Somewhere in the depths of a mind there's an ice. It's blue gleaming and comfortably chilly. It feels much better than all of the good memories, but much worse than all the bad memories. Experiences, the cheerful ones as well as the sorrowful ones, make it grow in size. The whole life has and impact on it and it has impact on the life too.
If a human has none, would he exist? What if the ice melts? Could there possibly be some kind of warmth to even make that happen?
Tachyon gunshots are fired simultaneously at the same target, which hopelessly evades in the middle of Austera nube, not far from Omicron Psi jump hole. Outcasts sure don't mess with uninvited guests. The ship is lit ablaze. Only two thousand metres of dodging the Outcasts' firepower remain until the jump hole is reached. One thousand, a cruise distruptor is lost. Five hundred, most of the weaponary falls off. Eventually, torn apart, the ship flies straight into the jump hole. How lucky that the guarding dreadnought didn't notice it.
Smoke fills the ship, making the air unbreathable. All systems fail, cruise engines lose their functionality, thruster is gone, lost in the battle. There was no way the pilot can get to safety from Omicron Psi on impulse speed. The escape pod is fried. With a lack of fresh air, the pilot feels fatigue. She does everything she can in order to stay awake. But the brain refuses to cooperate and she faints. It's so warm.
Fatigue accompanies a strong sickness. The probability of survival was very low, yet here she lies, alive. Panic grasps her with a look on the measuring devices. She is all good, but seeing all the numbers and graphs without knowing their propper meaning is somehow uncomfortable for her. A failed attempt to sit is made. The head hurts so much that she cannot even move a little.
A doctor comes in. He appears as an old, wise man. He wears glasses as well.
"Good evening, madam."
This voice would calm down an angry cop, whose donut has been stolen. Being a doctor and having a lovely voice at the same time is an advantage. Patients tend to be restless.
"Whatever you did out there was very dangerous. I haven't seen that messy lungs in a long time. Last time I had a worse case. It was a young man, your age I'm guessing, and that was a rather awkward one. Since then I tell my children not to consume food with their nose. Anyways, your lungs are functional, puny signs of poisoning, but your body will handle that."
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Oh, it's Cuttingham, Dr.Cuttingham. What about you, madam? How do they call you?
Her heart starts pounding heavily. What is her name? That's an easy question, it can be answered with ease, right? Right? No. In fact she doesn't have a clue about the wey of her getting here. Nor does she remember her family. It feels almost like a rebirth. Her memories were emptied! Knowing this fact, she falls unconscious.
Light of the three stars bathes the station. If a man saw it from afar, he would think it's lit ablaze. A thick green nebula fills the blank space behind the stars. There are station debris floating freely nearby the dust field. The field that hides the station, that the amnestic lady is in.
She dreams.
White room. It is almost empty. In the middle lies a vase. A blue, thick vase full of liquid. She is curious to see what's inside, so she walks towards it. With each step taken, the vase gets a bluer hue. Now it's safe to say that the vase is made of crystals. They slowly melt.
This dream fades away and that gives her consciousness. What is this place? Who is she even? A glass of water stands on the right. She assumes it's there for the purpose of her hydration. It is refreshing. Dr.Cuttingham walks in in time to see her drink.
"Good evening, madam. How do you feel now?"
It's tough to answer when you don't know how you feel yourself.
"I'm confused."
Dr.Cuttingham doesn't look surprised. He takes a paper out of his folder and reads it. After placing it on the shelf, he turned off all the devices monitoring the lady's state.
"No need to monitor you anymore. Anyways, I have two news for you. One of them is a bad and the other is good. Which one do you wanna hear first?"
She has been asked this question plenty of times before. The fear of the fact that something really bad happened made her not want to know right away.
"Tell me the good news first, please."
Checkmate.
"Erm... The amnesia shouldn't last that long."
The bad news are answered by this. She feels terrified. What did she do before? How long is she alive? Who is she even? Tough times will occur, but as the doctor said, her memories should return.
"I'll give you some private room, you can change your clothes, or get something to eat. You can play chess with this AI here as well. *points on a table on the right* Right below the glass, there's a chess board. Also feel free to read this document. It's necassary for you to do so."
Dr.Cuttingham raises the paper and places it again. He leaves the room. The lady sits and holds her head as the migraine still insists on staying. Both feet touch the cold floor and slowly move towards the clothes.
"Is this about me?"
She grasps the documents with her personal intel. Where did they get it from? An answer to this question is no more important than the content of the documents. Using a hand, shivering with thrill, the lady flips the first page over. The first noticable thing is a picture of her. So this is how she's looked all the time. A nearby mirror confirms it. Blonde ponytail, blue eyes and cheek dimples whilst smiling. She fears to glance at the documents once more. However, it has to be done.
"Paula Kirschner!"
She gasps and sits on the bed, because her blood pressure raises. The name does not sound familiar at all. Yet it's her own name.
Reading through the document causes Paula chaos inside her head. She lacked the familiarity of being on a space station too. The only way to regain her memories back is to learn them. Will it still be the same as before? The answer is no. Even if she reads all the information, there is no way she can find the small details of her life. That means a new start for her.
Exactly two weeks passed. They were extremely busy. Learning everything about your past isn't fun at all. Paula doesn't care anymore. All she wants to do is to fly away. Far away.
What is the use of knowing your friends and family if you don't carry any special feelings for them? Personal past somehow lacks an importance to her now. What really interests her is the outer space. Starlight reflects in her deep blue eyes as in a mirror. It is so warm. Just three days ago, she learned how to handle a spaceship. It went very smoothly, almost like the hands of hers worked on their own. Her head forgot, but her muscles still remember. The green nebula, covered by two stars, fascinates her the most. What could possibly be hidden in there? Nothing can stop her from going outside now.
Like a leaf, being pulled by a strong wind, Paula yields herself to the secrets of space. She cannot sustain the temptation anymore. The docks hide a small shuttle. It is basic, but enough to make space travel possible to her. The engines are online and she is granted an acces to leave. The journey begins.