1 - 11

The Cylinder

The automatic doors slide open and the scent of burnt cheese and pepperoni hits me as I enter the pizzeria. The walls of this restaurant are decorated with antique photos of various athletes from various different sports ranging from simple old baseball legends to the Onyx Rival Arena champions over the years. The tables scattered around the dining room are empty - not a body in sight. One of the tables still has trash on them like paper plates with half-eaten pizza crusts, half-empty glasses with stagnant soft drinks that are quite possibly watered-down, and grease-drenched napkins all over the place. Kind of gross, but nothing to really complain about, I suppose.

There’s a rather large man behind the front counter with a glass hologram clipboard in hand, counting… something. There’s something off about his left hand though. It seems like a mechanical prosthetic - a cheap-looking one too. I guess he doesn’t get paid enough to afford nicer augments. Then again, if he works for or with Umbra, then he should one-hundred percent have enough Jivits to afford a better augment for his hand. Looking closer I notice a faint black and purple scar running up the man’s arm from where the mechanical hand starts.

“Need something?” his deep voice makes me jump a little, “You’ve been standing there for, like, five minutes. Are you ready to order or what?”

I recompose myself to the best of my ability and approach the counter.

“Um, yeah, uh,” I stumble over my words for a moment then awkwardly say, “I’d like a slice of pizza.”

“Okay,” The pizza guy quickly replies, “What kind and what toppings do you want?”

“T-Toppings?”

I get nervous. I’ve never ordered a pizza myself before, and this guy’s attitude isn’t helping one bit. I glance up at the menu mounted on the wall above his head and scan the prices of each type of pizza. The cheaper pizza options don’t sound all that appetizing. The only one that looks edible is the Daily Special: a large pepperoni pizza with sliced mushrooms and Kinera grass. Mac and I used to toss Kinera grass in with the salads at the Diner, so it should taste good.

“Pepperoni, extra cheese, and Kinera grass,” I finally blurted out to the guy.

“Do you want slices of it or the whole pie?” he asks.

“Uh, one slice, please.”

“Just one slice?”

“Yes.”

“That’s all you’re getting?”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling slightly embarrassed, “I don’t exactly have a lot of Jivits on me right now, so…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get ya,” he says as he moves into the kitchen ”Go ahead and take a seat anywhere. It’ll be done in a few.”

I whisper, “Thanks,” then awkwardly walk to the dining room, sitting down in the booth next to the trash-covered table.

I glance around the dining room a bit to take in all the not-so-stunning scenery. Everything aside from that table looks nice and tidy for a back-alley pizza joint in the middle of Duenba. The tops of the walls are adorned with red and orange string lights and the diamond-like pattern of the carpet makes the rest of the dining room pop ever so slightly. Neat!

Without a moment's notice, the cook appears out of nowhere carrying a small silver plate with a single slice of pizza on it. I gave him a look - both surprised and weirded out by how quickly it took for my food to be done.

“Here you go,” The man says coldly, placing my pizza slice on the table, “Enjoy - hope you like it - bon appetit - whatever.”

Before I could thank him, he left the dining room and disappeared into the kitchen.

I glance down at the pizza in front of me, lift it to my mouth, and take three small bites. It’s chewy, greasy, and a little undercooked, but it’s pretty damn delicious. The Kinera grass goes well on pizza after all! Not a bad topping idea if I say so myself!

I quickly finish my pizza and leave the crust on my plate. After that, I get up from the table and approach the counter so I can pay for the meal. The cook is still there, fiddling with his holo-clipboard. I squint my eyes in order to make out the words on the screen. The only words I can read are, ‘Sales Reports.’ - Lame. I thought it might be top secret Umbra stuff or something. Speaking of which, there was something I was supposed to say to the cook so he’d let me into the Umbra base and whatnot. What was the password? ‘Eclipse?’

“All done?” The cook’s voice makes me jump, “The payment thing is ready for you.”

“Uh, yes. I’m done,” I responded, “Also, um, I have a message for you from Zackalon Solis.”

His face suddenly lights up, “What? You know Zac?”

“I do. I also know his brother,” I say, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact, “Mac is kind of like my dad, I guess; Except, I don’t really know my real dad because I hit my head pretty hard and sort-of forgot a lot of stuff and-”

“Woah woah woah!” He stops me mid-sentence, “Say no more, hon, I understand -That’s gotta be some serious amnesia you’re going through, ain’t it?”

“I guess so - er - I dunno.”

“It’s alright, hon. So what was Zac’s message for me?”

This sudden attitude change of his shifted my impression of this guy. Before he looked and sounded like some easily-annoyed pizza guy, but now he seems a little more… Human - If that makes sense.

I raise my head and clear my throat before plainly saying, “Eclipse,” In my most monotone voice.

“Ah,” his expression falls back to it’s annoyed-looking state, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. He’s giving you, an outsider, access to The Cylinder? Of all the dumb things he’s done...”

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“Whatever,” he grunts, “If he’s letting an outsider in, then it has to be important, right?”

I shrug.

“Come with me,” he says with a hand gesture, “I’ll let you in.”

“Really?” I excitedly asked for assurance, “I can go in?”

WIthout another word, the cook starts moving toward the back of the kitchen. I hesitate for a moment but then follow after him, completely ignoring the fact I still didn’t pay for my pizza. He leads me to a thick, metal door and presses a button that opens it. As it slides open, he enters and begins down a flight of concrete stairs, and I quickly follow. Once we reach the bottom of this basement, a large, high-tech-looking elevator comes into my view. It’s doors are made of thick glass and the walls inside look to be made of some kind of black steel plating. There’s a rectangular hole on the right side of the elevator that’s roughly the same width as a book; Two blinking red lights are above the cubbyhole. The cook approaches the doors and slides his hand and wrist into the hole. The elevator makes a single high-pitched beep as it’s doors open automatically. The cook and I step in before the elevator cab begins its descent.

As the white fluorescent lights stream past us, I glance down at the man’s side and notice a black band with a tiny blue screen adorning his right arm. Upon taking a closer look, I can see the blue screen displaying the old-Altian letters ‘U,’ ‘V,’ and ‘R.’ I suddenly gain the urge to ask him what his wristband is, but as I look up at his face, I lose interest. Despite his moodswing in the lobby, he still doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who minds stupid questions. Lame.

“So how’s the Solis brothers?” The man’s voice startles me once again, “Are they well?”

I shifted my gaze to my boots which were still soaked from the rain, and answered him, “Zac is fine. He’s taking over the diner for Mac while he’s away on his mission.”

“Ah, so Mac took a big case? Where’d they send him?”

“Uh, Sobo, I think.”

“Damn,” he sighs, “Umbra needs missions done on the first moon now? I mean, I’ve heard Sobo is where the head of the ASRD found that weird rock, but I didn’t think Umbra would dig this deep to uncover the truth about it.”

Not entirely sure what he’s referring to, but I silently nod in agreement as if I knew.

“What are you coming to the Cylinder for anyway, kid? Did Zac need you to fetch something for him or what?”

“Actually,” I glance forward and stuff my hands into my pockets, “I’m here to join Umbra.”

“You’re joking,” he replies coldly, “They’re gonna reject you immediately. How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“You don’t have a chance, girl. But, seeing as we’re already on our way down to the Cylinder, I’ll let you humor me when we arrive.”

What an asshole.

“I’m a Flawless,” I responded coldly in return, “They’re bound to let me join them - Zac said so.”

He turns to me wide-eyed, then starts chuckling, “Heh, yeah. Bullshit. The Hunters have already gathered up all the pink-blooders in Duenba and Kueski. They’ve all been hauled off to central by now too. Save the tall tales for the Umbra guys - It’ll be hilarious!”

Yep. He’s a grade-A asshole. I could easily prove that I have pink blood if I bite my arm hard enough, but that would be stupid.

I take my hands out of my pockets and cross my arms as I whisper a solemn, “Whatever.”

The rest of the ride was silent.

----------------------------------------

As the elevator comes to a halt, the glass doors slide open and let the cold stagnant air of a dimly lit hallway wash over us. The hall is lengthy, empty, and gives off an otherworldly vibe the longer I stare into it. The walls are made up of reinforced metal plating, exposed pipelines, wires, and air vents filtering in the cold air from outside. The floor however is carpeted with a fancy black and cyan-pattern, and further ahead the floor becomes what seems to be a wide, two-way conveyor belt. The cook steps out first, and I do the same quickly after. We begin down the hallway and step onto the conveyor belt moving forward. I nearly lost my balance as I hopped on, but I quickly collected myself. As the conveyor transports us, we pass through two or three scanning devices that creep me out with how they move. Not sure what they are for, but weird nonetheless.

We reach the end of the hall and arrive at a huge, circular, vault-shaped door with a large glowing crescent moon symbol in the center of the whole thing. On the right of the door sits another rectangular hole much like what the elevator had. Before I could examine the door any longer, the pizza guy inserts his arm into the hole which causes the door to emit a short hissing sound before finally opening. As excited as I am, I can't help but be slightly intimidated by this place. It feels so strange yet so natural. It’s hard to explain.

“Alright, this is it,” the cook says after clearing his throat, “Welcome to the Cylinder - The headquarters for the Umbra agency.”

I step through the gate and rush towards the nearest railing overlooking the stunning scenery of the facility. It’s absolutely massive! The sheer height of the place is staggering - and I’m on the top floor! The ceiling of the facility is covered in super bright flood lights that illuminate everything, and at the very center of the giant empty pit stands a narrow glass tube that glows a soft blue.

“This place is gigantic!” I shout to myself in awe.

“Yeah, it’s a large facility,” the cook replies as he approaches the railing, “I mean, it’s nothing too impressive if I’ll be honest. It’s only ten stories including the generator room at the bottom.”

Still, it’s pretty amazing how this huge facility just exists underground like this.

“She’s a beauty, I can give her that. Roxas did a good job designing this place.”

“Roxas? Who’s that?” I ask him eagerly.

“Oh, she’s the chief of the agency. You’ll have to talk to her if you wanna join - which I doubt you will.”

“Oh, okay! So, where can I find her?”

“Hell if I know. She’s probably in her office or something,” he says chuckling, “You see, I’m not exactly allowed to be in here-”

Just then, the opening of an automatic door cuts him off mid-sentence and a boy enters the lobby wearing a bodysuit similar to the one Mac had before he left. His rectangular rimmed glasses and short brown hair gives off the impression of a late-year college student, and the paperback notebook in his hands seals the deal. He has a pen resting on his ear and what looks like a tiny flashlight on the corner of his glasses. If I had anything else to say, then I’d say he’s kinda cute, but I have no interest in anybody at the moment.

“Rex,” the boy calls to the cook, “What are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed past the main gate,” he glances over at me and his eyes widen, shouting, “And who the heck is THAT!?”

“She’s a friend of Zac’s,” Rex replied in his stale attitude, “Just doing him a favor while he’s covering for his brother. He gave her the password.”

“You KNOW outsiders aren’t allowed within the confines of the Cylinder! What were you thinking!? She could be contaminated!”

“The alarm didn’t go off, did it? We’re clean, Braxton, so don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

Braxton looks at Rex, then back to me. After that, he lets out a sigh and approaches me with his arm out. I hesitantly grab his hand and shake it in greeting.

“I’m Braxton Hyuwett. I’m the lead data analyst within Umbra,” he says, “And what’s your name?”

I give him my name and a little smile.

“Sachiko? So you’re from Kueski, correct?” he eagerly guesses.

I nod. Guess my name really is Kueski-area-only. That begs the question: Just how many other Sachikos are there in Altai? I already know the answer, and it’s ‘why does it matter?’

“Nice to meet you then, Sachiko. You can refer to me as ‘Click’ as that's my designated nickname within the Cylinder.”

“Fair enough,” I reply softly, “So, do you know where I can meet Roxas, Click?”

“Well, I’m certain she’s busy at the moment with another agent, but I’m sure we can go and see if she’s available to chat.”

This is going a lot smoother than I anticipated! Honestly, I thought the big boss of Umbra would barge through the door and ask me a million questions only to just say ‘Go home kid,’ or something. I just hope the rest of the agents here are as nice as Braxton.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I look to my right and watch Rex, the pizza guy, subtly leave through the main gate with a smirk on his face. Weirdo.

“Come with me,” Click gestures, “We’ll take the elevator to the briefing chamber. I’m sure the Chief is still there.”

I say nothing to him but nod my head. I then follow him to the elevator he appeared from, and enter the cab first. Braxton comes in after me and presses the button that takes us to the fifth floor of the facility.

“I like your hoodie,” he says quietly.

“Thanks.”

“Have you watched this year’s O.R.A tournament last month?”

“Not really.”

“It was exciting! Titan took out the entire opposing team all by himself.”

“Sounds cool.”

“It was incredible. You should’ve seen it.”

This guy is kinda weird, but I shouldn’t judge. He’s just passionate about something he likes, that's all. Stop being such a jerk to people in your head, Sachi. It’s not healthy.

The elevator opens and Click exits before I do. We then walk down a long, brightly lit corridor and arrive at a pair of large glass doors. A sign is posted above the entrance that reads, ‘Briefing Chamber.’ Behind the glass (which is opaque) I can see two tall figures in black over a big glowing orb... thing. The doors slide open quickly and Click is the first to enter. I hesitantly entered after.

“Vince, Roxas,” He calls out to the two tall individuals, “What are you guys doing?”

“Oh for the love of Christ!” The tallest of the two groans, “How many times do I have to tell you, ‘don’t use real names when on duty?’”

“Sorry!” Click quickly apologizes.

“We’re working on the full team objectives for next week,” the other one says in a soft feminine voice, “We’ve picked up traces of Flux radiation around the Glenz shopping district.”

“Who the hell is that?” The lanky man asks, pointing to me which made me feel a bit embarrassed, “Why isn’t she in uniform?”

“This is Sachiko, she’s from outside,” Click explains, “She’s a friend of Flare and Haze apparently.”

The tall man exhales loudly and takes a seat next to the big blue hologram. He rubs his face then crosses his arms, shooting us an intimidating glare.

“You let an outsider - someone we don’t even know - into the Cylinder solely based off of the fact she knows Agent Flare and Haze,” He scolds Click from afar, “You - No - Both of you have better get your asses out of this facility.”

“Rex let her in!” The boy tries explaining further, “He said Flare gave her the password!”

“I don’t care!” Vince shouts, “Get out before I do something drastic!”

“Echo!” The woman shouts at Vince to shut him up, “Don’t threaten them! They’re just kids!”

‘They?’ I know I’m still a kid - I'm seventeen, but is Braxton my age…?

The woman moves around the hologram and approaches me slowly. She stops about half a meter in front of me and kneels down.

“You said you’re Sachiko right?”

I nod.

“I’m Roxas Ubura. I’m the head of Umbra,” She introduces herself with a smile, “May I ask what you’re doing here, honey?”

The vibe she gives off is both familiar and comforting. It’s almost… motherly in a way I can’t explain. I like it.

“Well, I want to join Umbra, ma’am,” I mutter quietly to the woman.

Vince scoffs loudly, “You’re not cut out for this kind of work kid. How old are you?”

“Um, Seventeen,” I say nervously.

“Yeah, no. Sorry girl, but this type of work is physically and mentally straining. You may as well leave.”

I look back at Click who is just standing there with his hands to his sides. I then look back at Vince and Roxas. Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I start getting upset. I haven’t cried in a while and I’m sure as hell not going to cry in front of these guys. Just hold it in.

“Hold on,” Roxas said before I could embarrass myself, “Sachiko, is your last name by chance Koikuna?”

Vince’s expression changes drastically to one of shock and I hear Click gasp behind me.

“Um, I think so,” I reply with a sniffle, “I don’t know. I hit my head a while ago and I can’t remember too much.”

The three agents go silent and Roxas shoots Vince a serious look. She then stands up straight, lifts her right arm and positions her wrist below her chin. Her wristband lights up her face and she fiddles around the screen with her other hand. After a few seconds her eyes widen and she moves her wrist in front of Vince’s face who whistles loudly.

“Well ho-ley shit!” He exclaims, breaking the silence, “You’re definitely that old corp’s missing daughter. That would also mean you’re that Flawless the police are after. Hell, we could probably turn her in now and make a huge profit, Chief! It could help the organization in the long run, you know?”

Vince’s words terrify me a bit, but Roxas slugs him in the shoulder which eased my worries a bit.

“We are NOT turning her in to the police, Echo!” she scolds him, “I should have you demoted for saying something so stupid!”

Vince goes silent again and after a minute, he walks towards the room’s exit holding his shoulder.

“Fine, she can stay,” he grumbles to my surprise, “But don’t think for a second I’ll be the one training her. Leave that to Click and Dutchess or something. I’m going to the dorms.”

The door slides shut behind him and my attention returns to Roxas who is facepalming.

“If he talks like that again in front of y’all I’m divorcing his ass,” she says with a chuckle, “Don’t pay any attention to him, hon. He’s just upset we aren’t following the organizations’ tradition.”

So they’re married, huh? I guess that’s pretty cool. As for the ‘tradition’ part, I have no clue what she could be referring to.

“Click!” Roxas shouts suddenly in a serious tone, making me and the boy jump a little, “Show our new recruit to the med bay and have Snow run a full bioscan with a neuroimaging. Her amnesia was physical trauma-induced, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix.”

“Oh, um, yes ma’am!” Click blurts out, “Follow me, Sachiko.”

I look back at Roxas who was smiling at me and utter a soft, “Thank you,” before following Click out the automatic doors and into the hall.

----------------------------------------

About half an hour passes after Braxton and I exit the briefing chamber. Roxas is leaning against a wall with her arms crossed while in deep thought. Vince returns to the room with two cups of coffee in hand. As he draws near to Roxas, the woman lets out a sigh of frustration.

“What’s up, hon?” Vince asks, offering her a coffee.

“Nothing, Vin,” she sighs again, “I’ve just been thinking that's all.”

“Is it about the Flawless kid? If you want my opinion, I could care less about her, and personally, I want her outta here.”

Roxas takes her cup and asks, “Why?”

He clears his throat, “Well, she is the lost daughter of a corp, not to mention her pink blood, so...”

“So what?”

“Don’t you think that maybe she’s being tracked? A Kueski corpo’s runaway Flawless kid is bound to have some kind of chip implanted into their neck. You know how jacked in the head they are in the east, Rox. We both do.”

“I know. That’s why I’m having Snow run a bioscan on Sachiko. Whatever corpo tech she has inside her will show up on the scanners.”

Vince takes a tiny sip of his coffee, which is a little too hot for him, and asks, “Then what’s got you thinkin’? Something’s on your mind - I know that look in your eye.”

“I’m just… Worried is all. Worried about what will come of the agency in the future. The past few weeks have been hell for us.”

He nods and takes another sip of his drink, “Mmm. It’s been shitty, I know. Haze is investigating the lunar colonies solo, and Flare is covering for his brother at their diner. Star is conducting business with the execs in Central, and we lost Keys in a shootout last monday…”

“Nothing’s been going right recently and I’ve been thinking about disbanding the agency if it’s just going to get worse.”

“Hon, we ain’t shuttin’ this operation down! We’ve been doing this for six years now, and I’m not about to drop everything we’ve worked up to over a bad feeling!”

“Alright,” Roxas sighs once more, “Maybe you’re right, baby. We just need time to ‘get our shit together,’ like you always say. Haha!”

“I do say that a lot, don’t I?,” he chuckles and rubs his hand on her shoulder, “Look, we’ve got the corpo girl in the organization, right? Just having a new agent in our ranks is good enough for me. I’ll probably warm up to her eventually.”

“That’s good to hear,” she says smiling, “Now, let’s go get a suit ready for Nine.”

----------------------------------------

As we move down the corridor, I ask Click what that glowing tube is in the center of the facility.

“Oh that?” he answers, “That’s a high-energy conduit running power from our generator at the base of the Cylinder.”

“Why would you need a generator?” I ask him, “Couldn’t you guys just tap into the city’s power grid or something?”

“It was the chief’s idea, so I haven’t got a clue,” he says, “Though, I think it’s mainly in case of a random energy crisis like the one we had twenty years ago.”

I glance at the tube some more and wonder just how much electrical energy is passing through it. From the sheer brightness of the conduit, it’s probably carrying a metric shit ton of power. There must be some kind of crazy advanced machine that requires a ton of energy or something. Interesting.

“This is the med bay,” I hear Click say as we stop in front of another large metal door, “I’ll introduce you to our medic, Snow - She’s really nice!”

I nod my head just as the doors slide open. Click enters first and I follow behind as usual. The medical bay is entirely white. There is a set of red velvet chairs along the right wall, and to the left sits a small silver desk with multiple computer monitors mounted on its surface. The soft hum of the LED ceiling lights fills the room and gives the area an eerie, yet cozy feel to it. At the desk sits a tall woman with silver hair in a messy bun, hazel eyes, and a white vest thrown over her Umbra suit. Her chin is very pointy and her shoulders are quite wide for someone with such a slender frame. Upon closer inspection, I notice thin red lines coming from her eyes and running along her forehead to her temples - Must be ocular cybernetics.

“Oh, hey Click!” Snow perks up after making eye contact with the guy beside me, “What do you need, honey?”

As she stood up from her chair, I was taken somewhat aback by her sheer height. She’s practically towering over both of us!

“I’m doing fine,” Click replies to the woman in a more cheerful tone than before, “I was just finishing up tomorrow’s solo mission catalogue when I met Sachiko here.”

Snow scans me up and down then suddenly stops smiling.

“She’s an outsider, Click,” She says in a stern tone, “You know how dangerous it is--”

“Chief said it was okay if she joined us,” He cut her off, “Plus, she’s a Flawless.”

“A Flawless!?” She exclaimed as her expression returned to a happy one, “You actually brought a Flawless from the surface and right into my lab! Oh my gosh, this is exciting!”

Her mannerisms are a little intimidating to say the least, but her bubbly personality outweighs them.

Click crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at the woman.

“Hate to break it to you, Snow, but I wasn’t the one who brought her down here, Sachiko managed to find the Cylinder all by herself. She is an official agent of Umbra as of ten minutes ago,” He says to her with a very snarky attitude, “Chief’s AND Echo’s decision.”

“Even better!” She shouts then turns her attention to me, “I have so many things I want to experiment on you!”

“Snow…” Click says.

“Aaaaand since you’re now an honorary agent like us, you’ll be here long enough for me to try everything out on you!”

“Snow, this is getting weird.”

“Ooh, this is so awesome! I want a blood sample from you as soon as possible!”

“SNOW!” Click yells as he finally shuts her up, “I don’t think Echo would approve of you experimenting on agents within the facility, now would he?”

“Um, right. Sorry about that, honey,” She finally relaxes and regains her composure, “Now, what was it you two needed from me?”

Click explains to her what needed to be done on me. Upon hearing the details, Snow scratches her chin in contemplation.

“Sounds easy enough,” she says, “Brain injury, drugs, mental trauma, or disease?”

“I believe Chief said it was physical trauma,” he responds.

“Ooh that will be a little tough, actually, but I'll see what I can do.”

Click gives Snow a slight smile and thanks her before turning towards me, “I have to get back to work now, Sachiko, so I’ll probably see you later tomorrow.”

I say nothing but smile and nod at the boy, then he exits the room with the door shutting behind him. I turn my attention back to Snow who is back at her desk, fiddling around on her computer screens. My vision wanders around the room once more, looking through the windows into what I believe is the examination room. Apart from the slew of medical tech around the room, a lone hospital bed sits in the center under an extremely bright LED lamp. Crude, but practical, I guess.

“Okay, Sachiko,” Snow draws my attention to her, “Could I get some personal information from you before we begin - If that’s okay with you?”

“Um, yeah that’s fine,” I say.

“I just need your age, blood type, and any history of surgeries or injuries.”

I stare at her through the see-through glass monitor as I rack my brain for the stuff she asked for. Out of that list, the only thing I know for sure is my age.

“Oh!” she exclaims out of nowhere to my surprise, “I just got a message from Echo with your entire Umbra agent profile!”

Jeez, I already have a profile? That was a lot faster than I thought.

“...Oh my gosh, you’re Sato Koikuna’s daughter!” She shouts, “Why in the world are you - Actually, you know what? Nevermind. Forget I said anything. Let’s just get you into the decon shower.”

I guess she means the decontamination shower. Everyone knows I’m a Flawless - I’m immune to Erado. Then again, I haven’t had a shower in two days and the rain made my hair all greasy...

Snow gets up from her desk and makes her way to a door in the room which she promptly opens for me.

“Step inside here, hon,” she says, holding the door for me, “I just need you to remove your clothes and use the shower.”

“But I’m immune to Erado,” I say, “I don’t need to take one, right?”

“Yes, you do,” she says in a serious tone, “You may be immune to Erado, but that doesn’t mean you’re free of any flux radiation.”

“Flux radiation? What’s that?” I ask her, stalling.

“Don’t worry about that now. Get in the shower and sterilize yourself, please.”

I finally give in and enter the small room. In front of me sits a traditional walk-in shower with a bottle of soap on a little shelf to the side. The rest of the room is empty aside from a short bench to my right with a clothes hamper next to it, and to my left is a tall mirror. I push the door shut behind me and hesitantly start undressing. My hoodie is still completely dry, but the same can’t be said for my shirt, leggings, socks, underwear, and the inside of my boots. I managed to get my boots off, but everything else stuck to my skin a bit. After undressing I stand in front of the mirror and stare at myself. I haven’t really looked at my full nude reflection in God knows how long. Looks like I’ve gotten pretty thin, but only thin enough to where I can see my ribs and hipbones through my skin. Upon closer inspection, I notice large bruises have appeared on my right shoulder and arm - Probably from falling into that puddle when those kids stole my phone.

I step into the shower and press the button below the showerhead to turn it on. Cold water sprays out and drenches my back, causing me to wince a little until it eventually warms up. As I clean myself with what little soap variety I was given to use, my mind wanders a bit and I find myself thinking heavily about what it will feel like reobtaining my memories, what the future holds for me in Umbra, and if I’ll ever get to see Mac again. I try thinking about my parents and how much they probably miss me, but then headaches start so I think of something else, like sleeping. I’m so tired. It feels like I haven’t slept in a week, but in reality, it’s only been about a day or so. I just hope the beds here are as comfortable as mine back at Mac’s garage.

----------------------------------------

“Are you alright in there, Sachiko?” I hear Snow’s voice from behind the door, “You’ve been in there for almost a half an hour.”

Has it really been that long?

“I’m fine,” I called back to her, “I’m just finishing up.”

With that, I rinse the soap off of me, turn off the water, then turn on the industrial air dryer which is built into the shower itself. I step out and reach for my hoodie but end up grabbing a long, blue and silver hospital gown. Without even questioning it, I don the gown then look at my reflection. I look like some mental patient’s ghost from a crappy horror movie. I’ve got long black hair, a hospital gown, a skinny body, and not to mention the bags under my eyes from not sleeping. I push my hair out of my face then hesitantly open the door into the examination room where Snow is standing next to the white hospital bed in the middle of the room.

“All done?” she asks with a smile, “I hope it's alright if I throw your wet clothes into the wash. They were kinda smelly.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” I responded, clearing my throat, “Where’d you put my boots, though?”

“Oh, I put those in your dorm after drying them out. I even freshened them up a bit, if that’s okay.”

The shower was nice, and I even have my own dorm? This just keeps getting better, if I’m honest.

I give her a reassuring nod and approach the bed before climbing onto it. Snow asks me to lay down, so I do. It was at this moment when I noticed the intimidating contraption hanging from the ceiling over my body - a full metal face mask with a mess of wires coming out the sides of it into the multiple machines around the room. Okay, this is a little terrifying.

“Alright now, Sachiko,” Snow began as she swiveled herself around a computer monitor, “Just relax your body completely and breathe through your nose. I’m lowering the bioscanner now.”

I don’t reply to her as I keep my gaze fixated on the machine which is now slowly lowering itself over my face. I do what she tells me to, however, and relax until the mask freezes in place just centimeters away from my face. All I see is blackness as I hear Snow shuffling around the machine and feeling her stick wired patches to my arms, legs, chest, stomach, and neck. I hear her returning to her computer and pressing a button which makes a loud beep, then the lights come on. The machine hums and all I can see is white. I feel pins and needles in my head and my eyes roll back as I experience every neuron in my brain being tickled by tiny pulses of electricity.

Right before I finally succumb to the effects of the machine, I close my eyes then open them - A black-haired, middle-aged man in a business suit towers over me.

He parts his lips and asks, “What the hell are you doing?”