Chapter 6 - 6 - The Unknown

"Argh… What happened…"

In a dark room, devoid of any source of illumination, a boy's groaning voice could be heard. As his eyelids parted, giving way to his irises to take a glance at the seemingly eternal void had found himself in, he groaned again.

"Where am I?" He muttered under his breath as he slowly pushed his back up from the cold metallic frame he seemingly was lying on. As he twisted his body to the side, suddenly his legs fell down, although they haven't reached the ground level.

Surprised by this, the boy began to pat around him, trying to make some sense of the situation he found himself in. Soon, thanks to his efforts, he could make out the rectangle frame of a metallic bed. He also found leather straps around where his ankles were laid to rest earlier, and also a separate pair around where generally he would have his wrist.

"What is this? How did I get here…" Suddenly, as he tried to force his mind to remember what could have happened, searing pain surfaced, causing agony unlike any other he had felt before. He quickly grabbed his head hoping he could massage the unbearable pain away.

Thankfully, although not by his efforts, but the torment vanished just as abruptly as it appeared a few seconds later. However, he was no closer to finding a solution to solving the mystery about his situation.

"Let's see…" He mumbled, massaging his forehead. "I went to the canteen to get my breakfast… I was ambushed by that fat pig and his goons…" Slowly, he tried recalling the sequence of events. However, no matter how hard he tried, the last clear moment he could recall was the face of Billy and his goon squad greeting him and 'inviting' him to have breakfast with them.

"Eh Lucien… think! What happened? Did they beat you up so hard you got a concussion or something?!" He berated himself, but regardless of his efforts, the last image he could recall was him walking behind the boys.

As he continued to lament about his misery and trying to make sense of what was going on, the darkness was abruptly replaced by blinding white lights, forcing Lucien to shield his eyes with his scrawny arms. The previously unseen set of led lights hanging from the ceiling activated, basking the room Lucien awoke with bright white glaze.

Before his eyes could get used to the sudden change of the scenery, he heard the sound of a door sliding, followed by the mature voice of a woman as she giggled.

"Ah, you finally wake up. Welcome young… Lucien Shaw, right? How are you feeling?" The voice spoke amid her cheerful glee, approaching the seated figure of the black-haired boy.

Feeling as the uncomfortable feeling has left from his eyes, he slowly pulled his arms back, taking a good look at the owner of the mature voice.

A tall woman stood in front of him, or to be more precise in front of his metal bed. She was wearing a white lab coat over her slender body. She had shoulder-length black hair and a pair of similarly dark crescent-shaped eyes behind her round glasses.

Light blue plastic gloves were pulled over her slick hands. She leaned closer to the still dizzy-looking boy, asking her earlier question once again.

"How do you feel, boy?" Her tone carried a strange emotion, something she wasn't overly familiar with. It wasn't dark, no, it was quite pleasant to his usually alert heart.

"Uhmm… Not sure. Where am I? Who are you? What happened?" After scanning the lady, Lucien blurted question after question. He was confused, unable to make sense of anything that was happening around him.

Whilst asking, he leaned to the left and right, trying to look around the small room the best he could. He was in a strange, empty seemingly box-shaped enclosed space. The only interesting thing, the only item in the room besides the uncomfortable metal bed was a large mirror that stretched all throughout the wall behind the woman. Besides that and the reinforced steel door that had no handle from this side and the four circle-shaped lensed objects attached to the four corners of the room, there was nothing of interest in the room.

Awaiting the slew of questions from the confused youngster, the black-haired lady giggled with unmasked glee once again.

"Ahaha, my young boy, you don't remember a thing, do you?" Pausing for a moment, she waited till she calmed down, before continuing. "Tell me, what is the very last thing you remember?"

"I was at the canteen and went to take my portion." He answered as he recalled the events a second time. Meanwhile, the lady that looked like some kind of a doctor of sorts nodded with a warm smile on her face, urging him to continue. "Then Billy's group came to me and wanted me to come with them." He added.

"Yes, yes that is right. They were called Billy Wohn, Marcus Lors, and a certain Sam Wills invited you to eat with them. That is correct." She nodded. "What happened next? Please continue."

"After that, I…" He was about to go on, but suddenly suspicion rose within his mind. He changed his tone, shifting his expression to a skeptic look. Why did she need him to recall the events? Why was it important? "Wait, before we continue. Where am I currently and who are you? What is happening?"

"Now, now Lucien, don't be so hasty. We will get to it, but before that, I will need you to tell me what you can remember, so I can fill in the blanks where needed." The lady shook her head, the warm smile never leaving her face.

"No. There's nothing else for me to recall." Hearing his request denied, Lucien shook his head, denying any further cooperation with the mysterious lady. He wanted some answers, and he wasn't getting any. Not to mention the strange feeling he was getting from this lady alerted him. The range of emotions he was subjected to so far in his thirteen years of existence was pretty narrow. He wasn't used to these complex ones, he could sense from this woman. There were multiple ones, mixing together masked behind this smile of hers. Yet he could still sense it. Behind this mask of positivity, the woman carried endless darkness, something vaguely similar to the cruel vibes he most often could sense.

The defiance, the childish tantrum the black-haired boy showed only earned another gleeful chuckle from the woman. Clicking her tongue, she shook her head with faked sorrow and sadness.

"I'm hurt, Lucien. I wanted to be friends with you and help you. But it seems you don't like me… Well, no matter. If you don't like kindness..."

Suddenly her face morphed, the mask of kindness she wore crumbled, revealing a twisted, cruel smirk under it. Her crescent eyes squealed as they honed in on the helpless chap in front of her.

"...then we can go with another, much more honest approach. They can't say I didn't give it a try…"

She reached for the pocket on the lower right section of her lab coat, pulling out a cylinder-shaped, dark item from its depths. She pushed the top, releasing an audible clicking sound, as she lifted her attention, looking at the closest circular lens attached to the nearest corner of the room. With a loud, cold tone, she exclaimed.

"Subject AM-003 is uncooperative. Activate Primary Initiation Protocol!"

Although there was no visible response from anywhere, the lady smirked as she lowered her gaze matching the still confused boy's. She revealed a scornful look, as she spoke to him once again.

"You know, Lucien, I really hoped we could have done this differently, but sadly that's not an option anymore… I was hoping we could be friends and-"

"Lies." Her monologue, her tangent that she was about to go into, was abruptly interrupted with the boy's matching cold tone.

"Excuse me?" Surprised by this, the doctor lady phrased the question.

"Lies. You are lying. From the moment you stepped in, I could feel the disgusting darkness in your heart. You are just the same as all the others." He spoke with a cold look and matching tone. None of the lady's earlier words, tone of voice, nor her hideous smiles were honest.

This current look, this unmasked cruelty, the dark curiosity gleaming in her eyes. Now, this was honest, this was the true color of her soul.

"Oh my! What an interesting specimen!" The doctor lady chuckled gleefully at the boy's words. She wasn't bothered by his tone or the cold, indifferent look in his eyes by the least.

She took a while to calm down and take a deep breath to collect herself. As she did so, a cruel smirk appeared on her face as she leaned closer to the boy's face.

"Oh, you are so wrong, Lucien. You will learn that I am so unlike any other you have met in your short life so far. During your eternal stay here, you will come to learn that the life you have lived before was merely a dream, a hope that will be your only salvation. That life, just like your name, your identity has vanished.. The Lucien Shaw, the orphan, the 'Wretched One' is no more. You are now known as Subject AM-003! Let me be the first to welcome you to the Institute!