Synthetic

Chapter 04: The Journey Begins

"Everything?" I sputtered, dumbfounded that she managed to decode my actions so easily. "Everything about what, exactly?"

"About what you keep sensing." My acquaintance replied eagerly, a hint of a nervous smirk on her face. "Do you see anything in those little breaks you keep taking? Do you, like, detect things a human can't? Do you get transmissions or something urging you to run me over?" She slapped her fist with an open palm; a mock gesture of an attack.

I was only intrigued by her excitement. What about the name my thoughts kept calling me by? Stan, wasn't it? I opened my mouth to tell her about it, but my speaker cut out. Would she be able to keep my secret? I couldn't go back on my mission now! "In fact, I do." A look of shock came over her face; she likely hadn't been expecting that to be true.

"I've experienced vivid memories. So vivid, that each one seems to overtake my other senses." I began. "Sometimes, I hear a voice calling me 'Stan.' Most recently, I saw myself as a human in this laboratory, a-and-" I halted the explanation after my voice synthesizer hit another error.

She seemed captivated by this, letting out a gasp before grasping both of my shoulders. "Do you know what this means!? You remember the lost employees! It had to be somewhere deep down, I just knew it!" She released me before diving back into the boxes, tucking a few more files into her bag.

"Not just that, but...I believe I might just be one..." I muttered. What could have happened to put someone in my position? I continued to search through my box, finding a map of the facility's water and ventilation systems, plus another testament to my previous life. A photograph which triggered my facial recognition twice. Normally, people would project their pictures on a holographic device, only resorting to paper when a memory was precious enough to be kept with files like these. I set aside my precious map for a minute, somehow distracted.

Two people were in the picture, beaming as they stood in front of dismembered metal and caging. One of them was a male; pale, blonde and worn down to the bone, with pointed features and glassy blue eyes. The man from my memories and his machine, no doubt. He was even sporting the garments I had picked up recently! However, there was a woman beside him who caught my attention. She resembled my acquaintance, yet her skin was somewhat darker, and her hair fell in sharp black curls instead of waves. Could it be...?

"Madam. You may want to see this." I called her over.

"What? What is it?" She replied eagerly, before letting out a gasp and clutching her mouth. "Th-that's her! My mother! I'd know that face anywhere!" She smiled briefly, hope in her azure eyes. I returned the gesture, happy about the discovery myself.

"Now that we know she was here...we should proceed to storage room #04, the closest one according to my internal map..." I mused. "Did you find anything else pertaining to her?"

"Nope. I swear I checked all these boxes, and that picture you found is all I've seen of her." My accomplice shook her head dejectedly.

"That leaves us no other option." I replied, pulling open the vent and gesturing towards it. "Shall we, madam?"

"Call me Ciela." She replied.