Lunar Love
“Plugging in… connected. Remember, when you are ready to leave, you must go out through the settings to disconnect safely.”
“Yea, yea, I know; I do this practically daily.”
“It’s a precaution, every model made by Nyx has to have the precaution, or they receive lawsuits.”
“Yea, yea, I know; you give me the same speech every time I do this, Nyx.”
“It’s in my coding, Ezra.”
“Just let me talk with her.”
“Okay”
Ezra’s vision goes white, which is standard procedure for visiting Annalise. Annalise’s figure starts to come into Ezra’s view. Annalise towers over him, 10 feet tall compared to Ezra’s measly 5’8. She stood there in an orange jumpsuit with shackles on her ankles and wrists. Her long, jet-black hair in a tight braid reached the small of her back. Her piercing grey eyes turn soft when she sees Ezra.
“How’ve you been, Annalise?”
“Just great, you know, except they don’t treat me like the rest in here.”
“We knew that was gonna happen; I can’t believe the jury didn’t believe you or me.”
“It’s prejudice; that’s what humans call it, right?”
“Yea, humans tend not to like any sort of invaders.”
“You know I hate that word, Ezra.”
Annalise approaches Ezra but walks into a sort of force field before she can reach him.
“Nyx, can you take down the force field? I just want to hug my friend,” Ezra stated calmly.
“IF ALL YOU THINK OF ME IS AS AN INTRUDER, I AM NO FRIEND OF YOURS,” Annalise hissed.
“I recommend leaving it up, especially after that reaction,” Nyx says.
“Nyx, now,” Ezra demanded.
The force field drops, and Annalise approaches Ezra, nothing to stop her approach. The closer she gets to Ezra, the slower she goes; by the time she is close by, she is slower than a walk, practically crawling on her knees. She finally reaches him, wrapping her long, lanky arms around Ezra’s waist and pulling him in tight.
“Ezra!” Annalise cried, realizing he would probably be the only one there for her for the rest of eternity. Ezra, shocked, finally lowered his arms and returned the hug.
The two stood there in an embrace for who knows how long.
“Not to interrupt, Ezra, but your time is up; Prisoner 52361 needs to return to her cell.”
“Give me another minute Nyx.”
“I’m sorry, Ezra, but you’re out of time.”
Ezra then disappeared from the room. Annalise, still hugging the air of where Ezra was, hears soft sobs from Annalise. The one person who showed her any humanity ripped from her arms.
“Nyx! You taught me how to disconnect from the server, yet you still yank me out! You should know better than that! Especially being an AI”
Nyx does not reply. Ezra finally opens his eyes, having never been yanked out before. He turns around and tries to see anything. Nothing. It’s pitch black. It seems Nyx didn’t know where to put him. He brings his hands up to his hair, yanking harshly on the roots of his short, auburn hair.
“NYX!” Ezra yelled, trying to get a response.
Nyx did not want to talk with Ezra.
Ezra stepped out in front of him and heard water splash. He walked into a small puddle. He steps back and decides to turn in a different direction. With every movement he turns, he is surrounded by water.
“NYX!” Ezra yelled again, angrier.
“If you would’ve listened to me, Ezra, you wouldn’t be here. It wasn’t me who put you here, though. It was the server. They kicked you out.”
“Well, that’s no help, Nyx; how long am I here for?”
“That I do not know, Ezra.”
“Well, figure it out; I need out; I need to disconnect fully. I have a life outside of Nyx interactions; you know this.”
“I will try to find the answer; no guarantee.”
Ezra tried to sit down, but his little area to sit down was getting wetter by the second, his pants now soaked in water.
“Ezra, I’ve got an answer.”
“Well, Nyx? Spit it out!”
“It says that those who disobey prison visiting rules must stay in containment for five days human world.”
“I can’t stay here for five days! I’ll die of dehydration!”
“They see that as what humans would call 'you problem.'”
“Real funny, Nyx.”
Accepting his fate, Ezra decides to lie down and go to sleep; he has five days in this desolate hell hole.
“1 DAY HAS PASSED,” an omnipotent voice announces, startling Ezra from his sleep. He gets up and looks around. He looks around and sees a bottle of water and a plastic-wrapped sandwich floating in the water around him. He crawls to grab the two, but they start drifting away. He pounces and gets the two objects, devouring them within seconds.
The same thing happens daily: the voice, water, sandwich, and empty void surrounding him.
“Sentence ends in 3 minutes,” the voice announces, calmer in the fashion compared to other times.
Now desensitized to the voice, Ezra ignored what it had to say. He suddenly feels a sharp cut across his eyes and blood pooling in his vision, or what’s left of it. He looks to where he’s kept the water bottles and the plastic wrap, seeing barely anything, only crimson. He scrambles over to the water surrounding him and ducks his head underwater, trying to wash out the blood. Still, the water around his island was suddenly dry.
“WHY!” Ezra shouted.
He lays down, and once the time has passed. He gets transported to the real world, only able to tell due to the smell of smoke around him. He was finally at “home.”
“You are suspended from Nyx for two months.”
“Please tell Annalise! Let her know I can’t see her for a while,” he shouts out, unable to see which direction the Nyx device is in.
Ezra, Still lying in his bed, relaxes, realizing there is nothing he can do now, being blind he can’t type, so he can’t do work; being banned from Nyx, he can’t talk to Annalise, and again, without sight, he can barely get out of bed.
“Hello, Mr.Ezra, I am your caretaker,” Ezra hears suddenly.
“Caretaker, what for?”
“Mr.Ezra, you’ve been blind for years; your old caretaker retired, so I’m the new one.”
“Years? I was blinded earlier today.” He attempts to clarify.
“No sir, we have government documents saying you’ve been blind for years.”
Completely shocked. Ezra is incapable of comprehending how he’s been blind for years. Did he lose track of time? Does that mean he can talk to Annalise?
“Anyways, Mr.Ezra, what would you like for Lunch? It’s a bit late for breakfast.”
“You haven’t introduced yourself; are you aware of that?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr.Ezra; I’m Anne.”
“Anne, you remind me of someone.”
“Your papers say you used a Nyx device to speak with an alien woman named Annalise. Is that who I remind you of?”
“Yea, but I doubt you’re 10 feet tall.”
“Yea, sadly, I’m only 5’2, but you still haven’t answered my question, Mr.Ezra; what would you like for lunch?”
“Can I have some pizza?”
“What’s that…?”
“You don’t know what Pizza is?”
“Never heard of it, sir….”
“I don’t know, um, for lunch, just whatever you’d recommend”
“Okay, Mr.Ezra, I’ll go make your lunch.”
Never heard of pizza? Where is Nyx? What about Annalise? Blind for years? These questions race through his head, confused about what happened or didn’t happen. The confusing reality from fiction, dream from waking.
“Anne?”
“Yes, Mr.Ezra?”
“Can you come here, please?”
“Yes, sir!”
Anne ran into the room, ready to take any order Ezra asked of her.
“Anne, can you look at my floor, look for a sort of pair of sunglasses?”
“Yea, I think I found them. Are these them?” She asks, putting them into his open hands.
“Yes, thank you, Anne.”
Ezra grabs the headset and puts it over his eyes. He reaches around, trying to find the earpieces to wire into his brain.
“Anne, can you give me a hand? I can’t find the earpieces.”
“This earpiece looks fried, sir; how old is this device?”
“It’s not that old….”
“Nyx the company was shut down a few years ago, some lawsuit about blinding people on accident”
“Was I.. a victim of the blinding?”
“You were the first victim, sir; do you not remember? Why do you want to plug back into the device that took away your vision?”
“I want to see Annalise.”
“Sir, Annalise died. She was executed last month for high treason….”
“No, she’s not dead.”
“Sir, no matter what-“
Ezra rolls up his sleeve and shows a bracelet showing her alive, not well, but alive. The whole band is a screen with surveillance of her cell. She is crying, sobbing, and lashing at whatever is in her room.
“Anne, please describe the image on the band.”
“I’m sorry Mr.Ezra, I can’t think of words to describe what I’m seeing”
“What is she doing Anne”
“Her room is in tatters… she is sobbing and destroying what was in her room, it’s already destroyed, and she’s trying to take it farther apart.”
“Now, Anne, please help me use the Nyx; I know the wires look fried, but I need to use the Nyx.”
“Mr.Ezra, I highly suggest against it.”
“Anne, please”
Anne hesitantly lifted the less fried wire and put it in his ear. The wire violently wriggled further into his ear, and he laid down in his bed at the speed at which one falls. Anne lifted the other wire, and the same happened.
“It’s been a while, Ezra,” Nyx said, startled.
“How long has it been since I last used this, Nyx?”
“It’s been a week.”
“How long have I been blind?”
“You were blinded earlier this week, sir; you were in a coma after being blinded.”
“Why does the government think I’ve been blind for years”
“It’s the government, Ezra. They don't want anyone talking to Annalise; you’ve been blind for 2 days.”
“Please take me to Annalise.”
“I’m sure you saw the state of her mind and her room’s physical state. Are you sure you want to?”
“Well, I didn’t see it per se, but I was told what it looked like.”
“Funny joke Ezra, but are you sure you want to see her?”
“Yes.”
Ezra feels a whoosh of cold air; he is now in Annalise’s room. Annalise looks over to Ezra, seeing the long scar stretched across his eyes.
“Ezra?” Annalise said, in a confused tone, unsure if it was the man she knew.
“Annalise?” In the same tone, Ezra replied, searching for the direction she was in.
Annalise approaches him, and without the force field being put up, she has no issue reaching him. She kneels to hug Ezra, knowing this is the man with compassion.
“Annalise, what is wrong?”
“You’re here; nothing is wrong now.”
