The clock struck 23:59.
From inside his cage, the turtle could see the outside of the laboratory; so close to him, yet so far. He was as if he was being mocked at. The worst thing was, the turtle knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to break free of its glass tank.
It was dark outside. The trees looked lifeless while the wind found joy in pushing their branches this way and that.
"Take test subject 23:59 to the testing room now!" A sharp cry reverberated around the utterly silent room. Before the turtle knew what was going on, something or someone grabbed it from behind and threw him into a different box-like object. The confused turtle started panicking as he tried to comprehend his new surroundings.
While the turtle was struggling to find his feet, the floor suddenly disappeared from beneath him once more as he got tossed and turned around wildly by its mysterious abductor.
"I shouldn't have left my home... ...", the turtle whimpered softly as two fat tear drops ran down its tired face. A few clips of sweet memories played through its mind, haunting him.
The turtle sighed quietly to itself.
Why? Why did I leave my comfortable home to go for an adventure? I just wanted to go to faraway lands and seek undiscovered places. Guess I got what I deserved... ... However, no amount of regret could bring the poor turtle back to his safe haven.
Suddenly, the wild turning stopped and the giddy turtle blinked before slowly regaining its composure.
The turtle peeked his head out slowly and surveyed his new surroundings quickly. His mind was a blank and his heart was palpitating wildly. He appeared to be in some sort of confined space - a cage, he could see through the thick metallic bars and the glaring light from outside the cage, as it reflected on the silver bars. He peeked out of the iron bars before shivering and shrinking back into his shell, the only comfort zone the turtle had. Two voices were heard in the distance
"Are we going to experiment on test subject 23:59 now?" A man standing in front of the cage, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a perfectly white, smooth and crease-free lab coat whispered.
"Yes Bill. We'll be getting on with that," came a brief and hushed reply that instantly sent chills down the turtle's spine. The turtle felt his blood suddenly dropping to an extremely low temperature, so low that he was probably colder than the steel-hard floor it was lying on.
All of a sudden, the turtle felt his body being lifted along with the cage and swayed from side to side.
No! Not again! The turtle thought helplessly.
He shut his eyes tightly, his heart beat quickening as the ground below him started shaking so violently that he started to feel light-headed and dizzy all over again. Panicking, he shut his eyes tighter with a silent prayer. He landed unceremoniously on the hard ground and opened his eyes slowly, his head throbbing as if needles had been stabbed through it. Everything was blurry and it was as if stars were dancing everywhere.
Where am I?
"It's time now," one of them spoke in a voice that seemed to hold the promise of a dark future.
The turtle broke out in cold sweat.
What's going to happen? he thought, gulping nervously. His heart hammered against his chest as he held his breath. What are they going to do to me?
Some sort of machinery was placed in front of him - a metallic object that towered well above him, seeming to emit an ominous energy from every inch of it. With it came an ominous shadow that loomed over the whimpering turtle.
Something is wrong. Very wrong.
I want to go home... the turtle thought, feeling a sudden pang of longing as nostalgia hit him. Yet, he knew that would never happen.
The next thing it knew, a beam was shone onto him with a sought of supernatural power. The turtle felt tremendous pain coursing though every inch of its body and he struggled to breathe, his lungs tightening into a knot; gulping down deep breaths of air. In the midst of the turmoil, he heard a loud boom.
Then all went dark.
The turtle snapped awake, panting heavily. It was just a dream...or was it? The turtle realized that this "dream" he just had was not just any dream. It was a recollection of what happened before he woke up, with all the new knowledge in his head that he never knew of. To make matters more disturbing, he recognized the scientist in the dream beside Bill. It was the same one that came in the day before. The same one with the creepy smile that hit Bill hard on the head.
"How was your first night, 23:59? Did you enjoy your stay here so far?" a joyful voice chirped, snapping the turtle out of his daydream.
The turtle turned his head around slowly; ready to meet his fate. He immediately relaxed at the sight of Bill, letting out a sigh of relief that relaxed its tense muscles. It was expected though. The turtle knew that the other scientist would never sound so joyful. However, it was better to be safe.
"I would be testing you for your second test today 23:59! I'm sure you'll do great!" Bill continued, exclaiming loudly but right after immediately glancing hesitantly around his shoulder in sudden realization, and just like what he expected- a dreaded warning came.
"Just because I'm testing on 23:58, doesn't mean that you can play a fool and lose control of yourself! Carry on with your work!" a familiar, harsh voice cut across the lively atmosphere from another room.
"Sorry Doctor Faba!" Bill replied loudly, grinning and shrugging his shoulders lightly. It was as if he did not take Doctor Faba's words seriously.
Hmmm... so the name of the other scientist is Doctor Faba... the turtle thought.
"Now, let's get you out," Bill looked at turtle and whispered in a soothingly gentle tone. The turtle immediately relaxed.
Bill placed his placed his thumb over a green sensor at the top of the turtle's cage and the latch instantly loosened. He gently cupped the Red-eared slider in his hands and brought it out of the cage. He gently placed the turtle onto the table full of science equipment.
"Alright now, I would be testing you on your knowledge on animals. Shall we begin?"
The turtle, caught up in Bill's enthusiasm, nodded its head excitedly. Amidst all the gloom and doom, it definitely felt great to have someone positive!
" Alright then, let's begin! Tell me about the hippopotamus."
"The hippopotamus? It is a large mammal that is semi-aquatic and also known as the 'water horse'. It is hunted for its meat and ivory and it's milk is pink..." the turtle replied fluently, to its surprise.
Bill watched the turtle continue on like a machine gun in bewilderment. Words that the turtle never knew of came out of his mouth like a waterfall. The scientist gave a slight smile in acknowledgment, "All right. Now tell me about the white-bellied sea eagle."
"The white-bellied sea eagle? The white-bellied sea eagle feeds on fishes and sea snakes..." the turtle continued eagerly, enjoying the look of shock, relief and achievement printed all over the young Scientist's face.
The turtle passed every question with flying colors and ease and could name every fact about the animals. From the palm cockatoos all the way to the spiny anteaters.
"Good job passing test two 23:59. The knowledge injection sure worked!" Bill beamed, clapping his hands together in victory and excitement.
"What knowledge injection?" the turtle perked up instantly.
"Oh right, you don't know about that, " Bill said, slapping his head while grinning, " you went through our latest machine that wiped your memory before we gave you our newest formula that was invented by our most adroit scientist that should result in you having a super memory. After that, we fed you facts from hundreds of animals through another machine, which I must add that I invented it myself, after that, we sedated you and made you forget how you learnt all the information... Ouch!"
The turtle shivered when he saw a very unamused Dr Faba who casted dark shadows that loomed over turtle ominously.
"I told you not to tell 23:59 anything, didn't I?" an angry voice came from behind Bill.
Dr Faba roughly and swiftly plucked the turtle from the table and dropped the turtle into his cage before locking him up; a great contradiction to how Bill handed him. Right after, he dragged an apologetic-looking Bill out of the room. "Heyyyy I didn't mean it, Doctor Faba!" Bill could only protest.
"You're in big trouble young man!" Doctor Faba scolded as the turtle watched Bill helplessly getting pulled by the ear as the door closed behind them.
It turns out my memory was wiped, the turtle thought in silence. Its eyes widened as an unexpected question formed in its head. One that he urgently needed an answer to.
Who exactly am I?