All That She Can See(74)

‘We see all through the lenses,’ Experiment 341 said.

‘Can you rewind?’

‘We can see into the past but not the future.’

‘Then look back to what Peter saw yesterday.’ Was it yesterday? Cherry thought. How long have we been here? ‘Maybe not yesterday. Check the last twenty-four hours and look for Peter and a bad feeling the size of a house.’

‘That is not possible,’ Experiment 341 said.

‘Let us try,’ a different voice said.

‘We cannot,’ Experiment 341 began again but was interrupted by another voice repeating, ‘Let us try.’

All of the eyes closed, apart from one pair. Experiment 341 hesitated and then she closed her eyes, too.

‘We see it,’ they said. ‘It’s monstrous.’

‘And can you see Peter?’ Cherry asked eagerly.

‘We can.’

‘Then you see that you can leave,’ Cherry said. ‘Please help us and we’ll take you all with us. You can leave the darkness behind.’

The eyes bobbed up and down, nodding their heads in agreement. ‘There is only one way to turn off our sight.’

‘Tell us how,’ Cherry said. ‘We’ll turn it off and then we can leave.’

‘I’m afraid it’s not your decision,’ one of them said. ‘It’s up to us.’

‘What does that mean?’ Chase said, moving to stand next to Cherry. ‘Surely it’s simple to switch your lenses off?’

‘We do not have lenses,’ they chorused.

‘Come closer,’ Experiment 341 said, closing her eyes. Cherry took one step forwards and the other lights guided her across the dark floor until she was standing in front of Experiment 341, close enough to touch her. ‘Do not be alarmed.’ Cherry felt 341 put her face next to hers and she opened her eyes, careful not to blind Cherry with their light. And then Cherry saw that they were not eyes at all. They were glass orbs, millions of images dancing across them all at once so that they blurred into one glowing light. The pictures flickered so fast that Cherry couldn’t focus on one at a time. Loneliness whined.

‘Our eyes were taken and replaced with orbs. They are like your lenses but on a much stronger level. We see everything. You see what we want you to see. We are the filters to your sight.’

‘How can you take all of that in? There are too many and they move so fast,’ Cherry said in awe.

‘We’ve been down here a long time. Practice makes perfect.’

Loneliness groaned again, scratching his back up against one of the walls.

‘But Peter said there were people who watched screens all day. To watch over what everyone like us is doing. He never said it was like… this.’

‘Not everyone here knows about us. Secrets and theories become urban legend and everyone thinks they’re the truth. Peter didn’t know about us.’

‘How do you know that? Did you know Peter?’

‘I used to,’ 341 whispered.

Cherry looked into the orbs again, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of what she was seeing. How did they live with this, day after day? ‘Is there any way to make it stop?’ she asked.

341 took Cherry’s hand and squeezed it. Cherry looked down at her black skin contrasting against 341’s caramel tones. 341 pulled her hand away and Cherry thought she saw a glimpse of yellow around her wrist but couldn’t be sure.

‘The only way to stop the sight is by shattering our orbs,’ said 341, her voice steady as the other experiments nodded.

‘But… you’d be blind,’ said Chase.

‘We’re already blind,’ said the experiments.

‘I can’t do that,’ said Cherry, the hairs on her arms rising. ‘You wouldn’t be able to see anything.’

‘You can see things now,’ said Chase. ‘You see more than anyone else sees.’

‘Perhaps,’ one of the other experiments said. ‘But it is a burden. This is not a life any of us chose and now that we can see it is possible to leave it behind, we would be grateful if you kept your promise and helped us. You need to shatter our orbs.’

‘Couldn’t you have done it yourself? Shattered the orbs, I mean?’ Chase asked. He pulled Cherry closer to him.

‘We’ve tried. They’re tough to break. We’re not strong enough,’ they said. Loneliness let out a long howl.

‘What makes you think we’d be strong enough?’ Cherry asked. Loneliness’s howl grew louder.

‘That creature is driving me mad,’ Chase muttered.

Cherry could only make out Loneliness’s outline as it ambled towards them. It veered to the right towards an experiment whose lights started to blink rapidly.

‘It’s all right, 347. I believe Loneliness is just trying to help.’ 341’s voice was low and soft.

Loneliness whined and lifted its hands up to 347’s face, its large palms covering 347’s ears. It closed 347’s eyelids with its thumbs, extinguishing the light, but keeping the pad of its thumbs there. The crunch of glass reverberated around the cell and Cherry’s stomach turned as 347 screamed.

‘Stop!’ she yelled.

‘No,’ said 341, reaching out for the hand Chase wasn’t holding.