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Description
RILEY CASEY==> RECALL
I saw my own death.
I saw the mobs raging and cheering when I was revealed to them, bound and beaten.
I saw the torch and stone they wielded, bloodied fists punching into the smog, urging my jailors on as the prodded me toward the noose.
I saw my own confusion and fright as I blinked and looked around, trying to figure out why my perspective of the world was not mine.

My view was like staring at a tv monitor; I could see the stadium I would be killed in and all those who were huddled in it, eager to see science die with its only human child.
I was looking down on myself as if the lenses in my eyes were replaced with the lenses of surveillance cameras, and I watched myself as I helplessly stared into the crowd, blinking and turning my head as if to block or change my view.

And then, I heard.
And I heard the chant and the cheer of the crowd surrounding me.
I heard my terrified whimpers and sobs, and the scraping of my shackles over the dusty wooden stand.

And then I smelt.
And I smelt the smoke and dust clogging my vents and sinuses, and the familiar metallic scent of fresh blood and raw flesh.

And then I tasted.
And I tasted the smoke that made my lungs shrivel, and it tasted poisonous and sharp and it made my tongue dry.

But then, I felt.
And I felt my senses dulling as my skin prickled and crawled.
I felt my eyes widen and water with fear.
I felt my lip tremble and my teeth clack together.
I felt my body stiffen and sag at the time; half of me wanting to fight and the other half wanting to give in and cry.
I felt my head slowly being forced forward through a loop made of rough and stringy material.

And then everything paused.

My heart dropped and my stomach turned.
My breathing hitched and knees buckled.
The hairs on my body rose as if they were worms trying to pry out of a mouldy carcass.
And the gears in my brain stopped turning as I tried to rationalise this sensation.
Being 'born of science' I knew everything about the life cycle; every detail from first breath to last. I knew every strange case of revival and how long before a baby gains human consciousness. And I knew exactly why every individual creature on earth was necessary for the grand schemes of nature.

And yet, I was baffled. Both scared and intrigued by this feeling; needing to know but too utterly terrified to find out.
I wondered to myself whether I should stop now and continue research into this by observing other’s deaths or if I should make the ultimate sacrifice and experience it firsthand.
Then I felt the noose tighten and I remembered this wasn’t a sacrifice and I had no choice.

I remembered an old motto my father would mutter to himself with he found himself working on a hard or controversial study, in fact, he told it to me once when I got upset about dissecting my first foal.
So as I tried to gain first-person vision again I lifted my head and gulped, whimpering as I felt the floor beneath my feet sinking.

"For science."

Description
RILEY CASEY==> RECALL
I saw my own death.
I saw the mobs raging and cheering when I was revealed to them, bound and beaten.
I saw the torch and stone they wielded, bloodied fists punching into the smog, urging my jailors on as the prodded me toward the noose.
I saw my own confusion and fright as I blinked and looked around, trying to figure out why my perspective of the world was not mine.

My view was like staring at a tv monitor; I could see the stadium I would be killed in and all those who were huddled in it, eager to see science die with its only human child.
I was looking down on myself as if the lenses in my eyes were replaced with the lenses of surveillance cameras, and I watched myself as I helplessly stared into the crowd, blinking and turning my head as if to block or change my view.

And then, I heard.
And I heard the chant and the cheer of the crowd surrounding me.
I heard my terrified whimpers and sobs, and the scraping of my shackles over the dusty wooden stand.

And then I smelt.
And I smelt the smoke and dust clogging my vents and sinuses, and the familiar metallic scent of fresh blood and raw flesh.

And then I tasted.
And I tasted the smoke that made my lungs shrivel, and it tasted poisonous and sharp and it made my tongue dry.

But then, I felt.
And I felt my senses dulling as my skin prickled and crawled.
I felt my eyes widen and water with fear.
I felt my lip tremble and my teeth clack together.
I felt my body stiffen and sag at the time; half of me wanting to fight and the other half wanting to give in and cry.
I felt my head slowly being forced forward through a loop made of rough and stringy material.

And then everything paused.

My heart dropped and my stomach turned.
My breathing hitched and knees buckled.
The hairs on my body rose as if they were worms trying to pry out of a mouldy carcass.
And the gears in my brain stopped turning as I tried to rationalise this sensation.
Being 'born of science' I knew everything about the life cycle; every detail from first breath to last. I knew every strange case of revival and how long before a baby gains human consciousness. And I knew exactly why every individual creature on earth was necessary for the grand schemes of nature.

And yet, I was baffled. Both scared and intrigued by this feeling; needing to know but too utterly terrified to find out.
I wondered to myself whether I should stop now and continue research into this by observing other’s deaths or if I should make the ultimate sacrifice and experience it firsthand.
Then I felt the noose tighten and I remembered this wasn’t a sacrifice and I had no choice.

I remembered an old motto my father would mutter to himself with he found himself working on a hard or controversial study, in fact, he told it to me once when I got upset about dissecting my first foal.
So as I tried to gain first-person vision again I lifted my head and gulped, whimpering as I felt the floor beneath my feet sinking.

"For science."