Fiction Fragment Friday
This story grew out of combining a handful of writing prompts. Once again I take an absurd concept and twist it into a story with heart. I did not intend to do that when I started, but as frequently happened the story is what I discover while I’m writing.
I awoke in a dark damp cave. That’s not entirely true. I awoke in a very sophisticated pod that happened to be located in said dark damp cave. The floor was covered with cables and the pod itself was sitting on a dolly like it had been wheeled there from somewhere else. The only light in came from lit torches hanging on the wall.
“Ah, you’re awake. Care for a spot of tea?”
I turned to face the voice and might have screamed if my brain would have allowed me to accept that what I saw was real. Standing there was a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a black top hat and jacket with very tiny sleeves. He had to lean over so his head didn’t hit the roof of the cave. Just to add to my confusion he was holding out a mug of tea towards me. If you are wondering how tiny T-Rex hands could do that well he was using a long metal reacher that seemed to have its grip modified for his claws.
“You’re a T Rex.”
“Quite right. And you are a human. I’ve been waiting quite a long time for you to wake up. Is that a no on the tea?”
“No… No thank you.”
“More for me.” I flinched as he opened his giant jaws, but instead of moving towards me he just lifted the mug up to his mouth with the reacher and poured the entire contents in all at once. “MMM That does so hit the spot. You don’t know what you are missing.”
“How?”
“Oh dear. Did the statis damage you? Can you not speak more than a word or two at a time?” He leaned down extremely close to me. I couldn’t help but think that he could probably swallow me whole. Instead he tilted his head to more easily examine me. I could smell the tea on his breath as my hair blew back from his exhale.
“I’m just really confused right now.”
“That’s fair. I suppose two thousand years of sleep will do that to a person. Though you weren’t actually asleep. Being frozen in a moment of time it should have felt like just a moment to you.”
“Frozen in time?”
“Of course. How else would you have lived two thousand years without any enhancements. I confess I had rather hoped for more intelligent questions. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been watching over this vault by myself?” He started walking down the tunnel away from me. “No, of course you don’t. You’ve been asleep.” He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “Do come along?”
I had to nearly run to keep up with him. I don’t think he realized how much faster his large strides made him than I was. We followed the tunnel for what felt like five minutes before coming to a very large, cavernous hole in the ground. Metal stairs to scale with a tyrannosaurus rex spiraled down. Along the wall were more pods like mine. Hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of them. Starting the top row were three empty spots.
“Who are they?” I asked, staring down the hole.
“Why, humans of course. I suppose they might have names.” He said, looking back at me. Then he started down the stairs. “I would have thought that was obvious.”
“How did they get here?” I followed him down the stairs cautiously, not caring for how they shook with every step he took.
“The same way you did, I’d imagine.”
I had no idea how I had gotten there, so that answer wasn’t particularly helpful. “Well then, who built all this?”
“Your questions suggest rather peculiar priorities. I tend to focus on how to keep it all running. Seems more practical. Then again, I suppose that’s why I’m the caretaker and you are not.”
Seeing an opportunity to get useful answers, I jumped at it. “Who gave you the role of caretaker?”
“Oh my. That was so long ago. I believe he said his name was Reggerald or Regrigard, or no I believe it was Reginald.”
“How long ago was that?”
“It is so hard to keep track of time in a cave.” He stopped suddenly and spun to face me. I tried jumping to avoid his tail, but found myself pushed against the railing anyway. Seeing my distress, he immediately backed away. “Terribly sorry about that. Anyway, computer, how long have I been the caretaker?”
“Nine hundred and seventy-five Earth years.” The flat, emotionless voice came from all around us. I looked around but couldn’t find any speakers that it could have come from.
“How is that possible? How long do your people live?”
“My people? Oh no, I have no people. I assure you there is only one Bowrigard. As for how long an ordinary tyrannosaurus might live, I could not begin to speculate. I, however, have been rather extensively enhanced for the role.”
“That sounds lonely.”
He stopped on the stairs and regarded me for a moment. “How very perceptive.” He turned and continued down the stairs. “Right then. On we go.”
We went the rest of the way down the stairs in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though. Instead, it felt like we had crossed some sort of invisible threshold. At the bottom of the stairs was a giant computer system, complete with an array of monitors. He settled into the largest chair I had ever seen, complete with a curved area to support his tail. Just when I thought the sight couldn’t get any more surreal, he sat down his reachers and picked up modified versions that ended in single fingers. I just stood there watching a Tyrannosaurus Rex sitting at his computer pecking away on the keyboard one letter at a time.
“What are you doing?”
“My daily system diagnostics. Don’t worry, I’ll just be a moment.” As slowly as he was typing, I had to question just how quickly he would be done. I didn’t want to distract him and make it take even longer, so I wandered around trying to take my situation in.
I waited until he was almost done to ask my next question. “Why did you wake me up?
“I thought you would never get around to asking. The world outside our cave is being repaired. I’m afraid despite my enhancement I am not exactly qualified to judge if it is ready for humans.”
“So, I’m the canary in the coal mine?” I meant it as a joke.
“I don’t believe this cave was ever a mine, but I suppose it might have been.”
I sighed and just shook my head. Then I thought back to the missing pods in the top row. “I’m not the first you’ve woken up, am I?”
He looked at me and then lowered his head to break eye contact. “No.”
“What happened to them?”
“Bernard taught me everything I know about humans. He even gave me my name.” He turned to the computer and brought up a picture of a middle-aged British man on the screen. Silence filled the cave for a few long moments. “I mourned him for years when he didn’t return, but that was nine hundred years ago.”
The image on the screen changed to a woman. “The job goes on though, so I tried again two hundred years later with Kylie. She came back but refused to talk about what she saw out there. In fact, she refused to talk to me at all. It was resentment towards me for waking her up. She told the computer that the world wasn’t survivable.”
“We lived together in this cave system for the rest of her life, but she avoided me.” He turned his chair to face me. “And now you are awake.”
I thought about his words for a moment before responding, “I think I will have a cup of tea after all.”