Chapter nine: A long time ago

His eyes flickered open, then hard closed, then wide open, eyes focused on what looked like a plastic hose that entered his nose, containing a strange multicoloured liquid that almost looked like a rainbow, move up the tube. He sat very still, only moving his eyes around the room at what he could see. A chart, hanging to his left on a wall. A bleeping machine the size of a wallet suspended from the ceiling, that plastic hose beginning at the wallet and ending somewhere up his nose. The rest was white ceiling and white walls.
 
“How are you feeling? Can you speak yet? Hello there. My name is Kalihai. They all call me Kal. It is nice to meet you. Can you hear me?”
 
“Yes. I hear you and see you. It is nice to meet you as well Kal.”
 
“Do you have a name I can call you,” asked Kal.
 
“I do, but I am not sure if I should say it out loud. Is it safe here?”
 
“Oh yes, very safe. In fact you are presently in the source room. The safest place here. The place where the source is inserted in you. Your source colours are like nothing I’ve seen before. It’s like they gave you every colour. I had grey. The C/Os get yellow. But you. That is something else.”
 
“Who are the C/Os?”
 
“Oh sorry, the chosen ones. They are in charge. For now. All of that is about to change, and something very big is about to happen. I’m so happy to be chosen to take care of you. It is an honour. And now that I see your source. Wow.”
 
Kal dropped to one knee. “I have to do this when I get too worked up. Take a knee… It’s why I’m in grey. I have a flaw. But I am still very useful. And they trust me. So much so that they sent me here to take care of you. Oh boy…” Kal dropped to both knees. “I’ll just need a second. I’ll be fine.”
 
Moments later Kal was standing again, staring at the source and watching the last bits of the colour spectrum move through the plastic tube.
 
“And…done! You are complete. Done. Ready. Holy! This is real. This is really happening. Oh no, here we go again.” Kal dropped to both knees again. “They really have to figure out how to fix this. Oh well.”
 
Kal removed the tube, pulling it from the nose, feet after feet, more and more tube until the end plopped out of his nose with a red ball on the end.
 
“OK, ah…stay here. Um, don’t move. I need to go and get them. Oh boy. Seriously. Wow. I’ll be back.”
 
Kal fell to one knee again and dragged his foot along, right out of the room.

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