After hearing Subject 0224-M's tale, Nurse Ives pitied the boy. No child should endure that kind of loss, yet this world had no patience for innocence. It forged the strong like steel beneath a hammer, and treated the weak like pigs awaiting slaughter.
"Anyway, Nurse Ives return Subject 0461-R to his room. If necessary, guide him through the facility. He may have lost some memories." Dr Halvorsen straightened his coat, already halfway to the door. "Now, if that's all, I have work waiting in my office." Silence quickly returned to the lab, leaving Nurse Ives with nothing but her own thoughts and a mentally crippled boy.
The deafening silence didn't last long as Nurse Ives quickly awoke from her trance, her footsteps echoing across the lab as she made her way towards Roan. She picked up the boy with some struggle, his arms wrapping around her neck and his head resting on her shoulder.
She swiped her key card and left just as quickly as she'd entered. The corridors outside the lab were dim, the cold and quiet hall gave her an eerie feeling as if she was being watched. She didn't miss the sight of the black cameras that followed them as they walked like silent predators.
Other staff passed them, some briefly glanced at Roan, while others lingered their gaze longer than they should. Nurse Ives even recognized a few but no one spoke. No one dared to.
As she approached Roan's residential wing, she felt his grip loosen around her shoulders. She adjusted her hold, muttering under her breath. "Just a little further, kid... We're almost there."
They reached a heavy, black steel door marked only by his subject number. She once again swiped her key card like before, and the door unsealed with a mechanical hiss.
Inside, the room was bare. A cardiac monitor, a bed, and 4 chilling walls. She lowered Roan onto his bed with care, as if worried of breaking something fragile. His gaze fixed onto the ceiling.
She clipped the electrodes back onto his chest with practiced efficiency, the cold adhesive pads pressing against his skin. She adjusted the pillow neatly resting under his head as the steady beeping of the cardiac monitor interrupted the silence.
A small, nearly inaudible Sigh escaped Nurse Ives' lips. Working at SCD has taken a toll on her, both physically and mentally. Arguably, being twenty-seven, she was still in her prime but she felt like she experienced and seen too much. She didn't have a Soulmark, hence no powers. She wasn't remarkably gifted in any area and the only thing going for her was her intelligence, but even that was merely above average.
'I'll talk to him tomorrow and show him around the facility like Dr Halvorsen advised.' She briefly glanced at Roan one more time and left. The sound of the sturdy black door closing echoed across the cold, dim hall... louder than it should of.
Time was nothing but a blur. Roan's breathing never changed, his eyes locked onto the ceiling. The uncanny silence capable of instilling shivers even onto the most stoic men, only to be interrupted by the occasional beats of the cardiac monitor. He felt nothing, saw nothing, remembered nothing, not even the shifts of time continuing. Night came and went, replaced by a bright yellow sun neither he nor anyone in the facility would ever see...
"Who.. Am I...?" muttered the young fourteen year old boy. A crushing weight pressed against his skull, as if invisible hands were trying to squeeze the thoughts out of him. Not only his mind, but his body experienced an even more agonizing pain.
Suddenly and without warning, the door hissed open causing the boy to flinch. His eyes met with a feminine figure in white. Her gaze didn't linger too long before she spoke.
"How are you feeling, Roan?" She could almost feel the pain the boy was going through, both mentally and physically.
"Roan...? Is that my name?" He was confused, he didn't know where he was but something about the white, cold walls felt familiar to him.
"Yes, Roan. You're inside the SCD facility, also know as Soulmark Containment Division. My name is Nurse Ives, I'm your nurse."
Roan felt like he was experiencing a sense of Déjà vu. His head ached in pain as vague memories coursed through his mind like an unrelentless tide. He grew up in the slums with his family but no matter how he tried he couldn't form pictures of their faces.
"Ugh.. my head hurts so much..." Nurse Ives was used to this sight after the many examinations Dr Halvorsen conducted on Roan. His memories typically returned a few days after the procedure.
"Get up Roan, I've been instructed to show you around the facility so let's not waste any more time." With a casual swipe of her key card, the black steel door opened. Cold air was all that greeted her, she didn't fail to notice the subtle shiver that ran through Roan's body.
"Why in the world is it so cold in these halls.." He felt as if he stepped in an Ice bath, he could even see his breath. He looked at Nurse Ives and wondered how she shrugged it off so easily.
"You'll get used to it, don't worry." They strolled through the long corridor, passing by many black steel doors identical to one in Roan's room with labels.
Roan lost count how many doors he'd seen at this point. Eventually they stopped before a black door, this one bigger than the rest.
Unlike the doors previously, this one didn't have a card reader. Nurse Ives walked, and the door opened automatically. Within, Roan saw a perfect pure white square room devoid of any furniture except tables fixed to the ground with metal stems and benches bolted to the floor like unmovable objects.
"Welcome to the Cafeteria Roan, this is where you'll be having your meals from on now. Meals outside of this place are strictly prohibited and you'll be punished if caught." Nurse Ives went into further detail about the Cafeteria afraid Roan would commit a silly mistake and get punished.
"The tables further ahead is where you'll sit down and enjoy your food. If you look carefully, you'll see five digit numbers followed by a letter engraved in the benches. The number represents your unit code and initial. Everyone in the facility as their respective bench and if you get caught sitting on another's seat you will also be punished so keep that in mind."
As Nurse Ives guided him to his seat, he looked at this surroundings. He saw boys and girls sat in their seats eating what appeared to be a barely edible meal. Some looked at him with curiosity, hostility, fear, others minded their own business.
"I forgot to mention earlier but the seats are also in alphabetical order." Nurse Ives pointed out. Roan gave her a quick nod, having already noticed that small detail as they walked through the cafeteria.
Nobody stopped them. Everyone was afraid to cause trouble, especially in-front of a nurse. Swiftly, Roan arrived at his seat and sat down.
"Do you want anything to eat, I can grab you food." Roan was supposed to be the one getting the food himself but seeing him already sat down, Nurse Ives thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"No. I'm not particularly hungry right now, thank you though Nurse Ives." His mind was pre-occupied with things more important than food. He was in a new environment he couldn't remember and his head was hurting from the vague memories re-surfacing once in a while.
Ever since he stepped in the Cafeteria, he kept remembering more and more. These memories came and went and were nothing significant by themselves but each told a tale.
"Well Roan, enjoy your dinner. I have some matters to attend to so I'll be going. I'll pick you up in an hour."