The Experiment – Flash Fiction

The Experiment

“Huh!” The doctor said as he stood back and admired his work. “I never would have thought these would fit in there…” His voice trailed off and he shook his head, realizing that he had spoken out loud.

“What? You didn’t think they would fit? You didn’t tell me this was experimental.”

The doctor patted the man on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear fellow. How do they feel? Any pain or irritation?”

“A little strange, but no pain.”

“Good. They will go online in ten minutes. We just need to re-calibrate a few things.”

“Doc?”

“Hush, Mr. Timbers. Just sit back and relax.”

The doctor waited until the man had leaned his head back and his breathing evened, then he headed into the control room. He glanced over the shoulder of his technician at the array of computers. Each monitored a specific aspect of the devices he’d just installed.

“How’s it look?”

“Just a few more tweaks, Doctor. They will go online as scheduled.”

The doctor smirked. They said it couldn’t be done. Too sensitive, they said. It had been his life’s work and soon, everyone would know his name.

“We’re ready.”

“Let’s see how well these work. Go!”

The computer screens lit up as the robotic oculars went online. The doctor observed his patient. His brain fired and recognized the oculars. His eyes flew open. He blinked and screamed. The doctor didn’t understand. They were working perfectly. He could see everything his patient saw. Perfect eyesight. He charged into the operating room.

“Why are you screaming? They are working perfectly.”

The man’s eyes shifted toward the doctor’s voice. They zeroed in on him – first his form, then his veins, and down to his skeleton, but they didn’t stop there. They could see clear to each molecule of the doctor’s body and then nothing. The doctor simply disappeared. Everything he looked at went through the same deconstruction pattern in mere seconds. Yes, he had perfect eyesight. So perfect that he might as well be blind again. When everything broke down to its smallest atom, only darkness existed.

“What have you done to me, Dr. Frankenstein?” the man cried as he dug at his eyes, but it was futile. They’d already bonded with his body.

©2016 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.

(375 Words)

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Each day in May, I will be participating in the StoryADay in May. Here is today’s prompt:

Via Julie – Begin your story with the line: “Huh!” He said. “I never would have thought that would fit in there…” (note: I changed ‘He said.’ and ‘that’ to ‘these’ to fit the story)