Enigma Source: Grey Area

Chapter 29: Rising Tide

December 1st, 2531
Sinclair
Unknown Location

It was pitch black and very, very cold. A strange "tingling" traveled throughout my body. I felt like I was in a deep slumber, but the physical pain I endured was still prevalent. My eyelids were unbearably heavy: I couldn't open them no matter how hard I tried.

I couldn't do anything. My brain was active but my body was disabled.
I was in this state for what felt like years. Every so often, I could hear the faint voices nearby. But I couldn't register what they were saying. Thier speech was almost alien. Additionally, I could feel someone or something tampering with my body. The sting of sharp needles and the stamps of clamps no doubt.

More time passed. More moments of nothing.

In the empty, pitch black space I found myself in, I remembered what happened. My scuffle with Copyoids put me in such a weakened state. And that man with the ugly face and bad breath. He took me somewhere remote and far away. At least that's what I remembered. I had some consciousness on the aircraft.

It was strangely easy to recall memories at this point in time. Like, that last battle loosened some screws in my brain, making my thoughts "flow" easier. This could also be because of whatever they were doing to meat the moment. Whatever strange sedative they were using may be to blame.

The first memory that came to mind was the day I left the three orphans behind. Seraphina, Vent, and Icarus were so upset that day. I remember their teary eyes as I walked away into the wilderness.

It was tough, but it was for the better. They're safe with the people of Novaroot. If I can even call them "people". The beings that took us in were masked in mystery. But they were reliable and trustworthy. "I'm sure the kids are fine with them, although Illya must have her hands full with them", I thought.

Another memory swiftly came to mind. This time I remembered Lux and her struggle to name all of those kids. It took her a few days to come up with one for all of them.

"Your name will be Garfield. And you look like a Timothy, so that's what we'll go with".

I remembered sitting on a crate as she greeted the young ones. This was right after we raided the train. "They were dead weight", I told her but she insisted that we take them all in. I didn't argue with her afterwards, but the rest of the gang were absolutely against having kids tag along. But of course, we all grew to like them.

But that was years ago. Most of them perished in that attack orchestrated by Corpus Industries.

No other significant memories came to me after that. Well, I did think about Grey and his dilemma. I thought about him and his friends. I thought about his father and his current adventure to Magnolia City. A lot of moving parts to this, and I wasn't able to do anything at this time. Me, a powerful weapon, couldn't even open his eyes. Me: An Arma.

Arma...

Arma...

Arma...

That word began to make me feel confused and lost. A shroud of sadness and weakness covered my psyche.

"I am an Arma. Perhaps the last one too". What were the others like? I know I said before that I didn't care if there were any others left, but a part of me started to feel some kind of attachment. I had bonds with the other Armas but I couldn't remember any of them. I searched my thoughts and tried to recall anything about my life before waking up and meeting Lux. For a few minutes, nothing was coming up. Only the pitch black, emptiness of my amnesia was around. But I kept trying.

I don't know why I was so hellbent on trying to remember anything about the other Armas. It was like a dormant need to acknowledge their existence. The existence of my... friends? They were my friends. That I could recall. Friends, rivals, family: I had those before I met Lux.