About a year ago, an incident occurred that drew massive attention from the United World Authority.
The Santau desert was one of the largest deserts in the world, housing deadly wildlife and poisonous plants. Nonetheless, this desert was popularly known as a tourist site because of its naturally formed canyons that stretched for miles. The deadly wildlife and plants also occasionally attracted scientific expeditions that helped learn more about the desert and its ecology. Over time, a little settlement was built at the boundary of the desert.
This place was called Mare Santau, and it served as an outpost for people who wanted to explore the Santau desert. Over time, the settlement grew bigger until it became a small town. Mare Santau was usually tagged a dead zone because it was approximately a two-hour drive to the nearest service provider. All who came here were prepared to leave behind their modern conveniences. But who would have thought that this slight flaw would lead to the town being wiped out in a week.
The media wasn't clear about the story behind it, and also tried to hide some details to avoid panic, but it was released to the masses that a deadly virus had infected the town, and before the news about the infection got to the rest of civilization, everyone in Mare Santau had died miserably.
The United World Authority deployed the proper forces to shut down every route to the Mare Santau and quarantined the town until more information was acquired. The result of the investigations confirmed the presence of a deadly pathogen in the water they drank. Luckily, this virus wasn't contagious and was successfully contained.
~A Facility Far Away~
The little boy stared at the lady. She was corporately dressed in a white blouse and black knee-length skirt, concealed under her lab coat. Pinned on her lab coat was an ID with her picture on it. Noticing the boy intensely looking at her, the lady spoke up with a smile,
"I'm Dr. Ilene Olson," she introduced, also showing the ID on her lab coat.
"Can you tell me what you remember?"
The little boy was still trying to adjust when he heard the lady's question and froze. He thought for some time before he spoke up, stuttering at first.
"I-I don't… I don't remember anything. What happened to me?" asked the boy nervously.
Dr. Ilene gestured,
"Calm down now, you're alright,"
She then sighed while shaking her head.
"Honestly, you're lucky to be alive. You were involved in a horrible accident a month ago and was exposed to a very deadly virus. My team and I found you with terrible wounds and brought you back to our facility."
The boy tried to make sense of what he just heard,
"Deadly virus…?"
"Yes. It was first discovered a year ago. It wiped out an entire town in a week, leaving no survivors. My team and I took up the case and have investigated the behavior of this virus ever since."
The throbbing headache he experienced made it almost impossible to focus, but the boy understood a few points so far.
"Y-You said I was exposed to this virus… am I… am I going to die? Is this the end for me?"
The little boy became anxious. The heart rate monitor attached to him beeped intensely, signifying a spike in his heartbeat. He hadn't been awake for up to five minutes and the breaking news was that he was infected by a deadly virus.
Dr. Ilene didn't panic and quickly injected him with a medication that quickly stabilized his heart rate. After his heart rate stabilized, Dr. Ilene held the boy's hand, stroking it while softly looking at him,
"I've said it before, you're safe here. You might be infected, but we've had a lot of time to manage those who are infected. You'll be fine as long as you stay here and receive your treatment."
With his anxiety eased, the boy was a lot calm now and processed everything Dr. Ilene told him. He was relieved to hear that the virus could be managed. He didn't entirely understand what was going on, but Dr. Ilene's assertive responses assured him that there was nothing to worry about.
"The virus aside, your accident was pretty serious. We fear the impact to your brain might have caused a trauma, so I'll be asking you some question, while you try very hard to remember them."
The boy nodded.
"Alright then, can you remember where you came from?"
The little boy did as he was told and tried to remember, but shook his head in the end,
"I don't remember."
Dr. Ilene took out a little note from her lab coat and wrote something down before speaking up again,
"You were involved in a school bus accident; do you remember where you were going?"
The boy once again tried to remember but failed to. Dr. Ilene wrote down something on her note before speaking up again,
"This is final question, what is your name?"
With creased brows, the little boy remained silent as he pondered the question. This was something concerning his identity, and yet, he failed to remember a thing about it. The little boy helpless shook his head, not saying anything.
Dr. Ilene smiled,
"I'm sorry I'm making feel this way. I already guessed you might have amnesia given the trauma you suffered in the head… I was just carrying out protocol. But you don't have to worry about that, you're here to receive the treatment you need to recover both physically and mentally… do you trust me?"
The little boy couldn't help but nod after hearing all Dr. Ilene said.
"That's it for today," said the doctor as she stood up to leave.
"Since you can't remember your name, would you like me to give you one?"
The boy shyly nodded.
"Then what do you think about Johan?"
The little boy didn't reply immediately but nodded later,
"It's a nice name… I like it."