- Joined
- Nov 4, 2021
- Messages
- 96
- Reaction score
- 143
The thing that got one's attention was that there was nothing to get their attention. The silence was loud and annoying in the way that even the beating of the heart and the sound of blood flowing was as loud as a burst dam when someone in sensory deprivation came back to lucidity out of the other place the mind resided while cultivating. It made their sensitive ears ring, and the muscles of their back twitch. Day in, and day out, despite the lack of ability to tell time in the dark and lightless tanks until the mind began to animate and the body follow suite as the metabolism fastened and hunger pains prompted from the awakening body that it was time to rise once more.
But it was not hunger that awoke them from their cultivation, no sound even if one could exist had woken them, no odor or flicker of light had seeped into the psyche to alert them to wake. Instead, it was something beyond the five senses; A mental caress on the periphery of an organ unseen and non-existent in the way of a physical vessel might understand.
No. This was different. A reflex to something ingrained in the mental faculties installed in the occupants of these tanks as something foreign to them, but not unknown invaded the absolute nothingness and gently, just barely enough to stir them and realize the mental invasion of what one might consider an aura for lack of a better term.
And just like that the body then reminded them they needed to breathe as the near lethargy of their heart and blood flow slowing as it did in their self-imposed suspended animation faded and more than a few of them coughed and wheezed as their normal bodily functions once again took over.
When the atrophy of muscles unused for days started to fade as their muscles stimulated again, and their blood had begun to flow again to the point their hearts almost hurt from running at a normal blood pressure rate. At this point they were able to find and push open the lid of the sensory deprivation tanks and sit up.
They would find a small room only large enough to fit the tank and a small locker; Inside being towels, some personal effects stored before entering the tank, a bathrobe, personal health items, and a basic smock with light scrubs-style trousers, shirt, and slippers. Able to dry off the room-temperature water from their bodies and stretch underused muscles once again the body would stiffen as the mental invasion infringed on them, urging them on and forcing the erection of mental defenses as the details in the room became sharper, the smell of the ozone stronger, and the ambient sounds of the sloshing water more clear and vibrant.
Each one of them knew that outside that door they would find a hallway lined with others its twin, each finding an identical setup for which dozens of other Augurs just like them still cultivated like that had for days before. The walls were not so thick as to do more than muffle the sound and vibrations from a couple of the doors opening and closing as slippers shuffled on hard hospital-tile floor, however.
On the back of the door of the locker in the room upon getting dressed was a small tablet built in just barely large enough that the mirror function it solely provided could they appraise themselves in.
Beyond the door, the mental tug urged them on not hurriedly but enough to make its presence known that they were beckoned and expected.
But it was not hunger that awoke them from their cultivation, no sound even if one could exist had woken them, no odor or flicker of light had seeped into the psyche to alert them to wake. Instead, it was something beyond the five senses; A mental caress on the periphery of an organ unseen and non-existent in the way of a physical vessel might understand.
No. This was different. A reflex to something ingrained in the mental faculties installed in the occupants of these tanks as something foreign to them, but not unknown invaded the absolute nothingness and gently, just barely enough to stir them and realize the mental invasion of what one might consider an aura for lack of a better term.
And just like that the body then reminded them they needed to breathe as the near lethargy of their heart and blood flow slowing as it did in their self-imposed suspended animation faded and more than a few of them coughed and wheezed as their normal bodily functions once again took over.
When the atrophy of muscles unused for days started to fade as their muscles stimulated again, and their blood had begun to flow again to the point their hearts almost hurt from running at a normal blood pressure rate. At this point they were able to find and push open the lid of the sensory deprivation tanks and sit up.
They would find a small room only large enough to fit the tank and a small locker; Inside being towels, some personal effects stored before entering the tank, a bathrobe, personal health items, and a basic smock with light scrubs-style trousers, shirt, and slippers. Able to dry off the room-temperature water from their bodies and stretch underused muscles once again the body would stiffen as the mental invasion infringed on them, urging them on and forcing the erection of mental defenses as the details in the room became sharper, the smell of the ozone stronger, and the ambient sounds of the sloshing water more clear and vibrant.
Each one of them knew that outside that door they would find a hallway lined with others its twin, each finding an identical setup for which dozens of other Augurs just like them still cultivated like that had for days before. The walls were not so thick as to do more than muffle the sound and vibrations from a couple of the doors opening and closing as slippers shuffled on hard hospital-tile floor, however.
On the back of the door of the locker in the room upon getting dressed was a small tablet built in just barely large enough that the mirror function it solely provided could they appraise themselves in.
Beyond the door, the mental tug urged them on not hurriedly but enough to make its presence known that they were beckoned and expected.