Everything felt wet.

Maybe that’s because I found myself in a vat of liquid with wires connected to different body regions.

I began frantically looking around, trying to find something to explain what was happening to me. I was in a lab of some sort. There were control panels around the vat I was floating in. Dials, buttons, and knobs that were all meaningless to me.

The lab had papers all over the floor, the lights flickering, and a thick layer of dust coated everything in the room. Cobwebs were in almost every corner of the room.

This lab hadn’t been used in a long while which was apparent from all these signs, but it also seems like it had been abandoned suddenly or left in a hurry. The papers all over the floor fell out of knocked-over banker boxes, their lids seemingly intentionally removed.

I began to pull at the wires and rip them off me. Fortunately, they didn’t take much effort to remove. I wasn’t sure where I was, but I knew I had to get out myself or I’d never leave. I kicked and punched at the glass for what felt like ages, but eventually, it let out and broke open.

The amount of liquid within the vat and the sudden opening of it caused me to be forcibly pushed out as the liquid spilled out onto the lab floor.

As I was pushed out of the broken vat, numerous glass shards slid past my skin. They should’ve cut me, but they didn’t. I was soaked with the mystery liquid inside the vat, which could be the explanation.

I try not to think about it and move on.

I needed to retrace my steps to figure out how I got here. What’s the last thing I remember before waking up here?

I stood there for a moment, deep in thought. After much thought, I realized I couldn’t remember anything before this. I couldn’t even remember my name, or who I was for that matter.

A deep panic set in as I realized the gravity of my situation. I felt myself lose balance. I started wobbling as I tried holding onto the walls to keep myself standing.

How could I not know who I am? How could I not know my name? How could I not remember anything from before this? It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense right now.

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I slid against the wall, fell to the ground, and sat there.

After at least half an hour, I managed to calm myself enough to get up and move onward. I told myself that there was nothing I could do about my lack of memory right now, all I could do was move forward.

I did notice that there was a door with a light-up exit sign above it. At first, I wanted to go straight for it and get out of here, but I realized that if I searched the lab more in-depth I could find some clues as to why I was here.

I looked back at the vat I was stuck in not so long ago, and realized that the control panels next to the vat might have some information about me. Considering I had wires hooked up to my body, it’s safe to assume my vitals and other important data were being monitored.

I made my way over to the control panel and looked at one of the three different screens. The first screen was a flatlined heartbeat monitor, oxygen level meter, and blood pressure tracker. The second screen had a silhouette of a human, very similar to me, that, according to the label underneath kept track of injuries. The third and largest screen had a photo of me with information listed beside it. In the picture, I looked out of it and seemed barely conscious. Besides the picture, there was a multitude of stats listed. My height, age, and weight were listed. According to the stats I was 5’11ft, 18 years old, and 135 lbs. My name was not listed. The place where I believe my name should be said is “Project: Sol.” Since I have no other lead to my name, I’ll call myself ‘Sol.’

At the very bottom, there was one more stat. Well, it wasn’t a stat. It was a description. It stated “Power Thief: The ability to copy another individual’s power and destroy their power gene, effectively stealing their power.”

I kept reading it over and over. It didn’t make any more sense the more I read it. Powers? Like superpowers?

I felt a massive headache start to form, and I decided not to press it further. This doesn’t make sense, not of it does.

Ignoring the power part, this told me practically everything I needed to know. I was an experiment of some kind, and I was being monitored closely. This did not comfort me at all.

I began to hyperventilate as I felt my eyes grow wider. I wish I had left and didn’t investigate the lab.

I needed to calm down. I needed to leave the lab. I had already gathered the knowledge I needed and could exit the lab as I planned to.

Before I left I made sure the clothes on me weren’t too crazy for whatever the outside world is like. I stood in front of a cracked mirror next to the exit. I had a strange black diving suit-esque outfit, with circular metal rings placed around the outfit for the wires in the vat to connect to. I looked around the lab to see if there were extra lab coats I could wear to cover up and look semi-normal.

Luckily, the first closet I opened had a lab coat on a hanger. I quickly grabbed the coat and wrapped it around myself, buttoning it up as I walked to the exit.

I took a deep breath and opened the door, hoping it was safe on the other side.