Shadow: Awakening

I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog

*Gasp*

I awake rather suddenly, now face up on a metal table. The glowing lights are still around my wrists and ankles. Not glowing lights, though, energy shackles. Wait... How did I know that? I race through my brain, trying to trace the foreign information. As I do, I realize that when that horrendous monster had pressed the raised bump on the wall, he must have transferred information to me. Not a horrendous monster though, a human being, and that bump was a button. I am so confused! Somehow I understand everything that happened to me since the moment I awoke in the creation tank!

My realization had distracted me, but once I started looking around, I noticed I wasn't the only one interested in my thought process. "Incredible! The creature's brain is amazingly active! From what I can see on the scanner screen, I deduce he already has figured out the events that have occurred since his activation," comments one of the scientists monitoring a digital screen. "With the data we transferred to him, we do not have to worry about him straying from our expectations, nor do we have to waste valuable time teaching him basic knowledge." Wait... What?! I may carry knowledge I had not previously possessed, but I have NO idea what that man just said.

A animated chatter breaks out upon the scientists, female and male, that populate the room. They are discussing some sort of fearsome creature, one they say needs to be contained, lest it wreak havoc on the facility and all those in it. Hmm... I wonder if they need any help guarding that creature, I mean, I would be happy to help if someone could explain what has happened to me. Something as dangerous as they're describing should most certainly be quarantined, or some innocent person might be hurt! One suddenly sees me watching from the examination table, and stops mid sentence to stare at me. "Look!" he whispers excitedly, "Shadow is observing us!" Shadow? Who's Shadow? Could he possibly be referring to me? Is my name Shadow? All the other humans in the room turn towards me, muttering among themselves with amazed expressions. I smile, having finally been noticed. Gasps float from the mouths of some of them and still others blink in surprise.

"Get Professor Gerald," says a brunette woman, "Shadow is showing clear signs of sentience, and he must see this!"

Minutes pass, and I pass the time by attempting to answer the questions that swam through my mind, doing laps behind my eyes. Who is Gerald? Who is this fearsome creature? Am I the Shadow they speak of? If not, who is? How did I get here? Where IS here? Who am I? If I could choose to have any question in the universe answered, it would be who I am. I mean, I know not one detail about myself as an individual. And I doubt these humans can tell me who I am; even if I could ask them, assuming they know, would they even consent to tell me? I sigh, for I can see no way out of this pickle, this predicament has me stumped. Wait! The thought shoots through me, and I feel ecstatic with energy. How could I have been so blind?! I just have to talk to them! Embarrassment floods me as I realize this; it's so simple, and I had not even considered this option.

"Ahem," I cough, unsure of where to start, and just as I start to make the necessary sounds that would inquire as to some of my questions, I am interrupted. The door whooshes open, and a heavyset, tall man steps into the room. His mustache is bigger than my face... I think as I twist to get a better view of him. If you have never been strapped to a table with unbreakable shackles, you do not know how hard it is to sit up, even partially, with them. His extravagant addition is very bushy, and sticks out maybe 10 inches from his upper lip. Not to be denied, I throw in a question that jumps to my lips; it just fits. "Professor Gerald?" He stops, shocked, and I continue. "Am I the Shadow these humans speak of?" A horrible thought strikes me. "Am I the monster these scientists fear and wish to keep contained?!"