“You were asked to fix a sink? Isn’t that a job for maintenance?” Liz asked me.

She had long blue hair and brown eyes and wore a purple uniform. Just like what was planned, she was giving me a tour of Hydra. After exploring the common area, we took a break to eat in the mess hall. Hundreds of people were eating in there and I saw a whole rainbow of colored uniforms. The chatter was loud and it was hard to make out what Liz had been saying to me. To be honest, I was more focused on my food than our conversation. Meatloaf and rice. It was basic and an odd combination, but I thought it was pretty good. Better than lunches back in school, at least.

“Yeah. Eventually convinced some guy to fix it for me. He was wearing an orange uniform,” I said.

“That’s maintenance. Still haven’t gotten any of your memories back yet?” Liz replied.

“Nope, not at all. I don’t think I ever will,” I said. It was the truth, of course. Whoever Erik was in the past was gone. I wondered how it was even possible. Maybe the old Erik died in his sleep and I took possession of his body? Who knew.

“I’m so sorry, Erik. I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like,” Liz said. She offered me a very sad look. I wish I could just tell her the truth about everything. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever tell anyone. It’s not like they’d believe me, anyway.

We kept talking about various things while we finished our lunches. It eventually devolved into small talk. After a while, mostly silence. We finished up our meals and placed the trays on a revolving counter which led into the kitchen.

It was time to continue my tour. We had already explored the whole floor where my room was located. The common area is where the Sleeping Quarters, Sanitary Center and Maintenance was located. There was a small Medical Bay for emergencies and minor problems as well. The primary one was on the bridge at the top of the ship. So I was told, of course.

After walking down yet another white hallway and passing by men and women of all shapes and sizes, we reach an elevator. Liz pressed a button, presumably to activate it. Must take a minute to get to us, I thought.

“How many floors does this ship have?” I asked. The ship seemed huge. Then again, I didn’t have much experience with space ships.

“Only three. We’re on the bottom of the ship right now. The middle floor is for combat personnel. It’s where all the weapons, equipment and training areas are. There are also a few smaller ships for transport located there, as well as manned vehicles. The top floor is where the bridge and officer quarters are. It’s the smallest floor by far,” Liz replied.

“So we’re going to the middle floor next?” I asked.

“Yes. We don’t have permission to be on the bridge, so it’s where we’ll end our short tour.”

The door in front of us opened. We stepped inside. Oddly enough it looked just like an elevator back home. Just much shinier, I supposed. Liz pushed a button labeled with the number two. The elevator started to move quickly, making me feel a bit sick to my stomach. It finally stopped and the doors opened. Another white hallway awaited us.

“Follow me and we’ll go to the equipment room,” Liz said.

We walked down the hallway and made a few turns, eventually making it to a door labeled Basic Equipment. Liz entered and I followed her. The inside was cramped. There was a large metal counter with a man behind it. He had brown hair with a large beard and stood safely protected by a type of safety glass. There was a small opening in the middle of the glass, probably for handing out equipment. The man offered a wave to us.

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“Need anything, you two?” He said to us.

“Just offering a tour of the ship to Erik here, he lost his memories not too long ago. I’ll fill you in later if you really want to know the story,” Liz said to him.

The man put his hands up to his chest. “No thanks. So much weird stuff happens on this ship that I’d go crazy if I knew everything,” he said.

Liz smiled and turned to me.

“This is the equipment room, where non-infantry personnel retrieve their weapons and other gear they need to stay safe on the ship. Since you already have a weapon, we won’t have to worry about getting anything from here."

I had a gun? Even though I’d spent a night there already, I hadn’t actually searched my room yet. I made a mental note to be sure to do it later before I went to bed. There was so much to learn about life in space.

“Where to next?” I asked.

“Well, I figure we might -“ Liz began to say. We were interrupted by a man rushing into the equipment room.

“Joseph, I need a blaster!” The man shouted. He was wearing a pink uniform with a large black cross on the front.

“What’s going on?” The man with the beard asked, who I assumed was named Joseph.

“We heard a distress call from a civilian ship. Just found out I’m one of the men being deployed there,” the man in pink said.

“Alright, alright. What happened to your last one?” Joseph asked.

“It overheated during a training drill, must be defective,” the man in pink said.

“Come up here and I’ll get you a new one, just need you to sign a few things,” Joseph said.

A distress call from a civilian ship? Sounded like something serious. Liz and I exchanged glances.

“We should head back to the common area. I just might be called for duty on this one,” Liz said to me.

I nodded. We left the equipment room and started making our way back to the elevator we used before. Once we got to the elevator, Liz pushed the button to call it up. When the door opened, I met someone familiar. It was my supervisor. His face was the usual red and he appeared out of breath. Sweat was dripping down his face.

“Erik! There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you! Don’t you know you’re supposed to stay in the common area on the weekends? I knocked on your door for five minutes! Five whole minutes! What were you doing up here?” He said.

“Liz here is giving me a tour of the ship,” I said.

As usual, what I said infuriated him. “A tour?! Don’t tell me you’re dragging her along in your lie, too. You probably just wanted a sad excuse for her to go on a date with you! Is that it?!” He said.

Liz blushed. “Sir, this isn’t a date. Erik has real problems going on and I’m doing what I can to assist him,” she said.

“Oh, he has problems alright! If I hear about his fake medical issues one more time I just might explode!" He replied. The supervisor rubbed his hands over his face before contiuning to speak again. "There was a distress call from a civilian ship. You’ve got five hours to clean the transport stationed in 1-A before they use it. Get some supplies from the Sanitary Center and go get it done! If you don’t, no pay for an entire week! You’ll be eating sardines for breakfast, lunch and dinner!” He said.

Many people passed us as the supervisor spoke to me. They all looked down at the floor, as if they knew who he was and what how he behaved. None defended me. Personally, I thought the supervisors antics were amusing, not humiliating. Although I had no idea how a man like this could be hired to manage anything, let alone a unit in the best ship Earth had ever made.

The supervisor let out one more huff and pushed a button on the inside of the elevator. The doors closed.

“Guess he didn’t want to share the space with you,” Liz said. She laughed.

“Is he like this with everyone?” I asked.

“I don't know. I've only spoke with him a few times. He’s always been nice to me whenever I passed through the Sanitation Center. Must really hate you,” Liz said. She laughed again.

I sighed. Liz must be right. I wondered if my supervisor hated the old Erik as well. It’s not a question I’d ever ask him, though. Not worth the rant.

“I’m going to grab some stuff from the Sanitation Center, I figure I could ask around and find out what I need to clean the ship with. Could you show me where it is?” I asked.

“Sure thing,” Liz said. She offered me a smile.

I might not have been going on the mission, but it was neat that I got to clean the transport beforehand. It made me feel apart of something greater. The only problem I had at the time was not knowing what I was supposed to be doing, but with time that’d change. I’d eventually get it down, or so I thought.

"Cleaning a transport ship? Should be easy enough," I said. I had no clue about what was going to happen next.