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Author's note:

If you find any mistakes or misspelling, please let me know about it!

Tell you what though, getting the tables to work is a pain in the ass.

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Reading Notes:

SOUND EFFECTS

"RADIO CHATTER"

'MIND CHAT/TELEPATHY'

"CHANGE IN VOLUME"

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== ??? ==

== ??? ==

Blinding light.

That's what greeted me as I opened my eyes.

'Too bright!'

'Who said that!?'

'Wha- where am I!?'

And voices. Loud, obnoxious voices. I shut my eyes tight and grab my head, they scream in my head as if they were my own thoughts, but louder, and all the simultaneous voices made it hard to understand and gave me migraine. I try shutting them out by using the pillow I am using. No luck.

"Shut up!" I yell out loud.

'You shut up!' 'Who made you the boss of me!?' 'Quiet!''Kitty?''So noisy.''Get out my head!!!''You get out!''Stop thinking!Kitty!Shutit!OhmyGod!Kitty!Someonehelp!Kitty!GetoutofmyheadkittyAGHHHHHkittykittykittykittykittykittykitty'.

At some point, I hear several voices scream, but one voice keeps repeatedly screaming in my mind, sending what feels like tendrils of ice to my gut and sending my heart panicking. In all our minds. That's why they all shut up. My head feels like exploding but I will an eye to open. I am lying down in a hospital bed, in a row with other patients and we all wore the same thing, a light blue-grey wrap-style hospital gown, similar to a robe, forming a V around the neck. It reaches all the way down to our legs and as one fold reaches our right breast, cuts straight down and having knot ties to secure the robe around us. Two rows of beds formed against the wall, with each bed facing against another, leaving a path at the middle. I am at the end of the row, next to a wall with an open window that let in sunlight and wind in the room. 

It was a simple room if a bit long. All it had were eleven beds with some sort of machine overhead, embedded into the wall to so that it didn't fall. It has an LCD screen, showing off charts and other things I had no idea were. Aside from that, each bed had a pair of thin and thick drapes that went around it for privacy. Currently they were all pulled back. Opposite my open window was a closed metal door. I find nine other men and women, all holding their heads in pain like me as that one voice kept repeating over and over in our heads. My eyes landed to the tenth persons, a girl with raven black hair, sitting up from her bed across from mine. She was the only one not holding her head but looked completely terrified and kept looking around the room like a cornered animal.

'Kitty. Kitty. Kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty.'

Enduring the pain, I struggle to slide out of my bed and stand, only to find my legs wobbly, like I haven't used them in a while. I make my way slowly across the room and as I near the end of her bed, she looks at me with her face contorted in fear with her eyes wide open. My feet start getting cold.

'Kitty!? Kitty!? Kitty!'

She keep calling out for some damned cat in her mind, even when I stood right next her. I wanted her to shut up, but I only feel sorry for her as her face goes wild with fear and confusion. With a gentleness that surprises me, two words come out my mouth: 

"Kitty's here."

'...'

Immediately silence fills our thoughts, and the cold gripping sense in my gut disappears, and is immediately replaced by warm, overflowing feelings.

"Kitty!" 'Kitty!'

For a short moment at least. She screams out loud and in her mind as well, right before lunging at me and burying her head in my chest. I expected her tackle to hurt, but it didn't and, in fact, she feels soft and her hair quite silky. I guess I'm sturdier than I thought. I lay one hand on her back and the other on her head, gently patting her, calming her down.

"There, there. I'm right here." 'Does that make me kitty?'

"Don't think!"

Someone shouts behind me, and I crane my neck and twist my torso slightly to look behind at the other people... Patients I suppose.

"Whatever you do, don't think! And that goes for all of us. I'd rather not get into another screaming match." It was another girl that spoke out. She has long black hair and had a heart shaped face with bright hazel eyes. She was sitting up in the bed next to the one that had her arms wrapped around my back, meaning heart-girl is right behind me, facing my back.

I see the others nodding their heads and voicing their agreements. Somehow, we all keep our thoughts silent.

"Mu?" 'Kitty?'

Well, except for her. At least this time, she wasn't screaming in our heads.

I stopped patting her head when I looked at the others and I guess that caused her to wonder what happened as she looks upwards to me. I resume patting her head and she smiles smugly. If not for the whole kitty thing, I would call her beautiful. Her eyes were round and had a beautiful shade of blue. Her slim nose tilted cowards to her rosy pink lips. Her upwards glance is also quite a formidable look. I'm not sure if I could say 'No.' to it.

"So... Where the hell are we?" One of the others asks behind me. I glanc at the window to try and get an answer. What answered me was green garden, and blue skies. It looks very calming and reassuring. I would have thought we were all dead and in heaven, if not for the fact that I see tall buildings a little ways away. Unless heaven had architectural marvels.

"Actually, the more important question is, "WHO the hell are we?" I don't know about you guys, but I have no idea who I am." Another voice asks. At this I turn back to them, seeing them all shake their heads at each other, they turn towards me and the girl in my arms.

"What about you 'kitty'?" The girl next to us asks. "You two seem to know each other."

I shake my head in reply. "I just... Said that to calm her down... And so far, she's only said kitty and nothing else..." I turn towards to hug-girl. "Hey you, do you know who are?"

"Don't just call her 'you'!" Someone behind me yelled but I ignore them.

Hug-girl merely tilts her head at my question. 

"Kitty?" 'Kitty?'.

I close my eyes a little irritated. She knows nothing but saying "kitty".

"Great... Were all amnesiacs!" The girl behind claps her hands together. "So let's assign names! I'm Mary!" She then points towards me. "You're John, she's Grace, and you're..." She turns around and starts naming everyone randomly. A bit too happily at that. Before she could finish naming us all, we hear a set of footsteps outside of our room.

"They should all be awake by now." I hear one of the voices say outside. My hearing must be damn good if I hear that from outside the room while being at the other end from the door.

The door was made of metal and next to it was a keypad that glowed red. As the footsteps stopped at the door, the keypad turned green and the metal door slides open to reveal the 5 pairs of legs we've been hearing.

"Ah, good, you're all sitting up already." One of the doctors said. I say doctor, only because they all wore white lab gowns. That's about as far as their similarities go as they all looked different from one another. They form a line at the end of our row of beds.

"Now, I now you are all confused but first, let me reassure you that you are all in perfectly good hands. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Giller Solis. I'm one of the head doctors here in our hospital." The doctor introduces himself. He was an old man around his early fifties with a full set of hair cut short, more black than grey. He wore round spectacles on the bridge of his nose that only made him look older. Under his white lab coat, he wore a simple white shirt and black pants with a red tie on his neck. He wasn't fit. He sported a small belly but didn't seem to be bothered by it.

The other doctors introduced themselves too. So far, we had a Doctor Arthur, Doctor Owen, Doctor Ross, and Doctor Reginald.

"Kitty?" 'Kitty?'

Somewhere in the middle of their intro I stopped patting her head again and she calls me to resume. I sigh. What a spoiled girl I have in my hands...

"Oh my, it seems you two have gotten very close to each other already." Dr. Giller said.

"Hey Doc, something's wrong with her. Well, I mean all of us, sure, but she sounds like she has a few screws loose." One of the men said out loud, clearly not pleased with us hearing each others thoughts but more so hug-girls'.

"Don't call her like that!" One of the girls complained. I hear a soft POMFF sound and I guess she threw a pillow at him.

"Now, now, no need for you to quarrel. Doctor Owen? If we may." Dr. Giller and Dr. Owen make their way towards us. As they near, Dr. Owen brought out a clear see through device from his pocket and stretches it out. The device activates and words and numbers pops out in reverse from my view. It was a tablet device and from what I could see, it's reading hug-girls brain, at least I think it did since the screen was showing a rotating brain, next to hug-girls picture.

"Now Dante, if you'd please release Beatrice that I may examine her." Dr. Giller says.

'Dante? Is that my name?' 

"Hey! No mind juju!"

GRUMBLE "I like John better."

"Doctors, this might sound crazy but we happen to be hearing each others thoughts and... Well, having ten other people in our heads isn't funny." 

To this, Doctor Owen laughs. "Hahaha, that's your Android Network boys and girls! An amazing device if I do say so myself!"

"Wait.. Androids..?" I ask out loud, struggling to get out of Beatrice's grasp. The more I struggle though, the more she clung. 

"Kitttttyyyyy!" 'Kitttttyyyyy!'

One way or another, I mostly manage to get out, but she grabs on to my arm and holds on for dear life. I can only scratch the back of my head at her persistence.

"Oh yes, you... All of you, are androids." Dr. Giller said matter of factly, as he stretchs out an open palm at Beatrice. She tilts0 her head, and with one hand still vice gripping my arm, she reachs for Dr. Giller. Dr. Giller in turn brings out a small, circular, white device, sticks it on her wrist and releases her hand. He then pulles out his own tablet from his pocket and starts clicking away. It seems that with the device on her wrist, it read her vitals and other things such as blood pressure and heart rate from what I could see.

"So... We're not... Human?" One of the others asks. Curiously, there wasn't worry in the question. Nor did I myself feel any panic though I feel that I SHOULD.

"Oh no, you're all human. At least, you were born human." Dr. Arthur answers, still at the front end of the room. He brings out his own tablet. "All of you, please bring up your status screen and tell me your psychological health."

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" " " "Status screen?" " " "

Dr. Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look at tip of your noses. That should bring it up."

Everyone starts looking at their noses and then jolts immediately their beds. I did the same and a transparent screen filled my vision, surprising me as well.

"Kitty?" 'Kitty?'

"I'm okay. Just a bit surprised." I reassure Beatrice. She just tilts her head again. It doesn't look like she understands me.

"Someone please tell us how to stop the mind talking thing!" The others voice their agreement.

"Bah. You kids don't know how to appreciate it." Dr. Owen complained. "Fine, fine, just say 'Mind Chan' out loud and then 'All chans: Disconnect.'" He waved his hand and continue working on his tablet on Beatrice's mind.

At this, everyone says "Mind Chan."

Another window pops into my view. It seems like it only displayed in my eye. I move my hand to poke my eye and see if my eye was even an actual eye and not something robotic. Immediately, Dr. Giller slaps my hand away. 

"Don't poke your eye out." He says rather robotically and resumes clicking away on his tablet. Apparently, I can still injure my eye so that means its real.

Everyone else didn't do my bright idea, and starts leaving the chat already as the list in my chat started shrinking. I was about to as well, until there was only two of us left.

MIND CHAN Current Members:

DANTE

BEATRICE

BEATRICE: Kitty?

BEATRICE: Kitty?

DANTE: Dante? Is that my name?

BEATRICE: Kitttttyyyyyy!

BEATRICE: Kitty?

GEMMA has left the chan...

MARIA has left the chan...

LUDOVICO has left the chan...

IPPOLITA has left the chan...

LEONARDO has left the chan...

JULIUS has left the chan...

VICTORIA has left the chan...

DIGGORY has left the chan...

I could see Beatrice still looking up at me behind the window screens. I sigh.

'Fine... I'll stay with you.'

'???'

I closed my eyes and tilt my own head with a grimace. Somehow I just want this day to end already. With my eyes closed, the status screen still persisted and I look it over...

[tr]

STATUS SCREEN NAMEDANTE SOLIS CLASSBLADE ASSASSIN ANDROID MENTAL HEALTHOPTIMALEMOTIONAL STATECALM NANITE LEVELSMAXNANITE REPRODUCTIONSTABLE PHYSICAL CONDITIONIDEALRADIATION LEVEL0

Everyone tells Dr. Arthur their psychological status. We are all pretty much sane and alright.

"What about her?" One of the others ask, directing the query very likely at Beatrice.

"I think we should worry more about us." The girl behind me said. "Like, why are we androids? Why are we here? And WHY don't we know who we are?"

GRRRRR

The room stopped still, and we all turn our eyes to one girl in bed, trying to make herself as small as possible while her face is beat red with embarrassment.

"... Sorry... I guess I'm hungry."

And like an animal call, each one of our stomachs starts sounding off. Dr. Giller laughs, followed by the other doctors.

"I suppose the top priority right now is to get some food in your stomachs." Dr. Giller then places his tablet away. Dr. Owen did the same.

"Wait" I called out. "What's wrong her?" I point to Beatrice, her eyes big and innocent.

"Muu?" 'Muu?'

Dr. Owen sighs. "Unfortunately, the same thing wrong with all of you."

"You see, since your androids," Dr. Giller started. "In all your bodies are nanomachines. Nanites for short. And all your nanites are controlled by tiny chips in your brain. Now, about a week ago, when you all were out on your final field test, you found an... Unexpected surprise at the end. Now, because of your curiosity, you approached the unknown element in your mission. However, none of us knew that it had... Er... Let's call it a computer virus to simplify. The computer virus affected your chips, causing your nanites run a mock, damaging your muscles and knocking out your consciousness in the process."

"And the virus was digital in nature, and that spread through the android network." Dr. Owen resumes.

"Sounds like the android network is more of a pain..." One of the guys said.

"Bah." Dr. Owen scoffs and waves his hand. "It was something out of our expectations. And if you had your memories, you would know how much you relied on the network! In any case, when you all dropped like a sack of potatoes, your chips forcefully enter " recovery mode" and your nanites start recharging and fixing the body. Unfortunately, when you wake up, the virus starts anew and the whole thing repeats itself. We had to sedate you all while we tried to get the virus."

"That means... You weren't able to get the virus..." I said in conclusion.

It was Dr. Giller that answers with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately. And how do you fix a broken computer? You reformat it. And that's what happened to all of you. Why none of you have your memories."

"As for how that relates to her," Dr. Owen points at Beatrice. "She was affected most of all. It was as if her chip couldn't enter "recovery mode" and her nanites damaged both her long term and short term memory."

"Meaning right now," Dr. Giller resumes. He searches for something in his pocket and brings out two pieces of wrapped candy. He offers one to Beatrice. Tilting her head, she takes it cautiously. Dr. Giller then unwraps the one he has and tosses it in into his mouth, causing Beatrice to do the same. As soon as she did, she smiles from ear to ear and starts jumping up and down while she sat.

"H-hey! Calm down!" She's still clinging to me and so drags my arm along.

"She has nothing more than her basic instincts. Although.. It seems she managed to remember one word... And her closeness with you Dante." Dr. Giller finished.

I manage to stop Beatrice frantic jumping and raise an eye brow at Dr. Giller. "Close? We were close?"

Dr. Giller shrugges. "Close enough that you've shared a kiss. Aren't you lucky she at least remembers the bond you shared."

"Aww..." "How romantic~" "I want to be like that..." I hear the girls moan.

'I don't!' I scream in the mind chat. Since its just me and Beatrice and she can't understand, its fine. 'She's pretty, and has nice rack, and her lips seem really kissable but I don't want someone that's mentally a baby!'

"Muu?" '???'

"I wouldn't worry too much about her though. She's an android too. Once she has some grasp of self awareness, she'll be consuming knowledge like water in the desert." Dr. Giller said as if reading my thoughts.

"What's more," Dr. Owen again. Did these two always continue off after one another? "With the android network-" okay, so he always answers when its the android network. So I guessing he made it? "You can all share knowledge and experience with one another. She'll be able to see, feel, experience, and think what a mentally mature person does. That's why its important for her to have some awareness of her own self."

"AHEM" Dr. Arthur coughed. "Gill, Owen. You two have prattled on long enough. Its high time we get them to eat."

"Haha, I apologize. I always get carried away when it comes to nanites." Dr. Giller said, "now then boys and girls, we'll have your food delivered via driods so please stay in the room, though please do try and walk around. And one last thing, we leave Beatrice in your care. Please take care of her. You especially, Dante."

And with responsibility of teaching pushed towards us bunch of amnesiacs, we are left to ourselves once again.