First Contact

Sensation registered at my fingertips. Cold, solid steel. I flexed my right hand against the circular hatch mechanism, feeling the textured iron shift faintly beneath each tip. My arm moved by my own command, deliberate and unassisted. The radiating spokes of the wheel stood symmetrical in the low light, mirroring my calculation. I pressed my palm flat against the central hub and paused, confirming my own motion in the quiet dark.