Silencia: Giving Life and Death with Love

*THE STORY IS ALL FICTION so I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense XD XD*

This was a series of pics I posted on my twitter but I combined it into one pic and added a story. The inspiration was a bit random, I guess I was high when I thought of this... High on caffeine XD but anyway I hope you guys like it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pvt. Chloe McFayt never had any fear going into the battlefield. Was it because she's a brave young lady? Was it because she had nothing to lose? Or was it because she's stupid? None of that—it's because she was sure she won’t die.

 

That day, McFayt got totalled. A landmine blasted her squad without effort. McFayt’s body was intact, but it basically died. The only thing left was her soul, her spirit to live. She kept her optimism even when she couldn't move a single muscle in her body. Then she blacked out. Something like this happened several times already, so even though this sounds crazy, McFayt was actually got used to the pain that death brought to her.

 

Like watching a film for the 100th time, McFayt could guess what happened next. As she regained consciousness, it's always the coldness wrapped around her body that greeted her first. Then a busy, muffled noises of bubbles. The last was the feeling of floating in a weightless realm—the feeling of being underwater. But she was breathing calmly, with her lung filled with fresh oxygen. That's because a breathing mask was attached to her face to kept her from drowning. She was inside a Regen Tank, the phenomenal invention by the R&D section that revolutionize how the army heal their troops.

 

The Regen Tank was a big pool with 30 meters in diameter, and 10 meters deep. It contained a special liquid called Silencia, a man-made liquid which has the capability to quicken the recovery of cells. It was called the water of youth, ambrosia, or even the holy water, because many people saw it as a blessed, miraculous water. It was not sold in your usual supermarket though, as Silencia still regarded as something that can only be used in absolute emergencies, including war.

 

The army didn’t have to do anything but to throw the gravely injured troops into the pool. Of course, there were machines to help the breathing of people who were recovering inside the tank. To fasten the recovery process, the wounded troop had to wear as little as possible—usually just underwear—as direct contact to the skin made Silenca a lot more effective. For a person with bruises all over his body, it would only take ten minutes to make the bruises gone. For a person whose body got paralyzed, it took around three days to basically reborn as a new human being. It was a miracle water indeed.

 

McFayt was already used to this treatment. Her half naked body was full of bruises, and she still couldn’t move at all. But it was comfortable. It gave her a slight feel of tranquility and peace. Her breathing was steady. Her heartbeat formed a monotone yet beautiful melody. If angels would come down from Heaven, their hug must feel like this. She glanced left and right and could see her squadmates were there too, each had a relaxed look on their face as their angel hugged them tightly, with an abstract form of unconditional love. Everybody that were recovering in the Regen Tank will always be happy—As McFayt thought of that, she became sleepy and then blacked out again.

 

78 hours later, McFayt’s rather petite body had already fully healed. No bruises or scar, she’s like a baby that ready to greet the world with joy. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She could feel a bit suffocation, and that was a normal thing. You see, Silencia had another nickname attached to it—Best drug in the world. Yes, Silencia could cause addiction if it was used without control. That’s why when the recovery time was due, the machine would send a special gas and reduce their oxygen supply so the troops would wake up. Normally no people want to drown or suffocate, so the protocol was to immediately take off the breathing apparatus and swim to the surface. It seemed to be self-explanatory, but would you believe there will be at least one or two drowning incident every week because of how comfortable the troops got inside the tank? McFayt didn’t want to become one of those people, so she immediately reached to the strap on the back of her head, held her breath, and then releasing the breathing mask, simultaneously cutting off her air supply. That’s when the so called ‘Heaven’ became ‘Hell’.

 

The RECOVERING people inside the Regen Tank will always be happy. But it was a different case for those who RECOVERED. Why do you think so many drowning incidents happened here? Yes, because the addiction but that’s not the only factor. Basically, the concept of submerging people into Silencia was an insane idea. When floating, Silencia is your best friend, but the moment you cut off the air supply and have to move, Silencia is your worst enemy. Swimming inside of it was almost an impossible feat. The swimmer must be a trained person in aquatic environment. Not to mention, he or she at least have to manage to swim up around three meters, the ones in upper tier that is. The ones on the bottom has it the worst as they have to manage swimming up around nine meters. It was a literal torture. That’s why Regen Tanks were almost never used in a civilian facility. Not just because Silencia was scarce and expensive, but also because of the danger it could cause. Even if a hospital have one, it would be the small kind that only can fit one person.

 

When she brought to the tank for the first time, McFayt was put on the upper tier. Even then she almost drowned if her team mate who also recovered at the same time didn’t help her. After that, McFayt became more and more trained as her visit to the Regen Tank became more frequent. But this time McFayt had already become familiar with Silencia. Even though she still couldn’t swim freely like a mermaid, she was able to kick faster and react immediately to her surroundings. The weight she used to feel, now became something familiar.

 

But that didn’t mean McFayt was totally safe. There’s one thing that she still couldn’t do much better than before—breathholding. The Silencia which became your worst enemy will always try to choke and make you release all the little, spare air you have in your lungs. While McFayt, who got a great overall score in freediving training and could hold her breath under normal water for almost five minutes, inside Silencia she only have half of that time, and that’s on better days. The Silencia will try to crush your chest, send pain directly into all parts of your body, and make you stay with them until your mind is gone.

 

McFayt felt the pain clearly—it made her realize that she’s still alive, and have to retain that status by reaching the surface and inhale a good amount of fresh air. She started to kick and move towards the light above. Every a half meter she could felt a jackhammer slamming into her chest. Every several seconds there were always a silent voice who kept telling her to ‘release it’ and every time she heard that, she always lost a whooping ten percent of her air supply. Her focus was the key—the will to live was the most important.

 

Just around a meter before she broke the surface, she lost—she exhaled everything inside her lungs. But that was not the end. She still able to move. She still saw everything with her mind eye. Her soul was still intact. This happened before and she managed to surface, even though many helpers had to carry her limp body to the hospital room. This time, she will manage to surface again.