Waking Up

Matthias wakes up in a laboratory and has no recollection of how he got there.

I felt it. Barely. It was the feeling of consciousness. In other words, the knowledge of being. I didn't feel real or that I really existed. Feeling was almost non-existent and the only 'feeling' was that of flight. A few more seconds passed until I felt something hard and cold on my back. The only thing separating me from the cold was a thin layer of clothing. I think clothing was the word.


What was the cold? Steel, that was the word. How did I know that? Knowledge, simple though, was coming into my mind. I felt something slice near my eyes and I opened them. The world was black and white. Was I colorblind? I couldn't remember anything and then blackness enveloped me.


I was then on a hill of red mud. On the hill was a skeleton that looked at me.


"You're here?" It asked me. "That's good. I'm hungry." It then leapt towards me and then I was in a graveyard.


The graveyard was hard to see in, even though the light was bright. The place didn't really seem to exist, it was just very fuzzy or maybe it was my eyes. Going to one gravestone I saw the name John on it. I felt the name had some importance. Whether it was my name or not I couldn't tell.


I blinked and when I opened my eyes again I was in a prison. The walls had scratch marks and blood. The blood was coming out of the walls as though the prison itself was bleeding. I heard screams from my cell but I couldn't see a person.


I touched the wall and was able to push through it to a beach. The beach was devoid of anything but sun, water, sand, and the sound of seagulls. I put my arms around my naked body to keep myself warm.


Out of nowhere a voice said, "Poor fool. You are only one of many." It laughed and I opened my eyes to see people in medical garb around me.


"He's awake." A woman's voice said and a man came and looked into my eyes that could now see color.


"Say something." The man said.


"Where am I?" I asked and then decided to add, "Who am I?"


"So he's awake?" An older man's voice asked and I turned to look at him. "Did he say anything?"


"He asked who and where he is, Mr. Makija." The man said and I sat up. Makija walked in front of me.


"Your name is Matthias and you are in a laboratory." Makija replied. "My name is Yuji Makija."



"Why am I here?" I asked.


He looked me in the eyes. "What is your favorite animal?"


For a moment I was angry that he had ignored my question. But was I really in a position to argue with him? I didn't feel like I could fight at the moment. I thought about the question for a good minute or two. I could barely recall any animal. Finally I said my answer, "Crow."


Makija looked at me oddly and shook his head as if I had said something wrong. However, his voice didn't show any of the disappointment I had seen a second before, "I think you need some rest." As he said this I felt something was wrong. Hadn't I been asleep a few moments before? "Norman, take Matthias to his sleeping quarters."


Norman, the woman's voice I had heard before, came to me and helped me off of the table. My footsteps were rather awkward and it felt like I had never walked before. "What's Makija like?" I asked her, deciding to fill up the quiet with some conversation.


"Well he's very strict and doesn't take no for an answer." Norman replied to me.


"Does he have any family?"


"He did but they died." After that I couldn't  get another word out of her. It was like I had started a conversation about a taboo subject.


Norman and I finally arrived at my room. She opened the door and I found the room to be sparsely decorated.  The walls were painted white, the bed sheets were white, and there was a white dresser. "The bathroom is down the hall to the left." Norman told me and quickly left.


When she left I went around the bedroom looking at each place thoroughly. I didn't like that I wasn't treated like a person. Well, not a person of any importance at least. More like a test subject. I sat on the bed and thought about how I would find out who I was and escape. Or possibly just the latter.
*         *              *
I lay on my bed and the only thing I did was think. The previous day had only been about testing me. The other months had also been about tests. I couldn't imagine a life without all the tests. The only payoff I found was that I was turning into a little athlete.


I lifted my right arm and it looked muscular. Well, more muscular than the scientists. And they were scientists and didn't exercise much. Turning my arm over I looked at the back of my hand. It hadn't really concerned me, but now I noticed it more.


It looked like there was  a scar and it was in the shape of a crescent moon. The difference was  that it was just one thin line. I looked at it some more and then realized something. I got out of my bed and turned on the light. In this better light, the room had a soft glow to it when the main light was off, I realized I had seen the symbol before.


True, the last time I had seen this symbol was on some of the folders the scientists had carried. But it didn't strike me as important and more as a coincidence.  The symbol on the folders had been accompanied with an eye behind it. That made the similarities end with a shape.


I turned the light off and lay in my bed again. I tried to put away questions about the scar on my hand. They were questions that were a 'conspiracy theory'. I had to prepare for another day full of tests, anyways.


*  * *

I ate my breakfast. Well, not really a breakfast as the scientists talked about. They said breakfast was bacon and eggs. They also mentioned something called pancakes. Pancakes sounded tasty and I wanted to try one of them someday. But my breakfast was different. It was a white and brown mush that had a very bland flavor. My drink was blue and was supposed to be healthy.


I was eating alone in a cafeteria where one or two scientists were seated at the opposite side of the room. I swear they were observing me. I didn't know why my eating habits would be so important, but I guess they were.


As I chewed some of the 'food' I thought about escaping. Escape would mean I could have pancakes and the rest of what a breakfast should be. But it also seemed useless. I was being taken care of here. Why should I cause so much pain to the people that were supporting me?


After I left the cafeteria I went to the testing area. More specifically, the main testing room. It was bland, just like the rest of the building, but it felt like home to me. The only person I saw there was Makija. Usually I only saw other scientists and it was a rare day that I would even catch a glimpse of Makija.


"How do you like the facilities?" Makija asked. "I do think that maybe you'd like to see the rest of the world."


"It is fine here." I told him.


"You are being polite. I think it is time for us to release you. Maybe one day you will decide to return, but, for now, I think it is fair for you to roam free."


This was a very odd conversation. Makija didn't usually sound comforting or kind. This offer, then, wasn't an offer: it was a demand.


"I do want to see the world." I lied to Makija and he led me to a room. I was in that room for what seemed like eons. I can barely remember what went on in that room. I just know that it was painful and there were voices, oh so many voices. I wished that they would be quiet.


Finally they were all quiet and I sat up. There was one lone scientist in the room. I rubbed my head and was glad I wasn't dead. For a moment I had believed Makija was going to kill me.


As I left the building, I squinted when the sun hit my eyes. It felt like the first time I had glimpsed real sunlight. But that couldn't be, I wasn't a child. As my eyes adjusted I turned around and saw the building wasn't by any other buildings. It was remote. I walked down the desert street and felt maybe Makija had decided to kill me. Just in a longer and more painful way.