"You sure about this?" Ward asked me as they were strapping me down to a chair.
"Very. I just want that memory deleted permanently," I confirmed as the scientist continued to prepare to remove the memory from my mind.
"We're going to have to ask you to step out, Agent Ward," a scientist says as he puts a hand on his shoulder. Ward gave him a confused look as they had told him the day before that he could be there for me if my PTSD acted up. He was the only guy I was comfortable with and I couldn't be in a room with other men without him. "I know what the heads of Hydra said, but they lied. Take him out!" he yelled. Suddenly two agents that could probably fight five bears and win came in and took Ward from the premises.
"Wh-what are you doing?! Ward! Ward!" I began screaming as I began fighting against them. They held me down as the memory flashed in and out. A man took a slab of rubber and shoved it into my mouth.
"Bite," he said as they began flipping switches. I refused to do anything this evil man told me to do. "Bite or it will be painful." I bit down hard as I felt electricity run through my body as memories upon memories were being deleted. Everything I had stored up in my mind palace was being taken as I rushed to try to save them. Stop it! Stop it! I didn't want this! Where are you taking them?! Stop taking my memories! A picture floated down in front of me. I took the picture before it could be deleted. It was a selfie Ward had taken of him and me as I was sleeping on the plane. It began to pixelate away as I cried. Please! I don't want to forget about him! He's the only good thing in my life! Please!
. . .
"Agent Pandora, wake up," someone said. I opened my eyes as I adjusted to the light with me blinking rapidly. My eyes focused on one man, a scientist, studying my every movement. I looked at my hand; it felt extremely powerful and strong, but it also didn't feel like my hand. It was black with red shiny stuff flowing through it. I looked back up at the scientist as I quickly grabbed him by his neck. He began choking for air as I lifted him up into the air.
"Release! Release!" a man yelled at me as they began tugging him away from my grasp. I let go to his command. I stared at them with eyes filled with curiosity as I wondered who they were and who I was.
"Come on, we've got tests to do," another man said as he took me by the arm.
As we walked down the hall to wherever I was going, I heard the screaming of a man.
"You can't do that to her! She's just a kid! She relies on her mind! You said you would only take the one memory from her! You lied to me!" I heard him yell. I looked in curiously in the door where the man's voice was coming from. He turned around suddenly as he heard our sudden halt at the door. "Logan? Logan!" he began running toward me before he was swiftly pulled back by men stronger than him.
The man holding my arm swiftly pulled me away from the door. "Why was that man calling me Logan?" I asked confusedly.
"Nothing to worry about, now come along," he said as he pulled on my arm. I wanted to go back to the man and know why he was calling me Logan.
"Is my name Logan?" I asked.
"No, it is not and has never been. You have always been Pandora."
"Then why would he call me that?"
"He was mistaken. You are Pandora and your life has always been here."
We then entered a room patted with mats. I looked around the room as I notice a few dummies with distinct bullet holes already through them. He brought me in front of one of the dummies and put a gun in my hand. It felt very familiar to hold a gun in my hand.
"I want you to shoot through each bullet hole smoothly with no added damage," he informed. I looked down the gun as I steadied it with my mechanical hand. "No, Pandora, I think you should shoot with the other hand."
"Why? It would be better for steadying the gun for a smoother shot, wouldn't it?" I asked, "If I was being shot at and I needed to shoot back in all the chaos, wouldn't it be better for me to have a better and smoother shot for a higher rate of survival?"
He looked up at me in shock at my natural intelligence. He took a quick note on his clipboard before asking me to proceed. I shot once and it perfectly through one of the already pre-made bullet holes. As far as I could see, I didn't add any more damage. "I did it," I said unenthusiastically. I was bored out of my mind.
"hör auf zu sprechen!" he yelled. I was then unable to speak at that command. "Schokolade!" he yelled. "Acht! Regenbogen! Feuer! Vierzehn! Orakel!" he yelled. I was frozen at his words. My head limp. I no longer felt in control. "Bist du bereit, die Büchse der Pandora wegzulassen?" he asked.
"Hagel Hydra," I responded.
It felt like I was trapped inside my own mind, but I could still respond to stuff. Just certain words would control my body and words.
"Schießen!" he yelled at me. I immediately raised my gun and shot at the target.
"My body requires food," I say as I drop the gun lazily on the ground. I begin walking out of the room to go find food when I felt a hand grab my arm.
"B-but, we're not done with training!" another younger scientist says. I glared at her.
"So what? I don't care. You also wouldn't like me when I'm hungry," I say as roughly grab her arm with my mechanical one. I fling back her arm harshly as I walk out.
"Let her be," I heard the older male scientist say, "We should go on a lunch break too."
They followed me to the cafeteria where I immediately grabbed some mac and cheese. I sat down at one of the tables and began eating.
"Hi! Can I sit here?" a voice said. I turned away from my food to see a boy around my age with yellowish skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. "S-sorry. My name is Jonah," he apologized.
"I don't care," I said. He nodded as he sat down.
"It's so weird finding other experiments allowed in the cafeteria. Uh, what's your name?" he asked.
"Pandora," I answer as I continued eating.
"Woah! That's so cool! I love that mythology!" he said. I looked at him with confusion. "Oh! You know! Pandora's Box is a very famous Greek mythology. It's about how the first woman was created. Pandora was smart, beautiful, and sly in the mythology, but when she opens a box, she accidentally releases evil into the world, but one thing stays in that box. Hope stayed in the box."
"Why are you here?" I asked annoyed by this boy's rambling.
"Oh, uh, well I can turn into any animal I want, so Hydra picked me up before Shield could get to me and I'm happy for it. Why are you here?" he asked.
"I meant, why are you here talking to me?"
"O-oh. W-well I haven't seen a kid my age here in a long time a-and..." he trailed. "...You looked cute." He scratched the back of his neck. I looked him up and down. He looked like a chipmunk to me.
"Sorry, chipmunks aren't my type," I snark. "But you are cute, but more in how a normal person would find a puppy cute." His cheeks flushed.
"U-uh! I don't have to be a chipmunk! You seem like the type who'd like lions! I can be a lion f-for you!" he blushed. I looked at him as he turned into a ferocious lion. A sudden vision of a lion attacking me flashed through my head as I looked at him with fear.
"S-stop! I-I like you more as a chipmunk! Just don't attack me!" I cried unknowingly. The lion seemed to have the face of a guilty dog as he transformed back into himself.
"Shit! Sorry! I didn't know you were afraid of lions! I'm not making a good first impression, am I?" he sighed. "Are you okay? I am so sorry..."
"I-it's fine. How would you know anyway when I didn't even know I was afraid of them. I don't even remember where I've seen lions before," I sighed with him.
"We got off on the wrong foot. I'm Jonah," he said as he offered his hand.
"Pandora," I said back as I took his hand to shake.
"What is your favorite animal then? Maybe I can turn into that one next time," he asked.
"I like eagles. Don't know why, though. They just seem protective and safe, but chipmunks are coming in close with second favorite," I answered. He blushed.
"I'm still working on birds, but I can turn into a chipmunk!" At that moment, he was but a small chipmunk. He then swiftly turned back into himself.
As I finished my food, I whispered to him, "Sit with me at dinner and transform into a chipmunk again and I'll sneak you to my room to hang out more."
"Soldier! Stop talking to this boy! We have work to do!" the scientist called.
"Yes, Sir!" I called back as I stood up.
"Okay, so you want me to turn into a chipmunk to put in your pocket?" he asked.
"Yes, it feels like forever since I got to just hang out with someone my age, so let's go hang out in my room," I whispered. He nodded as he took one last bite of his noodles. He transformed into a chipmunk and I held out my hand for him to climb on top of. He climbed on to it and I reached it to my pocket.
"Soldier, time to go back to your chambers," the scientist in charge of me said. I nodded.
"Yes, Sir," I responded as I stood up. Nobody seemed to have noticed the missing experiment as I left to my room. The vibranium door was closed behind me as I took Jonah out of my pocket. I set him on my bed as he then transformed back.
"I can't believe that worked!" he exclaimed. I quickly put my hand over his mouth as I shushed him.
"You have to be quiet if we're gonna hang out."
He nodded as he took my hand from his mouth.