Chapter Text
If it wasn’t the alarm blaring in from the outside, it was the light spilling into the window that woke Noah up. From complete silence to chaos in a matter of seconds. He blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes to get the sand out. He threw off the covers, excited to learn more.
No, not excited. He thought
Anxious to learn more.
He went to the dresser to find some clothes to change into. He opened the top drawer and was met with three shirts, all carbon copies of the shirt he was wearing yesterday. A thin blue T-shirt. In the second drawer were three pairs of pants, also replicas. He grabbed one of each and made his way into the bathroom to change. Right as the door was about to click shut, he heard the monotone female voice awaken once more, preceded by the ding.
Good morning, patients. Happy Monday the 20th of February 1989. Today’s announcements are as follows.
Noah walked out of the bathroom, finding the source of the voice. A speaker above the door.
The Head Doctor would like to ask the following patients to meet at the Exit Door at 10:00.
89, Ambrose.
67, Michael.
101, Jennifer.
98, April.
Noah began to tune out as the lady droned on with numbers and names. Nothing exciting.
Group A, please make your way to the classroom at 8:00 for your lessons.
Group B, please make your way to the Exit Door at 9:00 for your Icarus Park visit.
Icarus Park? Neither Violet nor Amara had mentioned such a thing.
Finally, would patient 124, Noah, please make his way to the Exit Door immediately.
That is all. Have a safe day, patients.
He walked back into the bathroom, making sure to get dressed quickly. He hoped someone he knew would be waiting for him downstairs. Not like he knew many people, only two faces were preserved in his memory.
He walked out of the bathroom, slipped on his shoes, and walked out the door, knowing it was quite a long walk to the door he first entered. He carefully shut the door behind him and began. The lights had returned to full brightness, and the other patients had started to also exit their dorms. He walked next to a couple of people, too sheepish to look at them or say hi. He just kept his eyes on the floor, walking along the balcony to the stairs.
Once he passed everyone, he returned his gaze in front of him. He looked at the Exit Door. He could see Violet standing there, looking at her watch. He hurried a bit quicker, not wanting to keep her waiting. He took one last glimpse of the floor below, patients scurrying out of their rooms and gathering towards the big doors labeled “SHOWERS” on either side of the hall. He began down the stairs.
“Violet!” he called out.
She looked up at him, her warm smile returning to her face. She looked entirely the same as yesterday, except for her hair now being in a high ponytail. She waved back at him.
“How did your night go, Noah?”
“It was good. I slept through the whole night.”
“Good to hear. I know it can be a bit abrupt in the mornings here, I hope you weren’t too frightened.”
He took a big breath, now stopped in front of her.
“Sorry about my departure last night. After you passed out, I had an urgent case to attend to.” Noah noticed her lip twitch. “I take it Amara treated you well, however?”
He nodded.
“Alright, come with me. I’m going to show you around a little bit before everyone else in here gets on with their days” She motioned towards the crowd.
“Let’s go”
He stepped over the dashed line.
•••
After a quick trip back through the eerie hallway and up the elevator, they arrived back in the grand hall, the one where he got his medical exam just yesterday. It was much livelier now, many people flooding in through the doorway opposite the Helena Memorial Hospital. Above it was a balcony with another door, this one less used than the one below it. Between the entry archway and the hospital were six corridors, three on each side. Above each one was a large sign.
Across from the hall they just walked out of, the sign read “Sector A Research” in a strong black font, contrasting the light brown walls. Next to it were the signs for “Sector B Research”, and “Hestia Building”
Noah’s brain went off, an electric shock flowing through his body. He had learned about Hestia.
“Hestia.” He said slowly. “Greek Goddess of the Hearth?”
“Correct” she sounded surprised. “How did you know that?”
“I- I don’t know, it just kinda flashed into my head.”
“Hmm.”
After a brief pause, Violet spoke up.
“Hestia Building. That’s where I live. All the staff here live there.”
“You live here? I thought this was a hospital!”
Violet glanced over at someone, nodding hello, seemingly ignoring Noah.
“It’s complicated.”
Along the wall opposite the sign for the Hestia Building were 3 more halls. The “Patient Dorms” one, followed by “Security Sector” and finally, “Neptune Building”. Without a word, Noah followed the speechless doctor into the Neptune Building. To their immediate left were three metal doors, reflecting Noah to himself like a mirror. He instinctively tried fixing his messy brown hair, to no avail. Violet swiped her keycard to the scanner and like magic, the elevator door opened, allowing passage to the doctor and patient duo, as well as a man and a woman in lab coats behind them. Violet issued a “Hi.” before pushing “5” on the button panel. The man in the lab coat pressed “3”. They all sat quietly in the elevator, not bothering with small talk. The elevator dinged at floor 3, opening the doors and allowing the two out. With just Violet and Noah left, it closed the door and resumed progress to floor 5.
“Where are we even going?”
“Outside.”
Outside. It was almost a foreign concept to Noah. Since he woke up in the mysterious room yesterday morning, he hadn’t seen a sliver of sunshine. He knew what the sun was, what it looked like, and yet couldn’t recall the feeling of sun on his skin. The knowledge was all there, untouched. But all memories, all experiences were gone. He could calculate twelve times eight in his head but had no clue where he learned his times tables.
Caught up in his thoughts, Noah barely noticed when the elevator came to a screeching halt and lazily rolled open the door. It took Violet’s “C’mon!” to bring him back to the real world. They stepped out of the elevator into a narrow hallway. The sign across the elevator read “Icarus Park” with an arrow pointing to the right. They walked out and spun to the right, gazing upon a beautiful emerald just outside an archway. They followed the path out to this green. It was much more raw and natural than the dark green tiles down below. The walls and roof around them stopped, leaving only a path.
Then the cold hit him.
A frigid breeze ran through his hair, ruining the adjustments Noah had made just prior. His skin immediately went on defense, goose bumps crawled up his neck.
“Oh my gosh! I forgot to get you a sweater” Violet exclaimed, seeing Noah begin to shiver.
“I-I’m okay” he replied shakily.
“Don’t be silly Noah. I can see the goosebumps.” She said in an authoritative tone. “Let’s go back inside, I’ll get you something.”
Just like that, the lush green disappeared. They walked through the hall, past the elevators, coming to a small metal door. This one had no keycard lock, just a knob Violet twisted to give herself and her patient entry. The tiny room was filled to the top with gardening equipment. Shovels, rakes, and a watering can. On the left wall were a couple puffy coats, each one bigger than the next. Violet settled on the second largest, pulling it down for Noah. It was a dull faded red, quite ugly.
“Put this on.”
He did as he was told, donning the ugly red coat. Surprisingly, it wasn’t half as uncomfortable as it looked. He pulled the zipper up two-thirds of the way.
“Ready.”
They left the tiny room, walking across the hall back outside. The bitter air still ate away at his skin, but not as intensely. He was able to get by without shivering this time.
The field was surrounded by a tall grey brick wall, built like it was for a castle. It had to have been at least 10 feet, if not more. Tall enough to limit how much you could see over it. The wall surrounded the lush grassy field. Small trees dotted the landscape, each one having a picnic bench or two next to it. On the left side of the field were two goalposts, presumably for soccer. The back corners of the field were filled with two larger trees, a string of fairy lights hung between them.
Noah turned to face the sun. The rays fell upon his face, battling the icy wind. It felt like his skin was regaining more colour, his soul being charged like a battery.
“Welcome-” Dr. Violet said in an upbeat tone. “-to Icarus Park!”
She lowered her tone slightly. “What a beautiful day for the middle of February.”
Noah looked past the two menacing trees on either side of the field. Beyond them and the wall were huge spikes of rocks, miles high, covered on every square inch by a dazzling blanket of white. He turned around towards where he came, looking behind the little building with the elevators. The wall had a small nook in it, covered in glass. It was a window to the outside.
He ran over, leaving Violet behind him. He reached the window, looking down. His voice disappeared immediately; he had no words for what he saw.
They were in a gargantuan valley, flanked by two massive mountains. Below Noah, multiple buildings surrounded a central courtyard, split in half by a tiny building running between the building they were on and the one opposite them.
“That’s it there. Hestia Building.” Violet pointed to the left, scaring the shit out of Noah. He hadn’t heard her coming.
It was a large brick, similar to a hotel building. Windows filled the wall facing the courtyard. It was built into the peak, half its flat roof consumed by rock.
“That,” she pointed straight ahead. “That is the Saturn Building. I don’t go there often, too much science for me”
The Saturn Building was much more underwhelming. Only a story or so tall, it ran across between the two sides of the courtyard.
“I know it doesn’t look like much, but it is actually the building that courtyard down there sits on.”
Noah spotted multiple people walking around on top of the Saturn Building, it was more a walkway than a roof.
“Finally,” Violet pointed to the right. “The Neptune Building. That’s where all the fancy-pants offices are.”
It was like an extension of the Saturn Building, only an extra floor high. On the corner where it connected with the Saturn Building was a large “H”, presumably for helicopters. It was even less exciting than the other buildings, deciding on a plain grey brick for the walls. At least the other buildings had accents of black and green.
“Where are we right now?” Noah asked
“The Jupiter Building. The largest of all the buildings in the Aurora Complex.”
“Aurora Complex?”
“That’s what this is called. All of it.”
Noah could make out a very faint blue past The Saturn Building, poking out past the fog. Other than the faint blue, only a couple of trees stood out past the mist. The rest was white.
Like his mind, an empty expanse. A serene void.
But in front of the expanse, a facility.
An institution.
A complex.
“I’m not leaving this place, am I?” Noah asked, not expecting a response.
A prison.
“Maybe one day.” She replied. She turned to Noah, hands behind her back. “Y’know, I’m glad I got assigned to you.”
She turned back to face the window.
“We better return to patient dorms. I’ll show you around the cafeteria.”
A dove flew across the sky, darting in and out of endless mist. It set its eyes on the rooftop of the Hestia Building, battling the wind to lower itself down to the eave. It stayed put for a few moments before continuing into the fog.
Just like Noah, the dove was lost to a vast expanse of the unknown.
•••
CHRONOS INDUSTRIES ELECTRONIC MAILING SYSTEM
February 20th, 1989 2:13 PM
FROM <[email protected]>
TO <[email protected]>
SUBJECT: Meeting
Dear employee Amara Scott,
We would like to welcome you to visit us on
February 23rd, 1989. Attendance is mandatory. Please
arrive at the Neptune Building Reception Desk by 2 pm
on the aforementioned date. Ensure you come alone.
Thank you in advance for attending.
- Board of Directors