Reborn

Hi there I’m James and thank you in advance for reading this piece of writing. The following work is the Prologue and the majority of the first chapter in my dystopian future sci-fi book currently titled ‘Reborn’. It is a story in which a boy wakes up in hospital having seemingly recovered from a severe accident but memories of a time before the accident occurred are hazy at best and he is plagued by constant visions that he feels do not belong to him. The story follows the boys journey through his new life where he tries to accept his parents as who they are and reintegrate himself into society. Though lack of success leads him to question his purpose in life and rejoin the military organisation he was supposedly once part of when he suffered his accident. Here the boy is given a unique chance to see the city state he lives within through detached eyes though when an unfortunate event further pushes his life into misery he is granted the even more extraordinary opportunity of changing both his way of life and that of the cities many inhabitants.  The First Chapter sees the protagonist, Florean, begin his adventure having just woken up in his hospital bed. Unsure of his whereabouts, identity and condition the boy seeks to find out what has happened to him, though the buildings unfamiliar design and its unhelpful inhabitants prove to be difficult obstacles to overcome in his weakened state.                                                   

                                                                                REBORN


Prologue

“Get the Doctor” bellowed the intern to the entire intensive care unit trying to make his voice heard above the shriek of warning alarms. The nurse turned to the monitoring equipment “he’s going into shock” she exclaimed unnecessarily as the boy on the bed began to convulse violently, lashing out at everything around him as though possessed by a demon. “Get the Recus unit here…and where’s that doctor?” the intern shouted to the ward again praying that someone was listening; sweat glistened on his face, without a qualified Medi-carer he was as good as useless. Not five minutes ago the boy had been slumbering peacefully, probably dreaming the intern had judged by the expressions on his face, he had been in a coma for some days but had also been stable, now something had happened to change that and the once peaceful hospital room had turned into a scene of confusion and panic. The curtain that had been pulled around the bed like a shroud was thrust open suddenly and a Medi-carer stepped into the room an entourage of nurses behind him pulling a trolley adorned with yet more equipment, the intern backed away to allow the Doctor space to perform his work. This situation was out of his league so unwilling to interfere he occupied himself with watching the nurses attend to the sick boy under the careful and calculated gaze of the Medi-carer, whose steely blue eyes observed the chaos indifferently.  The sounds of the machinery became a background hum as the intern looked on at the scene unfolding in front of him, despite the tireless work of the medical personnel the writhing boy showed no signs of recovery, tubes and wires were now attached to much of his upper-body but none of them proved to be of any use; a second later the body on the bed went limp and stopped moving. “Cardiac arrest” observed the Medi-carer calmly as though it were something he had anticipated, obediently one of the nurses picked up a pair of shock pads and began to charge them. “clear….and pulse” the Doctor stepped back; there was a thumping sound as the nurse passed several hundred volts of electricity through the bodies cardiac muscle but there was no change in its condition “pulse two”, another thump, the body spasms from the shock, but still no improvement. The nurse sighs knowing that the third pulse she is about to deliver will be done due to protocol and not out of hope: “pulse three” announces the nurse; there is one last ‘thump’ and finally….stillness.





Chapter 1-Arrivals

The first thing I remember seeing was my reflection in the hospital ward window; I was lying propped up in bed covered in tubes from head to toe,  I could see nobody else around, nobody to ask question about what I was doing here or even who I was, so I just lay there trying to remain conscious and waited. I don’t know how long I’d spent lying there alone before someone finally arrived to see me but after no short while I heard footsteps moving purposefully towards my bed from the other end of the room; naturally I was curious about the new arrival so despite my frailty I managed to raise myself into an upright position to better see my guest. Upon looking up, I saw a young man clad in a pale green uniform walking towards me though apparently quite distracted with other affairs as he didn’t seem to have noticed me, so attempting to attract his attention I lifted up one of my arms and began waving it at him. This of course had been a mistake as without my support I immediately slumped back into my pillow with a soft thud. The plan, however, had been successful, as the man, who was probably an intern at the hospital, immediately looked up from his data pad presumably to try and ascertain the source of the noise I’d made through my clumsy actions. Unfortunately, having seen that it was I who had created the disturbance he quite suddenly turned tail and ran back to wherever he had come from without so much as a greeting. Once again I had been left to my own devices without any assistance and still no clues as to what I was doing here. I could only hope that my current predicament would change but fortunately enough I wasn’t left waiting too long before someone more qualified to remedy my situation arrived to provide help. Several minutes later, the intern in green returned to my bedside though on this occasion with another staff member. The newcomer who I assumed to be a doctor was dressed in an unnaturally clean white coat and stood there for a while staring at me with piercing blue eyes until apparently decided on an appropriate course of action. After waving away the intern the doctor walked over to my side and without saying a word began to unclip the tubes and wires attached to me. I was unable to do anything else so I simply lay there my eyes following his every move, watching as he freed me from my shackles until at last he had completed his work. Everything the white coated man did was done in complete silence, I stayed silent too but that wasn’t because I had nothing to say, questions were swimming around my head like fish in a bowl but I couldn’t focus on any one of them long enough to ask it, so instead my mouth simply gaped open and closed until the doctor shoved a glass of water into my hand, probably misinterpreting my confusion for thirst. Either way, my throat was dry to the point where I mightn’t have been able to speak even if I wanted to, so I gladly accepted the drink and drained the glass. At that moment the doctor turned and strode away from me, taking the empty cup with him and disappearing a second later through the metal doors at the back of the ward.  Being the way I was, I felt in no condition to pursue the man so having little else to do i began to look around at my surroundings. The place was almost entirely empty, with the exception of the equipment surrounding my area there were only a few other beds, empty of course, some chairs stacked in the corner and a clock on the wall which read five thirty though the ambient light levels made it feel  much later.
Aside from the clock, I could see several windows around the wall that were letting in the last of the suns dying rays, bathing the ward in a warm glow that quite contrasted its chillingly practical design, this however was of less interest to me than what I could see through the windows. For as far as the eye could see meadowland stretched out in all directions with forest separating the land from the sky at the very edge of my vision, stalks of uncut grass wavered restlessly in the wind while seeds and petals floated by captured in currents of warm air; the view was a stark contrast to the dismal interior of the hospital I had been looking at moments before so, thankful for having something else to stare at, I held my gaze and continued to survey the pleasingly eclectic nature of the outside world. Of course it only took a matter of seconds before the view was spoiled by the unwelcome return of my thoughts who had been hiding in the back of my mind waiting to catch me unawares before ambushing me again, I began to think that perhaps ‘angry flies buzzing around carrion’ would have made a more apt analogy to describe them; but there they were confronting me with all their questions. This time the question that pressed itself most forcefully was what was my name? And I had to admit it was a good one; I honestly had no idea what it was but I also felt there was no point in trying too hard to remember it, firstly it would serve me little purpose in knowing it and secondly there were a hundred other more useful things that I needed to understand first such as what am I going to do now? Obviously I was going to have to wait for the doctor to get back but then what? There was no place for me to go, no people that I could contact, and I certainly didn’t want to stay here, unless I was given help I would be completely lost. With that depressing thought in mind I decided, finally, that the first inquiry that needed to be made was, why am I here? And as if on queue the double doors at the end of the room slid inwards with a pneumatic hiss heralding the return of the white coated man.
I was about to pose my question to who I assumed was the doctor but something made me hold back, as though I didn’t want to hear whatever answers he had to give, it was probably the cold composure he carried himself with that, in its own way, was unnervingly intimidating, so once again I resigned myself to lying there and letting actions take their own course. As it turned out my patience was to be rewarded, as the doctor moved closer I could see a large manila folder slung underneath one of his arms, positively bursting with papers. This I felt had to be for me and would contain the answers to all my thoughts: who I was, why I was here…what my name was, I felt myself becoming overcome by curiosity and anticipation at being so close to learning my identity. The doctor on the other hand had another agenda on his mind, seeing my eyes gazing hungrily at the folder he placed it down on a chair several meters away from my bed and then walked over to my side where I was presented with a pair of neatly folded shorts and a t-shirt, and that was when the doctor spoke for the first time, not that he said much but at least it proved he was human. “No doubt you wish to view the file I have brought you containing the information regarding your identity” I nodded hopefully but the man continued “of course what a superfluous question for me to ask, well you’re welcome to read all you want, you should find all the necessary details in that file over there, but first!” added the doctor hurriedly, seeing I was about to fetch the aforementioned file for myself “I have been instructed to hand you these items of clothing and direct you to the sanitation unit”. I was about to argue, being far more concerned with who I was than if I had clean hands but the doctors eyes had won the argument before it had even begun. So obediently I attempted to slip out of bed, as gracefully as one can whose being lying still for only knows how long, but despite all my efforts I nearly ended up in a heap on the floor; thankfully the combined efforts of the bed post and the doctor, who appeared to possess preternatural speed, saved me from the embarrassment. The white coated man said nothing, knowing id learned my lesson in using more care and less speed, and then began to lead me, whilst simultaneously supporting me, in the direction of the automatic doors.
More concerned with staying upright than remembering directions, I allowed the doctor to guide me on our short walk through a maze of identical, whitewashed corridors, until finally we reached a couple of doors embedded almost secretively in the wall; this I assumed must be the sanitation block. The doctor, who was still saying nothing, decided at that moment to let go of me and turn away, though fortunately, enough strength had returned to my legs to keep me standing, anyway without assistance I regarded the doors carefully for instructions; both, I noticed were entirely alike except for one feature. Above the entrances there were two green illuminated plaques, on one was displayed what appeared to be a crude drawing of an emaciated person in a triangle and on the other there was a similar drawing except no triangle and the man was attempting to perform a star jump. This of course was most curious but before I had time to ponder their meanings the doctor had lost patience with my ineptness and shoved me through the door beneath the latter mentioned plaque. He didn’t follow, so Instead of the blindingly white corridor I had been in seconds before I now found myself alone in a room as equally Spartan as the ward I had just left. In place of painted concrete however, the walls were made entirely from plain tiles and where there might have been beds and chairs there were instead basins and showers.  To be honest I didn’t really want to do anything in here but the Doctor wasn’t going to let me read the file unless I made some sought of effort so I grudgingly moved over to one of the former mentioned fixtures and, spinning the taps around, gave my hands a thorough wash with some of the disinfectant soap provided, that done I took the apparel I had been given and moved over to a bench in the corner of the room and began to change.
Now clothed in my new attire I took a second to inspect it in the mirror; it was grey, probably an appropriate colour given the atmosphere in the building but aside from that there was nothing even remotely interesting about it with the exception of the word ‘Pharmazeutische’ which had been emblazoned in bright green lettering across the front of the t-shirt. For some reason I new instinctively what the word meant, it read pharmaceuticals but in the German language, at face value it didn’t seem to make any sense given that it was unlikely the cloth possessed any medicinal properties but something inside me put two and two together. Pharmazeutische, I guessed, must be the company who owns the hospital, and provided me with whatever medical care it was that I needed; In fact it appeared to be almost a familiar name in my mind, which was saying something because I couldn’t remember much else at that point. On reflection it seemed that habitual things like movement and actions came easily to me, knowledge of objects, feelings and language were also solid in my mind but specifics, about my self and my life were far harder to remember; still there was no sense in worrying about it, most of the answer I needed or at least wanted were waiting for me back in my room so without further regard to the ‘sanitation unit’ I walked with all the dexterity I could muster back through the door I had been thrust through moments before.
Outside in the corridor, there was no sign of the doctor, who must have walked away with some measure of stealth while I was changing; I couldn’t imagine where he had gone, nor did I care, after all there were more pressing things for me to attend to, assuming of course I could navigate myself back through this labyrinth to the ward I woke up in. So tracing my steps as best I could I began to make my way along what I believed was the correct route leading back to my room; though given that I hadn’t been paying a hint of attention to my surroundings on the journey to the sanitation unit, it would be a miracle if I found my way back alone. Now I come to think of it I guess I could have called out for someone but somehow the idea just didn’t occur to me at the time, also I had this strange, deep down feeling that I didn’t want to be found anyway, perhaps I was just scared the Doctor would try and take me away from my file again; either way I had already stubbornly decided that id find my own way about so I was just going to have to do the best I could.
As I walked along, one had resting on the wall for support, I began to wonder why the place was so devoid of signs, of course with the exception of the green plaques id seen earlier; I couldn’t believe that it was anyone’s intention to ensnare hapless patients in the bowels of a hospital with no support or directions so why would the place be designed as thought it were a trap? White walled corridor followed white walled corridor and every time I reached another intersections it just left me with even more chance of taking the wrong direction. After quite some minutes of futile tracking I finally had to admit that I was lost, so walking resignedly up to yet another crossroad I decided it best to stop where I was and hope that someone would find me. Taking a seat on the polished chequered floor i looked back on the brief time id spent conscious today and couldn’t help but notice that it was becoming a running theme to be left up the proverbial creek without a paddle, fortunately I was getting used to the whole ordeal, it was just frustrating being unable to do anything on my own. Sitting there, cross legged on the ground with nothing to do, I became acutely aware of my thoughts which were once again circling around me like vultures, apparently being here in my helpless state was annoying my inner self intensely, so despite all reasoning and my better judgment I stood back up again and quite deliberately chose an arbitrary route to explore out of the three I had been presented with. After having glanced down all three paths to ensure there were no clues as to my intended destination, I turned right and began to walk down that corridor for no other reason than instinct, but as it happened, I had only moved onwards a few meters when I heard the hushed but distinct tones of urgent whispering coming from somewhere up ahead, I may not have found my room but I had certainly discovered something of interest.

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“So you just left him there” the man at the control panel growled, obviously unimpressed with the actions of the second man, who had only entered the room seconds before. “What did you want me to do” replied the figure in the doorway levelly “go in with him holding his hand?” The first man who was dressed in military uniform swung around in his chair, not about to back down from the subject “yes, exactly that, we can’t allow such a person to walk without restriction around this hospital, in fact we couldn’t allow anyone to walk freely around this place; you’ve seen the level of security Hilde’s covered this place in, I certainly don’t want the blame placed on my head if it becomes compromised,” feeling better after his outburst the soldier decided that the conversation wasn’t worth carrying on so he lowered his voice back to a more reasonable tone and continued to speak “anyway get in and take a seat, I’m sure we’re probably breaking some kind of regulation by keeping that door open and if you want to check on your patient you’ll find him on screen seven”. The second man, who was clad in a long white coat, nodded in resigned agreement and sat down on the nearest available swivel chair; and after having scanned the multitude of monitors lining the wall turned back to his associate, “see, he’s just changing like I ordered him to, I cant believe anyone could have thought he’d pose a threat, he’s just some brain dead boy”. The soldier sighed not willing to restart the argument so, in an attempt to appease the Doctor and change the subject, he tapped a few buttons on his console and switched the screens. There was a flash of white and In place of the many pictures detailing areas of the hospital a single new image appeared displaying a strange alien like being covered in glistening white and gold armour with a spear grasped firmly in both hands.
The white coated man let out a sinister chuckle and slapped the soldier on the back in an ironic display of congratulations “so, I see you’ve been spending your time on more that just keeping an eye on that boy eh, I wonder what Hilde would say if she new you’d been spying on her new toys, after all it was on her blessing that you were given this room to do your job in the first place”. The first man scowled; annoyed that everyone in the building was ‘so damn up themselves about security’, apparently including the medical staff but decided to ignore the slight on his competence in favour of asking questions instead. “So what exactly is that?” Queried the doctor, intentionally adopting an air nonchalance whilst simultaneously zooming in on what appeared to be a pair of armoured breasts belonging to the creature “is it some kind of Valkyrie you use to take away the dead?” The doctor shifted uncomfortably in his seat trying to resist the urge to boast about his corporation’s secrets, but was ultimately overcome by his desire to contradict the soldier; “Not even close” retorted the man in white leaning over towards the console and refocusing the camera on the six foot long spear held by the woman, “this, my ignorant friend is an Angel, though as you’d expect she’s not in the business of floating around heaven with a harp, in fact her work tends to be more in the region of the demonic than the divine, fortunately for you she’s more interested with her current assignment than hunting down nosy guests.  You must be looking at one of the two that are currently guarding the executives office.” The soldier smiled and, leaning back into his chair, returned the monitors to their original state; the Doctor had fallen more easily for his simple trap than expected by so readily divulging his knowledge about the Angels but it had been rather more of a game to the military man that actual intelligence retrieval; so as if the previous conversation had never happened the soldier decided it was time to pose a more prudent question to the doctor, “what exactly is it that you came here for anyway?” The white coated man, who had been staring sullenly at the floor after realising his blunder, glanced up with a mild look of confusion across his face as though he hadn’t been expecting the question. “Oh, well, I….” began the ponderous reply “ I just came in here to ask if the boy had been doing anything suspicious before I was informed about him regaining consciousness, after all it took that foolish intern far to long to inform me of his situation after he had woken.” By way of response the soldier simply shook his head and swung back in his chair “nope, nothing to report there, the boys been about as lively as a state funeral, as you said yourself there probably isn’t anything to worry about anyway”. The doctor nodded absent mindedly as if he cared little about the answer and then, lifting himself from his seat, turned towards the room’s only entrance; though before he could leave there was a sudden exclamation from behind him.
“God-dammit!” Upon hearing this, the white coated man swung about on his heals in order to assess the reason for his comrade’s outburst but even before he’d turned around he already had a feeling what was coming. The soldier continued his storm “I can’t believe we let this happen! How could we have been so stupid as to take our eyes of him?” Completing the motion the doctor’s eyes came to rest on the object of indignation, screen seven showed quite clearly a pristine bathroom with a chequered floor and tiled walls but absolutely no sign of his charge. Now it was his turn to get angry “what do you mean WE? It was you who insisted on changing the screens so you could spy on our technology and then interrogate me about it afterwards, you’re the one who’s lost him”. Knowing the stakes if the escapee found any sensitive material around the hospital the soldier was forced to put up a defence, “Spying? How dare you, I was doing nothing wrong and anyway your task was quite clearly to watch over the boy every time he set foot out of the ward, god knows why you decided to leave him alone?” With no sign of abating the tirade continued. “I’ve only been gone five minutes damn it, when I took him to the sanitation unit I thought he’d at least take a fucking shower before changing into his clothes”. This time the soldier didn’t answer back; no longer interested with petty insults the military man swung back to his console once again and began to tap away at the keyboard; on the view screen the images from the different panels began changing rapidly as cameras were tapped into all around the hospital, in a desperate attempt to relocate the missing boy and fortunately, after only a matter of seconds, one of the screens came up trumps. “Got him!” The fugitive patient appeared to be walking quite calmly along what the console informed the men was corridor NW-2, in plain view of the CCTV camera, though this was only partly good news. “Shit, he’s headed right for this room” hissed the soldier aloud, more to himself than anyone in particular “what if he comes in here and sees me?”. This time the doctor took control of the situation “don’t panic, at least you found him, the kid doesn’t know anything about this place, ill just go out there quickly and take him back to the ward, now keep an eye on him with the cameras and don’t think about spying on those Angels again”. The soldier considered answering back with a retort on the Doctors own ineptness but was more concerned with having the boy removed far from his presence and back to the safety of the ward, so scrapping with white coat would have to wait for another day. Anyway the Doctor had already been on his way out of the door upon saying his last words so he could just count himself lucky that the boy hadn’t gone anywhere restricted, or else he might have had the chance to get a close up look at one of those Angels, probably from the tip of its weapon. 
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Before I even had a chance to wonder about the cause of the urgent whispering, or its source; I was quite suddenly presented with the unwelcome return of the doctor, who appeared striding before me, his coat flapping behind him wildly as though emphasising the fact he looked quite flustered. It was tempting to ask him the cause of his agitation but, now more than ever, looked like a bad time to start with the questions, so I just stopped in my tracks and waited for the white coated man to assume control and direct me back to my room. The doctor didn’t stop walking when he reached me, he simply passed me at full stride and, with a perfectly neutral tone of voice that quite belied his appearance, uttered the words “Follow me” and continued onwards. As it was I could only hope that we were headed back to my ward but anything could have happened while I was in the sanitation unit, I still had no idea what I should be doing or where I was, other than I was obviously in some kind of hospital, so until I was given more information I was at the mercy of the Doctor, or anyone else who found me; however I felt as though there was only so much following I could do before I’d be forced to take the initiative myself, I didn’t like the feeling of helplessness but I was going to give the doctor at least one more chance to lead me where I wanted to go before making any decisions about going out on my own. This time, as we walked to wherever we were going, I made quite sure to remember the route we were taking, despite the fact that all the corridors were the same in every detail; at least this time id regained enough motor control to move freely without support. Either way, I hadn’t really thought about what was to be gained from remembering my way back to the middle of nowhere but perhaps the voices I had heard would be able to help me if I ever did want to return there. Anyway my efforts were all for naught as, after only a short journey, the doctor lead me through a pair of polished metal automatic doors at the end of a passageway, and back into my ward; the file, I immediately noticed, was still waiting patiently for me upon the chair where it had been left some minutes ago. Paying no heed to the doctor, who had stopped just in front of the entranceway, I moved quickly around him and made directly for the manila folder as though it were a race; fortunately it seemed that I was the only competitor playing as no-one else attempted to take it from me, and in a moment the file, papers and all, were mine; and stencilled in red onto its front were the words Hans Florean.

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“Miserable sycophants” sighed the governor more to himself than the short skirted secretary standing next to him. “I’m sorry sir?” replied the woman, not fully comprehending what her master was referring to. High Governor Eisenberg, who was of quite some years, extended an accusing wrinkly hand out towards the window through which he had been staring for the past five minutes. The woman shuffled foreword obediently in an attempt to understand Eisenbergs ramblings, placing the cup of coffee she had been holding in her hands on the desk as she passed it. “ Look at her” the governor continued, disgust clearly audible in his tone “Madame Fiorenza has so many spineless followers she could start her own circus of invertebrates, ever since she inherited the throne to Astraeus Incorporated, she’s been swanning around the boulevards with her worthless entourage throwing money at anyone willing to suffer her non-sensical babble about this seasons gazebo colours”. Peering out onto the plaza below the secretary could just make out a rabble of brightly dressed individuals flowing down the street in the direction of the Cloud Mall like escaped animals from an exotic zoo. It was sickening to think that some people could spend all their days wrapped up in their own affairs with no concerns towards money, worrying more about the arrangements for their next dinner party than the endless problems that plagued the cities lower levels; but the girl, who had only just began her secretarial work within the government, knew better than to curse other peoples luck, after all she was one of the fortunate ones who was born above ground. An awkward silence ensued for a few minutes as the governor ignored his subordinate and maintained his disapproving stare until Madame Fiorenza, party and all could no longer be seen.  Although she could sympathise with the governors disdain at such individuals, the secretary wasn’t being paid to take moral standings upon the cities denizens, rather to ensure that all the ones she worked for were supplied with fresh cups of coffee three times a working day; so dismissing the entire conversation as the customary small talk which all secretaries are duty bound to undertake with their fellow employees, the girl bowed, performed a half pirouette and walked as softy as possible back out of the office.
Whatever the secretary thought of her employer, she would have been wrong to think that he didn’t notice or care about how she reacted to his comments. Out of the corner of his eye Jonathan Eisenberg had been watching her for the entire time she had been in the room, from the moment she entered to when the door closed behind her as she left. Although it saddened him as it always did, her unspoken response was typical, on a par in fact with the majority of all sky city dwellers, “If it’s not my problem it doesn’t concern me”. Unable to contain his thoughts, the governor spoke the last few words aloud, as if announcing it through the window to the entire boulevard down below, though of course no-one could hear him. Eisenberg was acutely aware of the latter fact and even went as far as to let slip a small chuckle as he turned to embrace the coffee left on his desk, a small pleasure in a world of pains. For despite all his years, wisdom and power no-one had ever listened to the governors true feelings, about the state of the world, the state of his city and most importantly the state of its people. There were so many things Jonathan had wanted to achieve during his lifetime as a governor and still, despite all his work, he’d managed to change almost nothing, yet perhaps his victory lay in the fact that nothing had got worse. This however was a fact that the governor found no easier to swallow than the bitter coffee he swilled around in his mouth while he stood at the desk debating the troubles of life; so having finally resigned himself to recommencing work, he lowered himself gently into his office chair and continued the arduous task of sifting through government spending reports. However Eisenberg had got no further than opening the first file on his computer when the phone rang. Tapping a button on the keyboard, the governor took the call and a holographic image of a thin, sharply dressed woman sprang  into existence  on the desk in front of him. “Good afternoon first governor Eisenberg, I trust the day is treating you well?” by way of reply Jonathan simply sank further into his chair, mentally cursing himself for not checking the call register before answering; the glitzy women parading up and down the promenade were one thing but this woman was an entirely different affair; where as the formers’ primary concerns involved designer handbags and rainbow coloured cocktails the Chief Executive of Pharmazeutische only cared for one thing, ambition; in fact if First Governor hadn’t been such an unenviable position to hold then their situations may well have been reversed, not that the Eisenberg had the stomach to run a multinational corporation. “Aaah Dr Bierragaard, the day is treating me as ever, constant drizzling punctuated by the occasional cup of coffee, now what can this old man do for one of you energetic youngsters.” Contrary to her usual self Hilde Bierragaard was not feeling like fun and games today, and so decided to convey this by crossing her arms before continuing with the matter at hand. “Actually First Governor its more of a case of what I can do for you,” to call this unusual would have been a terrible understatement and the governors eyebrows raised to an unnatural height as he began to wonder if the day was going to be a special one after all. “Anyway allow me to cut to the chase: He’s awake.” In concentration Jonathan’s eyes began to narrow again, as did Hilde’s as though she were trying to will the old man to remember with her impatience; after a few more seconds of blankness the governor was considering posing an uncharacteristically facetious question alluding to Hilde’s Frankensteinesque work and then he remembered. The Doctors pursed lips curled up to form the ghost of a smile as she saw the governors jaw sag “Oh good you remember at last, it would have been a terrible thing if you’d forgotten he was with me, id hate to be blamed for any more missing patients.” After having sank to a level where he could comfortable stare into the abyss of his black coffee Jonathans head jerked up again. A slight stammer was audible in the governors tone “well is he alright, did it work? Where is he now?” Hilde uncrossed her arms and held back a sigh “Relax First Governor he’s fine, its not as though we weren’t already sure of this before he awoke, the surgery, if you will, went excellently and he’s perfectly safe, here with me, in the hospital” disregarding that the latter statement was almost a contradiction the governor pulled out a data-pad from a drawer in his desk and began scrolling down it hurriedly in silence. “Governor” began Hilde again, adopting a weary if not bored tone “I have contacted you as you asked, it will be some days before we can take the boy back in for testing, I’ll put him on the shuttle within the hour so you can send whomever you wish to collect him at the Hub for eight o’ clock, now I don’t believe we have anymore business to discuss so with your leave…” Attention still fully dedicated to the data pad, the chief executive was left standing for a few more awkward seconds before he finally waved a dismissive hand and gave a murmur of thanks, Hilde’s hands shot straight to her hips at his ungraciousness but of course he was no longer looking in her direction; “I’ll contact you at the end of the week to give a full report but until then I’ll be extremely busy so now I must go” and with that the hologram dissolved into the ether without so much as a goodbye from either party. Frankly, regardless of the importance of the report, Jonathan could have done with waiting several more months or perhaps indefinitely to speak with Dr Bierregaard again; such ambition, such single minded dedication he felt was unhealthy for a person regardless of their intentions and it seemed that Hilde’s were seldom good hearted. Thinking over the possibility of taking a backtrack in technology; ditching Prismus industries latest Holo-comms in favour of a slightly archaic telephone began to appeal more and more to the governor, for there were a good number of people he had to converse with on a daily basis whose faces he’d rather not look at, even if he were forced to speak with them. Either way, placing the data pad back on the desk, Jonathan prepared to make a call to one of the few people that he took great pleasure in talking to; tapping a Call Code into his computer, the device recognised the number and displayed the identity of the call receiver’s on the monitor as the machine began to hum the dialling tone. Jonathan leaned back in his chair and admired the faces of two of his most upstanding governors and loyal friends; both husband and wife they had been nothing short of a corner stone for him ever since they were elected over fifteen years ago to serve in his council, their promotion being one of the greatest descions that the councillors of Sky-Plaza-West had ever made even before their inception of the Shuttle transport. As the Holo-comm rang, red and blue particles swirled about the air above the projector in an impossibly mesmerising fashion until finally, after a minute of waiting, the dots of light began to converge and coelesce to replace the flat screen monitor image of the governors with a 3D representation of the real people. It was a Saturday so as predicted both Governors were at home, and as ever they had answered the call together, something that had always puzzled the First Governor. Putting on his broadest smile, which took some effort given the gravity of the news he had to bear along with his tiresome day, Jonathan addressed his friends “Adler, Elaina its good to see you again, im sorry I haven’t had the time to visit your office for some weeks ive been buried in work, but none the less this is not why I called you for I have wonderful news, Your Son is awake”

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So this is me: My history, my family and even my personality summed up across several pages in one easily manageable folder. For all the good it did me I could have picked up a biography on just about anybody and read that instead, for although I had regained some vestiges of my identity I was still no closer to understanding who I was. The covering sheet on the file even contained a short introduction to my life, about the troubles I may be having in recalling memories and how it should be of no concern as they will all eventually come back to me in due time; the file also went as far as telling me how long it would take to read and not to be surprised if I couldn’t make any connection with the information provided in the report. That word “report” it had a disturbingly cold air about it and was entirely appropriate for what I had just read. My life was given back to me in the form of a well ordered and precise summary that documented everything from my birth place to the education id received and finally my career as well, it also had sources in the form of pictures and quotes from various persons of authority, such as teachers I couldn’t remember and friends I’d never met, which very much gave it the feeling of a high school academic review. To be honest I’d taken the whole ordeal in the manner of a fist to the face, and was left feeling slightly numb; certainly I felt detached from the person detailed in the document but I also knew I was going to have to accept, sooner rather than later, that this person was me, that the pictures on page three were my parents and that I had even been a member of a military corporation. In fact the latter point was of greater interest to me than all of the others combined for it had been detailed on the final page why it was that I had been in a coma for three years and therefore why I couldn’t even remember my own name. This was the information I was most interested in, answers that went towards explaining my current predicament the likes of which I could eventually use to paint myself a mental picture of where I fitted within this world.
Although I had just taken a lot in, within only a short space of time my thirst for more knowledge had not been quenched yet, not by along way. What I had been given seemed little more than an appetizer and I was hungry for more, though to get it I was going to need help, even if that meant going to find the doctor again. My life it seemed was just beginning and I wasn’t going to waste a single second more of it in this featureless hospital ward, so clutching my precious files in one hand I began to march towards the exit, each step as determined as the last. I had lost something, something important to me  and as long as I had breath in my body and clarity of mind I was going to hunt for that which had been so ruthless stolen from me, no matter where it took me and whoever stood in my way. The world felt hostile around me but I was sure that somewhere in its hazy depths lay the answers to my problems and for that alone there was at least cause for hope.
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The End- For the moment

Thank you again to those who had the patience to read this far. Unfortunately this is all I have written for this chapter so far though I intend to write more in the near future. As for this piece of writing I’d be eternally grateful to anyone who had the time to give it a review, whether you enjoyed it or otherwise, it will be a huge help to me and any future pieces of writing I intend to do. I’d especially be interested to hear if my sentence structure, pacing and descriptions are of a decent standard, whether or not the scene changes and perspective changes are confusing and most importantly if the protagonist was convincing bearing in mind his condition and that he appears to have no memories .