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I was stretched out on a hospital bed. The room was a sickly, blinding white. An IV had been hooked into my arm and stretched somewhere out of sight. My stomach rolled, but the stabbing pain in my abdomen was gone. My fingertips tingled the slightest amount. With my vision fully restored I could see a doctor standing nearby, filling a syringe. Monster. Demon. Death, knocking at my door.

I screamed and surged upward, catching the doctor off guard. He yelled and grabbed my wrists. I writhed in his grip, desperate to throw him off. My chest twisted in pain at the motion.

"What's happening?" Tyler's voice demanded from somewhere nearby.

"Don't be alarmed," the doctor called as he kicked a yellow button.  "The paralyzer just wore off."

"Paralyzer?"

Numbness seeped into my arm, quickly spreading to the rest of my body.  The doctor pushed my helpless body back onto the bed.  My mind was entirely lucid, but I had no control over anything. Nothing . . . nothing, my mind sang. I could feel my sanity slipping. I couldn't be here. I shouldn't. Screaming, death . . .

"See?" the doctor asked, stepping aside, totally oblivious.  "Now she's perfectly harmless.  Not a danger to us, or herself."  Tyler came forward slowly.  Concern was written all across his face. As I watched, his face turned into a sneering skull. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run.

"Was a paralyzer necessary?"

"You saw how she reacted.  Many products don't think fondly of doctors. That's why we usually send them to specialized product hospitals. But an exception can be made just this once, for your family. After all, you seem to have become attached to this particular product."

"I don't want her dead. Is that too much to ask?"

The doctor shrugged and picked up the syringe again. No. Don't let him. Tyler, stop him!

But I could only watch as he jammed the syringe in my arm. I couldn't feel it, but I did feel the cold that spread through my veins wherever the clear liquid went. Murderers. Murderers!

But it was already too late. Bliss seeped into my mind as my vision went dark. The last thing I was aware of was Tyler and the doctor leaving the room, talking about getting a copy of my medical file.

-

I crawled back to consciousness. A white room, a strange bed. Some sort of tube was attached to my arm and trailed up to a bag filled with liquid. An IV. I blinked a few times to orient myself. My chest was throbbing gently, but someone had put an ice pack on it which seemed to help.

I sat up, testing my limits. Everything else about me seemed to be fine. Someone else was in the room. They were reading a magazine, but they put it down as soon as I sat up. It was a guy, maybe somewhere around my age who had pale skin and sunken eyes. A bruise on his face has been rubbed with some sort of cream.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, I think. My chest hurts a little bit."

"The doctors gave me some pain medication for you that should help." He chuckled. "You really had me freaked out back there, when you started throwing up and stuff. And when it looked like you were going to throttle the doctor."

I squinted at him. I didn't remember trying to kill a doctor. I didn't remember anything, really, except that apparently this guy knew me. He seemed like a nice guy. I wanted to do whatever it took to make him happy. My gaze caught on something on the back of my hand. A barcode. Someone had tattooed a barcode onto my hand. What a strange fashion choice. Maybe the guy had suggested it.

"And see?" he said. He was still talking apparently. "I told you that you needed to see a doctor. They weren't so bad, were they, Destiny?"

"Destiny," I repeated as I rubbed a finger along the barcode. "So that's my name?"

A fluttery, slapping sound. I glanced up. The guy stood, staring at me in horror. The magazine had dropped from his limp fingers.

"What did I say?" I asked nervously. Was he mad at me? Was I supposed to know who Destiny was? Maybe she wasn't me. Maybe she was someone else, someone who was in charge of me.

At that moment the door opened and a doctor walked in, carrying a stack of papers. He put them on the table next to the freaked out guy.

"There are her files," he said. "Everything I could retrieve for you. It should have all of her previous medical emergencies, all the times she's been purchased, and even her birth record. Although I don't know why you wanted that and I had to get significant authorization to give it to you..."

"Something's wrong, doctor," the guy interrupted. "She doesn't remember anything."

"Oh, yes. Perfectly normal, I assure you. Even though we don't usually treat products I was able to find some Reset lying around-"

"Reset?"

"-and it should have restored her to factory settings. Yes, Reset. It's administered to all products as soon as they arrive at a hospital. If you're worried about extra costs, don't be. It's included in the bill already."

The guy grabbed at his hair.  So many emotions were flying across his face that it was hard to tell what he was thinking.  It was fascinating to watch, though.

"Don't forget her pain medication," the doctor said.  "She might need it for a while.  But she should make a full recovery.  You may leave whenever you are ready."  He crossed to the door, but paused before stepping out.  "And Tyler?  Don't get too attached."  He shot the file of papers and significant look and closed the door.