The steady drip of liquid falling from a suspended pipe in the corner of my cell was a welcome exception to the silence that ordinarily engulfed me. Being housed on the deepest level of base meant no windows or natural light of any kind. The only source came from the glow of a single light bulb down a connecting corridor. I wasn't cleared to know exactly what floor this was but over the years I'd narrowed it down to between 40-45 levels below ground.
Despite the fact the floor was built solely for me and one other person, my cell was a basic 4X4 room constructed to replicate a prison cell, only these walls were structurally enforced to withstand the impact of an atomic bomb. The bars that stretched from floor to ceiling were amped up with a couple thousand volts of electricity at any given time, allowing no privacy or means for escape. Not that I'd ever wanted to do such a thing, at least until recently.
A single metal bunk that housed exactly one pillow and a sliver of fabricate that was my blanket, no mattress, along side a toilet and sink were the extent of my belongings. On the exceptionally rare occasion I impressed my superiors I would however be granted a book for a single 12 hour period. These were usually based on functional skills, but still, it was better than nothing. This, it turns out, was the only thing I truly knew about myself. I liked to read.
☞ ☞ ☞
Over the past few months, new and unknown images and scenes had been plaguing my mind. I didn't even know for certain that what I was recalling actually belonged to me but there was a feeling of familiarity that made me believe it did. They had began after a very rare encounter with The Winter Soldier. Missions had been short but frequent and on these occasions it wasn't uncommon for Winter to be kept out of his hyperbaric chamber and placed in a double cell with me for 'holding' until we were needed once more. What wasn't common was for Winter to talk.
"Your name...it's Sophie."
I'd never had a name, and until now I had not questioned my home nor upbringing, it was simply what it was.
It took a long time for me to grasp that what I was seeing were in fact, memories. No names came to me, nor could I quite make out the faces of those I'd began to recall. It felt, much like seeing a blurred face on a security tape. The memories were there all the same, random images slowly but surely showing me a life I had apparently lived.
I kept my new knowledge quiet knowing what would happen should I show any signs of being anything but a mindless soldier. Winter hadn't said another word and I didn't broach the subject, it was clear that he'd been wiped. It wasn't long before he was put back on ice anyway and I was once again alone.
☞ ☞ ☞
Further missions were put on hold over the past few weeks due to yet another round of experimentation. Despite the agony and feeling of impending death, I used my now expanding thoughts to my advantage by shutting down and taking my mind elsewhere, trying to piece together the small part, buried in some deep corner of my brain that actually seemed to belong to me.
So far, the only real thing I was sure of was that I wanted to get as far away from here as possible, wherever here actually was. What I didn't know was that by some miracle, I was about to get lucky.
