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Open the box, or else.
He stands over me with his arm at my head. He stands over me with a hand on my neck.
Open. The. Box.
I’ve been trying to get out for a while. Staring up at the ice, the pale moon floats like a ghost on the surface. Always wanted to reach out and grab it, cradle the moon forever, as if it was a pet. I knew it was out there, and it could belong to me one day. Far from the ice kingdom, stuck amongst the icicles and piles of snow, which have brought me misery for so long. Draining the colour from my eyes for all these years.
They brought me down here as an advisor to the king. Said it would be temporary, that the kingdom was in financial ruin, they needed someone to fix their problems so they wouldn’t fail. So they brought the smartest mind they could find - me, a cyborg.
Metal limbs, fleshy brain, not belonging to either half and stuck remotely in the middle. Destined to stay this way forever, merely a vehicle for others to ask and for me to answer. I always wanted more from this world, and above the water, amongst other life, merely lying around in fields, waiting for someone’s call.
The ice kingdom was the first nation I visited far from the surface. I’d never seen any place like it, it was like heaven - so sterile, inhumane, and yet still full of life. Elegant castles sculpted from snow, they built their cathedrals with frosted decorations that swirled and which swooned passersby. Filled me with wonder, presumably like a child visiting a playground for the first time.
I wouldn’t know. I’m just a cyborg, a knowledge vessel. And that’s all I am.
Everything was alright before they shut off the world. It was a horrid summer, and crops started to fail. All the ice which was used to grow food slowly began to melt, and soon I saw the once glad faces of icemen and women droop with the heat into frowns. General displeasure filled the water of the lake, and the buildings began to collapse into mere heaps of snow. Others soon began to have enough, and blamed the king for the recent failures. I knew I was at risk, I needed to get out somehow. But I couldn’t desert the king, who sat plaintively in his throne as he heard the cries of the people, which slowly turned into the slices of icicle shards. “I’ve lived my whole life for these people,” he said one day, “and all I ever wanted was to bring them joy. And this is how they pay me back?” When he said this, I knew the time was up. And soon enough, they breached the palace walls, and struck him right in the heart. The water became a murky red as his body dissolved in front of me. There had to be a way out. I’d descended here by an old stone staircase, but it had long been abandoned. And as I tried to rustle the rusted gate open, a group of soldiers grabbed me by the arms and pulled me away. I heard the sound of fighting and felt my legs slamming against the ice as they dragged me away to a cell, into a cave, where they chained me against the ice walls. They deactivated me briefly, and when I woke up, they told me they’d placed a button at the back of my neck.
If they ever felt like it, they could turn me off, cast me out to the sea.
Colder, grimmer. A view of the outside world, the sun rising and sinking, the moon taking its place. I knew I wanted to swim to the moon whenever I saw it, it just seemed like freedom to me, like no one would notice if I somehow broke free of the shackles and managed to escape. Except that would never happen. I had long lost hope, all I could do was wait for the inevitable.
I didn’t hear or see much for what must have been years after that. Just the same repeating cycle. Couldn’t even breathe, not that I needed to. Never allowed to see anyone, I slowly grew fond of the walls, and would just talk to them, as if expecting a reply. Obviously they never did. I even wanted to say something to the moon, as if it would ever care about who I was, decaying under ice. One day, I heard the gates to my cell slowly open, and a soldier - an iceman - walked in. His skin was covered in thick sheets of ice, with glassy eyes that looked swollen, and his arms were thin, sword-like icicles. “We need you to solve something for us,” they said. I nodded, and they handed me a metal tray, covered in layers of snow. Sharp and heavy, as I scraped the snow away with my hands. A candy box. “No one has ever been able to open the box, and we’d like you to try.” “Why?” “You’re the smartest mind to ever live. At least, that’s what they say.” “Yes. They did.” “Solve this…and we will free you.” Freedom. Had many meanings, and I was sure theirs wasn’t genuine freedom. “Explain.” “I’ll explain, when you open the box. Remember, you work for us.” “Who are you? I’ve never seen you in my life.” “Whoever we are, it does not matter. You serve the Ice Republic.” “Ice Republic?” Had it really been that long? Did they really take down the kingdom when I was trying to escape? The king’s children, the servants…were they all dead? Was I…was I really the last one remaining? “Yes. Is this new to you?” “What did you do to them?” “Who?” “The children. Did you kill them?” “I didn’t do nothing.” He said this with a smile, one which pierced my battery-fading eyes. I had no eyes to cry with, but I needed to. Instead, I just stared back, wanting to fight back - I couldn’t. “But I can switch you off…remember?” He walked round to me and placed his slender arm at my neck, scratching the metal, slowly trying to get to the button. “Open the box, or else.” “Or else what?” “Open. The. Box.”
What could I do? I stared, thinking this might be the last time, at the moon. The glowing light, the ambient hug. Treasuring this final chance. He tossed the box into my arms, I continued watching. I had all the time in the world, and he knew that. I was free for as long as I needed to be. Thought about the king, how caring he was, how he’s probably since become preserved in the frozen layers of the lake. Wanting to breathe, instead counting down the moments. I couldn’t do it. There was no way. Three. Two. One.
I took the box and opened it, unclasping the lock. I remembered I was the only one with thumbs that worked in the kingdom, or so called “republic”. I took the lid off, and inside, there was nothing. I blankly stared into it, the man impatiently kicking snow behind me. “Well? What have you got there?” “...Nothing.” “You’re lying. Lying!” He walked round, keeping an arm on my head, as close to my neck as possible. He peered inside, and I could see the water around him bubbling as he breathed nervously. “Is…is that it? Nothing?” “You wanted to see if the smartest mind could ever bring your nation gifts, didn’t you?” “Yes, yes! Show me your hands!” I held them out, steady as always. “And I guess it brought you nothing.” “Oh you think you’re clever, don’t you?” He reached around to my neck and forced his arm onto the button, like a dagger. I watched the light fade away around me, and I was finally with the moon.