As I walked out of the pristine building, the cool air hit my skin.
The stark white door closed behind me and, without warning, blended seamlessly into the wall—an unnerving transformation that erased any sign it was ever there.
The lady in front of me walked forward without saying a word.
The silence was calming.
We entered another building, and like the one before, it was silent.
Leading toward a destination only she knew, she stopped before a door, opened it, and entered.
The room had five occupants, each distinct from the other.
Other than their high melanin, they didn't look human.
"You five are to be sent together. Wait here."
The lady I followed uttered before leaving.
Sent where?
The silence was dawning.
I guessed no one knew the other.
On my left stood a lady.
Her black hair had an unusual texture—almost feather-like—catching the faint light with a soft sheen.
Beside her was the cat-like lady—or maybe I was wrong.
The features didn't seem explicitly feline, but somewhat cat-like.
Mildly confusing.
Her pointed ears flicked slightly as she observed me. Her grayish skin was offset by black hair.
To my right, an ape-like man lounged back, thick fingers drumming against his armrest. His pastel-yellow hair had the texture of fur.
Near the corner of the room stood someone who barely moved—a man with two short, segmented antennae rising from his forehead.
His dark skin looked more like armor than tissue.
"Let's say our names, shall we?" the cat lady said, both hands clasped behind her back, breaking the silence with a smile.
"What's the need? We are simply together. This isn't some friendship bonding."
Aniyah uttered with discomfort.
"Well, we still need to know what to call each other.
My name is Zuri Amari," she said, tilting her head to the side.
The smile never left her face.
"Well, my name is Danso Tekada."
In contrast to his voice and stature, he seemed polite.
"My name is Neto Amari."
I said it simply, as she was right—since we would be together, we would at least need to know our names.
"Neo Keita."
Off to the side, a voice came.
He was surprisingly firm, unlike the expected shyness.
"Aniyah Haruna," she said in discomfort.
The room returned to silence.
The lady from before came back in after a bit.
I simply spent the time looking through the virtual screen from before.
It was mildly intriguing.
"Okay, come with me."
She led us to the jet—presumably one meant to take us somewhere.
The flight was fast.
Oddly, she didn't stay inside with us but rather sat on the wing as the jet flew.
I would have questioned if that was humanly possible, if not for the strange inhuman things I had already seen.
About ten minutes later, I believe, we saw it—
an island with a structured dome at its center, surrounded by the island's forest.
We had reached a room.
She passed out keycards to everyone.
"These will be your rooms."
Turning to me, she said,
"This is a training facility where Enerions learn to be Beast Slayers."
I believed it was meant only for me, as I had no idea what was happening.
"What about this?"
I lifted my arm. The black wristband was still fused to my skin. The number that used to be etched on it had vanished, but the band itself refused to come off.
"That is your contingency," she said. "Odd that you remember nothing… but yours is a very special—and very dangerous—case."
With a snap of her fingers, the band swelled, swallowing my wrist until it covered a quarter of my lower arm. A metallic sheen slid across my other arm like liquid mercury; then, with a clang like magnets, both arms slammed together, the weight multiplying until my knees hit the floor.
My arms stuck to the ground.
The edges were tinted with a slight glow.
"Inside are energy dampeners," she said. "The weight can be increased tenfold. The coverage can expand. And if you still push past all of that, the cuffs can deliver an electric discharge strong enough to scramble even your nervous system."
Her eyes flicked downward to meet mine. "We can ramp it from a stun to a burn in stages—mild suppression, incapacitation, or, in an emergency, something far worse. Maximum output reaches the equivalent of ten thousand amps at high voltage. It won't kill you outright, but it'll drag you to your knees."
I stared at the cuffs, fascinated despite myself. What exactly had I done to warrant this—but still be wanted enough not to be killed?
"Intriguing. I would want to know what I had done to warrant such a reaction," I uttered with a slight smile.
She stared at me as I crouched under the weight of the cuffs.
Her gaze lingered for a few seconds, as if in scrutiny.
Then she snapped her fingers and walked away.
The cuffs returned to their original wristband form.
I stretched my hands and stared at her back.
The others seemed intrigued as well. What could I have done for such a contingency—and even the perpetrator didn't know?
A criminal without memories was odd.
I picked up the room card that had fallen and stared at the number.
"Now this lady didn't tell us how to get there, did she?"