The mysteries of the human mind have always been horrifying. For centuries it's been studied, and, much like the ocean, there's still so much we don't know, even if we think we know these things for certain.

But certainties are difficult, and when confronted with what they don't understand, humans find solace in simple things, every day statements like, "When you close your eyes, it's dark," for being able to grasp at least some understanding is better than having none at all.

I felt that right now, for those exact reasons.

I felt confused, staring at darkness without knowing where it was. Then I'd noticed it was because my eyes were closed.

A heavy silence left a ringing in my ears, something I found very uncomfortable, but I didn't want to move. Through my eyelids, I could tell that wherever I was, it was bright, and this annoyed me. I just couldn't catch a break.

Not wanting to deal with that, I turned on my side, then realizing that I was on a... bed? When had I fallen asleep? The comfortable bedsheets invited me to go back.

“Good morning! Please state your name.”

A high-pitched voice made my eyes snap open, squinting immediately after due to how bright it was.

I sat up, turning to where I'd heard the voice. At first I didn't see it, I noticed the room I was in first: large, pure white walls and ceiling, and that was all I was able to discern before the light made me squint again.

The odd sight made me scrunch up my face, so I tried looking for the voice again with a response.
“It's—” I stopped myself once I realized I didn't remember. It was such a weird thing to suddenly realize, but it was true. Like a puzzle piece that you recognize, but can't seem to find anywhere. Instead of answering, I blanked out for a second, trying to remember. Though racking my head gave no results, maybe it would come back eventually, but still... I hoped it was just the shock of waking up in an unknown room, it probably didn't even mean anything.

“Please make your way to the exit,” said the voice again, snapping me out of my trance, and this time I was able to discern where it came from: on the wall behind my bed, a screen was implanted into it, and from it a simplistic face smiled down at me. I didn't even answer, and it let me go?
Almost immediately I felt disgusted by it. With those instructions out of the way, I looked around the room, expecting to find anything else of interest, but... nothing. There was a door at the far back, and now that I got a better look at it, the room wasn't nearly as big as I'd envisioned it at first. It had a nightstand with flowers - the only colour in a room devoid of it - and the curtains moved gently from a breeze I couldn't feel.
Curiously, I rose from the bed and glided over to the window, pulling back the curtains to find myself face to face with light.

It was blinding. A pure white light that had been halted by the curtains poured through the window, but while I stubbornly tried to see what was beyond the light, I felt the breeze on my chest.

I looked down and nearly jumped when I saw I was wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown. Despite there being no one around, I felt a sense of shame crawling up my skin and stopping at my face.

“Hey you stupid machine! Isn't there, like, something else you can give me? You don't expect me to head out in this thing, do you?”

I wasn't sure who I was asking, but most likely the screen that gave me the questions. It was ridiculous to expect it to actually answer me, so I just glared at it before trying my best to keep it covering as much of my body as I could.

As I had thought, it didn't respond my query but it did give another instruction.

“Please make your way to the exit,” it repeated. I glared at it again and ignored the instruction, dusting myself off from dust that wasn't there and instead going to look through anything else this room might have - most noticeably: the flowers. I wasn't in any mood to follow instructions from a mechanical douche, considering I'd just woken up, plus these flowers being the only thing to have different colour disconcerted me.

I reached out to touch one of them, but was interrupted when something grabbed me by the waist.

“Wh-What the hell?!”

I panicked. Looking down, I saw two white gloves on either side of my waist, but before I was able to yank them off, I was hoisted into the air.
“Let me down! Hey, quit it! Stop manhandling me!” I shouted, kicking at metallic tube-like arms that connected the gloves to the floor.

I didn't stand a chance against the machine, nor any time to process what I'd just seen, and so was mercilessly thrown to the door, which had opened without me realizing.

Unable to stop, I landed on a soft floor right outside the door. When I scrambled to my feet to rush back into the room out of pure spite, the door closed in my face. From the other side of it, I could hear the screen again: “Enjoy your stay!”

I scowled.

...

Now that I was out here, the first thing I did was kick the door - a horrible decision, really, I didn't even have shoes on - and turned away from it to figure out where I was now, ignoring the throbbing pain in my toes. Thankfully the carpeted floor helped a little.

What I saw directly in front of me was a hallway with this... warm sort of feeling in it that stretched for quite a while, I couldn't even see the end. Despite the warm feeling it held, there was also something incredibly off about it.

After I walked about five steps forward, I noticed that my door wasn't the only one that connected into this hallway. Nine more connected to it, which immediately struck me as odd. So, ignoring the obvious path of going forward, I spent a good five or so minutes trying to open one of these other doors.

They were the most boring five minutes of my life, after which I found out that none of these would open.

But of course, the very moment I reached that conclusion, I heard one doing exactly that.

I rushed to where the sound came from, and saw a small child walk out from one of the doors to the left of mine, closing it behind him - I saw a glimpse of white on the other side - and then staring at me.

“Oh... good morning, sir. Are you alright?” he said, looking directly into my eyes. I felt uncomfortable.

He was also wearing a hospital gown, but much more naturally than I was. His dirty blonde hair was messy and yet so silky, draping down over his eyes in a way that I could still see them.

None of that mattered to me, I was more focused on something else.

“Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine but, uh, you?”

“Me? I certainly feel fine, yes. Um... are you the one I'm supposed to meet?”

I raised my eyebrows, speaking. “What are you talking about? I'm not here to meet anyone. Did that stupid screen tell you otherwise?”

“Oh, no, sir,” he said, shaking his head. “See, the screen inside that room told me to make my way to the exit and, well... now you're here.”

“Uh huh... Yeah, no. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm as lost as you are.”

“Ah... I see.” He lowered his head slightly. “That might be for the best, you don't seem very reliable. Very well, do you know where I may find assistance? This hallway is giving off a bad vibe.”
I looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. I'd let his insult pass one time, only because I'm as confused as he is. “Vibe?”

“Oh yes,” he replied. “The aura in here is simply dreadful.”

It amused me to see such a small boy speaking with those words, but it also left me feeling very awkward in comparison. Not wanting to have to deal with it anymore, I did the sensible thing and looked for an out by looking back down the hall.

“Whatever. There's probably something down this way anyway, might as well check,” I said.
He briskly walked past me, peering out to the endless sight of the hall.

“Are you sure? It doesn't seem very safe...” he said, glancing up at me with a worry I ignored. Like he'd done, I walked past him and simply started advancing down the hall, ignoring any and other concern he could voice.

The carpeted floor felt comfortable on my bare feet, but maybe that was just my attempt at trying not to focus on the bigger questions.

Unfortunately for me, the questions arrived as soon as I thought about avoiding them.

Even more unfortunately, I heard the kid's voice from right behind me.

'Sir, do you know where we're going?”

“Do you know?” I snapped back, still on edge. “I have no idea where we're going, kid, but there's probably some answer down this hall.”

There was a pause as we advanced, and then he spoke again.

“Why don't you call me by my name?”

“...because I don't know it? Idiot.”

“... It's not polite to insult others.”

“It's not polite to assume people know your name either, but there ya go.”

I ignored him, speeding up. If there really was someplace we had to be, then I wanted to get there quick and get this over with.

“What's your name, Mister?” he asked, but this time I could hear him struggling to keep up. When I looked back, he was jogging to stay at my side with my longer strides.

Begrudgingly, I slowed down my strides to make it easier for him - it was sad to watch, that's the only reason why.

“Can't remember,” I said. “You?”

“Alexander...What do you mean you don't remember?”

“I think it means that I can't remember.”

“Surely there's a mistake... perhaps you were simply dropped and hurt your head?”

“Now listen here you little-” I stopped myself when I saw him shrinking away with an undeniable smile on his face.  “...whatever.” We continued to walk.

Now I couldn't get that out of my head. Why would he know his name, but I couldn't know mine? Added onto the list of questions I already had. I figured it easier to not ask him and instead let it brew in my head, because surely it didn't even matter. Yep, still didn't care about the fact I didn't know my name, I continued to refuse to care.

...That's always what people say, and then the very thing they neglect turned out to be important.

“Say, kid, did the screen ask you for a name when you woke up?” I asked. “It did for me, but I couldn't answer.”

He looked up at me, hopping ahead to be walking at my side, and nodded.

“Yes, sir,” he said, “but I could remember. You didn't? It's odd, then... Perhaps you simply are stupid.”

“Say that again and I'll chuck you against a wall.”
I ran out of things to say after that, not that I wanted to keep talking anyway, not to him. In spite of that, he insisted we made small talk until finding the end of the hall, which we did almost immediately after I accepted to the small talk on the condition he would stop talking afterwards.
But now we stood in front of a set of double doors, and neither of us said a word.

We stared at the mysterious thing for quite some time before I broke the silence.

“Well, I'm goin' in.”

“You mustn't!” said Alex, grabbing my arm without my permission, something I'd make sure to remember. “It might be dangerous.”

I yanked my arm away, opening the doors as I responded, “Great, time to complete my death wish.”

He tried yet again to stop me, but by then I'd already opened the doors.

In front of us was a lobby. I could see couches, coffee tables, vending machines along the side walls... there was a desk at the opposite side of the room, with a massive window replacing the wall and letting sunlight pour in from a green meadow outside. I held my breath, and Alex must have done the same, as he had stopped speaking.
“Is this... where we're supposed to be?” I asked, stepping into the empty room. At least, I thought it was empty until I saw someone pop out from behind the desk, effectively scaring me into a shriek.

“Sorry der, pal, didn't mean ta spook ya!” said the stranger, settling himself down at the desk while I recovered my breath from what I was sure would develop into a trauma of empty rooms. Someone was getting a damn lawsuit.

Alex came up from behind me, placing his tiny hands up on the desk. It now occurred to me that we were still in the hospital gowns, so before anything else, I had to know.

“Well hey, pal, can we get some frikin' clothes? Today has been hell so far and if I don't catch a break soon, someone's going to pay,” I said, and it was true! Even if this guy's sense of fashion was horrible, it was better than this. He tapped a small plaque that was on the desk that read “Greg” and then ducked underneath it again.

“You got it. An', while yer at it, we've got ya som'n else too.” He remained under the desk, where I could hear him shuffling around, mumbling. Eventually he rose again, setting down a package on top of the counter before scratching his cheek.

"Das weird... I see two of ya here, but I've only gotten one entry package fer, uh, Alexander.”

Alex quickly took the package, thanked “Greg” and rushed to one of the seats. We both watched him leave before Greg turned his attention to me.

“What was yer name, kid? Prolly got mixed up somehow - 's weird, System's never forgot before...” he said, and cracked a nervous smile at me. “First time for everythin', ey? Go on, tell me yer name.”

But after I told him I didn't remember my name, he just looked more baffled than before, an expression that amused me.

“Now that ain't righ'... there's gotta be some— oh! Here ya go, Sebastian? Haha, yer package jus' got in,” he said, reaching under the desk again and setting a new package on the desk. “Musta been a delay or som'n, don't mind. Open it up, it'll 'ave everythin' ya need to know.”

Sebastian... that was me? I blinked at the package with my alleged name on it, “Sebastian Hernandez”, and suddenly it clicked. My name, this was it. I stood staring at it as I waited for any other memory to come back... but nothing.

Whatever, it didn't matter either.

With a huff, I nodded to Greg and joined Alex on the couch, where he was already dressed in a suit, an outfit that looked very strange on him and made him look like a penguin.

“Sebastian,” I said. “You wanted to know my name before, there it is.”

Alex looked at me with widened, curious eyes, as if revealing my name was the most interesting thing in the world. He then raised his wrist to me, showing off a bulky sort of watch. It was ugly.
“Look at this, Sebastian sir! It's incredible; it has a closet installed into it, and when I tapped the screen, they appeared on me!” he said, making absolutely no sense to me.

Dismissing his enthusiasm, I found my own watch within the package and put it on, trying to follow the vague instructions he'd given me.

It was more than just a watch, it seemed. It flashed my name as soon as I put it on, and proceeded to show a closet like he'd described - it was less of a closet and more of a screen where I could select clothing. After I'd picked out a few things - sneakers, pants, a t-shirt and jacket, and a bracelet of various dimmed colours that stuck out to me - I could feel the fabric on my skin.

The magic of science... or literal magic, I thought. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened today.

I hadn't even had time to lower my hand when the smiling face I saw on the screen flashed on my watch.

“Welcome to Paradise!” it said, making me scoff. I already didn't like this face, patronizing wasn't going to help. “Sebastian Hernandez, we hope you enjoy your stay. Please follow the route indicated on your map to arrive at your new home. Do not be nervous; here in Paradise, we organize people by their compatibility, meaning your new housemates will be your new best friends during your stay here.”

I blinked. Housemates?

“Any questions, concerns, or suggestions are to be directed to Greg from front desk or to a screen where I will personally do my all to assist you. Enjoy your stay.”

It turned off after that.

...I had several questions.

“Sebastian sir, are you alright?” Alexander's voice snapped me back. “You're staring at the watch, but nothing is playing.“

I straightened up in my seat. “Hm— totally fine. Don't even worry about it, Pen.”

“...Pen, sir?”

I looked down at him, realizing afterwards he didn't understand my logic. “It's 'cause you— y'know,” I started, vaguely gesturing at him, “you look like a penguin with that getup, and pen is an abbre— okay, y'know what, doesn't matter. I'm going to follow this route.”

I got off the couch before I could embarrass myself any further, but little Pen had decided to follow me.

“And where are you going?” I asked, stopping before giving the first step.

“To follow the map, of course. Instructions are meant to be followed, and it seems as though we'll be staying here for an indefinite amount of time,” he replied, walking past me to an exit on the right side of the room.

My face scrunched up. Did he not even care about where we were? This could be a kidnapping situation for all we knew! It didn't help that I couldn't remember, but I had no other choice other than going back to that white room, and that didn't seem very appealing at all.

Looking down at my watch, I noticed the map taking me in the same direction Pen was going, which formed a frown on my face.

I glanced at Greg as I started walking out, but he seemed busy with other things on the desk, so so I left without saying goodbye.

It... well, of course it wasn't the ideal situation for me to be in, naturally; this entire place just gave me a bad feeling from the get go, but it's not like I had anything else at the moment.

I couldn't remember how I got here, or... anything else, really. My memories felt empty, nothing there apart from my name.

I left the supposed front desk area and followed Pen onto a yellow brick road stretching through a vast green meadow, where the road branched out into many directions, but we headed straight.

Seeing the sunny day and the luscious green meadow we were on, I kept my guard up. Wherever I was, I already wanted to leave, and no amount of sun and fresh air and patronizing screens would convince me otherwise.