Page 3 of The Flesh Remembers
The clamour led her out into the dim corridor and down into a chamber that seemed to pulse with life of its own. She paused at the lab's threshold, and something unknown lurking beyond the doorway exhaled, causing her almost to reconsider and return to her room.
Eleanor forced herself to hurry past the threshold and into the lab, trying not to think of what might lurk in the darkness of the unlit corridor beyond.
Dr. Ambrose Fairfax stood before a towering labyrinth of brass coils and rods, his fingers deftly adjusting valves as sparks of bluish light crackled faintly across the network of wires. At the centre of the room stood a platform adorned with leather straps and gleaming metal cuffs, their purpose both practical and undeniably suggestive. The hum of the apparatus seemed to vibrate through the air, brushing against Eleanor’s skin.
Fairfax turned as she entered, his piercing gaze softening as it swept over her. “Dr. Ashcroft,” he greeted, his voice smooth yet weighted with meaning. “Did you find rest?”
Eleanor smoothed down her hair, feeling a bit uneasy under his scrutiny. “As much as one can,” she replied, her voice steadier than expected. Her gaze locked onto the apparatus, its faint glow hypnotic. “This is the device that can bring back James?”
Fairfax stepped closer, his presence commanding yet strangely intimate. “Yes, that is…I believe it can bring him back,” he said, gesturing toward the coils. “The Excision Coil Array. It is no mere machine. It thrives not just on electromagnetic energy, but on the essence of life itself.”
Her heart galloped wildly, each beat seemingly louder than the last. “The essence of life?” she whispered.
“Emotion,” he clarified, his voice dropping to a murmur. “Raw, unbridled sensation. Desire. Passion. Grief. These are the forces that fuel it. The more potent the feeling, the greater the energy.”
“See here?” Fairfax asked her, gesturing to a series of extensive copper induction coils wound tightly around what looked to be an iron core. “These coils use a steam engine to power them and generate the necessary electromagnetic fields. Once enough energy is generated, it is converted to the transduction chamber here.” He motioned for her to follow him as he moved around the side of the machine.
Eleanor stared in awe at the size of the machine and the complexity of the various wires and glass tubes. The room was quite warm due to the steam from the engine, thickening the air with a suffocating, furnace-like heat.
“The transduction chamber uses a combination of galvanic electrodes and something we call psychic conductors, which are made of platinum and proven to be an excellent conductor.”
“And how are you able to harness emotions into the machine?” Eleanor asked with some incredulity. She could see the scientific possibilities with the machine somehow stimulating aspects of a body, the heart, and the brain, perhaps. But harnessing and focusing emotions and feelings into a body? Surely that was the stuff of fiction and nothing more.
“Ah, yes, I forgot you have a scientific mind as well, Dr. Ashcroft,” Fairfax said with a smile. “Of course, we are pioneers in this aspect of the process. But I have developed a special system of electrodes that the transmitter, which in this case would be you, would hold onto while they focus on their emotions. The electrodes and their galvanic sensors allow us to channel the emotions into the machine and then into the subject itself. We also have some other…uh, less scientific aspects of the process.” Fairfax glanced at her sheepishly, clearly not a fan of these other, less scientific processes.
“Intimacy,” Fairfax stated, “has proven invaluable. We have discovered by trial and error that physical connection, shared passion, and intimacy are catalysts that cannot be replicated by science alone. We hope, Dr. Ashcroft, that because of your intimate connection with the subject, there is a greater chance for success in this case than in any of our other trials.”
The weight of his words pressed against her, leaving her feeling both naked and exposed. Her mind flickered to Frye’s touch the night before, the way his presence had momentarily stirred a hunger she hadn’t felt in months. “And this… strengthens the process?”
“Immeasurably,” Fairfax replied, his voice deceptively soft. “If you are to succeed in your quest, Dr. Ashcroft, you must be prepared to surrender… everything.”
“I see,” Eleanor said with less conviction than she had hoped, “Of course, I will. But, Dr. Fairfax, I need to know more about what is happening here and what this process entails.”
“Of course, of course,” Fairfax said to her, rubbing his hands together. “I relish the chance to discuss my work. I don’t have much chance these days,” he said with a slight laugh. “In the early days of my research, of course, I was inhigh demand from many wealthy benefactors who all wanted access to any scientific secrets that might stop the aging process. It was something I devoted most of my adult life to studying after watching my sweet, dear mother’s mind become more and more addled until she didn’t even know who I was or her name.” Fairfax stared off into space, as if lost in a memory.
“What caused the change in the focus of your research?” Eleanor asked.
“One of my benefactors. It was not long after my mother had died, and he had asked me if I had ever contemplated removing death from the equation altogether.” Eleanor’s eyebrows shot up, and an incredulous look passed over her face, though she tried to hide it.
“Ha, ha, my thoughts exactly! I reminded him that death was an inevitability, and anyone who thought differently was going to spend their life chasing dreams. But he was so firm in his belief, so confident that he could find a solution with the right scientific minds researching the problem. It got me thinking about whether I were to try to stop death, how would I do it? What tools would I need, and what processes could I implement? And with my benefactors' help, I could devote the last ten years exclusively to working on the problem of death.”
“The problem of death,” Eleanor repeated softly.
“Yes,” Fairfax said with a smile, “And that is why you are here, is it not? You have a problem of your own that needs to be solved.”
The sound of the door opening broke the spell. Dr. Fairfax’s nurse, Marian Collins, entered, a tray of vials in her hands that shimmered like molten light. “Dr. Fairfax, Dr. Ashcroft,” she greeted, her tone soft yet tinged withsomething unspoken. “I’ve prepared the serums for tonight’s demonstration.”
Eleanor turned to her, her curiosity burning hotter. “Demonstration?” she asked, her voice laced with anticipation.
Marian hesitated, her eyes darting to Fairfax before she replied. “A partial reanimation,” she said, her voice measured but her cheeks flushed. “Using newly acquired tissue.”
Fairfax nodded. “You will witness the power of the Array firsthand. But it requires a conduit. Someone to channel and amplify the energy.”
Eleanor felt her throat go dry. “A conduit?”
Marian stepped closer, her hand brushing against Eleanor’s arm, the contact lingering. “Often, the role is… intimate,” she said softly, her voice a whisper that sent shivers down Eleanor’s spine. “The flesh remembers what science cannot, and it is up to the conduit to make it remember.”
The warmth of Marian’s touch ignited a spark in Eleanor that she hadn’t anticipated. Her gaze flickered to the nurse’s lips before she looked away, her heart pounding. The tension between them was palpable, charged with an undercurrent of something dangerous and alluring.
