Chapter Text
Even the faintest click can sound deafeningly loud in silence. And it was a faint click, seemingly from the light switch, that awoke Noah with a jolt. His eyelids struggled to open, lagging behind the rest of his muscles.
He had almost fallen out of bed from his flailing by the time the aggressive fluorescent glow had registered, forcing his eyes to close once more.
He managed to spin his head to the side, allowing his eyes to open slightly. His whole body was extremely sore, as if he had finished a marathon.
He scanned what he could from his position. A sterile white nightstand. Was he in a hospital? But there was no IV drip, no screens, just a sterile white nightstand against the eggshell white wall.
Jail? He’d never seen an all-white jail cell with a comfy mattress before. Truth be told, “comfy” was a stretch, he could feel the springs in the bed.
A second click, much louder than the first, startled him again. He jumped up in bed, turning to face the door. It swung open, revealing a tall silhouette.
As his eyes adjusted once more from the sudden change in light, more and more was revealed. He noticed a small green plastic plant on a shelf, the only splash of colour in the room.
To his left was a wardrobe, in white of course.
The silhouette became clear, it was an eccentric-looking woman with short, wavy, electric purple hair, donning a lab coat and a clipboard.
“Hi there! I take it you just woke up?” her voice flowed like honey.
Noah didn’t respond.
“I’m going to ask you a couple of questions, alright? My name is Dr. Violet, just like my hair!”
Still no response. Dr. Violet sat at the foot of the bed and focused on the clipboard.
“What’s your name?”
After a brief eye-rubbing, Noah decided to respond.
“Noah. Noah… I can’t remember my last name.” He began to panic.
“Don’t worry Noah, that’s perfectly normal. Do you know how old you are?”
“My last name! Why can’t I remember it? Why can’t I remember anything? Where am I?” He flooded Dr. Violet with questions.
“Just answer these questions and I’ll explain to you what happened.” She replied.
“I- I think I’m 15? Yeah, 15.”
“How about your birthday? Can you remember that?”
“June 19th. Now tell me where I am, please.”
“Final question, do you remember anything from before?”
Noah scanned his brain, but he couldn’t remember them. It was as if there was a dam in his brain. He knew the memories were there but they were blocked by the dam. Only a small trickle got through. He recalled a faint image of a diner. An old turquoise car sat in front of the door. The memory soon faded to mist, only to be replaced by a hiking trail, deep in the woods. This time there was sound, a waterfall could be heard nearby. He began to relay both pictures to Dr. Violet.
A final image of a face appeared briefly. It disappeared too quickly for Noah to remark any details, nor could he recall whose face it was, but it sent shivers down his spine. An overwhelming sense of dread spilled over his shoulders, like a tsunami of shock. He couldn’t move.
His breath picked up, getting more and more raggedy, before the world went black.
•
Noah awoke much gentler this time, to the slow hum of a ceiling fan. He was in a different room, this one much more alike to a jail cell. The wall was made out of bricks, painted a dull grey.
The fan steadily blew brittle air down at his face. He could feel every air molecule invade his cracked skin. The air in this new room was much drier than before. He thought back to what happened. He remembered the doctor coming in and asking him questions. Anything before that was drawing a blank.
He slowly sat up, inspecting the gloomy room. Instead of being in the centre, his bed was pushed against the wall. This time it was a prison cell; the door was thick with bars in the window.
Noah decided to get up to investigate the door. He slowly maneuvered himself to the edge of the bed, his legs going tingly. He had no clue how long he had been asleep since the doctor had come in. He began the effort to stand, despite his legs’ protest. He stumbled off the bed, trying to make sense of something, anything. He walked two paces to the door with the bars. He tried the knob, but it was locked from the outside.
He banged at the door a couple of times but to no avail. It remained locked. He decided to sit on the bed. As he sat, it creaked, the weak metal frame barely able to support its own weight.
“Where the fuck am I?” Noah whispered aloud.
•
Seconds, minutes, hours.
The lack of stimulus was driving Noah insane. Apart from the doctor earlier, he hadn’t heard another human voice, or any sound at all. It was dead silent other than the bed creaking. He had drifted in and out of sleep, it could have been 2 pm on a Tuesday or 6 am on a Saturday.
Finally, after eons of waiting, Noah heard the door lock click open. He had just woken up from another nap; he was still groggy. His eyes snapped to the door, hoping a person was behind it this time. The door creaked open, the hinges begging to be oiled. After his eyes adjusted to the yellow light, Noah could see a familiar face. Dr. Violet had returned.
She waltzed into the room, clipboard in her hand.
“What happened to your eye?” Noah said, his voice barely a croak.
“Seriously? You of all people should know.”
Noah noticed a man follow Violet into the room. It was some weird security guard, wearing a red jumpsuit.
“I have no idea what you mean. I- I’ve been stuck down here for hours” Noah replied rather hurriedly.
Dr. Violet’s eyes widened. “So, you were unconscious?” She quickly jotted a note down onto her board.
“I asked you a question, Noah, and you attacked me. You punched me across the face twice.”
Noah could feel his stomach drop. His eyes started filling with tears.
“I- I’m so sorry Miss. I d- didn’t mean to, I swear.”
“Oh, you poor child.” Dr. Violet patted Noah’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Come with me.”
Without delay, the three began out of the miniature jail cell. Fortunately, the alarm didn’t go off this time. Noah took one last look to his right, the mysterious door labeled “BOX.” He followed behind Dr. Violet, the crimson security officer trailing them both.
After 3 left turns, they reached the landing of the stairs. It was another hallway, slightly wider than the one at the bottom of the stairs. The walls were painted an ugly grey, alike the cell, but with a slim red line going across at waist height.
Opposite the trio was a rather large sign announcing “Surface” with a big arrow to the right. They followed the sign and spun to the right to begin their journey down the long hallway. Noah kept his head straight ahead, not bothering to look at the doors they passed. He only looked up briefly to see another maroon guard pass them and give a quick nod to the man following Noah and Violet.
After miles of walking, they made it to the end of the corridor. An elevator. The Doctor clicked the up arrow, and a faint buzz filled the air. It gradually increased until a large “thump”, followed by the doors squealing open.
“Almost there.” Violet muttered. She pressed a button allowing the doors to screech shut and the whirring began once more.
•
“Ding!”
The doors screeched open, revealing the most radiant light Noah had yet seen. Sunlight. His eyes snapped shut so fast you could almost hear it. His hand flew in front of his eyes, a secondary precaution against the glow. He slowly lifted his eyelids, careful not to let too much light in.
“Noah? Is everything okay?”
“T-the light. It hurts.”
His eyes eventually adjusted enough for him to see without squinting. He glanced at his surroundings. They were in a majestic structure resembling an old cathedral. Colossal windows towered over them; the ceiling curved in at the middle. Turning behind himself, Noah remarked a large “Security Sector” sign over the elevator they had originated from.
“Keep up!” the red man said in a gruff voice.
They continued into the end of the cathedral, finding themselves in an even grander hall.
Noah was appalled. “It looks like King’s Cross!” he exclaimed.
Dr. Violet made a 180.
“King’s Cross? What’s that?” she looked at Noah, puzzled.
“It’s a…” he trailed off. “I have no clue.”
“It’s a train station, Noah. In London.” She looked at her clipboard.
“How would you even know that as a Class Three?” she brought her hand to her forehead.
“I’m a what now?”
“My apologies but I’ll have to explain later.”
They continued into the imposing building. People swarmed the hall, creating a low buzz. They continued straight across the building, into the “Dr. Helena Memorial Hospital”. They crossed under a glistening marble arch. In front of them was a simple reception desk with a female receptionist clicking away at her computer. They were in a tiny waiting room, walls a sterile white and chairs an uncomfortable black. On either side of the receptionist’s desk were a pair of white swinging doors. Against the left wall was a brilliant blue drink vending machine opposite a fish tank with a couple of goldfish The whole ensemble looked less like a hospital and more like a local clinic.
“Hey Georgia, I’m admitting Patient 77, Exam 6.”
The receptionist replied. “Heard.”
They continued past the desk and opted to enter the swinging doors on the right. Inside looked identical to the waiting room, desolate white tile walls. They passed multiple doors, all labeled “EXAM”. Each one had a chair outside next to an artificial plant. Each room was a copy and paste of the others. The sole difference between each room was a small number next to each door. They arrived at “Exam 6” just as Violet had told the receptionist.
“After you.” The doctor said, opening the door for Noah.
Inside the room was a bed layered with blue tissue paper, a counter with a metallic sink and cupboard, and a computer. It was very bare inside for an exam room.
“Please go ahead and take a seat on the bed for me.” Dr. Violet asked, shutting the door behind them.
Noah noticed the ruby-colored man hadn’t joined them, presumably taking a seat outside. He did as he was told and sat on the bed, creating the most horrendous crinkle noise every time he took a breath. Dr. Violet grabbed her stethoscope from around her neck and began to take Noah’s heartrate.
“Just doing some routine vitals, making sure you’re not experiencing any side effects.”
“Side effects of what?” Noah became alert.
“I’ll tell you soon enough, I promise it’ll all make sense soon.”
He rolled his eyes. When was someone going to actually tell him what was going on without the bullshit excuse of “Later.”
“Next I’m going to take your bl-” the doctor was interrupted by a loud “ding” noise.
“Good afternoon, employees of Chronos Industries!” an overly enthusiastic voice said over a loudspeaker.
“This is a reminder that curfew begins in 2 hours. Please begin returning patients to The Commons in preparation for curfew. That is all.”
Without skipping a beat, Dr. Violet continued. “Blood pressure. I’m going to be taking your blood pressure.”
“Nothing too major I’m seeing here.” The Doctor scanned her computer screen. “A slight bit of Memory-Loss Confusion, but that’s fairly normal in patients here.”
She tapped at her keyboard, muttering the words as she typed them. After at least an hour of exams, Noah felt like passing out. His throat burned, drier than a desert. His stomach growled and his neck was ready to snap. Dr. Violet got up suddenly, startling Noah. She began towards the door.
“We better get to Sector C before curfew! Follow me.”
Violet held the door open for Noah as they exited the boring room. The red man was nowhere to be found.
They passed each exam room in descending order, all the way to “EXAM 1” and then “EXIT”. They passed the secretary, Georgia, who barely looked over. They returned to the grand hall passing through the tiny waiting room and the massive arch. Noah looked up at the skylights. They were curved inwards, like an inverse boat hull. From the keel hung massive golden chandeliers, illuminating the space.
“Impressive, huh?” Dr. Violet asked, catching Noah’s gaze at the ceiling. “Millions of dollars into this hallway and they can’t afford to pay a fucking liveable wage.” Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” She looked to the floor. “Thank god the CSF officer isn’t with us anymore.”
Noah looked puzzled. “CSF?”
“Chronos Security Forces. The Director decided to put a whole damn lot of resources into the security of this place.” Dr. Violet replied.
“The Director? Who’s that?”
“She owns this place. For some reason, she keeps her identity hidden. Only the highest-up managers have even learned her name, let alone see her face. Why? No idea.”
Noah decided to curb the questions there. It seemed Dr. Violet didn’t know much more than him.
They continued walking through the corridor, Violet taking Noah’s silence as the end of the conversation. They passed other employees in lab coats, none with a patient. Then came the “beep” noise.
“This is a reminder that curfew begins in 1 hour. Dayshift employees, please prepare for nightshift arrival.”
Noah caught Violet rolling her eyes at the message.
“This way!” she said as she diverted into one of the smaller halls. The letters on the sign above jumped out at Noah.
Sector 8, Patient Affairs.
The hallway wasn’t quite as grand as the ivory arch leading into the clinic, but still impressive. In front of them laid glossy teal markers on the floor, creating a sort of pathway ahead. They culminated at a silver door, another elevator. A small oak bench sat to the side accompanied by a fake bush. Above the double door was a digital clock with stark scarlet numbers.
19-02-1989
Violet reached for the elevator button, extending her rose-painted nail and pressing down. The button acknowledged her action with a gentle “ding” and red flashing light.
“Will you give me an answer yet?” Noah demanded the doctor.
“One question. Shoot.”
Noah pondered for a good second. His mind ran through a field of questions, each one a little ruby flower dotting the earth.
“Why can’t I remember anything? I know there is something there, but I don’t know what.”
The elevator arrived at the end of his sentence, and the pair walked inside. Again, Violet clicked a button, and they began descending. Beginning from 1, the number began to fall. They both stood there in silence, Dr. Violet struggling to form the sentence.
“You have a near deadly virus in your cerebral cortex, part of your brain. It’s removed all but a few of your memories.”
They continued descending, the elevator number further declining until it reached -3.
“You were brought here just in time; we were able to stop the progression of the virus and allow you to make memories again.”
The doors opened into a narrow corridor, flooding an artificial light into the elevator. The walls here were unlike anything Noah had seen yet, a dark forest green tile along the bottom half of the wall followed by bright hospital white across the top. Noah hunted for the source of the cold hue of light, realizing the entire ceiling was light panels. Fortunately, Noah was finally used to bright light and didn’t have to cover his eyes for more than a moment.
“Welcome to Sublevel 3, home of the Patient Dorms.” Violet said in a fake cheerful tone.
The doors began to close again so the pair swiftly exited. Other than an iron door to the left titled “EMERGENCY STAIRS” and a couple of concrete parking lot barriers, the corridor was empty. It was eerie. They walked around the barriers and made their way about 100 feet before they were faced with two swinging doors, the kind with the little windows in the middle. Above the doors read “Patient Dorms” as Violet had mentioned. She scanned her keycard on a small black box, unlocking the doors with a firm click. They pushed through the doors into a lobby. Left, an unmarked door. To the right, a ramp led to another door, marked “VA”. And ahead of the two was a large staircase, broken halfway through by a large pillar.
“Hey, Violet! You have a new patient?” A woman in a grey suit appeared from the VA door and walked down the ramp towards them.
“Indeed, his name is Noah, Noah Beauchamp.” Dr. Violet replied.
The grey woman’s eyes grew twice as large.
“B-Beauchamp? As in Jean Beauchamp?”
Violet nodded
“Oh my goodness!” the lady diverted her gaze to Noah, reaching out her hand. “My name is Crystal, I work on the ethics committee here, if you need anything, just ask!” They shook hands and she hurried off the way Noah and Violet had come.
“I’ve got to get going, I’ll text you later Violet! Keep me posted!” the last word cut off as she disappeared behind the swinging doors.
Noah turned to Violet. “Why was that lady so crazy? And you said my last name is Beauchamp? And who’s Jean Beauchamp?”
Violet met his glare. “She’s… a bit eccentric. Lovely friend though. Yes, your surname is Beauchamp. Jean Beauchamp is your father. Anything else?”
“No ma’am.”
They continued forward, down the stairs with the pillar. The bottom was another set of swinging doors with windows, both locked. Violet pressed her keycard to the reader once more, allowing them passage. They entered a vestibule. Another set of doors, these windowless. Rinse and repeat, and they were through the doors.
They stepped into a rather large hall. Doors flanked the sides in three stories and looked like a cafeteria stood at the back. The ceiling curved up and around, another church-like structure. The walls continued the same pattern as before, dark green tile followed by bright white all the way up. Most importantly, tens if not a hundred people roamed the hall. All of them looked around Noah’s age, other than a few adults in teal.
On either side of the doors stood two of the men in red, just like the man who had followed the Doctor and Noah for the first half of their journey. They stood, emotionless, staring ahead as if made of stone. On the floor ahead lay a yellow and black dashed line, a warning symbol of sorts. It formed a square around them and the two men.
“Excuse me!” came a shrill voice from ahead.
Noah looked up to an older lady approaching, pushing a cart. The cart carried two laundry hampers, one full of dirty hospital scrubs and the other full of normal clothing. Violet tapped her keycard for the door as the lady walked through. She threw a little “Thank you!” at Violet before disappearing into the tiny room. Violet nodded to the lady before turning to Noah.
“Here’s your new home. Shall I show you to your new room?”
“O- Okay.” Noah said, evidently overwhelmed.
They began across the dashed line, Dr. Violet leading the way toward the staircase on their left.
“First rule.” She began. “Do not cross the line without someone like me, or another doctor.”
Noah nodded to her in response. He watched everyone else in this hall. Some sat on the couches, chatting with friends. Others worked out in the gym in the corner. A couple of them were mopping the floors or cleaning the tables in the cafeteria. Opposite the gym were a few kids playing cards. Looking towards the kitchen, a couple of adults were hauling around big pots, bringing food out to the counter just outside.
“Must be almost dinner time.” Violet noticed, checking her watch. “6:49.”
“That leads me to the second rule. Curfew is 9 pm to 6 am, don’t be caught out past nine.” They approached the staircase.
“Third rule, just be well-behaved. Good behaviour leads to rewards, such as the cards over there” Dr. Violet gestured towards the group opposite the gym. “Bad behaviour leads to consequences, like having to wear a hospital gown instead of nice clothes.” She gestured around to the patients stuck in the ugly teal polka-dot robe.
They began walking up the stairs along the wall. The hall was laid out like two motels facing each other, with balconies lining the wall along the second and third floors, and staircases in each corner. They passed the second floor, continuing to the third. Instead of a railing, a large plexiglass barrier stood 8 feet tall, eliminating any chance of falling. Or jumping.
They marched past every door, reminiscent of the clinic visit earlier. Each door went up a digit. 301, 302, 303, all the way along. Violet now remained silent, only checking her phone for emails as they walked. Noah assumed she ran out of rules to tell. They made it to Room 320 before rounding the corner, now above the cafeteria. 321, 322, 323.
“Here we are!” Violet said abruptly, snapping Noah out of his thoughts.
The door was bright pearly white, just like the walls surrounding it. A small window sat at the top, covered by blinds. On the handle was both a keycard reader and a small finger-shaped hole, with a little light on top. Violet tapped her keycard once again, turning the light green. She pressed a tiny button on the side of the reader, turning the light yellow.
“Can you place your right thumb on that handle for me, please?”
Noah complied, lifting his thumb and fitting it into the little slot. It barely fit. The door made a little beep noise before the light returned to green.
“The door is now set to your thumbprint, that’s how you get in. Shall we?” She motioned to the door. Noah grabbed the handle, turned it 90 degrees, and pushed open the door.
“What the hell?” Violet exclaimed as she peered into the room. “I- I’ve never seen anything like this.”
•••
THIS FILE IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. TO BE VIEWED BY CLASS F CLEARANCE ONLY
19-02-1989 – TELEPHONE TRANSCRIPTS – J. BEAUCHAMP, E. ANDERSON, █ █████████
J - Hello?
E - Hello. This is Elaina, assistant to ██████. You are Jean Beauchamp?
J - Yes.
E - Great. I’m calling on behalf of your son. He has been integrated into our state-of-the-art dorm facility, and we will begin procedures on him as soon as possible.
J - ██████ told me you guys have him in your best room?
E – Sure do. We also have our finest doctors attending to him.
J - And when will I be permitted to visit him?
E – I’ll have to speak to his doctor on that, but I can estimate about a month.
J – Thank you. May I speak to ██████?
E – I’ll transfer you.
*Unintelligible*
█ - Hello Jean.
J - ██████, I was just wondering if you still needed the extra funds for that hospital of yours?
█ - Actually, we should be okay. I spoke to Isaiah earlier; he says the construction should be finished within th-
REST OF TAPE DESTROYED.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^