Our Manufactured Reality

Chapter 1: Patient 121

My eyes fluttered open to behold the inside of a metal pod.

Immediately, I became aware of my surroundings as they were all new to me.  In fact, everything was.  I found no matter how hard I concentrated, no background or history came to me.  That is to say the memories of me- whoever I may be- were gone.

Soon I realized that not all my memories were gone.  Some traits managed to persist from my old self to the one I'd awoken to.  More specifically, a fear had surfaced in my mind: I'm claustrophobic... Great.

Finding out you are claustrophobic and being trapped inside a steel pod is not a good combination.

The walls around me suddenly seemed threatening, and my imagination saw it as a coffin.  I pressed my hands against the small window in front of my face and tried to push it open.

Nothing budged.

My breathing quickened and my instincts took over.  You have to get out.  Get out, girl!  My mind screamed the word "girl" in place of a name I did not have.

My fists banged on the metal walls and clawed at the glass panel that was foggy from my breath.

"Help!  Help!  Someone, please!"  Tears rolled down my face while panic took over as I heard my voice for the first time.  I kept punching at the inside of my tomb, and giving one more shove, the door finally gave way.

My body jolted forward and I jumped out of steel prison that had held me.  I stood there catching my breath and sucking in fresh air as my fists un-clenched.

"It's over... It's over..."  I had to say the words out-loud to fully understand them, "What.  An.  Awful.  Fear."  I put my head in my hands and took one more breath before looking around.

When I lifted my head, my location dawned on me. Where am I?

I scanned the dimly lit room.  There was a control panel on the far side of the room that had been busted-up and broken.  There was a blank screen overhead, and many other steel objects.  My eyes drifted to a blinking console next to a large door.  I walked over to it and passed many other pods.  Some were empty, and some held sleeping people, yet I had a hunch messing with those things again would be a bad idea.

I reached the console and brushed my hand against it to clear away dust.  The blinking dot persisted through this and I stretched out my hand to examine it further, when something caught my eye.  I also seemed to have a blinking dot.  My dot showed through the skin on my arm, and naturally I perceived these things to be connected.

I placed my arm on the console and lined up the glowing dots.

"Ouch!"  I pulled my arm away when greeted with a slight prick.  A single bubble of blood appeared and I smoothed away the red substance with my finger.

Suddenly, a voice spoke.

"Welcome, Harper Atkins: Patient 121."  I looked around for the source of the monotone recording, and noticed a small speaker by the blinking dot. A computer.  It must have read my blood when it pricked me.  Pretty advanced technology.

It had only been seconds after the voice spoke, when the door next to the console opened.

I looked through the opening to see a dimly lit corridor facing me.  Making a decision, I glanced back at the room with the steel pods and concluded that any place was better than here.  I stepped through the doorway and my access to that room sealed itself shut.

Replaying the events that had just occurred, I remembered what the computer had said.  Welcome Harper Atkins...  Harper Atkins.  Harper.  My name is Harper.

My heart leapt with joy at this revelation!  I have a name!

The feeling was like being given your driver's license or winning first place in a race.  Like gaining a piece of your identity.  I don't know how I knew about those things such as sports or driving, but I made the assumption that even though my memories were gone, I still had general knowledge.  This would explain why I could speak and understand English; I'm not entirely lost.  I'm not starting from scratch.

Yet, the mystery of my origin and location still remained...  Where am I?  Why am I here?  And why can't I remember who I am?

My feet strode down the hallway in search of answers, and my body followed.  Somehow I'd get to the bottom of this.  I'd find my way out.  I mean, how lost could I be?