance, fuel for my mind, fuel for my body and more importantly, fuel to give me more of an option for what I would do next.
Passing through a door at the end of the long, narrow, winding corridor, I was met with what smelt like a home cooked roast. The very air this scent filled was given warmth and comfort, only to be inhaled and envied by any who was exposed to its tempting allure.
“Take a seat over there and I’ll see what we can fix up for you” he whispered calmly into my ear. As my energy was growing weaker and weaker, I was given aid to show me to my seat by the two rugged gun wielding men, which had ensured I arrived safely for either Shalins safety or my own, I did not know which.
Everything was clouding over as the increasingly agonizing pains gripped my stomach and my head without notice, dipped backwards in a pathetic manner towards the back of my seat. This was no feeling I wished bestowed upon anyone, even my captors if it would assist my escape. I felt like death.
“That’s it mate, shake the shit out. Hell they wont take a minute and you’ll be bloody great when you see what they’ve got for ya!” one of the guards exclaimed.
“Walking… you’re a walking cliché… mate…” I struggled to gasp as I quietly giggled inside. He seemed less then amused.
Lo and behold though, it wasn’t long before a dish made for a king was laid out before me. I’m not talking your standard meal here. This was quite literally the platter to end all platters. The almost comically sized tray the stunted, round Shalin himself bought over was filled with delicacies, half of which I didn’t even know what they were made of. Looking down at the first feeling of excitement I’d felt all day, I would have cried had I enough energy. A healthy selection of marinaded ribs, accompanied by a side dish with dips of guacamole, sour cream, tomato and some strange yellow thing I didn’t even know could exist, were the first things to reach my sight. Stretching my horizon, the next on the menu was a selection of what seemed to be oriental dishes; a large pancake roll, crispy fried duck in a sweet and sour plum sauce, pork chicken and beef sliced so thinly, as if by magic and covered in a barbeque sauce.
The very platter itself was enough to stretch the imagination of any man. Pork balls, sweet and sour chips, roast potatoes and gravy, mozzarella stuffed avocado, fried bacon and beans with egg, sausage, hash brown and a sauce which could only have been made for the Gods themselves it smelt so good.
I did the only thing any red blooded man would do. I didn’t give a shit. Straight to the messiest rib I could find dipped in pretty much everything else. Possibly the most ham-fisted, clumsy and largest meal I would ever have. Of course most was left untouched as my stomach now confused by extreme hunger and over devouring didn’t know what to do with itself, but only after I’d had more then my sickening fair share.
“Feeling better now are we?” Shalin inquired some time later as he looked over my part sick but now much more then happy face.
“Damn straight!” was pretty much all I could say after such a satisfying ordeal.
“We really must be getting on though I’m afraid, there’s sadly not enough time for pleasantries”.
I didn’t really care, I had finished and this was the happiest I had felt all day as I bought myself to my feet. No longer stumbling, now just in the need of the best end to a meal, I stretched backwards as if a Cawing bird would welcome in a new day. For that moment, I felt like a man on the top of the world. A king amongst the world or a God amongst men. It almost made me forget why I was worried in the first place. And then it struck me like a freight train; that moment of recognition to what was happening around me.
There must have been around 15 people in the relatively small dining area, one of which was tucking into a platter made for a king surrounded by three men, much like those who were now standing around me. The rest were dining quietly in white overalls almost trying to ignore both me and the other man under the heed of our carers.
“Come on, it’s time for a walk son” Shalin explained as he walked towards where we came from. This time, the guards stood closer behind me as if motioning me forward. Had I of stopped, they would surely of pushed me onwards.
Left, right, straight on, this time I was sure they were taking me a different route back to my cell until I approached a much smaller room coated in reflective material. I was right but did I really want to be? I moved first into this roughly six by six foot room and turned to see them covering the door behind me.
“Goodbye sir, I hope you have a good trip” Shalin exclaimed as he pressed a button outside and the door closed.
Now much more awake then I had been before, I leapt towards the door only to be pushed back in by the burly guards and that was it… the door had closed in front of me only to reveal my reflection on another shiny surface. Only noting a piece of Guacamole still attached to my cheek, I felt like I should be embarrassed but instead just wiped it into my mouth in a quick sweeping move and continued to question what was going to happen. A sudden jitter of the room made me feel like I was moving.
“Just a bloody lift” I thought to myself as I noticed I was rising in this box room. All sorts of thoughts filled my head in this desolate room as I noted no buttons to stop the journey, nor reverse it. I was going somewhere else I didn’t know; o boy, what a change from what had just happened…