Chapter 5
The Present of the Past

"I remember you had a diary, but of course I don't know where."

"Well, then I'll search it."

I went back to my room and started looking everywhere for my diary. I found a box of thick books under the bed. They had different Numbers on them. "2013, 2014, 2015", I mumbled.

Dr. Stoneward seemed excited. "Those are years! You were 7 years old in 2013, that's when you started with the diaries!"

"So these are what we were looking for?"

"Exactly!"

I opened the one with the highest number. 2023. I opened it and quickly looked through it. Then, I opened the last page with something written on it.

"Today's the day. The Experiment will begin. Gabe told me there might be the risk of memory loss, so I will put my diaries here, under my bed. That way, even if I forget the combination for my lock, I'll still be able to get them back. Rose is angry, though. She said if I go through with this, she'll break up with me. But it's such a major breakthrough, I can't just turn down Gabriel. I'm sure Rose understands, but is just scared something happens to me. She's always so nice..."

I felt nauseous. I indeed knew what the risks were, but I ignored Rose's feelings. Dr. Stoneward, who had sat down looking at me, asked: "Are you okay? You look like someone died..."

"Where is Rose?"

"Rose? I don't know..."

"Can someone please search her?"

"Sure, I'll send someone. Friday? Is Rose Miller currently inside this complex?"

A soft, robotic female voice answered. "Rose Miller is currently in Lab 3. Should I tell her to come here?"

"Yes, please."

I was confused. "What was that?"

"That was Friday, our AI-Assistant."

"Your... AI-Assistant?"

"Yes. They are quite useful for small tasks like this."

The door opened, and Rose entered the room. I stood up and walked over to her.

"What do you want?", she asked.

"Apologize. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I shouldn't have ignored your feelings."

She stayed silent.

"I know, things are different than they were before, but even if I don't remember myself, I can collect Information about myself. About us."

"How?"

I pointed at the books. "Luckily, I wrote down every day for 10 years."

Rose froze. She looked at the books. Then she looked at me. I could see tears forming in her eyes, then she suddenly hugged me, almost causing us to fall to the ground. Dr. Smith quietly left the room, giving us some private time. We stayed like this for what felt like eternity, then we layed down on my bed.

"I'm sure I'll get my memories back somehow."

"I hope so."

After some time, we both fell asleep.

I woke up in a white room. I looked around. I looked around. The room was empty. All I could spot were 2 little switches on a wall and some white debris on the floor. The room had no windows, but also no ceiling. All I could see above me was a white, cloudy abyss. It might as well go on infinitely. I walked over to the switches. They were white, just like the walls and floor. I struggled to breathe. Why am I back here? I pinched my arm. It hurt. This wasn't a dream.

I walked around, looking for any changes. It all was the same as it always has been. I flicked the right switch and a door opened. I walked through. Unlike before, the floor didn't have any cracks. It seemed solid. I walked over it and ran down the corridor. The shining light wasn't here. It was just a black, empty void. I looked back. There was nowhere else to go. I had no choice but to jump through. I collected my thoughts, then I jumped.

I was sitting in my bed, drenched in sweat. I was breathing heavily. I looked around. It was dark. Next to me, I could feel Rose moving. She asked, sleepy: "What's wrong?"

"I... It's nothing. Just a bad dream."

Rose sat up and hugged me again. "Everythings going to be okay."

I sighed. "I hope so..." But what if I couldn't get back my memories? Rose was a nice person, but she was so... unknown to me. It was like sleeping with a stranger. I had to get back my memories... Or else it will sooner or later break her heart.

The next few days, I read all my diaries. It felt strange, like sneaking into someone else's private life, but I learned a lot about my life with Rose. My life... can I still call it my life? I don't have any memory, anything that I could connect to that life that everyone calls mine. It's like being stuck in a body unlike my own, like I was thrown into a different body, a different consciousness... but without the memories necessary to live that life. Rose was with me all the time, mostly just playing something on her phone while I read my diaries. However, every time my head was spinning from absorbing all the information, she seemed to notice even before I did and helped me calm down again. She really seemed to know me well...

Ten days after I escaped from the white room, I finished reading all the diaries. In the evening, Rose and I were laying in bed again. Rose was already asleep, holding me tightly. I was laying awake still, I couldn't sleep. But then, a bright light shined from within my mind, filling my head, my thoughts, my conciousness. And then, it all went black.