In his dreams, the nightmares continued. Images of his dying mother coupled with the eyeless faces of the demons flashed in his mind. The squirm of blade-like tentacles, the demon's hiss and screams of pain resonated like a sadistic soundtrack.
He felt the tentacles bite into his flesh and begin to peel the flesh from his face. The pain was excruciating, almost as bad as the fire that began to tingle across his flesh.
The pain didn't jolt him from the dream world. It actually did quite the opposite. He fell deeper into the shadows. But this pain was not from demons; it had morphed in the dreamscape. This pain was from metal nodes that he gazed at that were dug into his skin.
"I want mommy." Callen was sitting on a medical table surrounded by a variety of buzzing medical equipment and computer systems. The room was sterile, like a research laboratory. The shadows crept in every corner like prowling demons. The few lights did nothing to keep them at bay.
"I know pup," Callen's father whispered as he slid the needle into Callen's vein. "I want us to be with mommy too." The man smiled at his son from underneath his groomed beard and his kind eyes consoled his frightened son through his circular glasses.
Callen's father took a few steps towards a blinking computer screen and checked something. "Looks like all the nodes check out. We're ready." One of the two medical tanks that were a few feet from the bench creaked as it slid from vertical to flat. Rust shavings from the grinding fell to the floor as it came to a halt and hissed open.
"No tank. No burn." Callen whimpered as he shuddered in his thin hospital gown. He itched one of the larger metal nodes implanted in his skull. Aside from the few in his skull, there were many others placed on other parts of his body.
"Stop Callen." His father ordered firming. "Those are delicate. I don't want to have to start over." He forced a smile. "You don't want to have to start over again, do you?"
Callen shook his head slowly.
"Good." He walked over and helped Callen over to the tank.
Callen looked up at his father's bearded face. "Will the lady come? I hope she comes. When she comes, she keeps it cold. No burning."
"Lady?" His father asked. His face wrinkled with confusion.
"She sings to me when I'm in the tank," Callen whispered. "Nice music daddy. Like the Irish stuff, you listen to all the time."
"It's okay to dream pup." His father tried to hide the air of concern in his voice. He scratched his beard. He turned back to the computer screens and began checking through program settings. "Must be a side effect of the A.I. communicating with his neurological system...maybe...could I have miss...not possible." He muttered under his breath. He paused when he noticed the look of confusion on Callen's face. "Don't worry pup. It's okay. Let's get you in and then we go home to mommy. I think Grandpa is coming over tonight."
"Uncle Balkor too?"
"Yup. Now, climb in." He helped Callen in and began clipping various wires and a cable to a few of the larger electrical nodes across the almost five-year-old's body.
"Daddy." Callen felt the pinch of the last cable flowed by the tingle of a slight electrical current. "I sorry I got sick, daddy." He whispered.
"Not your fault, pup." He forced a smile. "But, I'll fix you, I promise."
"I love you, daddy." Callen relaxed on the horizontal tank.
"I love you too, pup." His father walked back over to the computer screens and the tank slid closed. The tank began filling with a viscous orange and metallic swirled fluid. The fluids frosty fingers danced across his skin with the low hiss of air being vacuumed out buzzing in his ears.
Callen watched his father working through the glass as the fluid level rose. No matter how many times he had done this it always was scary. It always felt like he was going to drown in lava. He saw a short child-sized figure walk into the room and hand something to his father. If it weren't for the dingy glass, Callen would have been able to see more than just a blur. But, the contrast between the figure's stark white skin and dark walls told him the figure wasn't human. He looked familiar. He felt kinship, but the figures identity sat on the far edge of his memory coated with a thick layer of dust.
Callen blinked and pushed his face towards the rapidly filling void. He could make out long pointed ears as the figure turned its head to the side as it conversed with his father. The fluid soon stole the last of the glass's clarity, but he felt the white figure's single glowing blue eye on him before it was obfuscated by the swirl of the liquid over Callen's gaze.
He tried to hold his breath, but the fire tore through him stealing the last of his air from his lungs. He felt the metal fluid tentacles attach to the notes on his body and dig in like knives. The burning tore through his insides. He tried to scream, but there was no air. The fluid over took the child, bringing him into darkness accompanied by the gentle melody of a woman's voice that sang in a language he couldn't understand. He felt a touch of frost shoot across his burning skin like lightning splitting the sky. The melody grew stronger, but with a jolt, the dream was torn away.