Chapter Text
The sun felt warm on my face, despite the fact that it was sinking below the horizon and beckoning forth the night sky. I stared with pinched brow as I watched it sink further and further down. Soon the sky would be dark, the stars - what few there were that still dotted the night sky - would come out to twinkle pathetically over us. My hands were shoved in my pockets to keep me from rubbing circles around my cuticles and irritating my skin any further.
"Nice night." The voice behind me was soft, as if they were afraid I would startle at too loud of a noise.
"Mmm," I hummed a sigh of agreement.
They came to stand next to me, but I didn't turn my gaze from the ever-shrinking light of the sun. The wind whipped gently around us as the air began to shift from warm to cool. We stood in silence, mere inches apart, our breaths the only sound.
"Do you think you're ready?" They turned to look at me finally.
"Ready for what?" I tore my gaze away from the now darkened horizon. Before I could lock my eyes on their face, everything flashed bright white, like a flashlight pointed directly in my eyes.
MOVEMENT DETECTED
My eyes flew open to that same blinding white light, my lungs screaming for air as something slid out of my throat. I coughed and spluttered as whatever it was finally pulled out of my mouth.
MOVEMENT DETECTED
Who the hell was speaking so loud? I fanned my fingers out in front of my eyes to block out the light. Well, that's what I was attempting to do, at least. Instead, my hand flopped unceremoniously across my face with the dexterity of a half dead fish. Something was moving and whirring over me, the voice continuing to make announcements as consciousness slowly crept back into my foggy mind.
WHAT IS 2+2?
"What the fuck is happening?" My voice was hoarse.
INCORRECT
As feeling slowly returned to my wobbly limbs, I swung out at whatever was hovering over me, connecting with something hard and smooth and sending it swinging away from me. I hauled myself up into a sitting position and squinted around me. The room was white, so fucking white, I would have guessed it was a hospital except for the alarming amount of high tech doohickeys everywhere. Unless this was just some sort of super fancy rich people hospital?
PLEASE REMAIN IN YOUR POD UNTIL ASSESSMENT IS COMPLETE
The thing was back. I could see now that it was some sort of robotic arm, a four-pronged tool attached to the end. If it were a person, I would have likened it to a nurse fussing over their patient. But it wasn't a person. It was a robot. And it was fucking annoying. I pushed it away again and reached down to unzip the rest of my sleep pod bag. While strength was returning to my limbs, it was still slow going, and my fingers felt half-asleep as I gripped the zipper and pushed it down to my ankles.
PLEASE REMAIN IN YOUR POD-
I rolled off the platform and onto the floor with a groan. It was only a few feet to have fallen, but it felt terrible all the same. My muscles were weak, my eyes were aching from the light, my ears were ringing. Everything was too much all at once. I gave myself a few moments to compose myself before struggling onto my hands and knees, then finally into a sitting position. The voice had, thankfully, stopped harassing me about staying in my pod, and the arm was hovering a few feet away, as if watching me carefully in case I needed assistance.
I looked around at the room once again now that my eyes had adjusted slightly. Nothing was familiar. I didn't recognize a single thing there. Panic started to flow through me as I wracked my brain for how I got here.
Why can't I remember?
My breathing was ragged as my fingers curled against the cold floor. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know why. I didn't even know my own name.
"What the fuck is happening?" I whispered more to myself than to my mechanical babysitter.
I jumped slightly as a sound echoed up the hallway. Heavy thuds grew closer and closer, until a figure rounded the corner into the room and slid to a stop in the doorway. My shocked expression mirrored his own as we stared at each other. It was a man. His hair was a mess, just long enough to stick out in seemingly every direction imaginable. He wore glasses, although they were haphazardly dangling from his face, one end tucked over his ear and the rest hanging under this chin. Who the fuck wore glasses like that? For a long time, neither of us said anything, just stared at each other as if that alone would clear up any and all confusion.
"How are you awake?" He looked between me, still sitting on the floor, and the sleep pod I had just busted out of.
"I don't know." Why would he think I knew what was going on? Like I had a choice on when to wake up.
"Are you ok?" He took a couple steps towards me, and I recoiled instinctively. He grimaced slightly at my reaction, but didn't push it. He held his hands up and took a step back, still closer than when he had first arrived. Another wave of silence fell over us. I didn't necessarily mean to react so negatively, but I had no idea who this person was. All this new information, all the missing information, was a lot to handle.
"Why can't I remember anything?" My voice cracked at the end, and his expression softened.
"I didn't remember anything when I woke up either. It starts to come back after a while. Slowly. Sort of. Can I?" He motioned towards the sleep pods, his hands still up in the air. I nodded gently and he sidestepped towards that side of the room. He started opening up panels and cabinets in the wall and pulled out a large package. It thumped to the floor at his feet and he kicked it closer to me. I reached out slowly and pulled it closer, grimacing at the immense effort it took from my still sleep worn muscles. On the front, tucked neatly in a little plastic sleeve, was a card that read OLIVIA WREN.
"Is that… me?" I looked up at him, my brows pinched together.
"That's you. Take a look through everything, it might help. And when you're ready, Armando will help you get fixed up." He started backing away towards the hallway.
"There's someone else here?" My gaze darted towards the doorway. How many people were there?
He stopped, and pointed at the annoying robot arm that was still hovering in the corner, "Armando." I frowned slightly at it. Great. Now this thing was supposed to help me? I guess it was better than some strange man. He continued to back away until he was standing in the hallway. Finally he lowered his hands, and turned to go back to wherever he had been before.
"Wait!" I called out as he disappeared from view. He poked his head back in, his brows raised high on his forehead, "I don't know who you are."
"Grace. Ryland Grace." He smiled, and disappeared once again.
I turned my attention back to the package in front of me. I ran my fingers across the surface. The canvas felt rough under my fingertips. I trailed them around to the zipper and unzipped the top, tossing back the flap to reveal what was inside. It was packed full to the brim with all sorts of items. Clothes, pictures, letters, other personal items. I took them out carefully, examining each one with a curious gaze, hoping they would spark some sort of memory. None of them did.
I flipped through the stack of pictures of me - wait, was that me? Is that what I looked like? I'd have to remember to find a mirror soon. I didn't recognize anyone. On the back, there were written notes.
Olivia and Dad. Graduation.
Olivia, Ada, Yara. Girl's night out!
Olivia. Paris.
I set the pictures aside and grabbed the letters. Many of them were from the same people in the pictures, but a few were labeled as from myself. I guess past Olivia wanted future Olivia to have some words of wisdom. I'd read them later, though, I wasn't much in the mood for an information dump at the moment.
The last things left in the package, aside from the clothing, were a number of personal items. A well-loved copy of The Hobbit, an MP3 player with headphones, a stuffed animal. I set those aside as well, left finally with only the clothes.
TIME TO GET FIXED UP
Armando, who had been waiting silently in the corner, whirred to life and started swinging back in forth. Was that how it showed it was excited?
I turned skeptically towards it. "Fixed up, how?"
STAND PLEASE
It motioned upwards with its robotic arm. I stood slowly, bracing myself against the wall. It approached with alarming speed, leaving barely enough time for me to react as it grabbed onto the zipper at my chest a pulled down. I cursed under my breath as Armando made quick work of undressing me from the sleep suit I had been wearing. I threw my arms across my body to shield myself from prying eyes, before realizing that Armando probably didn't have eyes, and even if it did it wouldn't particularly care about my nakedness. I stumbled out of the legs of the suit as Armando tossed it aside.
What followed was quite possibly the most confusing shower I had ever taken in my life, and the worst haircut of my life. Armando did it's best to cut my hair the way it looked in all the pictures that had been included in my pack, but it was no hair stylist, and I ended up with shoulder length hair with choppy layers. I guess it was better than the tangled mess of mid-back hair I woke up with.
"I can do this part myself, thank you." I swatted Armando away as I pulled the clothes out of my pack, and I swear it whirred in disappointment and hung its head as it slunk back to the corner to wait to be useful again. A small pang of pity echoed in my chest.
I examined each article of clothing with a wary eye. I guess this was what I wore before? Before what? I don't know.
There were a handful of t-shirts, mostly black, with seemingly random words strung together and images plastered on the front. I frowned in confusion and set them aside. They must be references to something, but I just couldn't put my finger on what. There were two long sleeve button up shirts with dark plaid patterns. They were soft to the touch, and I laid one across my lap to keep in consideration for what to change into. There was one pair of knee length jean shorts, one pair of overalls, and one pair of loose green pants with the cuffs rolled up. I chose the green pants and set them with the button up. Everything else seemed like undergarments. Socks, underwear, cropped tank tops, and a pair of worn-in high tops. I grabbed everything else I needed from the pack and got dressed.
It felt like second nature, getting dressed in my own clothes. I left the shirt unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and my shoelaces wrapped around my ankles to shorten the length enough to not be tripping over them. Even without my memories telling me that this was right, I could feel it in my blood and bones.
Armando waved frantically at me, motioning towards my legs. I looked down, patting at my knees, then thighs, before feeling something in my pocket. I stuffed a hand inside and pulled out a hair tie. How did it know that was there? Armando whirred excitedly, so I slid the hair tie onto my wrist. Who knows, it might come in handy.
I shifted from foot to foot, rolling my shoulders, bending my knees. Strength had returned almost fully to every muscle in my body, and I felt ready to venture forth to whatever lay outside this room.