(...): Cold... So cold... Freezing...
Those were the first words that escaped my lips.
I lifted my head and looked around. There was nothing—or rather, it was so dark that I couldn't see anything.
As I scanned my surroundings, a sharp pain stabbed through my skull.
(...): What's happening?! My head... it feels like it's going to explode!
(...): The pain in my head... it won't stop! It won't stop! It won't stop!
(...): It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!
(...): Stop it!
(...): I SAID STOP IT!
I couldn't make sense of what was happening.
It was like there were dozens of voices inside my head, all talking at once, reveling in my pain.
(...): I don't understand! I don't understand! I don't understand! Why? Why? Why are they doing this to me? I don't understand!
No, it's not that I don't understand—I can't understand.
After a while, the torturous voices began to fade.
I slowly pulled myself together and started to think.
The first thing I remembered was that I was a test subject.
But before that? Nothing. Who I am, what I was, what kind of experiments were being done on me... I had no idea.
All I knew was that every now and then, a few doctors would come, knock me out, and when I woke up, it was as if nothing had happened.
Wait a second...
The moment I thought of this, I felt a sharp pain in my arm. I whipped my head around to look.
(...): W-What...? AAAHHHH!
More than half of my left arm was gone!
It was just dangling there, useless, and I couldn't move it. Something warm was flowing through my veins.
It hurt so much!
The pain in my head had only just started to fade, and now my arm!
(...): ARRGH! Damn it, it hurts so much!
I couldn't bear the pain anymore.
Writhing in agony on the bed, I thrashed around, and at that moment, I fell off the bed right onto my nearly severed arm!
(...): AAAHHHH!
(...): Somebody! Please... hel—
I screamed in pain, begging for help, but no one came. Or maybe they just didn't care—
(...): ARHH!
(...): Hold on! I have to hold on!
(...): There's no one—
As I muttered these words to myself, the pain became too much, and my vision started to fade.
(...): Ah, what? What happened...?
(...): My arm... is it okay—
(...): AAAHHHH! ...Wait, it doesn't hurt?
I woke up again.
But this time, there was no pain. My mind was still foggy, but more importantly, my arm, which had been hanging by a thread, was completely gone!
It must have torn off when I fell, but with all this blood... why didn't it hurt? Why wasn't it still bleeding?
(...): What the hell is going on here?
My brain scrambled to find answers.
As my head started throbbing again, I remembered something.
(...): Damn it, I still don't understand anything!
That's right! Those doctors came every day!
But I don't know what they did. Maybe it has something to do with why my arm is like this?
(...): I...
As I was lost in these thoughts, two questions hit me like a bolt.
(...): Who am I? And where am I?
Until now, I hadn't even thought about these questions. As far as I could remember, I didn't have a name.
And I couldn't recall my past either.
That's right—the doctors used to call me something... What was it? Hmm... Hmm... Mmm... No, I can't remember. My head's still too foggy. Let's move on to the other question.
(...): Where am I?
Oh, I remember this one!
I'm in my own room right now. It was hard to tell because of the darkness... but why is it so dark? It's usually bright in here.
From what I can recall, every subject's room here has two parts: one where we stay, and one where the experiments are conducted.
My room is simple—just a bed and a closet with my clothes. That's it. There's also a window next to the door where the doctors sometimes observe me more closely. The experiment room and my living space have separate entrances and exits. The doctors usually come to me through the door in the experiment room.
I guess... it's some kind of security measure.
The experiment room is always locked. It only opens when the doctors come.
But where are they now? Shouldn't they have shown up by now?
As I was thinking about this, my stomach growled.
That's when I realized how hungry I was. I started shouting.
(...): Hey! Is anyone there?!
I waited for a while.
No response.
(...): Hey! Can't you hear me, or are you just ignoring me?!
Silence... it stretched on for far too long.
Unnervingly long.
I couldn't stand the silence anymore. Even though it was forbidden, I tried to look through the window.
And that's when I saw something I never expected...