text: It came quickly, and it only lasted a moment or two. The last moments of my life. I couldn't quite remember how I died, all I remember is the dark. The void. The emptiness. The memories I had were a bit foggy, all I remember was a tall and disfigured creature standing over me. It was the last thing I saw. The last moment I had. I woke up with a gasp. My neck ached from the snap back to reality, and it felt almost unnatural to be in a physical form again. At least I thought. I started to wiggle around. Arms, legs, everything seemed to be there. I was dressed in all white. My head was shaved, and two wires were attached to the side of it, leading up to the wall behind me. In front of me was what looked like to be a large, curved glass shield. It was like a pod of some sort. Across from me I could see many more pods like mine, all lined up on the wall, at least a hundred of them, each containing someone else. The room was clean. Shiny. Each wall was made completely of metal, without a spot of rust in sight. I tried to move around, but both my arms and legs were bolted to the bod. Panicked, the shield started to rise and I was released. I removed the wires from my head and stepped down. *Is this...heaven?* I knew for sure I had just died. I had never considered myself religious but this was the only possible explanation. So this is where I would be spending the rest of eternity. I looked around to see if I could meet my creator. At the end of the room was a door, unlocked and wide open. Naturally I walked through, and the lights started to get dimmer as I went down the narrow hallway, dragging my fingers along the wall and feeling the smoothness of the metal. Then the lights started to flicker, and I heard whispers. I saw shadows. My vision went dark and I saw the moment of my death again, much clearer this time. I saw the creature- it looked to be more normal than what I originally saw. Its arms and legs were thin. It looked malnourished. Its face looked like melted candle wax. Human. That's right. That's what it was. Human. Just barely meeting the requirements to be called that. I said the word again, this time aloud. Human. The word appeared in my head almost out of nowhere. Human. Yes, that's what I was too. The human held some sort of small device with a flashing light at the end, sparks flying out from the end. The human raised it, and that's when it ended. The hallway. That's right. I'm in the hallway. Eventually the hallway ended and I turned to find a massive room filled with strange and grotesque machines. Faint laughter, that sounded almost insane and sadistic, was echoing throughout the chamber. My heart skipped a beat and I held my breath as I saw the end of the room. There was a body, like mine, hanging upside down from a machine. Below it seemed to be a pool of thick liquid releasing smoke. But- it was missing an arm. And a leg. Its face had no features. It seemed to be half-formed flesh. The creature with the sadistic laugh turned around, and I saw it. It was the human. Same thin limbs, same candle wax face. It spoke in a very high pitch and garbled voice. *"My child! Yes, oh my child! You've awakened!"* Child? What was it talking about? *"You're safe, I was so worried."* It came closer to me. *"My dear creation, my dear assembly of flesh and bone."* I was confused. Was he...God? The human had a haunting grin on its face. *"It's wonderful to have you here, my child. But I'm afraid you must go and join your brothers and sisters..."* The human walked over to me and placed its hand on my cheek. I was shaking and felt paralyzed. *"You are my proudest creation. Oh, but what a shame you must go back! A cat only has nine lives, you know. Like the cat, you must realize that each of your lives, no matter how many, is a treasure."* "Who are you?" *"Who am I? You forgot me? Call me father, my child. All of you are my children. And all of you must return to the world within the pod"* "Wha-I don't understand!" The human took out the device I had seen in my vision and pressed it into my shoulder. With a shock of electricity, everything went black. I woke up in the pod again. My arms and legs were bound. The wires were back on my head. And the glass shield was slowly lowering. I saw the human laughing maniacally as he watched me enter into my sleep again. I felt like I was leaving my body. I felt light headed. And then, everything stopped. \~ I came out crying and wailing as the doctor picked me up. I shook my little arms and legs as I could her murmurs around the hospital room. The doctor put me in the hands of a woman who I could only assume was my mother, with a kind face and a warm smile. She was beautiful, and she stared at me with utter joy. "Welcome to the world.