The thing woke up.

It opened its eyes but was blinded by a harsh fluorescent glare. It stared upward anyway, confused at its life. Disjointed images darted through its mind. Fever. Blood.

“Hand me that,” said a female voice. The voice was calm, but betrayed a waver that might have been fear or excitement.

“I don’t believe it,” said a second voice, male.

The thing felt pressure, and a dull but steady pricking moved up the lower part of its body. It wanted to sit up. It . . .

The thing woke up.

It opened its eyes but was blinded by a harsh fluorescent glare. It stared upward anyway, confused at its life. Disjointed images darted through its mind. Fever. Blood.

“Hand me that,” said a female voice. The voice was calm, but betrayed a waver that might have been fear or excitement.

“I don’t believe it,” said a second voice, male.

The thing felt pressure, and a dull but steady pricking moved up the lower part of its body. It wanted to sit up. It . . .

There’s one memory that I keep going back to. It plays in my head over and over until I feel I’m going mad. It only makes sense: It was a moment of stark failure. And betrayal. Lots of pain. A well thought-out plan that didn’t work, and it was all my fault. My friends, such as they were, followed me into it and I let them all down. Worse, actually. I might have been able to live with all that, except I didn’t get what I wanted, and that has always just raked my coals. I’ve never been much of a o. . .

There’s one memory that I keep going back to. It plays in my head over and over until I feel I’m going mad. It only makes sense: It was a moment of stark failure. And betrayal. Lots of pain. A well thought-out plan that didn’t work, and it was all my fault. My friends, such as they were, followed me into it and I let them all down. Worse, actually. I might have been able to live with all that, except I didn’t get what I wanted, and that has always just raked my coals. I’ve never been much of a o. . .