Windows and Watchers

I sat in down in the metal seat, and the coldness of its smooth surface peculated through my jeans.

“Let’s get to the meat of it!” Uzaki gleened, “Dr. Childs, could you please give our esteemed admirer a peek?”

Samantha leaned back, her head tilting and eyes rolling.

“Stop making it weird…” She complained jokingly.

Uzaki laughed as a smile popped across his face with a subtle laugh.

Feeling a bit unbelonging, I smiled and laughed too, watching their expressions as Dr. Hamilton took a look away his phone and peeked over his glasses.

“Wait? You brought- noooo, did you really?”

Samantha smirked smugly as she pushed up her glasses with her wrist before leaning under the table.

“Well… I guess you really are getting the red carpet treatment. We weren’t planning on showing them before they’re in, these aren’t really something your average person would find too… - aesthetically pleasing,” Tom explained, perking up a bit from his earlier self.

Dr. Childs lifted a metal briefcase with three LED lights on the side and gently placed it flat against the surface of the table. With ****, she pressed onto the side of it before the lift popped loose, hissing as white smoke, no mist, first bursted - then drifted - out from the crevice.

Uzaki shook up with a realization, before placing his hand on the lid and forcing Dr. Childs back into her seat.

“Now, ugh. Sorry, I should have asked this sooner! This won’t be something that would make you uncomfortable with the treatment, would it? I mean, once they’re in their just – there. But still… I mean, even the natural ones are quite – icky, you know?”

I didn’t even speak, my eyes widening as I shook my head. My eyes were locked on the silver package, inside was a technology that had not yet been revealed to the world. This was an opportunity to see and be a part of a new era of medical science.

“Oh boy, I can see your excitement. I’ll take that,” he said, his hand sliding back to his side and Samantha cautiously moving back in.

Her hand lifted the lid as the other slid inside, a glance hit me as she watched my reaction. They all were, was I the first outside the company to have this privilege? Was I their curiosity?

Slowly and carefully, a small transparent liquid-filled capsule came into and glistened in the light. A strange, cloudy aqua green color obscured my view as she hoisted it into her now-free palm. Taking a look herself first, she turned slowly and began making her way towards me, her heels echoing through the room after gliding out of the light and trailing the edge of darkness.

*click clack click clack*

I watched as she walked in towards me and gently placed the capsule on the table and took against my chair, leaning in.

With a sultry voice, “Look, don’t touch. My colleagues seem to find these a bit repulsive, but I don’t. I think they look quite beautiful - that blue color - just look at the pattern of the Irises… so beautiful.”

Tom and Uzaki talked excitedly in the corner as I focused in on the eyes. I was mesmerized. They were beautiful, extremely beautiful. The blue, it was almost white – it wasn’t natural, it felt… inhuman.

“They- don’t look human,” I let out.

Samantha, gave a look of surprise – before smirking and leaning closer.

“They don’t... do they? That’s because they’re not human eyes, they’re just *engineered* to look and work like human eyes, but they’re not - very, very different things indeed. They’re beyond human, and when you have them implanted – now, you won’t be completely human, will you? No! You’re transcending human. They’ll never go bad, you’ll never need glasses – enhanced night vision – even *true* optical zooming – we’re working on much, much more. However, you’re the first step – and if this is a success, you’ll be a progenitor of evolution ordinary people can’t even… dream… of.”

My breath left me as she whispered into my ear. I was uneasy but now I knew that I was making the right decision - she was right. The risk was for something greater, for me and others. This technology could cure hearing, maybe even hearts and livers could be implanted in this manner without the need for donors. Something couldn’t even get this far if it wasn’t vetted and studied for years in advanced, and now it depended on my success here.

They looked human, the long slimy, pinkish core extending from their bulbs just as I had imagined - glistening. However, these eyes just – they just didn’t seem like - things. Being eyes, they seemed to have – … something about them just gave me – the feeling, being eyes.

“You’re quite caught up in them… the eyes. They’re giving you that feeling – aren’t they?”

I looked up at Samantha’s smile before turning back in some kind of embarrassment, “Yeah, it’s a weird feeling.”

“Yep, they do say that eyes are windows into the soul. Right? You see these here, even in this capsule, and you feel like they’re staring at you – like there’s something in there – a soul perhaps?” She paused a while – before continuing with a quip. “But- there’s not. Just implants, an interesting phenomena of being human I suppose.”

“How do you connect the nerves?” I asked.

“Oh, we don’t – that’s the revolutionary part – they connect themselves.”