“Where am I?” were the first words that popped into my head. I felt like I was floating in molasses, my limbs felt tender and numb, and I couldn’t see anything. “Is this what dying feels like?” was running through my mind but I wasn’t afraid, I actually felt calm and safe. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate wholeheartedly, but I started hearing alarms blaring and saw flashing red lights surround me. The fluid around me started to drain, letting my body down on what felt like gelatin. I reached out to find that there was a metal roof above me, which quickly started to rise and let a shower of light in.

It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light and for my ears to flush out the fluids. The room I was in was bright, blazing even. I reflexively shielded my eyes before a foreign hand reached out and touched mine. I turned to see the owner of the appendage, which was a man wearing a white coat, smiling down at me, “Incredible, we did it!” He exclaimed as he held my hand in a vice-like grip.

“Ouch!” I winced in response. It wasn’t painful but pretty uncomfortable. I looked up hoping for an apology or at least remorse on his part but his smile only grew wider. I looked around and saw there were more people in white coats

“Come on, let’s get you down from there… Eve.” Eve? I assumed that was my name. Odd but I didn’t remember anything that happened before I was in this...thing. I started to sit up, “Easy now. Take your time.”

I was turning and let my feet hang on the side, “Who are you? Where am I?”

But before my toes even touched the floor, another man slammed open the double doors to the left of me, “Quickly! I tried to lose them but they’re coming this wa---” A glowing purple substance entered the back of his head and left a void in his forehead as it passed through the front. The man fell, laid dead on the floor, blood and viscera sprayed everywhere, coating the pristine white room with splotches of deep scarlet. I stood frozen as I watched the man die in front of me and the blood sprayed all over my legs.

I was still reeling from the shock, frantically trying to wipe the blood off of my legs when I started to hear the sound of boots marching through the corridor beyond the double doors. I was yanked by the arm towards the exit before the double doors were kicked open and men wearing masks started to flood in with rifles.

We ran through the exit hallway, trying to get away from the chaos as fast as we could but I could still clearly hear the sound of conflict and the piercing sound of plasma rifles firing. We got further away and sounds of screaming started to drown out, “What’s going on?!” I screamed to get some answers from the man dragging me along, “Why were they--”

He pulled me into a side corridor and covered my mouth with his hands. Confused, I struggled against him, “Be quiet!” He whispered in my ear right before another group of masked men marched passed us. He let me go as soon as we could no longer hear the boots stomping anymore, he peeked his head around the corner to see if they were gone or anymore were coming, “We don’t have much time. I’m Dr. Asimov, I’m the head researcher in charge of you, and we need to get you out of here as soon as possible.”

That didn't answer anything. I still had no idea what was going on, “in charge of me?” What does he mean?

Before I got to ask any questions, more people with guns came across our hallway and started yelling, “There it is, get it!” Dr. Asimov quickly yanked me by the arm as streaks of purple whizzed pass our head.

We tried our best to outrun them, but we only managed to nearly dodge with every turn of the corridor, not leave them behind. We came across a lone gunman as we continued to run. We were blocked on either side, I thought that it was the end for both of us but Asimov proved that he was more than a scientist by tackling the lone gunman, wrangling his weapon from him and letting the gun paint the walls with blood as he pulled the trigger, “Go! Run!” he yelled at me, “I'll buy you some time but you need to get out of here fast!” He ran quickly behind me, wielding the gun and started firing into the wall of men and plated armor.

I ran the other way as fast as I could, blindly running down the corridors as a man I only knew the name of was potentially risking his life to ensure my escape. I had enough time to lose the men temporarily, enough time to get myself lost in the maze-like corridors of the building. I was aimlessly walking through the halls, opening every other door only for it to lead to more corridors. I was starting to lose hope of ever finding the exit but I didn’t have time to feel hopeless as I heard a couple of men talking to each other around the corner. I walked into the nearest room to wait for them to pass me by.

I hid behind the door, waiting for their footsteps to pass by. The room was really dark, I could barely see anything outside the area illuminated by the light from the door window. I peeked through the window, seeing nothing but the brown-haired, brown-eyed woman staring back at me from the glass, “That’s me?” I barely recognized my own image. I quickly dropped down to my knees by the door, feeling hopeless as to what was going on. “Why couldn’t remember anything? Who am I? What is going on?” Those questions kept running through my head and my mind turned to Asimov, he said he was the head researcher of me, what did he mean? That I was his patient or... project? I have so many questions but no answers.

As I wallow in confusion, I almost missed the metal arm reaching out for me. I looked up and reeled back in shock. Then a voice came out of the darkness, “Sorry, I didn’t mean scare you.” Her voice sounded very familiar, “I just heard someone come in and thought… I’m sorry.” I couldn’t see her face beyond the darkness.

“It’s okay, you just caught me by surprise. What are you doing here? There are men out there shooting everyone in the building.”

“Oh no. What happened? Is everyone alright?”

“I don’t know. Dr. Asimov just told me to get out of here as fast I could but everywhere I go, there are men with guns looking for… something. I’m not sure.”

“You know Dr. Asimov? Is he okay? Are you part of his team? I don’t recognize your voice, though. ”

She seemed to be familiar with, or even attached to, Asimov. I wondered what their relationship was, “I don’t know, he… distracted the men that were chasing us in order for me to escape. I hope he’s okay.”

There was a long silence before she asked me an odd question, “What’s your name?”

“Eve. At least that’s what they told me when I woke up.”

“I see. So, that’s what they did.” She stepped closer into the light then I see the same woman I saw in the mirror but her skin was torn up, exposing the metal skeleton underneath. I froze, realizing what this meant, “Let’s get you out of here.” She pushed me aside and walked into the hallway, “I’ll give you time, go now.” I saw her walk deeper into the building before running off in the other direction.

The corridors were starting to converge to a single room, a large hall with double doors at the end of it. I could still hear the men running at me, more streaks of purple light whizzed passed me but I was so close, I was almost free. I reached the doors, feeling triumphant as the sunlight hits face and the wind brushed my hair, I thought I was free… But then I saw what waited for me outside. A crowd of people holding signs saying, “Androids aren’t People!”, “Stop playing God!”, and “You’re creating monsters!” At first, they were loud and angry, shouting and chanting for the people inside to stop. I was afraid, I stepped back, and I needed space to process what was going on. Then everything stopped. The crowd stopped chanting and I looked down to see a gaping hole on my stomach, leaking blue liquid on the floor. Then I finally understood, I wasn’t human, I was a monster.