Chapter Four.                                     04
( that won't save us! ) ━━━━━━━━
↳ IDENTITY CRISIS ↲

❝ SAVE HUMANITY, ROSIE. ❞

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MIND OVER MATTER
Young The Giant

i'm watching you this time
and if the world don't break
i'll be shaking it
'cause i'm a young man after all
and when the seasons change
will you stand by me?
'cause i'm a young man bout to fall

1:39 ────⊙────── 3:50
↻      ◁ II ▷     ↺

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     LOOKING BOTH WAYS making sure no one was looking at her, Rosie unlocks her apartment door and quickly enters locking it right after. The girl rushed to close the curtains in her living room. She felt eyes were on her from every corner. The girl put her purse down on the chair and the documents on top of the circle dining table she had. WICKED had given her a nice small apartment for herself and fully paid by them.

     The girl knew about the surveillance cameras they had put in telling her that it was for safety reasons. But she knew it was to keep an eye on her. Luckily for her, Rosie had been able to access the cameras in her apartment rather quickly and been able to hack them. So now, she made sure to record herself getting into bed to take a nap. She recorded the 30 second loop and added it into the cameras making whoever was watching her think she was sleeping this whole time.

     Rosie went back to the kitchen and sat down uncrumbling the piece of paper the stranger gave her. She stared at it for so long trying to figure out who used to call her that nickname. But she could barely even remember her family. Rosie takes out her notebook she had just for memories. The girl opened up to the first page as it had been two weeks and she hadn't remembered anything meaning she hadn't written nothing yet.

Rosie grabbed a pen and wrote down in quotation marks Little One on the first line. She used a dash to drot down ideas that came into mind. On the first dash she wrote someone used to call me that. Next line another dash, who? i don't know. She continued to make dashes and write down more ideas questioning who could have been and why they called her that. Why do I remember that so vividly? She writes down.

Her hand shakes from the idea that maybe the stranger did know her. That maybe he was a part of her past. Maybe he knew a detrimental piece that she needed to know. Or maybe he was a phony. Maybe he knew about her accident and wanted to use her as some sort of chess piece to scare WICKED. She should report him to the authorities.

But how does he know that nickname?

On the line after that she wrote WICKED is hiding something from me. I need to remember.

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Rosie takes a deep breath as she sits down on her private office putting her purse down on the table. She put the pile of documents on her desk and logged into her computer letting the faculty know that she started her work hours. Rosie flipped through a few documents staring at a specific one with the name of Ander. He looked so familiar to her and the same ache in her chest formed when she saw his face again.

A sudden knock stripped her attention away from the document she quickly closed before looking up to see who was at the door. Teresa smiled at the girl with a piece of paper in one hand and a coffee in the other. "Come in," Rosie waved watching Teresa open the see through door and enter.

"Morning!" Teresa greeted handing Rosie the cup of coffee, "I brought you some coffee for the day. It's decaf with two sugars the way you like it."

Rosie gave her a short smile thanking her, "oh, you shouldn't have. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Teresa replied sitting down across from her. "I just wanted to try and cheer you up after what happened yesterday."

"That's sweet, thanks." Rosie expressed taking a sip of her coffee and letting out a soft sigh noticing from the corner of her eye Teresa slipping the piece of paper back into her lab coat. "I wanted to talk to you about something that happened to me yesterday."

Teresa stood up from the chair as she checked the time on her watch, "Yeah, whenever you want to talk about it. I'm here but at the moment I do have to go. There's a meeting I need to attend to."

Rosie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she wasn't told about any meeting for today. "A meeting? I wasn't informed of it," Rosie declared getting up from her seat as she assumed she had to go to the meeting as well. "We might as well head over together—"

The blue eyed girl shook her head, "no. It's not a general meeting with the rest of the faculty. It's a private one with a few investors. Dr. Paige asked me for assistance. So I need to get going. I'll see you later. We'll talk about what you need to tell me at lunch, okay?"

The blue eyed girl lied straight to Rosie's face. The meeting wasn't about investors, it was about Rosie's progress. Teresa was already at the door and turning a corner before Rosie could even nod and respond. "That's odd." Rosie muttered before organizing her desk.

      Rosie figured out her to do list for the day as she packed her bag and headed out of her small office. The girl planned on doing more research on the sample of the serum they used for the young boy. She wanted to dive deep into the other failed attempts.

     But before she could do that, Rosie halted her steps before turning to look inside the glass window. The girl's eyes widen as she sees the little boy on the operating table. Without any authority, Rosie barges in to the lab arguing. "What the hell are you doing!?" Rosie screeches looking over at the kid with his chest cut open. "What did you guys do to him!?"

     The assistants glanced at one another not knowing what to say. "You guys were not allowed to do this! I told you specifically not to do this!" Rosie raised her voice trying to hold back the pain that formed in her chest. She wanted to cry for the innocent boy. She wanted to grieve him.

      "Rosie, we're sorry but we only follow orders—" one of the assistants stopped speaking as the girl cut her off again.

      "His parents haven't even seen him yet!" Rosie argued trying to figure out what to do. "Stitch him back up! His parents are not going to see him like this—"

      She didn't know that his parents weren't going to see him ever again. She didn't know that WICKED denied their entrance to say their goodbyes to their only son. She didn't know that WICKED didn't care about grief or sadness. She didn't know that this organization was hurting people instead of healing them.

      "Rosie." Someone behind the girl cleared their throat calling her name. The girl close to a breakdown turned around to see one of the chancellors standing by the door. "Why don't you come with me? Let's take a walk."

       "Chancellor Janson—"

       Rosie was cut off by him waving at her, "we need to talk."

       The girl wanted to speak out and tell him that she demanded for those assistants to specifically not to cut the boy open but she knew she was in the wrong. She didn't have that type of authority like Dr. Paige did. All Rosie did was glance at the assistants and look back to Janson as she nodded and followed him out of the laboratory.

The two enter one of the empty laboratories. He leads the girl to one of the tables that had serum samples. The man grabs a hold of one and shows it to her. "Do you see this?" Janson questions Rosie. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes." Rosie answered explaining what it was. "It's a trial serum. One like the one I used on the kid. It's to see which one works best—"

"No." Janson interrupted her as he shook his head. "It's not just a serum, Rosie. This could be a cure for the world. This tiny little rectangle could be the solution to the world's biggest problem. It's not just a serum. It's God's gift to help mankind live longer. You are helping us save humanity, Rosie."

The girl tilted her head as Janson's speech wasn't registering in her head. It went in one ear and out the other. She didn't believe in what he preached. She cared about the lives they've lost. She wanted to to unlock her memory to know the complete truth.

He continued to talk to her and try and persuade her into believing that she was doing the right thing. WICKED is good. But she kept reminding him of all the people that have died because of them.

"I just—I don't believe I'm capable of doing this type of work. How can you people live like this!?" Rosie raised her voice desperate for someone to agree with her. "I'm going insane!"

       Janson shook his head, "you applied for this position—"

       "I don't want it!" Rosie replied back not letting him finish his sentence. "I can't remember anything about who I am? No one let's me see my family! I can't even get in contact with them!"

        "You can write them a letter—"

        "Fuck that bullshit!" She snapped running her fingers through her hair. "I want to see my dad! My mom! My sisters! My brother! Why can't I see them!?"

       What Rosie didn't know was both of parents were dead. Her older sister was turned into a crank and lived in Crank Palace. Her brother had disappeared after she thought she escaped WICKED with the gladers. And her younger sister was behind bars in one of the bases WICKED had.

      "You need to get it together!" Janson yelled back for the first time as Rosie stumbled back in fear of what the man was capable of.

      The girl's hands flew to cover her neck in some instinct. She didn't know why her first instinct was to shield her neck but the man in front of her was the reason for it. Janson glanced down at the girl's neck remembering when he had his hands tightening on her neck waiting for the light in her eyes to dim. A little smile curved up on his lips as that memory replayed in his mind.

      "We follow orders. No one is allowed outside of the city. We can not afford any chance of infection on our small population we have safe here." Janson explained. "It is time you understand that we as the organization are trying to find a cure! No one said it was going to be easy, Rosie."

      Rosie shook her head with tears forming again, "it's too much."

      "Then maybe you really should think about resigning." Janson muttered before exiting the girl's office and leaving.

      The young girl's lips parted in surprise as she watched him leave not caring about what he had said to her. Rosie's lips trembled as she missed people but she didn't know who they were. She assumed it was her family but maybe it wasn't. She just wanted to remember.

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An incredulous amount of time passed as she was now sitting in her office but tears still continued to spill on Rosie's face until she immediately halted her actions as a knock was heard at her door. This time it was Teresa who stood outside waiting for Rosie to acknowledge her. Rosie waved to the girl buzzing her in.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Teresa asked wanting to give Rosie a hug but didn't know how the girl would react. "Did someone say something to you? Who was it? I'll report them right now."

A little chuckle left Rosie's lips as she shook her head, "it was no one. It's just my emotions getting in the way of me doing work."

"Oh." Teresa grunted sitting herself down on an empty chair next to Rosie. "I was ready to go off on someone."

"There's no need to but thank you for having my back." Rosie replied with a smile after cleaning her tears with a tissue as she looked down at the table to clear her nose. "I appreciate it."

A genuine smile formed on Teresa's lips as she spoke, "of course. That's what friends are for."

Friends. That's what friends are for. Rosie halted her actions staring at the table feeling oddly weird after Teresa's comment. There was nothing to overanalyze but Rosie still did. She resumed her actions not trying to give away the hesitation as Teresa didn't seem to notice.

     "Hey, what was the thing you wanted to tell me earlier today?" Teresa asked picking up a folder on the table.

     Rosie took a few seconds to respond as she noticed the slight raise of eyebrows Teresa did when she looked at the file. "Uh, I don't know. I forgot." Rosie murmurs. "I'll tell you when I remember."

      Teresa nodded shortly as she points at the file. "Hey, how'd you get access to this file?" Teresa asks looking at the picture of Ander.

     The Latina furrowed her eyebrows as she replied to Teresa. "I found it in the storage room, why?" Rosie asks.

     "Wh-why'd you grab this one?"

      "Because it has similarities to one of the patients I'm in charge of." Rosie replied cautiously. "Did you know that they used to force kids in some sort of maze and have them find their way out with really dangerous obstacles?" Rosie asks handing Teresa another folder that explained about the Grievers who carried the infection. "This guy named Stephen came up with it. He created the maze and this machine called Grievers that could kill them."

Teresa pretended to be shocked at the idea of what WICKED used to do. The girl was more shocked with the fact that Rosie found out about the entire maze trial. She just didn't know who was put in. "Wow, that's a lot." Teresa muttered placing the file down. "Why have you been digging through these files? It's not necessary."

The Latina shrugged her shoulders responding to Teresa truthfully, "I don't know. I've been trying to figure out what the old me read that convinced her to work here. I'm very close to quitting this job with the more information I read."

     "Oh." Teresa mumbled pointing at the other pile of folders. "Can I see them?"

     Rosie shook her head feeling Teresa's own energy shift. "Are you okay?" Rosie questions.

      The blue eyed girl didn't say anything for a few seconds trying to figure out what to do. Ander's folder could have been a simple coincidence. The trial of the maze was just another coincidence. The stack of folders she had didn't mean she had information of the boys she once knew. That didn't have to mean that her memories were coming back. She couldn't have her memories back because that meant Rosie hated her. Rosie wouldn't be able act so nonchalant towards her if she did have her memories back. Rosie would take any opportunity she had to cut Teresa's throat if her memories were actually back. This Rosie, the one with lost memories, was kind and welcoming to Teresa with open arms.

      Rosie Adams wasn't back. At least not yet.

      "Teresa. Hey, Teresa!" Rosie waved her hand in front of Teresa's face trying to snap her back into reality. Teresa blinked a few times as Rosie asked, "you okay?"

Teresa nodded, "yeah, yeah. I—I just zoned out." The girl dug into her pocket before pulling out a piece of paper. "I've been meaning to give you this."

Rosie accepted the piece of paper and uncrumbling it to see an address. "Is this—"

"That's his parents' address." Teresa replied, "Doctor Paige gave it to me so you can send them a letter. A letter, Rosie." The girl repeated herself as she wanted to emphasize the letter part. "Remember they live out of the city and we're not allowed to get out."

      "Thank you." Rosie responded staring at the address she was going to go to. She was going to find a way to get out of the city and find the kid's parents.

     "You're welcome."

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Looking both ways Rosie entered the computer lab letting out a sigh of relief as no one else was in the lab. She walked through the sections and used one of the computers that faced away from the camera angles. The girl bit her lip as anxiety shot through her body but Rosie wanted to see if any discovery about her past was going to show up. Maybe that stranger was right.

Rosie logged in to her account and started to go through the database that no one really used. It had all of the information of WICKED's faculty and all of the subjects they once had. Rosie clicked the faculty section and searched her name up. She waited a few seconds and saw no results. Confused as to why, Rosie tried the name of Brian Tyson and his name had quickly shown up with a picture of him. Rosie went back to try different variations of her names but nothing appeared.

"That makes no sense." Rosie muttered. How could her documentation not even be on the database. This made her more scared doubting everyone she knew in this facility. "How am I suppose to find information about myself if I can't find anything—"

Rosie stopped herself from finishing getting another idea as she exited from the faculty section. Her fingers slowly moved with the mouse and clicked on the subject/patient section. Her fingers trembled by the idea of it all. The girl typed her name Rosalie Adams.

    A sour taste formed in her mouth as she read her name on the computer that started to display a picture of her and her full name with subject number A53 typed next to it. The girl clicked her file and there it was all of the information WICKED had of her. All of the documentation starting from the first time she walked into the building, to the first time they erased her memories, the time when they put her into the maze, the second time they erased her memories—they had everything.

Rosalie Adams
SUBJECT A53
SERIAL NUMBER: 048721-11222
APPELLATION: The Atrocity

TRIAL ONE SUMMARY

After a successful completion of her memory withdrawal, Subject A53 is the first girl in the glade. Was placed inside the glade as a temporary glitch. *CAUTION! Her memories may be returning to her in gradual time.* She was sent as a distraction for the male gladers after her rebellion against the organization. Formed strong bonds with the subjects instead.

Respected. Trustworthy. Determined. Clever. Intimidating. Kind. Loyal. Brave.

Developed a romantic relationship with Subject A5. Formed deeper connections with Subject A9 and Subject A50. Wary of Subject A1 and Subject A2.

Subject entered the maze with Subject A2, Subject A6, and Subject A7. Grievers were sent to terminate the subject or infect her. She was infected but has shown incredible results with the delay of the spread. Subject has been stung and still has control of herself.

Subject A53 is set to be terminated during Subject A2's and Subject A7's attempt to escape with the rest of the subjects.

Click For Detailed Summary of Trial One
Click For Summary of Trial Two
Click For Detailed Summary of Trial Two

Mentioned Subjects:
Click For A1's Information
Click For A2's Information
Click For A5's Information
Click For A6's Information
Click For A7's Information
Click For A9's Information
Click For A50's Information

     Rosie read the quick summary and started to stress herself out. If all of the documentation was real than what the hell happened? How did she end up here inside the organization? Why on earth does it say that she is set to be terminated and yet she is alive and working for them?

     Rosie needed to find that man on the bus.

     But who was he?

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AUTHOR'S TOO LAZY TO COME UP WITH A SEGMENT NAME

— how's everyone doing today?

— let me hear about everyone's day

— sorry for the short chapter but I didn't want to combine the next chapter and this one into one

— did you guys like the chapter?

— I'm hoping you guys are liking the way the plot is heading

— if you guys know any books like these let me know bc I wanna read em too!!!

— give me other recommendations from different fandoms too like outer banks, outsiders, harry potter, stranger things, etc!!

— literally give me young adult/romance books y'all have read that has made you kick your feet in excitement bc IM TIRED OF LOOKING FOR BOOKS THAT ARENT GIVING WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSE TO BEGAVE!!!!

— next chapter will be heavily centered on Rosie and the stranger so lmk what you guys want to see

— see ya in the next one! ✌🏽