Who is the tall masked stranger?

Louise awoke with her mind remarkably clear. The bed she occupied was in a small or more correctly stated, compact room. It was bright but not overly so. The walls were a pleasant shade of blue that she found some how comforting. She could see a window from her vantage point but it looked as if it were made opaque and could see nothing through it. The next thing she noted was the absence of pain. She welcomed  the relief, it was the first time in days she had felt comfortable. With a slight bit of panic she noticed that she could not move. She was lying in some sort of hospital bed unlike she had ever encountered in her world. She saw that her right arm was held down by a strap, the strap had a read out of some sort embedded in it as well as some sort of intravenous tube. 

As she was attempting to will her limbs to move a musical note sounded in the air. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was obviously meant to gain her attention not to alarm her."Good morning Louise" a cheerful voice announce."Allow me to welcome you to my ship the Albatross" the voice continued. The voice was male and had a flat accent very much like the type she grown up with in the Midwestern United States. "By ship, you mean that zeppelin I saw before I blacked out?" Zeppelin?" he repeated sounding confused. "Oh of course, Count Von Zeppelin, he was the one that worked with dirigibles back before your World War One, no he did not design my ship." "You know about World War One?" Louise said more than a little surprised. "Of course, I have visited your world  many times in my youth and I have even met your Von Zeppelin." the voice stated in a matter of fact tone.  

Louise was beginning to doubt the sanity of the disembodied voice. His voice took on a serious tone. " We can reminisce about your world another time" he paused briefly, "I have discussed your condition with the ships doctor and I need to as they say on your world, 'fill you in' ". "Your prognosis is excellent, Most of your injuries are well on their way to healing" he continued. "Why am I restrained?" she interrupted . "To facilitate a speedier recovery it was necessary to temporarily paralyze your body he stated. "Our techniques are far more advanced than those of your world, your recovery will only take a fraction of the time it would take in one of your hospitals"he concluded. " what kind of techniques? " she asked suspiciously. "nanites" was his one word answer.

"Nanites are self replicating molecular machines about the size of a corpuscle and as we speak a large quantity of specialized nanites are committing voluntary suicide to heal and reinforce your broken bones much like small animals in your world's oceans leave their skeletons to make reefs." He explained. " You are being healed from the inside out". "I see", Louise said actually only understanding about half of what he was saying. ""I know that you have many more questions for me, but I would like to continue our conversation in person","I must warn you that my appearance maybe a bit disconcerting,but I assure you that I am as human as you are"he paused for moment . He continued in a manner that made Louise think he was choosing  his words carefully. "I too have suffered at the same hands as you have, Yes I know that you were captured and tortured by the individuals that we call the Philistines" " Philistines is a cultural reference you might recognize from your world from a book you call the bible." "I'll explain all of that in short order, but first we must meet face to face for you to understand the peril you and your world are facing. "

 

With those ominous word still ringing in her ears a vertical rectangular opening appeared at the opposite  end of her small room. The figure that strode into the room was covered from hand to hand and from head to toe in a loose fitting soft grey coverall. His hands gloved and his feet shod in soft leather boots. His face was obscured by a set of over sized seemingly opaque  goggles and some sort of oxygen mask covered the lower half of his face. Louise had to strain with her restricted movement to take him all in. His head nearly touched the ceiling, a good 6'6" she guesstimated.  He stood before her and uttered  three words, he uttered them in such a way that it sounded like they might explain everything, but for Louise they only added more confusion. 

He said"I am Zero".

NEXT TIME: Zero tells his story.

'

'

'