We Have No Name

Prologue

'The sky is blue, with nimbus clouds flying overhead. Streaks of red and yellow are subtly mixed in. The grove below is beautiful, greens, reds and oranges merging as the leaves fall onto the muddy ground.

There are mountains behind the forest, tinged by a purplish hue, with snow powdering the peaks and the sun poking up behind. Yellow and orange gleam blindingly off of the mountaintops as the sun reflects, and the eye, you know, the eye makes it even better–'

'Eye?' a voice cuts sharply through the monologue, 'what eye?'

The monitor turned on, dazzling the occupants in the darkened room as all eyes in the test lab flicked onto it. There, in all its glory, was the eye: yellow and bright, pupil reptilian lashes full. gasps of awe and horror filled the room, only to be silenced by a single, dominating voice that carried high above the rest.

'My word, what a remarkable specimen. Take off the visor.' The command was followed, as was the next. "Give them the mask."

A half-mask for the right side of her face with a black slit across the eye was handed to the test subject. It was slotted onto her face, filling the gap where it should have been for the last ten minutes. Two faces stared down at her as she opened her eyes. The more feminine one smiled gently while the other, more masculine one frowned down at her.

'Who is that?' the masculine one asked- the dominant one.

'Test subject 259500, female.'

'Name?'

The submissive one looked at their notebook.

'Uh, Cub Rhyne, or–'

'That's good enough,' his superior interrupted, 'Codename?'

'No, sir.'

'And I'm assuming that... does she have a team?' He asked, leaning over her as his subordinate walked over to the beverage table.

'No, sir.'

'I see.' He spun around. 'Simulation exiting time?'

'11:55 am, sir, a record time for her, sir.'

'Well.' The man stared at the girl, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Tap. Tap. Tap. She opened her mouth.

'Stop... Stop. That's enough!' Maze said, sitting bolt upright, and the man's hand stopped. 'Stop tapping, stop moving, stop everything!' Her voice was quiet and yet it still dominated the room. Everything stopped, including the ticking of the clock on the wall. She listened and smiled. 'D'you hear that? Silence. It's the one thing that you can never keep, apart from time. Its why silence is golden, you know,' she stated, before lapsing back into a tranquil state, a smile still etched onto her face.

Seconds passed.

'Scary...' the man mused eventually, a stressor for the noise. The world was greeted with a flurry of clanks, bangs, ticks and rustled as everyone and everything in the room started moving again. 'Very interesting, however. Put her... hmm... Put her in with the elites.'

The smile faltered on his employee's face as he realised what his boss had just said to him.

'Ethan... Please, not them, anyone but them, they're too powerful as it is, they'll be utterly overwhelming if they break free, especially with another one of the originals, we cant take–'

'I don't believe I stuttered, T. Do it and do it now. We'll deal with the overwhelming when it comes to it.'

Maze's smile widened as they wheeled her out of the room, the gurney she was strapped to giving her just enough leeway to arch her back and watch their mouths move.

'She'll be with Kitty-mium. She'll keep the new girl in line, at least until they start proper training again. Besides, you'll be in with them, and we'll put-'

The door swung shut behind them, blocking both her view and her hearing, and she relaxed, finding herself staring up at the ceiling of a corridor.

'Time of exiting, 12:27 PM,' the main porter stated, and the supervisor noted it down. Silence ensued. Maze sighed as they started pushing, listening to the squeaks from the trolley and the rubber on the floor. This would be a long experience.