Storm.
Cabin on the hills, moorland, sparse woods.
There’s a storm approaching, and I’m outside. Winds are getting stronger, it's a struggle to walk against it. Lightning hits nearby, 500 metres too close. The thunder is all encompassing. The air smells funny, my hairs stand on end. I’m near trees and a pylon. I know the next strike will be too close. Running into the soup, I’m making little progress, the cabin is close yet far. The lightning strikes, it misses. The thunder is right above me, crashing around, there’s no determinable timbre, just bassy noise accompanying the wind.
I made it inside.
Unclear past this point, a policeman is in the cabin.
Fades.
-----
Familiar.
Bedroom: messy, medical drips etc just out of view
Two young women look at each other. They look similar, siblings perhaps.Their expressions are sad. One has tears down her face, the other appears more stoic yet pained. The crying girl looks less human, plastics and metals, an android. They’re holding each other's hands. The android knows why she’s doing this, but the stoic girl knows more. She’s dying. The girl gives the android's hands a squeeze, then picks up a device, large, rectangular, slightly heavy and cumbersome. They look at each other with quiet determination, the device is activated. Memories and emotions flood the android, the tears turn to streams. The girl is sitting upright in bed, her face turning dull as the cards flip and the lights dance on the device. The last card flips to zero. The shock of this stuns the android for a period, she sits on her knees, arms limp and sobs. She calms after a minute. The girl had slumped back, expression blank. Alive, for now.
“You can go,” says the girl. She always became cold after the procedure. The android straightens herself, she leans over the device that's now lying on the sheets, she hugs the girl. The girl doesn't reciprocate.
I wake.