Her new life begins with her lying on her back, surrounded by nothing but cold darkness. She wakes with a start, sucking in a huge gulp of stale air as she jerks up onto all fours. She blinks furiously as her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, her heart hammering against her chest.
She scrambles up on shaky legs, her limbs still numb from the effects of whatever's been keeping her unconscious, and stumbles forward into a solid steel wall. She frantically feels around the perimeter, blindly moving around in the confined space of what she soon realizes to be some sort of cage.
"Hey!" She yells, "Let me out!" She bangs her fists against the walls, her shouting suddenly drowned out by a loud screech of metal grinding against metal as the cage lurches into motion. The sudden movement throws her backwards into a stack of crates, knocking the breath out of her, as the cage begins to ascend. She wheezes as she rolls over on the floor, clutching the edge of a wooden crate to keep herself steady while trying to get her bearings. She concentrates on calming her thoughts, and through the swirling fog enveloping her consciousness a single word appears in her mind's eye; a name. She clings to the memory, forcing the word to come into focus.
Eve...
My name is Eve.
That's the only thing she can remember about her life. The realization feels like a punch to the gut, and her breathing becomes erratic, her mind whirling. She doesn't understand how any of this is possible. Her mind is functioning perfectly, calculating her surroundings and trying to come up with solutions and explanations for her situation. Knowledge and facts flood her mind; small details, memories and images of the world and how it works, but nothing from her own life; it's like she's never existed. Her thoughts feel violated, manipulated, everything feels so wrong that it makes her head pound and her stomach knot.
"Help!" Eve shouts, her voice drowned out by the harsh sounds of chains and pulleys echoing in the cage as it continues its ascent with a loud, screeching whine. She doesn't know who she's shouting to; she remembers nothing that led to this moment, and can't imagine what could come after this - her entire known world is this dark cage, and all she cares about is getting out of it. The cage hurtles upwards at alarmingly fast rate, the constant swaying and rattling of the floor beneath her making her stomach churn, her mouth tasting sour with nausea. Up and up it goes, the violent swaying becoming unbearable.
And then it stops.
The cage grinds to a shuddering halt, throwing her across the hard floor for a second time. The loud sounds of metal gears and pulleys is replaced by heavy silence. Eve pushes herself up, wobbling slightly. She looks in every direction but sees only darkness as she blindly feels around the perimeter of the cage again, looking for a way out.
"Let me out!" She demands, banging her fists against the cold walls. The fear of being trapped in here forever weighs down on her chest, her breathing coming in short, panicked gasps.
"Get me out of here!" She screams, the words ripping her throat raw. A loud clang echoes through the cage and her head whips up as a sliver of light appears in the darkness. She stumbles back, falling onto her butt as the sliver widens, a loud grinding noise filling the cage as two steel doors are forced open above her. Blinding white light floods the cage, piercing her eyes. She brings her hands up to shield her face, shuffling backwards until her back hits the furthest corner. She hears voices and a new fear squeezes her heart.
"Is that...?"
"It's a girl!"
"The greenie's a girl!"
"Dibs!"
"Shut up Frypan."
"Well? Are you shanks just going to stand there and stare like idiots? Thomas, help me get her out."
