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Lost

The next thing he heard were the sounds. Sounds of people and groggy movement.

He found himself waking up with his back against a wall, sitting on the ground. Scanning the crowded room brought him to a realization; this wasn't his cell. Standing up gave him more of a view of this new area, but so much more confusion. There were tens, hundreds, maybe even a thousand people in that room all arising from their rest. The more that rose, the greater the confusion throughout the room grew.

Kssshhhhht

A large door on the opposite side of the room as him opened and orders were being yelled out to go through. Whoever wasn't up before sure was now. All of them began making their way through the wall's new gap. On the other side was a stage behind the soon to be filled space.

"Hello one and all! I am Junior Assis--hey, could you be quiet? Hey!"

The words could barely be heard over the whir of sound and confusion. Tracing the source was even more of a challenge. Eventually, it became loud enough for everyone to hear.

"HEY! SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTHS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

That seemed to get everyone's attention.

"Ah, good. You're finally awake. Took you long enough."

The source of the sound was finally evident. There was someone on the stage. He couldn't make out any features, but they were definitely the one talking. He looked intently at the persons face, trying to identify some features when--

"HEY! Are you guys even listening? I can hear some of you still talking. FINE, I'll start over, then!"

It was a relief that the person said this; he wasn't exactly paying attention, either.

"Welcome, everyone! You may be wondering who I am or who the lovely gentlemen who escorted you in here are. That's classified, unfortunately. 'But strange person, where are we?' I'm just so glad you asked, because that's classified as well! However, I can identify this place as a research facility. Just refer to it as the Foundation if you really want to. You all agreed to come here, so just cooperate and you'll be on the path to success. Now, with that--"

"No no, wait, I don't remember agreeing to this," a voice from the crowd shouted. "I was told that this would be community service or somethin'."

"Well I was told this would be rehabilitation therapy!" another chimed in.

"WHO AM I, WHERE AM I!?" someone yelled out, seemingly scared and desperate.

Before the commotion from earlier could chime in again, it seemed like guards approached the individuals.

"Yeah, go ahead and take them out. Make sure it's down the hall, third door to the--yeah, mhmm, thank you," the speaker said rather casually.

The three were dragged out very reluctantly. The room became silent once again.

"I guess that brings us to my next point! All that you fine people have to do for the month is listen to orders given by the scientists and personnel in charge. You'll know who they are, they'll be wearing something like me!"

The speaker stretched their arms to the sides to fully reveal their outfit. It was the exact same clothing that the person who invited him here was wearing. Was that person the speaker? No, it couldn't be, he figured. The man from before was far more soft spoken. The pitch of his voice was lower, too.

"So, you're probably wondering what will happen once I'm done blabbering. Well, once this little orientation is done, you'll all be escorted down that hall over there," the speaker pointed to a side wall, "and be given some pretty little tattoos. These will have a letter followed by a number. You better get used to them real quick, too, because they'll be your new names!"

"New names?" he asked himself. "Why would we need those?"

Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over him as he realized that he didn't even remember his own normal name. Maybe he did need this.

"They'll go on your chest and wrist, just so you don't forget them. Quick, painless, fun!"

Painless definitely seemed like the wrong adjective to use.

"When we let you go at the end of the month, then the tattoos can get removed if you want. After the tattooing is done and over with, you'll be shown to a special little building. It's very recognizable, so you shouldn't forget it. You'd better not, either, because they will be where you eat, sleep, clean yourselves, all that good stuff!

"Now, I think that we all know that you probably did some horsing around in prison. Well, that freedom has been revoked! You will all be under video surveillance at all times. If we catch you doing any shenanigans, then you go right back to where you were before. Now, any quest--"

"What do you mean 'prison' and 'where I was before'? I don't remember anything before I woke up in that room back there," someone on the opposite side of the room asked.

"First of all, thanks for not letting me finish my sentence. Second of all..." the speaker motioned to someone in the back of the room. The questioner could be seen being dragged out through the hall, kicking and screaming.

"See, guys? Just stay in line so you don't end up like any of those people who we had to remove. Any more questions? Yes? No? Good! Now go get your tattoos, ask those people anything else you need to know. Bye!" The speaker said everything so fast, as if getting the crowd gone would be the best thing to happen in his or her life.

The crowd slowly made their way down the hall, unknowing of what laid before them.