Prologue
The first thing he remembered was pain. His right eye cracked open a smidge, only to be bombarded with blinding light and overwhelming sounds...and the left side of his face throbbed. He groaned and his hearing started to focus in.
“Good morning, sunshine. Welcome to your new life!” said a cheery voice. He opened his eyes and spotted a female with frizzy brown and pink hair with brown eyes smiling at him.
“Who are you?” he croaked, his voice hoarse.
“My name is Ms. Penelope, and I will be your doctor from now on,” she said. “Here, sit up please,” she said gently. She put a hand behind his back and helped haul him to a sitting position.
Once he was sitting, he looked around with his right eye at his surroundings before moving a hand up to his left eye. He felt an eyepatch covering it and he looked at Ms. Penelope. “What’s wrong with my eye?” he asked.
“You were in an accident. You’re legs and left eye were horribly damaged so we had to perform an emergency experimental operation on you.”
“My legs?” he looked down at his legs and stared at them, nothing seemed to be different. Then he realized something...he didn’t remember his own name, or even his past. “Ms. Penelope, I can’t remember my name!”
She nodded. “The doctors said so. They had to also perform an operation on your brain and said you might have amnesia when you woke up. Your name is Enzo Williams, and you are currently nine-years-old.”
He frowned, somehow, his age and name seemed to make sense. “Alright. Well, where are my parents?”
She shook her head sadly. “You’re parents didn’t make it, but our facility will make sure to take care of you. We already have a place set up for you with someone who can help you until you’re old enough to live on your own.”
“Why can’t I go to a home for orphans?” he asked.
“Because with the procedure we had to perform on you, we want to make sure it wasn’t all for nothing,” she answered.
“But-”
“No buts, until we know you’re stable, we can’t let you into civilization.”
Enzo bit his lip and looked down as she continued.
“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re well cared for here,” she smiled. “Now, off the table and we’ll get you some clothes and take you to your temporary home.”
It was then that he realized that he was in a hospital gown. With everything being so new and crazy, he hadn’t taken the time to think about it. “Okay,” he said glumly and followed the doctor out of the room and into a white hall with smooth walls and floors along with iridescent lighting coming from the ceiling.
Ms. Penelope lead the way to another room. Entering, Enzo saw white cubbies as far as he could see. Ms. Penelope opened one and pulled out some jeans, white socks, underwear, and a character tee. “Here, try these on. There’s a room near the back where you can change,” she said, pointing.
“Uh...okay,” Enzo said taking the clothes from her and went to the room she indicated where he began to change. As he was putting them on, he caught his reflection. He had a mop of dirty-blond hair and gray eyes, though his left was covered by a white eyepatch. He looked at his legs and finally noticed faint scars that practically blended into his pale skin. After a moment, he put the clothes on and was glad to see that they fit him before he came out, looking down at the clothes.
“They fit?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Good, come try on these shoes,” she said, holding out a pair of sneakers.
Enzo came over and put the shoes on, standing and testing them on. “They feel good,” he said, smiling.
“Fantastic. Now I think you’re ready to meet your caretaker,” she smiled and then lead the way out of the room and into the white halls again. They reached the end of the hall and she opened another door that led to the outside. Enzo blinked against the light and looked around.
Ms. Penelope was walking toward a small blue house with a white picket fence and a beautiful green lawn out front. Enzo looked behind them to see a large white building that stretched as far as he could see and he shook his head before turning and following Ms. Penelope. “I thought you said I wasn’t allowed outside?”
“Actually, this isn’t outside. The sky, air, and landscape are all holograms, but the buildings and a few other things here are quiet real.”
“That’s cool!” Enzo exclaimed, his eyes wide.
She smiled at him as she lead the way to the porch. “Yes, it is very cool,” she said. Opening the door, she revealed a simple yet sensible house where a man with short dark hair, gray eyes and tan skin stood. The man smiled at them. “Enzo, this is Christopher, your guardian for the time being. Christopher, this is Enzo,” Ms. Penelope said, putting her hands on Enzo’s shoulders and holding him in front of her.
Enzo looked up at her before looking at his new guardian as he bent down to his level. “Hello, Enzo. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Christopher said, holding his hand out. Enzo glanced down at the hand blankly and after a moment, Christopher dropped before standing. “Thank you, Ms. Penelope,” he said.
The doctor nodded. “I’ll leave you two to get settled,” she said and then she left Enzo with Christopher.
The man looked down at the boy and watched him for a moment. “It’s just you and me now, buddy. Let’s me show you to your room,” Christopher said.
After a moment, Enzo turned and nodded before following Christopher upstairs.
