The darkness began to clear after what felt like eons. I opened my eyes slowly but shut them quickly. I was in a brightly illuminated chamber filled with surgical theatre equipments most of which I recognized but had bizarre designs and the light felt like a thousand needles poking my eyes. Every cell in my body was hurting as if I had been thrown into a meat grinder, chopped into pieces and put back together again. I brushed my hand across my face to make sure everything was intact, I still had my face mask on. Other than the excruciating pain and my strange surroundings everything was intact. If I did not know any better I would have thought I was in heaven. Mr. Chopel’s aim was to kill me, but this did not look like the afterlife.
I jumped off the bed and started exploring the room. The bed itself also served as a CT scan. I could see my bones and other internal organs displayed on a screen directly ahead when I lay on it, but the date and time displayed were completely wrong. It also had numerous displays all around it that seemed to show the vitals of anyone lying on it. There was a second screen apart from the one for the CT scan. This one was probably a monitor used to keep track of the patient’s vitals when the surgery is ongoing. That one too had the date wrong . Someone had set the date to 20th July, 2076. Most of the health workers who used these machines knew nothing about the settings, as such it was not surprising that they had not corrected it.
There was a huge glass cabinet containing boxes of metallic looking pills. I quickly rushed to open it and have a better look at them . I took one out and was about to pop it into my mouth when the theater doors swung open suddenly and a whole team of surgeons rushed in. There was no patient hence I knew they were not coming to perform surgery, they were all wearing weird looking N95 masks that were flesh colored and seem to blend smoothly with their lower face.
“Were you about to swallow that pan-anesthesia pill? And why do you have your party clothes on inside a surgical theatre?”, one of the ladies barked at me.
“Pan-anaesthesia pill? What is that ? “, I wondered. I was a bit confused but that did not last. I made a run for the open door when I realized what they were thinking, but I registered it too late, they thought I was a robber and they were going to trap me in the cold theatre. One guy stuck out his leg to trip me but I was too fast for him, I jumped and swerved to the left towards the door which they had forgotten to close in their haste to apprehend me. The lady who had shouted at me from the very beginning realized this and dashed towards the door to shut it. She was swift but I was swifter. I crashed heavily into her before she could close the door, knocking her outside into the hallway. In the process, I stumbled and fell heavily on top of her, face to face. What I noticed was electrifying. She was not wearing a face mask. What I thought was a mask was actually her face.
I became paralyzed with fear and trembling. Her colleagues took advantage of that and quickly secured me to a chair.” So you could not find a better place to steal than the S.G. Memorial hospital.” “I am not a thief, I don’t even know how I got here…..” “It’s only criminals who wear face masks”, my accuser shouted. It was at this moment that it hit me, the machine in the abandoned factory, the strange stories told by the employees, the wrong dates on the displays of the theatre equipments and the “pan-anesthesia pill”. “What is today’s date?!” I blurted. “How come your faces look so different and strange?!” The last question struck a chord. The lady I knocked down gave the others knowing looks, stretched her hand and pulled off my face mask.
“He is immune to the fatal facemask fiasco!”
They quickly untied me and started assaulting me with questions. I had my own questions too and I needed answers quick before I lost my mind. I took in three deep breaths to calm down and asked fearfully ,”what is today’s date?”
“20th July, 2076.” My worst fears were confirmed by that answer. I was in a different time at a different place. That strange machine must have thrown me forward into the future more than fifty years. I posed my second question asking them what the fatal face mask fiasco was all about. I did not get an immediate response, they wanted to know why and how I had forgotten the date.
Dr. Ethel Lyne, the lady I knocked down while trying to escape took a seat directly opposite me. “You answer our questions first and maybe promise to help us to find a cure for this disease then we will help you too.” I was too scared too confused and in need of answers to argue, I agreed instantly.
“So tell me, why do you still have a normal face?” “Where and when I came from, everyone has a normal face”, I answered. Ethel Lyne looked shocked and confused. It was apparent that time travel was still myth even in their time. The only way to make things clear was for them to tell me how the fatal face mask fiasco started.
“About fifty years ago, an unknown virus suddenly appeared one day and became a pandemic. Millions died in just a matter of weeks. Those who recovered had crippling complications.” “Are you referring to the coronavirus pandemic? But it just began a few months ago” I interjected and immediately remembered that I was at a different ‘when’. “Yes, the very same.” She replied. “The world governments and the health organizations employed various means to combat it. Vaccines, regular hand washing. Social distancing and the compulsory wearing of face masks to impede the spread of the virus.” “But they worked, didn’t they? The pandemic was brought to an end right?” I asked eagerly. “Are you telling me that the virus mutated and cause this abnormal face disease?” “It’s no longer considered a disease, not when 99% of the world’s population look like this. It is the new normal. Moreover it was not caused by the virus. The face masks caused it !”
To be continued…
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