Under the hot star-struck eyes of the crowd, I was paraded onto the stage as *claps* resounded throughout the hall initiating my macabre journey of becoming a lab rat for their amusement.
The clapping eventually slowed down and came to a full stop as I stepped onto the stage, going through various expressions in my head, of which only the happiest and the fakest smile that hurt my cheeks remained plastered onto my face like a clown.
Shaking Lazarus's hands, I positively only felt more hatred for him, after his stunt at inviting me to the front even though it was my intention, I whispered words only for him to hear, I wanted to rattle him.
I assumed the words I said might give him enough of a fright so that he could carry on with the rest of the show in a quick fashion, quick enough for me to get off this god awful stage that had shone too many eyes on me.
"I know what you did."
But it didn't go as I expected.
'Too many things have been going out of my expectations recently.'
'Is there a god up there pulling the strings of my fate, making me dance like his little puppet?'
'Are you enjoying watching me suffer?'
Lazarus's eyes widened at first, but then they morphed into a quick shy smile as he whispered back.
"As expected of someone of your stature. I request you allow me only to complete this event. I will confess right after."
I nodded with a serious look on my face and then turned around, both my body and expression to look like a humble fool that could entertain the crowd for the next how many ever minutes the god up above decided to make me suffer.
"Now! Let us begin! Sergeant Dave! Could you please sit down on this chair!?"
Lazarus pointed at a short chair and touted me to sit on its flat uncomfortable-looking futuristic designer seat.
"How are you feeling today Sergeant Dave?" Lazarus quizzed me, I couldn't see his face because the lights were too bright. But I didn't falter. I had given one too many interviews to falter now.
"If this is the future.", I said pointing at the chair beneath me, "It is going to be uncomfortable.", I commented.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"
Laughter echoed in the darkness and I swear I heard some actress shout out loud for me to marry her, but I couldn't pay attention to any of them.
Something entirely different had captured my attention.
I spotted a silhouette. One I was familiar with to a degree I couldn't mistake it for anyone else.
A silhouette that I recognized purely because I had seen it like this earlier before during my interviews with the press.
A silhouette that hid itself the second I noticed it for a second too long.
'Gracewell.'
'What's she doing here?'
'How did she even enter without an invite?'
'Does she have an invite of her own?'
'Why?'
My head snapped back to Lazarus as he continued to ramble off to the crowd.
I wanted to do nothing other than shout out loud and ask him for a reason, but disturbing a man on his deathbed was not something I deeply desired at this moment.
'I can ask him about it after he runs his experiment on me.' I consoled myself.
"...and now! We can proceed to wipe out Sergeant Dave's brain!"
"*clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*"
A resounding thunder of claps echoed in my ears as Lazarus turned to face me once again.
"Are you ready Sergeant Dave!?" He asked positioning himself by the 'Memory Oracle' after asking me for my faux consent.
"As long as you promise to return me safe and sound." I nodded.
"Haha! Sergeant Dave! Do you know the running joke in the office about the Memory Oracle!?"
I shook my head without much thought to let his joke play out.
"Because you can forget about forgetting with it on your head!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA~~!!"
Another roar of laughter passed through the crowd as I wondered,
'For a man who's dying, he's remarkably good at selling things. Is he just a God's blessed or did he make a deal with the devil?'
"Please don't worry! As soon as you return, you'll be back to catching the criminals of Inception City! I promise!"
I mentally *sighed* at his secret innuendo but nodded nonetheless.
*THUK*
With a light flick nearby, I heard the spotlights on stage flicker out as only Lazarus was visible, leaving him to explain more about the 'Memory Oracle' while I was readied.
The sudden darkness brought much respite and coolness that I only realized after, like the frog in a pot of slowly boiling water, left to be cooked alive.
'How is he handling staying in the light so much?' I wondered but my thoughts were forced to cut off when Lazarus stepped directly in front of me to obscure me from the audience and a woman stepped beside me in the dark to explain me for legal reasons.
"Sergeant Dave, do you agree to the terms and conditions listed in the panel?" the woman quickly asked as a floating window popped up in my neural interface and AR glasses.
"Yes, I do.", I replied succinctly, without reading through much.
The contract wasn't going to be legally binding anyway since it was signed in a hurry, and I trusted Lazarus not to screw me over since he was going to die either way.
Another two assistants bound me using leather straps, possibly to keep me from hurting anyone while my memory was wiped.
I suddenly realized the strange way the chair was shaped, was to hold the leather straps in place.
This wasn't just a futuristic chair, it was a futuristic restraint chair for the mentally insane.
'I didn't realize I would be bound to a restraint chair today.'
The assistants vanished as Lazarus walked slightly to my right again.
The spotlight shone on me was just as bright as earlier making my skin grow hot again.
"It seems you are finally ready Sergeant Dave! Any last words?"
"I hope these aren't my last words." I retorted.
"Haha! Those are going to be famous if something goes horribly wrong!"
"..."
"Then in three, two, one."
*BZZZZZZZZZZ*
I could clearly hear the flashy buzz of a waver behind me, I estimated, that three people were standing a foot behind my back, ready to wipe me-
*FLASH*
'Night?'
I looked at the sea of black in front of me.
I could make out silhouettes gathered among the darkness.
Some standing, some sitting.
But all of them, silent.
Was something going to happen?
I looked at the only man visible on the right.
"Who are you?"
*GASP*
The silhouettes released a collective gasp as if I had uttered something profound or perhaps something frowned up.
I didn't know.
I guess it was wrong to ask so.
Because I didn't know who I was either.
"Now! In front of everyone! For the first time in recorded history! I will perform the Memory retrieval procedure in front of everyone!"
The man talked as his underlings carried along a glowing blue helmet.
Not a good one if anyone cared for my thoughts.
"What are you doing?" I asked the underling who placed his hands on my shoulder.
The audience, let out another collective *gasp* as I tried to free myself from his stern grip.
The attendant's fingers dug deep into my shoulder as I tried to free myself, but the restraints placed around me held on.
'Am I in an institution for the mentally ill?'
'But I feel fine.'
'Do all mentally ill feel this fine?'
The helmet was forced on me against my will.
'Are there no laws that protect someone's free will?'
And the man in front of me spoke once again.
"And now! For everyone to witness! Sergeant Dave! Will return! In, three! Count with me! Two!"
The audience cheered *TWO!*
"One!"
*ONE!*
A faint buzz occupied my head as I wondered once again.
'Are they responsible for making me like this?'
As soon as the thought appeared in my mind, it felt like an explosion of memories had been brought upon me.
I felt my head throb, as I tried to pull my hands to search for the pills I needed to take.
'Pills?'
'Right, I'm Dave.'
My headache though, only worsened.
It felt like someone was sticking needles into my head and carving my brain out of a clay mold.
Like someone was wringing it dry and filling it with water simultaneously.
Like someone was drawing inside my head using nothing else but their nails.
I felt a sharp stinging jab in my side as I found Lazarus stab me with an Elixir syringe immediately.
The effect was near instantaneous.
I was able to read the holographic screen projected by my AR glasses in view.
[Attempted to recover more than the recommended amount of memories at once.]
[Would you like to store the remaining memories or discard them?]
[-------CANCEL[]----PROCEED[]----DISCARD[]----------]
I instantly selected proceed and waited as the memories in the device were transferred to my home network.
Everything had worked.
I couldn't believe it.
Everything had been going wrong recently to proceed this smoothly.
Was this a dream?
Did the gods finally take pity on me?
'I think not.'
A small mature childish voice interrupted my thoughts.
'I KNEW IT!'
I now have a split personality, don't I!?
I knew I shouldn't have taken the advise of two crackpot scientists!
'Not exactly but close.'
The voice sounded inside my head once again as I tried looking around the stage to see if someone was playing a prank on me.
"Are you alright Sergeant Dave?" Lazarus asked me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Never better." I responded with a fake smile.
'You're good at lying. I wasn't this good at it.'
The voice pointed again.
'Where are you!? Are you inside my head!? But I thought I stopped the device from adding you to my memories!'
'You did.'
'Then-'
'Except you didn't think I had a backup plan.'
'Backup?'
'Yes, a backup. When I realized Mom and Dad were going to mindwipe me, I changed a few of my memories to read like an algorithm once my memories were reread some day in the future.'
'You created a virus for a device in the future?'
I couldn't believe it. I had to be dreaming.
Except I was not. If my burning skin was any indication.
Then suddenly I saw it.
A small face that I recognized.
Coupled with a stature I was all to familiar with.
Me.
Me when I was young.
Me when I was a itsy bitsy little child.
Me when I didn't remember what I was.
'I didn't remember?'
'How do I remember Mom and Dad?'
'How do I suddenly remember you?' I asked myself, or rather more accurately, my younger self.
'I'm the one they tried to erase.' The child spoke, looking a little brokenhearted.
'I returned you the memories of your childhood in perfect condition.' The child said. 'And kept only the ones that were a part of the algorithm.'
'Remember Dave. The thing has no emotion! It's an algorithm.'
'Ha! You're cleverer than I thought.' the child praised, but I could sense its jealousy.
'You. You want a body. Don't you? That's why you sent me those memories. So that you could give me a split personality and slowly turn me insane and then take over during the next mind wipe or retrieval.'
My eyes quivered at the thought.
I was just walking into a trap set by a dead boy who was twelve years old.
A trap that I would've missed had it not been for a crucial mistake.
'Oh! Do enlighten me! What mistake did I make?'
'You said you kept only the memories of the algorithm.'
'And so?'
'You lied. You clearly know Mom and Dad as well. You didn't return my memories. You copied them. You planned to manipulate them once you took over didn't you?'
The child looked stunned at my revelation but then revealed a chilling deathly smile as he spoke in my voice.
'You are right. I did intend to manipulate them. It would've been easy, had you not foiled it.'