1.
I awake to the sound of a blaring alarm.
I know what this means. It means be aware, it means move. It means danger.
I open my eyes, my dry lids peeling back, covered in sleep. The ultra-bright ceiling lights are beaming down, burning into my retinas. There is a stale taste in my mouth, a cramp in my lower back.
I squint at the ceiling, despite the brightness, knowing that the speckled tiles above me are the color white, that with the black flecks all over them, the roof looks like an inverse night sky. But there are no stars here.
I am sprawled on a table of sorts, a... gurney? Is that the word?
My heart clenches in my chest when I realize I don't know -- that I don't know anything. I ball my hands into fists, the wailing alarm heightening my spurt of panic.
I shift, trying to get up, but I am held down. I look down the length of my body, realizing it is tied down to the thing that may or may not be a gurney. I pull at my restraints, only tightening the knots around my limbs and in my stomach.
What's happening? What is going on?
I finally gain the good sense to look around, craning my neck. There are more gurneys, more people laid out on them, in three neat rows, but no one else is awake. A whimper escapes from between my cracked lips.
"Hey."
I stiffen in fear for an instant, then look around the room, searching for the source of the voice.
"Hey, you're awake, right?" a man says.
"Who--?"
"Shut up. Don't speak out loud, understand? Nod once if you do, twice if you don't."
He's in my head. The voice is coming from inside my head. I stare at the ceiling, ceased up by fear and panic. I can hear my heartbeat thudding inside my ears.
"Ugh, stop, stop. This is a bad start. Look, I'm going to reduce your heart rate, okay? I'm going to release some melatonin into your system."
I feel it, it happens almost instantly. The slow decline of my heartbeat, a fuzz dulling my nerves, my head clearing of the panicked thudding.
"There. Now listen up. With my instruction, you will escape this building. It's a Necro Proxy front that acts as an industrial plant. You are currently in the basement."
"What? What are you talking--?"
"DO NOT SPEAK OUT LOUD. We can communicate through your thoughts. Nod once if you understand."
I nod, even though I don't understand at all.
"Good. First thing's first. You have to break out of these restraints and find your way to the vent that is to the left of you by that cabinet. You are being surveilled, so move fast. The N.P. will see you escaping, they will try to stop you, so you must listen to my guidance without hesitance or question. We cannot, under any circumstances, have any mishaps."
"What happens if there are mishaps? " I think to myself.
"You die."
My heartbeat accelerates again.
"Whatever, that's actually helpful in this case," the guy grunts, sounding as if he is in the middle of doing something. "I'm going to amp up your adrenaline levels so that you can break these binds, but I will immediately decrease them again. You musn't have a heart attack, understand?"
"How am I not supposed to have a heart attack? How are you even doing this?!"
"Enough questions for now. A Necro Proxy agent is on her way down here, she sees you have awoken. Naturally, being my Black, you were the first to wake up, but you have to leave this very instant. For now, all you have to know is that I am Copper, your Sync. That you are Ebony 21448, and that today is not your Death Day."