Power (Book 1 in SRMTHFG Series)

4 - Formless

Antauri closes his eyes and frowns, arms crossed. "That doesn't sound good. We must begin her training immediately."

"My training?" I ask. "What does that mean? What's going on anyways?"

"Umm..." Nova says. "We can't tell you."

"Yet," Sparx cuts in.

"What?" I ask, confused.

Gibson clears his throat. "You see, Chelsea-"

"You know my name?"

"Yes. Anyways, you see, we can't tell you all of what you need to remember. You have very important memories in your head before- well, we can get to that part later. We brought you here to help you regain those memories and do something very important."

I'm not frowning, and I'm not smiling. "So... I lost my memory, and we're going to get it back and then do something with it?"

Gibson puts a finger on his chin. "In basic terms, yes. I recommend we begin right away."

"Guys, I think she wants to take a shower first. No girl wants to stay dirty forever," a girl's voice says. Chiro swings around, eyes surprised, and runs over to hug her.

"Nova alerted me about-" She pauses and looks at me. "her coming. So, I'm here to help!" She comes to me. "Come on, the warmest shower is by my room." Nova comes along and offers to get a towel. I smile and follow the girl. I really don't like being dirty for long.

I scrub the dirt out of my hair, then go through two rags to clean myself. The girl set out an outfit for me to put on; a light blue dress with purple sleeves that come to my elbows and a purple hem that reaches my ankles. It's really long, but the cloth is loose and flowing after the waistband. It's paired with black flats.

I do a fishtail braid on my long, brown hair because it looks cute and goes with my misty blue eyes. Fishtail braids have always been my favorite, and I finish it off with the purple ponytail holder she left me.

When I come back out, everyone looks at me, but I don't think they're actually looking. I mean, it's like they're dreaming or something...

Remembering.

A sharp pain goes through my head. I close my eyes and hold it. When I open them, I look at the girl and smile.

"Thanks... Jinmay." She smiles and nods. If I didn't know any better, I would say she was relieved.

Everyone's sitting in small, white pods in the room in a circle. Otto comes out from behind one and Jinmay motions for me to come over to it.

"Press your hand on this screen," Otto says. I do, and then I scan my eye and record my voice for vocal recognition.

"Okie dokie, it's all set up!" he says. I press my hand on the screen and the pod slides open, revealing computer screens, buttons, and empty shelves and drawers. Everything has a purple tint to it, including the cushioned seat in the center.

"It's yours," Jinmay says.

"Thanks so much!" I say. Jinmay shows me how to operate the pod to where the chair opens up into a bed and how to use the television, food storage, and emergency compartment. This pod is basically my room. It feels a little familiar.

"Hey, Chelsea," Otto calls. "Here!" He tosses me my brown faux leather backpack. It was in my bike basket.

"Oh, thanks," I say. Otto's inspecting my bike. It's a pale blue and purple mountain bike with a cheap plastic basket. Yes, I do love blue and purple. A lot.

"Oh, yeah, this'll be too easy!" Otto says. He looks up at me. "Is it okay if I... modify it a little bit? You know, fix it, add a few things, change some stuff."

"Um... will it break my bike?" I ask.

Otto shrugs. "I dunno... maybe?"

I think for a minute. "Okay. Go ahead." Otto grins and excitedly wheels away my bike.

I sit back in my pod and look around. It's small, but in a cozy way. I push a button, revealing a compartment. I open the door and put my backpack inside, then shut it and press the button again. The box slides into the wall.

Suddenly, a huge pain comes in my head. It's way worse than any of the other ones; it makes me curl up into a ball and scream, holding my head. I'm sobbing in the pain.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" I yell. Everyone crowds around my pod.

"Chelsea! What's wrong?!" Chiro says urgently. Someone tries to come in and help, but I hear them being pushed back.

"She must do this part of her training on her own," Antauri says. "We cannot help this."

The pain finally leaves and I'm left limp in the chair, whimpering. Jinmay comes a little closer.

"Chelsea...?"

I wipe my eyes with my arm and sit up, burying my face in my hands.

"The Formless," I whisper, my voice getting louder. "They... they tried to kill me back home. They wanted me dead. They didn't want me back here. They-they want us all dead."

Antauri stares at the ground, frowning.

"And it's not the first time it's happened, is it? Antauri?"

"Chelsea, you-" Antauri starts. He's cut off by a siren going off and a red light flashing through the robot. Gibson rushes to the computer and types furiously.

"Oh, no! It's the Formless! They're trying to get in!"