Author's Note(s): Whew, SSA is almost up and I still haven't finished this. Whatever the case, I have now re-written this chapter almost completely. You will notice a couple similarities, but for the most part, it's all new and sheds some added light on to the plot. This fic has been submitted to BOTH the Cyberdyne Cortex Awards and the Sonic Site Awards.

Prologue

I struggled in the dark, seeing nothing. Blackness all around. Images appear and vanish. Darkness all around, yet the images return. Blonde female, blue eyes, blue garment. Death, despair. Gunfire. Lost, all alone. Chaos and destruction. Justice; Revenge.

Stop! This is not for you. Go back to where you were. Leave this being, filth!

Memories, all gone. Fallen, lost in the depths. Friends come to your rescue, saving you from your trial. They comfort you, stopping the manipulations of the world. The darkest doom of the blackest night. Space and time; resurrection. Gods of the past; rifts in time. Gems of miracles, creating light. Light destroys darkness, giving hope.

Master of machines conquers all. Reeking havoc; plundering the world. Blurs of blue and yellow and red and pink and black. Stopping the master, they save all. The master has another plan, though. He sets up the plot, meddling with his scientific mind. What is he hiding? What does he know?

Explosions rock the ground. Flames lick up, threatening to consume me. I back away, but the fires spread. Back, back, back… the master has come. He is here! An edge. Falling, falling, falling… the ground rises. Stones stab upward, ready to impale me. The flames come from above. The evil above reaches… I scream out. Slay this madness!

The sky rises. My mind travels, turning, fearing. Wind rushes up to meet me. Eyes sealed, fear etched deep within. My legs crash down, crumbling. My body slams down. Everything turns black. I feel nothing.

XXXXX

The forests bloomed with a light gaze, shining beneath the sun. Water rushed down the streams, letting go of the cold freeze that had beset them for five long months. The wildlife came out of their nests and slumber, ready to partake of the coming warmth. Peace rained down upon the calm jungle. A cat readied his pole, casting out into the pond to enjoy a fresh meal.

The peacefulness died out. Three high-powered motorbikes raced through. They moved on a ways, then slowed to a stop. The leader glanced around. “Is this the area?” he asked.

The second one shrugged his shoulders. “It looks like it,” he stated. “If he fell from that cliff, then he should be somewhere around here.”

The leader turned to the third, then back to the second again, nodding his head. “Spread out. Search the area for any signs and report back.”

The second and third riders saluted. “Yes, sir!” they stated.

The leader drove straight forward, while the other two split off in separate directions. He raced on ahead a few hundred feet and watched as the grass diminished, becoming hard rock. Up ahead, he looked up at the cliffside that jutted out. This entire area was basically a large hole in the ground. It’s as if a landmass once was here, but was dug out of the ground.

These cliffs were steep and dangerous. Moving at high speeds, one might not notice the cliffside in time before realizing to stop, slipping, and falling over the edge. If he was here, and was in trouble, he could’ve done just that, the man noted to himself.

The officer got off his bike and stepped forward. A little ways ahead, rock formations jutted out of the ground. That made this particular cliffside all the more dangerous. Still, he had to check. He had to make sure that the agent was either dead or alive, even if they never actually found him.

Fear entered into his heart. A strange feeling. Something felt awkward, unwavering. What could possibly be over here? He approached the rock formation. It just didn’t feel right. Something was wrong. Deathly wrong, and yet… he couldn’t place his finger on it.

He glanced up, seeing a pointed formation jutting out a good three feet taller than himself. Light reflected off of a golden object. A voice called out, but he paid no attention. He wrapped his arm around the formation, reaching up with his left hand as high as he could. Placing his foot a little higher onto it, he grasped his hand onto the object and pulled it down. He examined it closer and suddenly gasped out.

“Greg, Stanley, come quick!” a voice called out.

Stanley raised an eyebrow. If he had found this here, than what could Lewis have found…?

The man quickly darted off as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving the bike behind. He ran north along the edge of the rock formation. Lewis called out again, a little further from the cliff. Stanley turned and saw him next to a soft patch of grass. He raced up and Greg arrived on his bike. Lewis stared down, not taking his eyes off. Stanley began to open his mouth, but never finished his statement.

A young girl, about the age of fifteen he estimated, lay there. She had long black hair and red eyes. Blood seeped the ground. He eyes were shut tight. She looked almost dead, but… no, she wasn’t dead, her chest heaved in and out. She was alive, but badly wounded. Lewis’s jacket was draped over her…

“I found her like this,” Lewis stated. “Both her legs are broken and she’s got a severe wound in the back of her head, but she’s alive.” He took a deep breath, the at last continued. “What’s worse, though, is that she was completely bare.”

Stanley raised an eyebrow. “Get her on the bike, now. We have to get her back to the city. Our mission can wait.”

Greg looked up. “Sir?”

Stanley stared back. “Do it,” he demanded.

Greg nodded, saluting.. “Yes sir!”

Lewis and Greg got the girl onto Greg’s bike and road off. Stanley made his way back to his own bike, mumbling over the situation. It was far too suspicious, but he couldn’t make out any of it. He pulled the object out of his hand and lifted it up, staring at it in wonder. It was a golden ring. Now how would he explain this to the Commander?!

XXXXX

That noise was irritating. A repetitive beeping, coming out every second. It refused to stop. Nothing seemed to make it go away. Head hurts, writhing in pain… that beeping certainly isn’t helping any! Just go away, shut up. Make it stop, make it stop!

It didn’t stop. The insistent beeping continued. Every few seconds, it came. A pause, then… BEEP. Another pause, and… BEEP. Constantly, over and over. BEEP, pause, BEEP, pause, BEEP.

I could not help myself. The noise was driving me insane. Out of all things, anything, why this?! It was just a repetitive, insistent annoyance that continued relentless, over and over, refusing to give way. Why wouldn’t it just end?!

The girl’s eyes opened wide. She sat up in the bed, rubbing at her head. ‘Ugh, where am I…?’ she asked herself.

A white room. It was clothed with a light texture. A shining brightness glimmered from her left. Turning, she saw an open shade. It glazed into the room, witnessing unto her. She blinked. It was blinding. Eyes consumed by darkness, she struggled to see with the sudden light that had shown. She lifted up her hand, blocking the light from entering, allowing them to adjust as she stared in wonder.

Something instantly startled her. BEEP, a noise called out. She spun around, noticing a strange machine nearby. Right next to the from of the bed, next to where her upper torso lay, was a small table. Next to the foot of the bed, a chair sat. She began to move, but the sheets moved along with her. She pushed them off and continued forward, but she then felt something tugging at her shoulder.

Looking closer, she gasped out. Cords and wires of all sorts were attached to her body. Tracing them, she found out that they were all attached to the machine. Whatever this machine was, obviously, it was monitoring her. BEEP, it called out. She raised an eyebrow. This thing felt familiar. She… remembered it from somewhere, but where? What role did it play?

Afraid, she tugged at the cords, ripping them off. The nodules fell to the ground. The machine went haywire. She stared at it in disbelief. It was now obvious that it was monitoring her, but WHAT exactly was it monitoring?

She moved to sit up, but something surprised her. The door slammed open and a man rushed in. He looked up at the girl, then at the machine. He gave off a sigh of relief. He turned to the machine and did something. Immediately, the beeping stopped.

The man glanced down at her. He was tall with short blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore white clothing across his body. A name tag was clipped to his left pocket. The tag read ‘Daniel.’ She watched him, curiously, but did not say a word.

Daniel approached. “H… hello,” he stated, hesitating.

The girl watched him, curiously. “Hello,” she stated in reply.

The man chuckled a bit. “Heh, my name is Daniel Nickelson, your doctor at the Station Square Memorial Hospital.”

Surprise lit her face. She lowered her head a bit, biting her lip. “W-wait, did you say… hospital…?” she asked.

Daniel nodded. “Yes,” he stated. “You were found lying in a jungle about fifty miles southwest of here in the jungle. You sustained a heavy blow to the head, cracking the skull but suffering only minor brain injuries. Your left tibia bone and also both fibula bones in your legs were also broken when you were first found.”

The girl gasped out. She allowed it all to sink it, thinking over everything. What in the world had happened…? And why could she not remember any of it…?

The doctor lowered his head, sighing. “I’m afraid that’s not all of it, though,” he stated. “You were found unconscious…” he paused, hesitating. “You were found unconscious and did not wake up until now.”

Her eyes lit up. Wait, so… she had been unconscious since then? When was then, anyway? “So,” she began. “I… I was in a coma?” she asked. Not waiting for a reply, she continued. “H… how long was I out?”

Daniel nodded. “Five months,” he stated, regretting. “We… we didn’t think you’d come out alive. When you pulled off those nodules, I actually assumed that you died. I’m glad I was wrong.”

She gasped out again. She had sustained all those injuries, fallen into a coma, and woke up five months later? What kind of accident was this, anyway?! “Do you… know what happened…” she asked.

The doctor shook his head. “Actually, no, we don’t. However, from what we have heard, it is likely that you had fallen off a cliff.” He stopped, glanced around, and then finally looked back at the girl again. She had backed up onto the bed and he realizing that everything was just beginning to sink it. “I know this may be hard for you, but could you do one thing for me?”

The girl nodded, showing no expression on her face. “…yes…” she stated, calmly, or at least, trying to be.

Daniel nodded. “Please, miss, can you tell me your name? That would do as a start.”

She nodded in reply. “Yes, of course, its…”

…

She stopped.

What was her name, anyway? Of course she had a name, she knew that she did. However, for some odd reason, she could not recall what it was. She tried to think, tried to reason with the whole situation. Her name. What was her name? What was her father’s name? Mother? Siblings? Address? Birthday?

Nothing came. Not a hint or sign. Everything was a twisted confusion. Nothing in her mind came together into a form of reasoning. She tried to think, she tried to remember, but she could not. Her head ached in pain. She steadied it with her hand, thinking harder… harder… harder…

Tears swelled up in her eyes. The doctor shook his head, solemnly. The girl did not notice. She sat there, thinking, musing, imagining… imagining what? Well, apparently nothing. She couldn’t remember anything, not even her own name. The more she tried, the more afraid she became. Her eyes swelled up, liquid dripping down from them.

No! She refused to cry… she couldn’t cry… she never let herself cry. Not her, she never did. She didn’t remember why, but she did remember that much. It was because of something wrong, but because she had always told herself there was an alternative, some other way. Yet, though, she realized that she was.

She fell back upon the bed. Tears burst down. The doctor turned back to the door. “I… will leave you here…” he stated. He opened the door and closed it behind, but quickly took a quick peek back in, first. “If you need anything, I will send in a nurse to assist you.” With that said, he left.