Chapter XI
Frauleinstein
"Should we wake her?" asked Dieter.
The woman rolled over and sat bolt upright at the unfamiliar voice. She stared at each of the men in turn, as she attempted to figure out what was happening to her. She then widened her gaze to take in the devastation around her. The laboratory looked like a bomb had gone off, which, technically, it had. Smoke still hung in the air, and the occasional popping and frying sound came from the machinery that surrounded her.
"Wie geht es?" asked Dr. Pretorius.
The girl's extremely wide eyes returned to the doctor. "Huh?" she managed to say.
"Verstehen Sie?" asked the doctor.
The girl's mouth hung open, then she simply looked confused. "Sorry, I don't speak French," she finally said.
"Incredible!" exclaimed the doctor. "You are unable to understand German? This is your natural language, the language you use to converse every day! Tell me, what do you remember?"
The girl still looked confused. She looked up and pursed her lips as she considered the doctor's question. "English?" she suggested.
"Yes, yes, of course," said the doctor dismissively. "But what else? You must tell me, I have waited for so long! What is the secret of life?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Get plenty of rest? Think positive thoughts?"
"Let's start with something simpler," suggested the doctor. "Just, tell me anything you can remember prior to awakening here."
The girl thought. "Anything?"
"Yes, anything!" said the doctor. "Can you remember anything at all about your previous life?"
The girl thought again. She rolled her eyes skyward, and wrinkled her face in concentration. After thoroughly considering the question she answered, "No, not really."
Everyone was silent for a while, as this answer seemed to preclude any other line of questioning.
"Oh wait!" she finally said, breaking the long silence. "I remember a name!"
"Yes? Yes?" said the doctor encouragingly. "You remember your name?"
"Giselle," said the girl with a sense of satisfaction. "It seems to me, my name may be Giselle. Or not." The girl frowned.
Dr. Pretorius appeared to be upset by this. He spoke aside to Dieter and Friedrich saying, "The material used to patch her brain came from the girl's brain! The memories contained in these patches may be causing interference and confusion. The body's name, as I recall, was Giselle Gottlieb!"
"Yes, that's right!" cried out the girl. "Giselle Gottlieb! I remember now. My name is, definitely, not Giselle Gottlieb. Why is that not my name? Give me another hint!"
"Do not worry about that now," Dr. Pretorius said. "Perhaps, since your memory fails you, we should introduce ourselves. I am Dr. Septimus Pretorius, your Chief Physician. And these are your assistants, Dieter and Friedrich."
"Hey," said the girl with a nod. "Nice to meet you. I'm... oh yeah, I forgot that I can't remember."
"Oh, I know!" said Friedrich. "Your name is..."
"Nein!" called out Pretorius. "She must discover her own memories, in her own time. For now we must not speak of her past."
"Well she's gotta have a name," said Dieter. "We can't go on just calling her 'the girl' forever!"
The girl nodded her agreement.
"It so happens," said Dr. Pretorius, "that you arranged a new name for yourself, to be used in your new life. Falsified government records based on this new name have been established at great expense, and you even have a passport. The name selected was Mila Stein. So from this moment on, you shall be known as...
"Fräulein Stein!"
(Lightning crashed nearby)
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(@ @)
VVV
"These are your chambers," said Dr. Pretorius as he led Fräulein Stein into her room, with Dieter and Friedrich close behind. "You should find everything you need in here to freshen up. The closet has been filled with clothes in your size and selected to be age appropriate."
"Okay, thanks. I guess I can... WHAaat the!?" exclaimed Fräulein Stein as she caught sight of her reflection. She sat at her makeup table, and stared in the mirror.
"Whoa, dude," she said with a laugh. "I guess I really don't remember much. I didn't even know I was a chick!"
"Yes," agreed Dr. Pretorius. "Of course, you are a 'chick'! That is why we have been calling you 'Fräulein' for the past half hour!"
"Oh yeah," she laughed again at herself. "I gotta learn German if I'm gonna hang out with you guys."
Suddenly something else in the mirror caught her attention. Fräulein Stein looked more closely, and pushed the hair away from her forehead.
"Hey, hold on!" she said. "What... like, look at this scar! This is like... holy cheese dip! How the heck did this happen? Did you sew this?"
"Well, yes! I, I..." stammered Pretorius.
"What with, a harpoon?" she continued to rant. "I gotta live with this you know. Ah, for... I can't believe, I'm actually thinking of getting bangs, you know?"
"Bangs?" Dr. Pretorius said at a loss.
"I think that's the American word for fringe," Dieter told him in a whisper.
Dr. Pretorius addressed Fräulein Stein. "Do you mean, the fringe?" The doctor used his fingers to make a scissors motion across his forehead. "We can arrange for this, of course."
"Look," complained Fräulein Stein. "I don't want bangs, or fringe, or whatever you want to call it. The point is not that I want some freaky hairstyle. The point is, I don't want people looking at me like I've had a fricking lobotomy!"
Dr. Pretorius would put up with a lot from Valeria Engel. After all, she was perhaps the most brilliant mind of all time, as well as a billionaire who funded his research. However he was less than thrilled to put up with a teenage tantrum from her, combined with insults to his surgical abilities. In annoyance he said, "Well what did you expect to happen when we removed your brain?"
Fräulein Stein turned from the mirror and stared at the doctor in disbelief. "You removed my brain?" she asked, once she felt reasonably calm.
"Well, yes," replied the doctor.
Fräulein Stein continued to stare in disbelief. "You put it back, didn't you?" she wanted to know.
"Of course we put it back!" shouted the doctor, using up his fair share of disbelief.
"Okay, okay," said Fräulein Stein, putting up her hands in a gesture to suggest that everyone should just calm down at this point. "Don't look at me like I'm some kind of idiot. I think we both need a reality check on this one."
Dr. Pretorius shook his head. "Perhaps you need some time alone, to adjust," he suggested. The doctor then led Dieter and Friedrich out into the hallway, where he closed the door behind them.
"There is something wrong with that girl," he said to the two henchmen once they were alone in the corridor. "I cannot conceive what might have triggered such a dramatic change in Dr. Engel. She seems almost... American. We must watch her closely. Report to me immediately any further strange behavior!"
The doctor pulled a key from his pocket, and used it to lock the door to Fräulein Stein's bedchamber. The three then left the corridor.
Within her bedchamber, Fräulein Stein heard the key turn in the lock. Already feeling doubts about her circumstances, she raced to the exit and, finding it bolted from the other side, pounded on the door in frustration.
Fräulein Stein's unchecked, undead strength knocked the door out of its frame and sent it flying across the hall. She cautiously poked her head out into the empty corridor, afraid she might be in trouble if anyone remained to see. Seeing no one, she crept across the hall, picked up the massive oak door, and replaced it into its frame as she sheepishly returned to her room.