LYDIA

“Am I awake yet?”

“Did you hear that? Why would she ask that? Quick! Note it down.”

“I was dreaming, not far from here. I think you were there, sitting on the windowsill, tapping the glass.”

“Who is she talking about? Note that down too.”

“I wanted you to move. The birds they needed to come inside and wait. They get lonely out there in the snow.”

“Are her eyes open?”

“No, they’re still shut. I don’t think she’s conscious yet.”

“And yet, she is.”

“I wanted you to move, but you wouldn’t.”

“Tears. Note the tears. She’s producing tears!”

“Why won’t you move? Why do you keep calling me Dolly? I haven’t been a part of your toy chest for so long. Why won’t you move?”

“Did you call her Dolly yesterday before we began? Astounding.”

“I just want you to move. The birds! The birds are lonely! Move, please!”

“The sounds of anguish and fear, do you hear them? Don’t stop writing.”

“I’m noting everything down, you don’t have to tell me to do my job. Instead of pestering me, why don’t you speak to her?”

“Speak to her?”

“Yes! We haven’t tried that yet. Try to understand where her mind has placed her. Who are we to her? What meaning do the birds have?”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can—”

“MOVE! Why won’t you look at me? Answer me, you bastard! You’re blocking the window, and I need to open it. I’ll push you out if I have to!”

“Lydia, can you hear me?”

“No…I can’t hear you. I don’t want to. The birds. The birds. The birds.”

“Lydia, where are you? Where the birds?”

“I’m here. Your shadow. The birds. Move. Please, move.”

“Shadow? Find out more about the shadow.”

“Lydia, can you tell me more about the shadow? Can you see the birds?”

“Hear them. I can hear them! They’re so cold, you have get out of my way! I need to the window and let them in. The fire. The fire. The fire…”

“What’s she doing now?”

“I can’t say, but it looks like she’s striking a match. Several matches.”

“They won’t light, will they Lydia?”

“You bastard, you took the fire from me. And the shadows. You threw them everywhere. Who’s going to clean this mess? Where will the birds go if they have nowhere to perch?”

“More shadows.”

“The shadows. The shadows in this room look an awful lot like you. Get out. Let my birds come in. Move from the window! Get out of the corner! Leave! Leave! Leave!”

“The images she must be seeing. Incredible. Her dreams of shadows and birds, and windows.”

“This is a nightmare, mate. No question about that.”

“Should I adjust my wording then? Take note of the ‘nightmare’? I don’t know that it will matter. They don’t care about our verbiage. They care about our findings.”

“I think it’s important to get it right. Look how terrified she looks. She’s in no dream, let’s get that straight. The images she’s describing. The shadows. The birds. Do we know if birds have any meaning in a dream sequence?”

“Dream sequence then. I don’t want to argue my point any further, but you did say dream sequence.”

“Fine. A terrifying dream sequence then.”

“My birds. Give me my birds! Pick up your shadows! Throw them in the fire. Give me my fire, so I can give them life again! Give me my fire!”

“Ah, here we are. Birds can commonly symbolize freedom, spirituality, new beginnings, or communication. Fascinating, considering the circumstances.”

“I would agree. And the room? The shadows?”

“Repression it would seem.”

“Repression? Do you think she remember can who she was?”

“Possibly. She is but a conduit. There’s probability of some memory regardless of her circumstances. Fascinating.”

“Agreed.”

“Thomas, throw those shadows into the fire! Bring me fire. Bring me my matchbook and burn the shadows out of the world! We need the birds and they need us! Thomas, please! My matchbook.”

“Noting the name. Thomas.”

“I wonder of the relation?”

“Lydia, who is Thomas?”

“Stop calling me that. My name is not Lydia! Thomas! Please get them away from me! The shadows. The birds. The fire!”

“Brother? Husband?”

“I don’t suppose it matters, though.”

“It might. What if she runs into him on the street?”

“Good point. Is it time to pull the plug yet?”

“Not yet. Our time hasn’t lapsed entirely.”

“Oh God! What am I doing here! Who are you! Where are the birds? The shadows. Bring me back my birds you bastards! Where am I? You can’t treat me like this; I need my matchbook!”

“What were she to do in the presence of fire?”

“Let’s find out. I believe my ZIPPO should suffice.”

“Yes! Yes! No! It burns my eyes! Take it away! The shadows are too bright!”

“Noting the result: fire causes a stressed induced reaction.”

“What about the birds?”

“Birds? I don’t carry any birds in my back pocket.”

“Draw one.”

“Alright, but I’m not much of an artist.”

“Neither am I.”

“What are you—what is that? No. IT’S ALL WRONG. IT’S ALL WRONG. IT’S ALL WRONG. THAT IS NOT MY BIRD. BRING ME MY BIRD. MY FIRE. MY. MY. MY. MY. MY—”

“Dear God!”

“Put down your logs and help me restrain her!”

“THOMAS. FIRE. THOMAS. BIRDS. MY. BIRDS. BRING ME—”

“Pull it!”

“I can’t reach it!”

“Lydia, please!”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT. MY NAME IS—”

********

“All future LYDIA experiments must cease immediately.”

“But we were close.”

“Examine your notes again! One of your colleagues was killed. Had you not pull the extraction charge you would more than likely be dead yourself.”

“If you had read my notes, then you would see that LYDIA-4D17 had coherently and mindfully answered our questions closer than any other subject. It’s not hard to see that with more time, we would have had a breakthrough.”

“You’ve had four months of near breakthroughs.”

“Not like this. Please sir, just one more. All we need is stronger restraints, and more bodies—live bodies, sir, to help protect one another from any other LYDIA’s and their possible outbursts. Let’s be proactive, not reactive, sir.”

“Can you promise me results?”

“Always.”

“Fine. Gather your team. You have two weeks to change my mind. Go to the dig site and gather another subject.”

********

“Welcome to your new case study. Please put on the proper protective attire and follow me.”

“Now that we’re here, can you tell me what the project is?”

“LYDIA.”

“Who’s Lydia?”

“Not who, but what. Please put on your protective gear, and I will shuttle you to the observation deck. I will fill you in on your assignment there.”

“Good God! Is that woman alive?”

“No. Not yet. Gentleman, reanimation was a scientific enigma until six months ago. Our last twelve subjects have failed due to a mental anomaly that we had not foreseen. This can include vivid dreams leading to violent tendencies all the way to stagnant movements with little to no brainwave signals.”

“Who is this?”

“LYDIA-5D18. She was gathered from an undisclosed location, as you all were. Gentleman if we are successful in the next week and a half, you will have more money than you can ever imagine.”

“This is a person.”

“This was a person. Now she is a conduit, an empty shell. And more than that, she is your biggest payday. As we have discussed gentleman, if we succeed here then your last three years of salary that was so graciously provided to you per your arrival, will be multiplied to the greatest of extremities. Now, would you like to ask anymore questions or can we begin?”

“I have a question.”

“Yes?

“What does LYDIA stand for?”

“Life Yielding Death-Integrated Animation.”

“…”

“Let us begin.”