after i died like a dog, i awoke in a room with white walls. the room had no windows but was brightly lit.
i was lying on a table in the middle of the room.
k and c, my murderers, were standing over me with friendly smiles on their faces. they both wore white doctors coats with pens sticking out of the pockets.
k took a pen out of his coat pocket and also produced a small notebook and flipped it open.
where am i, i asked.
c, standing behind k, laughed heartily as if i had just told a good joke.
come now, k said, surely you know where you are.
no, i do not.
next you will probably tel us you do not know who you are.
of course i know who i am.
who are you?
i am b-9-674-kd-7, i am a mauve of the 53rd percentle, and i work in the supply department of the space corps.
ha, ha, k retorted. you sound like you read too many cheesy science fiction stories.
the mauve is a nice touch though, c added.
and saying that he worked at something , that was an even cleverer touch, k said.
i kept my temper, something i had been well trained to do.
who do you think that i am? i asked.
we know perfectly well who you are, k said, and for the first time the mask of jollity slipped a bit, and i saw the murderer within him.
i waited for him to continue.
let me ask you a few questions, k said.
i could not stop him him from asking his questions, so i said, go right ahead.
what are the four elements of the universe?
i do not know, i replied. i may have been taught them in school, but i do not remember.
take a guess, c said with a smile.
war, famine, pestilence, and death, i replied.
that is a good answer, c laughed. i say we let him go.
k scowled. i had the distinct impression they were acting out a script, and that any answer i had made would have been a “good” one, but i said nothing.
very well then, k said, we will let him go, despite who he is.
they seemed to think i would ask again who they thought i was, but i said nothing.
you can go, k finally said.
thank you, but where do i go, now that i can go?
they both laughed. k nodded to c, and they both moved over to the door of the white room with no windows.
don’t follow us, k told me. wait ten minutes and then you can leave.
they did not say what would happen if i disregarded their instruction. they left.
i have never had a good sense of the passage of time. i waited for what i thought might be at least thirty minutes and then i climbed down from the table and went out the door.
i found myself in a bare corridor. there was one door, at the far end of the corridor and it looked like the door to an elevator.
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