OBLIVIOUS

Chapter 2

I didn't hear from Vista the whole night as I guessed that she returned to her room as soon as twilight came. I knew that she had to go back there eventually, but I still felt a little bit miserable when she abruptly stopped talking and the deadly silence returned here in my room. With this state I am in, I don't think I could survive long enough. I might go back in a comatose state as my headaches worsened as I lay awake most of the night, still thinking about myself.

I was swimming in self-pity inside my head because I could not help but think of all the things that I could have told Vista if I could only use my voice. I could have called her and asked her to come back every day just like what Forte did for her. I know I still had a lot to learn so I longed for a companion. If only I could move my neck so I could take a proper look at the window on my left, I would have been able to confirm if she was talking from there or not. I could have deduced a lot of things, and probably get my answers rather than just hoping Vista would come back the very next day. The anticipation was agonizing.

The Mediborg (I started calling the mechanical creature like that even though I am still not a hundred percent sure that this was what Vista meant) had already visited me twice in the middle of the night and had always called me Axis 1. Just the mere fact that it was calling me something I don't know why they were calling me that way made me sleepless. Sleep only came to me on the verge of dawn, causing me more headaches that most probably are the result of anxiety and the fear that something might happen while I lay on the bed helpless. But when I fell asleep it turned into a deep slumber that disrupted my innate sense of time as the room was already well-lit from the sunlight coming through the only window. My headaches were gone, that's why I didn't believe that it was a result of inhaling the smoke that was coming from outside my window. It felt more logical to think that these headaches are part of me waking up from a coma. Who knows how long I had been comatose, and that should have taken a toll on my brain.

The room was already insanely hot when I woke up, so I guessed that I really overslept. I could feel the sunlight coming from the window slightly scorching my arm, and it was as when I realized that somebody was talking.

It was Vista, and I was really glad that she came back. She must have thought that I was already awake since it was already noon based on the wall clock at the top of the door. That clock was the only thing here in the room beside me and the machine on my right that monitored my health, so hearing Vista's voice first as I wake up up my spirits.

"...that was the last time we talked, and we promised to each other that when the time comes that I get discharged too we would meet on the Outside." I assumed 'the Outside' was the world outside wherever this facility might be. Her voice is really cheerful this time, and understandably so as she's talking again about Forte. "Of course, that made me feel hopeful you know, 'cause I can't remember anything from my life there on the Outside. I don't know where I'm from. Or who I am. Or who are my parents. It definitely feels like I'm oblivious to everything. Forte said that the staff here told him that they also don't know who we really are, but that's obviously bs. And I totally agree with him, if you know what I mean. I'm pretty sure the people here know exactly who we are because who's gonna pay our bills here right? I know medical procedures cost a fortune even though I have no idea about the prices of the stuff. Forte reckons that the people here, or as he calls them the White Shadows because they wear white plastic suits all the time, are ordered to keep silent about our real identities for some reason. And mostly the White Shadows are really intriguing and somewhat suspicious, if not secretive. If you meet them you are bound to not believe everything they say. Or everything they don't say."

I didn't think about that yet actually. I really haven't thought about my true identity yet. My focus is still locked on being able to move or make a sound so that I could properly communicate with Vista. I have yet to ponder on who I am. Of course, my true origins really get me, but I have noticed that thinking ahead too much coincided with my headaches so I tried hard not to dwell on it first. But if I have to guess right now, I bet I came from a well-off family. What Vista says about the price of these medications we go through is logically true, me coming from a rich family is the only good reason I can see why I am here.

And if so, I might have been an important person. My parents must've really valued me for them to spend money on my revival. However, the idea that I will be returning to a place I still have no clue about kinda unsettled me. I haven't even thought about how this side effect caused by the medical procedures performed on us works on our memories. Will my memory come back once I get fully healed? Or will it come gradually? Did Forte remember his past when he was said to be already fully recovered? Or did he just retain some of his memories but not all?

I suppose Vista mentioned something about that when I was still asleep, so I made a mental note to myself to try and wake up early in the morning so as not to miss any information anymore, in case she comes here every morning as a routine. "But Forte was very curious you know," Vista continued and I listened gratefully as this was the only thing that could occupy my day. "So he tried to investigate further. Of course, he pretended to be dumb and uninterested in anything here so that the White Shadows won't keep an eye on him too much. But yeah, when it was time for his required walks outside his room he would sneak into places or people and observe and listen to everything. There are quite a lot of things he discovered that shocked me, mostly. Some of them I had a hard time believing, you know..."

If I could praise this Forte guy, I would say that he was a very inquisitive person. And it was lucky that he shared what he had learned from his investigations even if it risked his safety. I would bet on my life that he is not supposed to learn anything other than what these unknown people he calls White Shadows had let us know so far, which is actually nothing as of the moment if I may talk base on my experience. I don't know if this was gut feel, but this whole place and everything I heard about it so far feels suspicious at the very least. I feel like there is something more going on more than us getting our recoveries, but I try not to think like that as it causes my headaches as I have realized earlier.

"The first thing that he told me that I had a hard time believing was that this facility is on an island in the middle of nowhere. Could you believe that at once? Forte said that he heard two of the White Shadows talking about a ship while he was hiding behind the giant topiaries in the garden. It turns out that those two were talking about how the patients get here, and it is by a ship and they were contemplating leaving with it at its scheduled departure. Another one carelessly mentioned that this island where we are is supposed to be far from the mainland. They call it the Blind Spot. Forte had to stalk those two White shadows for hours to get that information, you know."

This Forte guy is incredible. I would've been caught if it had been me. I could just sense that I'm a very careless person and stalking might not be one of my greatest assets. The information he uncovers is important and I commend his bravery. What he discovered made sense too. Now I know why everything is quiet here even if the windows are widely open. We might just be really on an island.

"And this is not just an ordinary island either. We are on a secluded island, if not a secret one. Forte had deduced this when he realized that if this was an ordinary island, we could have at least heard ships honking somewhere. Or hear planes zooming above us you know, but we hear nothing. The wind smells salty too, which means we are near the ocean. Forte tried to prove his theory by searching a way outside this facility but he gets caught before finding a path to the water."

If I had the precious ability to reply to her right now, I probably would have said that it might be the normal scenario for medical facilities to be in secluded places to help us recover faster. There's really nothing suspicious about being on an island in the middle of nowhere unless we are kidnapped victims being experimented upon. But as they have said earlier, we are survivors from a really lethal accident, so I can't think of any reason why being treated on an island feels wrong.

But it does feel wrong somehow. Not being able to get up is wrong. Everything about my situation right now is wrong. "Forte promised that once he gets back to his family, he will try to locate this place through maps. He says that he really finds it fishy that we have to be isolated like this from the world that no one even visits us here. Not even our loved ones. That's suspicious isn't it?"

Okay, I had to admit that that was a freaking good point. We could be here on purpose. Being isolated from the world does sound suspicious, as I would have expected that someone should have informed my relatives that I was awake already. But no one from the staff gives updates, and I think they do this on purpose.

"And that's not all, you know. Forte had also heard the White Shadows calling us by a name. He said that they were calling us 'Moss.' And I was confused, 'cause that doesn't make sense to me. The only word I know that sounded like that is the M-o-s-s word. The green, slimy things and I don't think that those gross things have something to do with us, right?"

Right, I replied in my mind as I agree with her. I think it is a code for something else, and Forte agrees as Vista continued talking. "It could be a nickname for us. You know already how Forte was. He suspected everything and he's convinced something fishy was happening here so he tried to decipher what that would mean. I just wished he discovered the answer to that before he went home. It made me lose sleep for a week, you know. Just thinking of what could it mean 'cause I was curious too. It's not every day that people call you a moss."

Vista laughed at that, and I could tell she's trying her best to entertain me. Maybe if I could already move, I would have laughed too, not because she is funny but because it should have been common sense to think of that word as a code.

And as I was thinking about it, I also came to the self-realization that I seem to be smart. Not smart-smart, but smart enough for someone who has no memories of his past. I seem to have knowledge of things even if I had no recollection of who I was before I woke up here. And I could say that to Vista and Forte too. We three have these inquisitive instincts that I am surprised about. I don't think that this is just because of the circumstance but could also be our innate personality. Who knows, maybe we used to belong to a particular group of people. Forte and Vista could've been my colleagues or classmates as we were all there when that said accident happened. There is a good chance that we were not just random strangers who happened to be in that accident.

"Staying here until we feel better would have been tolerable, you know if they had just been talking to us. Or if someone actually showed the whole picture to us like I guess what a normal institution would do. I, myself am very interested in what kind of accident did we had. Was it vehicular? Was it caused by natural disasters, like an earthquake maybe? Forte was thinking about this. He said that if we suffered enough injuries for us to fall unconscious and had to be rehabilitated for some time in a remote island then maybe our bodies must've been hurt badly. There should be scars on our bodies at the very least, right? But Forte had not found a single scar on any part of his body. And so, did I. I did not find a single scratch on my skin, so what kind of lethal accident is there that does not give its victim scars?"

Again, the two of them had a point. I was so convinced by their arguments that I had been already itching to check my body if I too had no visible scars on my body. I want to know the answer to that because that would tell me something, won't it?

"These talks with Forte was so fun and informative, you know... Even if I could not respond to him when he was sharing his findings... Even if all I could do was to listen to what he tells me... I enjoyed his company. He was already a friend to me... That's why it was so heartbreaking when he finally said he was going to leave. He didn't even finish his investigations on this place. Although he had already discovered so many things that are going on here, he wanted to know more... That's why I keep on staying strong. Because I wanted to continue his search for answers. Forte left me a task; you know. The day he was leaving he left me a note he inserted on the window that the White Shadows or the Mediborgs didn't notice. It was a voice note, recorded on this cute, spherical gadget called Jackphone, which will then play the recorded note once you press its center button."

A Jackphone? There's a gadget like that? I was listening intently now to every word Vista was saying because she lowered her voice too for some reason, like what she was gonna say are all confidential matters not worth risking with an eavesdropper.

"It was my motivation," she said with a sad tone. "Every day I was doing my best to finally use my muscles and move. I concentrated on trying to lift even just my fingers because I wanted to rise from my bed and get to the window and just press the Jackphone's button. I was so curious about what would Forte want to say to me that he wanted me to listen to when I was only sure that I was alone. I was so sure it had something to do with the answers he already found because that day he was saying goodbye to me he sounded so sad but so mysterious too. Like he was struggling to keep his mouth shut from saying something important. I knew my impression was right 'cause I know him already. He wanted to tell me something big that would shake me to the core."

Something from that was odd. I can't tell what is it yet, but what Vista was telling me just right now was very interesting. Forte discovered something big about this place, or about us, and he seemed to be wary of telling it to Vista in that room loudly so he left a Jackphone with a voice note in it? And then he was discharged? Something feels real off.

I wish Vista would just tell me directly if she knew something too but knowing Forte's behavior when it was still his turn sharing stories with an immobile Vista on her bed, I no longer expect Vista to be bold in telling me straight what she had on her mind--- that is probably why she keeps on focusing on Forte's stories and not hers. My hypothesis is that what they know is something of a taboo and it only made me a hundred more curious. I guess all I could do now is just wait for her to tell me more because I feel like she will be telling me more stories just like what Forte did for her.

However, after the last thing she said, I did not hear her voice anymore. At least for this day. I was in the middle of deciding if I was going to wait for her to talk again or sleep already when the door of my room suddenly opened and a human in a strange white suit appeared, letting me see a White Shadow for the first time.