Shell

Chapter 4: Unfamiliar yet Familiar Faces

I followed the man through the long hallway as best I could, my body felt all out of tune with my brain and it was slowly going where I wanted it to the ice cold floor against my bare feet wasn't helping. As we walked we passed many doors that were numbered though the doors didn't look like they were designed to keep people out they looked like they were to contain what was within though I kept that to myself. As we progressed for sometime I managed to get in sync with my body finally, I wondered if I was asleep for a long time that might explain the amnesia.

We finally made it to the end of the hallway and were met with yet another door though this one even more reinforced than any of the others. The man in the coat took out a card and looked up at a camera and showed the card to it and afterwards the door before us hissed to life and the loud clicks of all the locks could be heard before the door slid open. On the other side an open room that looked like a gathering room with all sorts of tables and chairs with even a big stage in the center. But that wasn't all there was in the room there was people in this room however they weren't ordinary people they were like me with all sorts of different animal parts on them, scaly skin, forked tongues , quills on backs, there was no end to the different things on people yet there were no two people alike except two other cat girls they looked so identical to each other it was creepy, the only noticeable difference was their eyes. Both had black and silver irises only they switched sides between the two twins.

"See Artemis, others have found life in not being entirely human it only takes time to get used these changes" the man next to me said.

The people down in the room began to end their conversations and looked my way. It felt like they were sizing me up as a target even the twins looked at me like a meal, so I stood tall and proud and looked for one to make eye contact with. My gaze fell on a guy whose eyes didn't hold the same feelings as the others, his was full of curiosity but not as if he wanted to eat me. He seemed to look fit for his age but not extremely muscular, though his skin looked normal I had a feeling it was thick like armor. He noticed me looking at him and he grinned a little showing his fanged teeth. I relaxed a little bit when something tugged at me, he seemed familiar to me yet I had no idea who he was. He turned around and everyone in mass went back to what they were doing after he did so.

"You did good, most are embarrassed at first since they only have the patient clothes on while they get looked at".

I looked down at myself and my face reddened, all I had on was a dark grey skin tight suit that went from my shoulders to about 1/3 of the way into my thighs, practically nothing was hidden about my physic.

"Hahaha! Well at least you didn't turn that color when it mattered" he laughed

"Anyways lets continue and get you some clothes".

We made our way through some more hallways before we reached another door that he had to open like before.

"Well we're here when I open this door you'll be able to pick out any of the clothes we've made here or those we've found outside the complex".

"Outside the complex? Whats outside?" I asked.

"We'll get to that soon, go on now get your things".

Knowing there was no point in pressing the issue I entered the room, well warehouse would be a better word to describe it. I found the section where all the clothes made here were kept, all of the clothing had this futuristic military feel and was made with hex patterns sewn in to the fabric. I picked out all the essentials I thought I would need in black and grey colors, if I needed anything else I could probably come back as there was enough here to supply a large city with clothing in here from the looks of it.

I got dressed in a pair of black pants and boots with a grey long sleeve shirt and threw on a black jacket over that and left it unzipped, when I put on the jacket I had to pull my long silvery white hair out from inside of the jacket.

"Right, long hair. I don't ever remember having hair this long" I complained to my self.

I put all the other clothes in a crate and when it was shut a screen came up like a hologram from a projector on the lid. It asked for me to type in my name bellow, my finger instinctively went for the "K" key. My finger hovered there for a moment before going over to the "A" key and typed out my name. I finished typing and then hit the "Confirm" button, I started heading over to the door when something out of the corner of my eye stopped me. I turned to face what stopped me and it was a little boy no older than eight who as familiar as the back of my hand should be but I had no idea who he was though I was sure I had met him somewhere in my past. I stood there looking wide eyed at the boy who had a grin on his face as he turned and ran under the gate that led into the recovered items section.

"H-hey wait!" I yelled after I began to chase after him.

Damn this little guy could run! I chased him through the seemingly endless shelves of the warehouse, twisting and turning as he tried to evade me. No matter how fast I went before I could reach him he would make a turn and I would lose him but something kept me chasing him, something deep down told me I had to keep up this game as if my past was on the line. He made another corner and ran to the end of the shelves then stopped in front of some crates like before. He turned to face me, smiled then faded out of existence. I stood there dumbstruck.

"What the fuck?" was all I could say.

The crates had letters and numbers on them and one piqued my curiosity, one labeled "K-41". I walked up to the crate and pushed the green open button on the side, the lid slid off the top and I was greeted with more mysteriously familiar items. what stood out most was a tan hat with a black skull with a red cross hair in the eye socket. I immediately closed the box and typed my name on the screen locking it as mine.  I walked out of the warehouse feeling as though I'd seen a ghost.