Facility 1.S
It was aggravating to realize I woke up without a single memory of my past, in a place I couldn't recognize. Well, that wasn't entirely true, I was given something that was probably my name. Sandra Lewis... At the very least, it sounded like a name I would have. It sounded professional, much like my appearance. I was a horse, my brown mane long down my back. I was wearing a dark blue dress skirt and button-up blouse, both of which were prim and proper. Even the bracelet on my arm seemed to go with the outfit, with its four blue zeroes prominently on display. Still, I wished I could say my memory was in as good of a shape.
I was told to seek my past, but there didn't seem to be anything in here that would help with that. My appearance certainly didn't jog any memories, and neither did the graffiti. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the latter was a part of a different mystery. But with nothing else in the room, what could I do to help solve it? Other than the box I woke up with, and the paper on the desk that told me my name, there was nothing I could do.
I suppose I could speculate on the nature of how I arrived here. Nothing about it felt familiar, so to speak. And considering my lack of memories, that left one of two possibilities. Either I had no memories, and was some sort of artificial life form that was just born, or I had amnesia. Considering it was only personal memories and not memories in general, the former was unlikely. And in the latter case, considering it didn't seem like I was in a hospital, it would probably be safe to assume I was kidnapped, with my amnesia being triggered by something my kidnappers did. Of course, with that done, I had exhausted my only point of thought, and was left with nothing to do but wander the room.
It seemed I wouldn't have to wait long until I could proceed, however, as I soon saw a portion of a wall slide away. With no other way out, I took it. It was connected to a large cylindrical room, with a stone floor and wall. But, what was startling about the room was that there were four other exits, and from each of them another fur came out. There was a wolf, a rabbit, a badger, and a lion, each of them possessing a different emotion.
The wolf, rather thug-like in appearance, had a rather cautious and timid expression that betrayed his appearance. The rabbit seemed to be jumping for joy in her casual clothing, as if the thought of being kidnapped didn't faze her at all. The badger looked like he was ready to tear someone apart, and considering he wore what was probably the shirt of some metal band, he seemed more than capable.. And the lion seemed to be like me, calmly analyzing the situation in a manner as refined as his suit.
As nice as it would have been to read more into their body language, the badger happened to interrupt then and there. It seemed he was also impatient along with his anger.
"So what the fuck's going on here, huh?" he shouted, "who the hell are you people?"
It was unruly behavior, and definitely not that helpful in our current situation. I was about to respond, but the lion answered first.
"I would say it is more polite if you were to introduce yourself first, if you are planning on asking us for all our names," he said, calmly and politely.
It seemed that I could definitely count on him for a more lucid and informed opinion, at least compared to the badger. I wondered how the others would fare. I could probably expect something out of the wolf as well, assuming I could even get him to speak, but the rabbit... She was probably too much of an airhead to get a reasonable opinion out of.
As for the badger, he took the challenge about as well as expected. Namely, he looked like he wanted to punch the elderly lion in the face. He had some level of restraint, however, so he instead decided to respond with his name.
"Tch, fine. My name's Damon Grants. What about you, gramps?"
The words were more spat out in defiance rather than genial, unfortunately. I suppose I couldn't blame him. Any one of us could have been the kidnapper, from his perspective at least. But, I did have a name now. Damon Grants...
From there, we slowly introduced ourselves. The lion introduced himself as Anton Brandt, which was noticeably far more foreign than the rather mundane Elizabeth Brown, the rabbit's name, or my own. The only fur left was the wolf, who looked rather sheepish at the thought of introducing himself. He had trouble keeping his gaze up, and both his ears and tail were completely limp. In what sounded more like a squeak than a voice, he managed to get it out.
"Uh, I'm Richard Lyte... I think."
It was a statement that made my blood run cold. There's only one reason why someone would be unsure of their name. Anton, as expected, jumped on it instantly.
"You... think? What do you mean?"
He bit his lip, almost to the point where I thought he would draw blood. He probably didn't want to tell us he had amnesia directly, if only because it would put him at a major disadvantage if he was up against a group of people who did know who they were. I didn't give away any signs that I had forgotten my past, and neither did anyone else for that matter. Could they have been faking it like I was? I suppose 'honest' was a trait I'd have to apply to the wolf.
"Well... I'm not really sure of anything about myself," he explained, "the only reason I knew my name was because of that sheet I found in the room I woke up in. So whether or not that really is my name..."
The implications were frightening, but at the same time, I should have seen it coming. If I was kidnapped and brought here, and my kidnappers were the one who induced my amnesia, there was no reason to assume they didn't do the same for the other four. The fact that Richard was in the same situation I was in supported my hypothesis, although now it was just a question of whether or not the others fit the bill.
Elizabeth was the next to speak. With how she was practically jumping and waving her arms, I doubt anyone could interrupt her anyway, not to mention that obnoxious shriek... Either way, she had the floor.
"You mean, you can't remember anything either? Oh wow, what a relief! For a moment there, I thought I was gonna be the only one here who was drawing a total blank."
Of all things, I didn't expect Elizabeth to be deceitful. She looked like the sort of fur who wore her emotions on her sleeve. Had she been born something with a longer tail, it would probably be wagging along with her happy-go-lucky grin. It was definitely not the best way to make allies here, doubly so with her cheerfulness being highly suspicious in of itself.
Anton chimed in next, and the result was essentially the same. And, with no real choice left in the matter, I revealed my amnesia, along with Damon.
So that was that. Everyone here had amnesia, and was probably kidnapped, unless one of them was lying. I didn't really have much in the way of evidence to call them out on it, so I kept my mouth shut for now. But while getting acquainted was certainly fine, it didn't give us any options as to what to do to get out of this place, nor did it give us a means of regaining our memories. In addition, it didn't give any clues about the nature of the graffiti either. Still, in some way, shape, or form, our goal here was to regain our memory first and foremost.
Damon, surprisingly, caught on to the fact that we were quite helpless in terms of getting our memory back. Perhaps he was more rational than I initially gave him credit for. The lack of articulation on his part when he spoke, however, was still a problem.
"And how the hell are we supposed to do that? Do they expect us to just sit around until our memory comes back like magic? What a load."
If there was anything positive I had to say for the badger, it was that he was certainly constructive. His eyes went to the floor, scanning it for something that could help us proceed from where we were. Richard, Elizabeth, and Anton all went off to explore the walls, so I decided to help Damon out. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience, if only because he spent most of the time grunting in annoyance.
It was only a few minutes until the three returned to where Damon and I were, and they didn't have to say a word to let us know their results. No, Damon took the pleasure all to himself.
"There's fucking nothing in here! What the hell are we supposed to do!?"
If there was someone listening in on us, I was grateful, because it meant that Damon could finally shut his big mouth. The ground shook and rumbled, almost in response to his exclamation, and soon I realized we were actually on an elevator, and it was going up. It took me a bit by surprise, but as soon as I could see the walls moving down, it didn't take long to piece together what was happening. It didn't stop me from stumbling to the floor though, but I didn't manage to hurt anything. Damon, on the other paw, let out a bit of a yelp when he landed on his arm. I would almost say it served the irritable badger right, but I wasn't that spiteful of a person. At least, I didn't think I was.
I could see something off in the distance when the elevator started to screech to a halt. Or, rather, three somethings. As we approached them, it soon became obvious just what they were: doors. With a loud thunk, the elevator came to a stop, and I stood up. The doors looked stranger than the ones on the first floor. They were marked red, green, and blue, for starters, and the red and blue doors had two black panels on them, while the green door had one. A simple glance down at the bracelet on my arm was all it took to clue me in on their function, though sadly it didn't seem like everyone here was as smart. Predictably, it was Elizabth who piped up.
"What's up with these doors? Do you guys think we can open them? I mean, I guess we can, otherwise we couldn't go anywhere, but how?"
I had trouble holding back burying my face in my hands. How could the girl be this clueless? If it weren't for Anton fielding the question for me, I probably would have screamed.
"It's simple, really. Take a look at your bracelets," he started to explain, "mine is blue, and matches one of the door's colors. I bet yours does as well, Elizabeth. That will tell us which door each of us is going through."
Elizabeth giggled as the answer was explained to her, bumping one of her paws against her head. What was she, five? I really wondered what a place like this wanted with her. Could she be some sort of heiress to a wealthy billionaire? That would explain her lack of reasoning, since she probably would have been sheltered badly. I wanted to groan when she spoke up again, if only because I knew it would be another foolish question.
"Oh... Heh, I guess you're right, Anton! Mine's red, so I'll be going through the red door. But how are we opening them, exactly?"
I knew it. I figured I should cut it short as soon as possible, if only so we could move on. By this point, she seemed to be the only one locked out of the loop.
"The panels. Anton's bracelet and mine are blue, and there are two black panels on the wall. They probably respond to a hand print, or perhaps simple proximity to the bracelet. Once both panels are active, the door should open. In theory, at least."
With my explanation complete, I saw no reason to stick around. I headed over to the blue door, if only so I could get away from Damon and Elizabeth. I didn't like them at all, and I was grateful that it was Anton who was coming with me. I could at least expect him to help me in whatever it was that was beyond this door.
The instant I approached it, the palm of my paw went out, pressing against the black plate. It glowed green, the typical sign of success. Anton did the same, and got the same results. I could hear the whirr of machinery behind the door activating, and within moments, the door slid to the right. It seemed the panels were the key to getting in after all.
I was only mildly concerned for the others, but they managed to sort themselves out, standing in front of their own respective doors. Richard and Elizabeth were teamed up for the red door, while Damon was by himself in front of the green. Their doors soon slid open as well, and, just like Anton and I, they entered. I had to wonder why Damon was the odd one out, compared to everyone else being paired up. Perhaps whoever was in charge knew he was as irritable as everyone else probably thought he was. Either way, it didn't matter now. Instead, there was a far more pressing question at hand.
Just what was waiting for us beyond these doors?