I woke up in my cell with a nice face thanks to a good night's sleep last night. Two guards and a doctor approach my cell and the door opens.
The guards take me out of my cell and the doctor approaches me.
"This one will do for the experiment."
The doctor looked old, with a few bags under his eyes, hair as gray as the clouds in the sky I hadn't seen in a long time, eyes as black as the darkness of my cell at night. He was big enough, I would say, visibly around one meter and eighty tall. And a name tag on his white coat giving his name: Doctor Alberto.
The guards took me out of my cell and made me follow the doctor. There was a guard in front of me and another behind, with the doctor at the head of the line.
I walk with them through the white corridors that never change and we enter a room with a window that shows a room furnished with a simple table and a black lamp hanging from the ceiling.
"Well, D-6820, here's what you're going to do…"
The man's voice is serious and sour.
"You're going to walk into the room and you're going to look at the lamp on the ceiling, simple isn't it?"
"…Y-Yes?"
The guards constantly monitor my movements.
"And you're going to tell us what's going on, that's all."
"…okay."
I scratch my head, "Why is this falling on me?", I say to myself.
"Come on, get the D-Class. Good luck, boy." Doctor Alberto told me, patting me on the shoulder.
Doctor Alberto walked towards the window as the guards led me to the door of the room.
I walk into the room, but … "How is it possible that it's lit up if the lamp is black?"
"Hmmm.."
"Testing, testing… one-two one-two." A voice is heard in the room.
"We are listening, Doctor Alberto."
"Perfect then. D-6820, look at the lamp and tell me what you think."
"Okay."
I look at the black lamp and focus on it.
A faint noise made me look around.
"D-6820, what's going on?"
"I heard something, but it's too faint and I don't know where it's coming from."
"Focus on the lamp again then, D-6820."
"Alright, doctor Alberto."
I look back at the lamp.
My vision blurred for a while and I decided to rub my eyes thinking about the fatigue disturbing my vision.
"Is everything alright, D-6820?"
"My vision blurred for a few moments."
"Good."
The doctor's words echo in my head.
The lines marked on the floor of the room become wrinkled, forming waves.
"Doctor, I see waves…"
"Still tired, D-6820?"
I look around and the walls seem to be crumbling, I have the feeling that the floor is shaking. Last thing I knew, I find myself in a larger room, like a courtroom.
In front of me a faceless person is sitting in the judge's seat.
"Marco Rodrigues, or D-6820, today you will be judged. Please sit down now."
I look around me as I sat in the seat. The people around me are all malformed, like nature's horrors. All these people have whitish things all over their bodies, like bony growths.
There was no proper defense or prosecution, just deformed entities in the dust-covered bleackers; just looking made me want to sneeze at every moment.
My vision changed little by little, like static from an old black and white television.
"D-6820, is everything okay? We didn't hear anything from you for 10 minutes."
D-6820 lies down in a fetal position in one corner of the room.
Cries are heard coming from D-6820, and he puts his hands on his head.
"D-6820? Send a guard into the room to remove him."
Memories of my childhood are slowly coming back to me… the first time I rode a bike, my first fight, my first detention at school, the first time I fell in love… and babies crying in the background…
Just static images from my past…
But what is happening to me?
A guard enters the room equipped with sunglasses and approaches D-6820.
"D-6820, someone will touch your shoulder, don't worry."
The guard touches the shoulder of D-6820.
"Static images from childhood… children crying…"
D-6820's eyes are completely white.
"Stand down, please. We'll see the rest of the events."
"The guard leaves the room, leaving D-6820 alone.//
D-6820 gets up and approaches the table and then attacks it violently.
"D-6820, please stop."
D-6820 continues to break the table into pieces.
"Well then Mr. Marco, let's start this trial."
"Yes… sir judge."
"Marco Rodrigues, 38, a wife named Agnes, two children Leo and Helena."
"Yes, it's me… I guess."
"You think?"
"Well… it's hard to explain but… some details of my life elude me and come back to me… but now that you say…"
"I understand. Well, let's go through all these details."
"Yes, sir judge."
The judge seems to be flipping through a file.
"Do you know this phrase, Mr. Marco?"
The judge showed me a paper with a writing on it: "The Light shows the way, it sends me to court so that I may be judged."
"No, sir judge."
"Write down everything you see."
"Yes Doctor Alberto"
D-6820 begins to repeat the phrase : “The Light shows the way, it sends me to court so that I may be judged.”
The ends of the fingers of D-6820 start to emit light.
"Have you committed crimes in your life?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Here it says: robbed a bank, killed two people in self-defense."
"I…"
"Don't you remember that too?"
"W- …yes, indeed."
"Well, I understand."
"…"
"Well, my judgment is ready to be deferred."
"I'm listening, judge."
I feel immense fear of this judgment that could potentially kill me.
"In view of your past actions, Marco Rodrigues, I plead you guilty."
"I…"
"You will be executed immediately."
I try to move my body, but my legs won't move and I look at my hands, which are gradually discoloring.
Your execution will be death by calcification."
"With that, Marco Rodrigues, I wish you a good stay in hell."
"I…"
My brain is panicking, what should I do? Should I just die like this? So this is my end? My body is paralyzed, I can only suffer the events that are imposed.
The body of D-6820 calcifies more and more and the already calcified parts gradually fall to dust.
Then they reveal the flesh and muscle of D-6820's body.
"Send a guard, see if he can get a dust sample to see its composition."
"Yes, Doctor Alberto"
A guard enters the room and extracts dust samples and leaves. D-6820's body calcifies completely and then vanishes into dust, leaving only its skeleton in the room.
He was a guilty man to the light.