The Requisition

By Rachel Dib

Percy blinked. After glancing around the room, he blinked again, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He stood naked in a giant glass tube. In his last memory, he’d been fully clothed and curled up beside a campfire in the Brazilian jungle…

That wasn’t the most startling revelation though. No. What was even stranger was realizing his glass tube was one of many lining the walls of the dimly lit room. The other tubes, however, were filled with liquid—and each had a human floating within. Sleeping? Dead?

Percy swallowed, his mind attempting to formulate a reason for why he’d suddenly woken in what resembled a scientist’s laboratory—where he was one of the specimens. But no good explanation existed. His current predicament just shouldn’t—couldn’t—be possible.

It’s a dream. He tried to calm his racing heart. I must have eaten something odd before falling asleep, and it has caused this most frightful vision.

Satisfied with his conclusion, he pinched himself. It hurt.

A loud string of profanity from the floor level jolted him. Rising on his toes, Percy peered over the side of his tube. To his surprise, a man dressed in a blue one-piece crouched at the bottom of his tank. He was fiddling with a silver square containing an assortment of colored buttons.

The man cursed again and looked up. Seeing Percy, he swore again. “And of course you’d wake up before I can figure out the kink in this stupid contraption! Serves me right for trusting a refurbished cryo-tank.” Sighing, the man rose.

Percy reflexively stepped backward but bumped into the back of his tube.

“I suppose you’ll expect an explanation,” the man grumbled, casting his gaze around at the other tubes before meeting Percy’s eyes. He scratched the back of his neck. “Though to be honest, I’ve never had to explain this before. Everyone has always stayed asleep throughout the acclimation process.”

“Acclimation…” Percy shook his head. Panic rose in his gut. Releasing a slow breath, he closed his eyes. “I’m dreaming. Raleigh Rimmel, Jack, and I are in the Brazilian jungle, searching for the lost city of Z. And we’re close. I can feel it. I only need to wake up.”

“Right.”

Percy opened his eyes. The man was watching him with a mixture of pity and discomfort.

“The Brazilian jungle. That’s where I sent a reclamations time traveler to recover you,” he explained. “Took me a while to piece together where in Brazil’s Mato Grosso region you were before you disappeared into unmapped territory.” He lowered his eyes. “Sorry I couldn’t collect your son and Rimmel as well. I didn’t have the funds for two more cryo-tanks—or even a new one for you.”

Percy stared dumbly. Time traveler? Cryo-tank? What nonsense is he spouting?

The man passed Percy a knowing nod. “You have no idea what I’m talking about.” He bit his lip, expression contemplative. “Simply put, I’m a collector. In your day, that would probably mean artifacts and whatnot. But this is the year 3053, and nowadays… ” The man scrunched up his face. “This might sound bad, but we collect people. All historical, of course.”

Percy’s lips parted, his breath quickening. He flicked his gaze around the room and realized each tank had a plaque bolted to it. He glanced closer at the side of his own tube. Percy Fawcett was etched in bronze letters on a placard attached to the glass.

“I mostly collect explorers,” the man continued. “I find people who’ve disappeared without a trace especially intriguing.”

“How do you know they didn’t vanish because of you?” Percy snapped. “Perhaps your kidnappings changed history.”

The man shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. All of you would’ve vanished regardless. My requisitions only caused it to happen sooner.” He smirked. “For example, without me, you’d have been eaten by a jaguar or something. I can assure you, this is less painful. You’re welcome.”

He kicked the edge of Percy’s tube. “If only I hadn’t bought a faulty cryo-tube. Now you’re awake when you shouldn’t be… ”

The man clicked his tongue and bent down to examine the square of buttons again. It was as if he had completely forgotten about Percy. As if Percy were really just a thing to be collected instead of a living, thinking man who moments ago had been on the greatest adventure of his life.

Anger flared in Percy’s chest. He slammed his fist on the edge of the tube. The front of the tank slid silently out of place, revealing a door.

“And what do you do with us?” Percy scowled. “We who are part of this collection of yours.”

“What anyone does with a collection. Show it off.” The man pushed a button. “A galactic museum has shown interest in a few of my pieces though. Still deciding whether to sell.”

When a light beside the square lit up, the man smiled. “Finally.” He glanced up at Percy. “Now this next step won’t be very comfortable, but hopefully you won’t notice for long.”

“Next step?” Percy wiggled the door. It swung open.

The man nodded distractedly as he pushed more buttons. “I have to place you in cryo-sleep.” He paused. “Great. What’s wrong now?”

“This.” Percy slammed the door into the side of the man’s head. He lunged out of the tube and hauled the discombobulated collector inside. As soon as he’d shut the door, a lid slid into place, and teal liquid gushed into the tube.

Percy watched in horrified fascination as the man floated wide-eyed in the liquid. While he didn’t know how the cryo-whatever worked, he doubted what he just saw was supposed to happen. Sick to his stomach, Percy turned away, taking in the large tube-lined room. He noticed a door at the far end.

I’m in the future. The corner of his lips lifted. Well, I may not have found the lost city of Z, but perhaps I’ve discovered something better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Dib is a stay-at-home mom of three small children. After marrying a soldier, she left her home state of South Carolina to live in random places across the United States. Her works of short fiction have been published by On the Premises Magazine, Havok Publishing, and Ye Olde Dragon Books. She has also had short stories published by Toasted Cheese Literary Journal under the name R.J. Snowberger.

---

More Stories | Facebook | Instagram