In The Gray

**

Nemo

I had never actually wanted to know what it was like to be rendered unconcious by a bio-bomb, found five years later in a coma, then introduced to a completely new society.

But, what I don't want to know is irrelevant now, because I know what that feels lik now.

I was one of very few survivors of the bio-bomb. Something in my genetics had enabled me only to pass out, not away. Everyone else died within minutes. The bio-bomb was an effort by the scientists to rebuild society more perfectly, by genetically engineering more perfect people and growing them in test tubes until after the bio-bomb, when they would be released to rebuild society.

I think that the survivors were not a part of their equation at the time, but there really was no way to find out, with the scientists being dead and all. Quite very dead.

I woke up in a hospital with no memory. I'm told I tried to run away when I woke up. Maybe I had white coat syndrome, maybe it was the tight white walls and white sheets and pristine white floor. I knew who I was and I still had my vocabulary and knowledge, but I couldn't remember anything from before the bomb.

The only thing that seems to set me apart from others, besides my origin, are the scars marking my left arm.

***

After a week in the hospital, a tired looking portly lady took me shopping for clothing and necessities and helped me settle into a little room in the city's university. She was middle aged and her face had quite the complex network of wrinkles. I was under the impression that everyone was supposed to be genetically perfect, but I guess there had to be some phenotypical variation.

The personalities the scientists had managed to create were actually quite robust but not problematic. Apparently, families had already been set up and communities and schools planned. The scientists definitely planned out everything. The genetic perfection definitely made some people feel superior and treat me like something stuck on their shoe, but others admired me and even some were a little scared.

The room was small but nice. The window looked out into a park full of trees that caught the sunlight in just the most poetic way. I had no roommates, which didn't bother me. The people around me were a typical mix of college students, except that they were much younger. In the new Society, placement and advancement was solely based on skill, so the university dorms were divided by age.

I had been given a placement test before I left the hospital, and honestly, I didn't do so well. It was nice though, since lessons were so unstructured. You were given a list of topics you needed to learn and provided with a variety of resources. You were expected to learn at your own pace in the classroom (or out if you wanted to) while the teacher was there to answer questions. At the end of a lesson, there was a test to see if you advanced.

I suppose that would be where my story ends. There's nothing left about me that sets me apart. I'll integrate into Society and fulfill my social roles until I die.