Awakening VI

I stare up at the face of the giant, nailed to the cavern wall several feet above my head. Who am I, I think... I don't know! I can't remember anything!

Then I panic. How could the robed figures not hear that giant voice; not notice him looking at me? I turn slowly, eyes darting side to side. But none of them have noticed. And I suddenly realize that when the giant spoke, his lips did not move.

He speaks again. You do not remember who you are, eh? Then let me show you.

I was... with my girlfriend, in a car. Driving. I was driving her to her house, to drop her off after a date. She asked when our next date would be. On a whim, I suggested a lunch date at an old office building that I drove by on the way to her house; it had always perplexed me, in perfect condition as it was yet never visited. She humored me, and agreed. As I dropped her off, and turned back to the car, she said goodbye... she said, "Goodbye, Roshan." That's it. That's who I am! More and more, the pieces are coming together.

The giant is still looking down at me. So, Roshan. You are not like these others. What are you doing here, in these caverns suspended from the flow of reality?

I wait for another memory, but none comes. Lacking that, I think as clearly as I can, I am a prisoner here. These robed men, or others like them, imprisoned me in rooms above this place. I climbed down here in an attempt to escape.

The giant sighs. That was a poor choice. This place is but a prison writ large.

I am curious. Of the giant, I ponder: What happened to you?

Many, many years ago, those of the robe did a terrible thing. They summoned a great daimone - a creature of tremendous strength, and greater malice. With horrible sacrifice, they bound it tightly, and set it to three tasks: The creation of this cavern, this bubble outside reality. My capture and, the giant attempts to gesture, but is prevented by the gigantic nails in hands, feet, and joints, imprisonment here. And then they took this daimone and locked it safely behind steel and ritual, while they decide what to do next. It has been a very long time since then, but they have not decided yet.

I am a little stunned by this gush of history. Clearly, the giant has been waiting a long time to talk to someone. I wonder to the giant, What have you done, for all this time?

The giant again fails to gesture. I think. Sometimes I try to transcend the constant pain of the nails, but then my captors prod the wounds so as to intensify it tenfold. Sometimes I try to transcend the constant gnawing of my stomache, but then my captors parade rich foods past me, sprinkling drops of water and crumbs into my mouth, and my hunger and thirst intensify tenfold. Sometimes I try to transcend my discontent with my captivity, but then my captors inflict some new indignity upon me, so as to intensify my discomfort tenfold. I look at the giant's current position, raising an eyebrow. There is nothing so uncomfortable, I have learned, that it cannot be made worse, the giant responds to my unspoken question.

Despite my fascination with the giant, I am at wits end. I am trapped in a cavern that is apparently outside reality, in the midst of robed figures who can conjure demons and who imprisoned me here in the first place, and I have no means of escape.

Suddenly, a shout comes from the corridor at the other end of this cavern. A robed figure is standing at the cavern's entrance, pointing behind him up the corridor. They have noticed my theft from the office. Once more I panic, but the giant advises, Wait, and every one of the robed figures runs (glides?) off at high speed, paying no attention to me. One of them turns its hood towards me for a moment, but again there is no repercussion. It is almost as if I am invisible. You are not, the giant comments, but these have spent so long in their fortress that they have forgotten the idea of 'danger' or 'the unfamiliar'.

I look around now, with the robed figures gone for a time. I spot a door, partially concealed by stalagmites, that I had missed before when I dared not look around. It is the door that those of the robe store their rich food and other instruments of my torment behind, the giant remarks helpfully. He is desperate for conversation.

An idea strikes me. Checking quickly to see if any more robed figures are about, I dash to the door, opening it quickly. Thankfully, it's unlocked. Within lies a veritable treasure chamber: gold, gems, stacks and stacks of money, both US and foreign. I stand gawping for a moment, and then rush in, looking for what brought me to this room in the first place. Distantly, I hear another shout; they must have discovered the damage I did in the bunk room as well. Time is running out.

Looking around, I see the poles used to prod the giant; they must be at least ten feet long, but they're thin and flexible, so as to be carried easily. I take each one in turn - five of them in all - and break them, snapping them into three or four pieces. Then I look around, hunting for the food that must be stored in here somewhere. Large iceboxes are lined along the walls; the first one I look at alone holds caviar, peacock, hamburgers and a dozen other things. I grab a platter of hamburgers, grab a pitcher of water I find in another icebox, and take a big, nice diamond, while I'm in the treasure room.

I walk quickly back to the giant, careful not to spill. I give him the food, and, with his mouth just above the platter I hold up, I am able to spill the hamburgers in. I do the same with the pitcher of water. I turn for a moment to look back at the corridor, and to my surprise and dismay, the robed figures are spilling out, moving towards me at high speed. It's hard to tell, but I'm willing to guess that they're not happy.

I turn back to the giant. I am no longer afflicted by hunger, or thirst. With you here to talk to, the greatest discomfort of my imprisonment is lifted. The normal pain of having twelve nails pinning me to a wall may be disregarded, the giant narrates as serenity fully supplants pain on his face. Then, as I watch, he lifts away from the wall - though the nails - and begins to ascend towards the cavern ceiling. The nails are still there - still in the wall - but the giant appears to have transcended those, too.

Behind me, the robed figures have slowed, their hoods pointing toward the giant. The giant himself pauses a moment in his ascent and looks towards me. The material world, which the daimone bound me to, no longer afflicts me - but it is yet your concern. To ease your way to enlightenment - and in gratitude - here is a gift that may ease your way. The giant reaches down impossibly far and hands me a small metal object - a sort of rod, with irregular grooves on all sides. This is a skeleton key. It will unlock anything in the realm of the robed ones. They gave it to me for safekeeping - thinking me the perfect guardian, imprisoned as I was. Use it wisely. Then he vanishes into the ceiling.

Stunned as I am, I'm dazed enough to forget about the robed ones - I mean, the robed figures, starting to close on me again now that the giant has so visibly indicated me as the culprit of his escape. Panicked, I look all around me, and dash towards the treasure room. The robed figures pursue me hotly.

I slam the door behind me, and the robed figures begin to hammer on it from outside, ramming it repeatedly. It's not a sturdy door - it's unlikely to hold for long. I think - what can I do, what can I do? I have scissors, tape, the skeleton key, the lockbox - the lockbox! Fumbling, I take it out of my robe, inserting the skeleton key into the lock as quickly as I can. The door is beginning to splinter. The lockbox opens. Inside is a small box. There's a metal switch on top - an open loop - with wires leading through two D batteries and a tiny jewel. My bafflement ends as the door crashes open, throwing me backwards. As the robed figures charge in, I close the switch.

The room vaporizes in a blaze of light.

What now?