The garbled sound of a person talking woke him from his slumber. He looked around for the source of the voice, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find the speaker. He shook his head to clear the fog from his mind before sitting up to look around. The place he found himself in an empty room made from stone with only a single entrance. A massive solid steel door with no way to open it. At least from his side. It was then his attention drifted back to the person talking.

 

[You’re probably scared, confused, maybe a bit hungry too. But don’t worry about that! The less trouble you cause, the easier my life will be…] The stranger grumbled. Their voice was rough and masculine. So he was sure he could safely assume they were male.

 

The stranger continued talking without waiting for a response. [Anyway, let’s get the introduction wrapped up. If I drag this on too long, who knows what that little ass kisser Altan will say to the higher ups…]

 

[You’re currently recovering from a certain operation you had to go through when you were hurt. It was pretty serious and messed with your head a bit. So don’t be surprised if you can’t remember some details about your past.]

 

That sent a spark of fear into him, and he quickly realized he couldn’t recall his own name. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Panic bubbled up inside him before the firm voice of the stranger interrupted his inner turmoil.

 

[Ah, you’ll have some difficulties speaking for a while. But don’t try to force yourself to speak. You’ll have that fixed later. For now, we should focus on your quick recovery. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the situation. Keep in mind I don’t like to repeat myself, so listen carefully. Ready?] The man paused, and he heard him take a sip of water.

 

[Been awhile since I’ve had to talk this long...  anyway, communication is the first thing we should go over.. I’ve never been good at interpretation so I’d rather be able to talk to each other rather than guess at what you want. But your throat isn’t going to be producing any words anytime soon, so we’ll do the next best thing. The doctors hooked up an experimental speech unit to you. So why don’t we test it out for them? From what I’ve heard, they’re rather excited to see results. Instead of forcing yourself to speak, try to think of what you want to say.]

 

At this he had to reconsider whether it was a good idea to continue listening to this man. The idea of communicating by thought seemed dubious at best and outright insane at worst. But despite this, he humored the man. Better to show the man such a thing was impossible rather than angering the one person who’s talked to him so far. He took a moment and focused on a single sentence.

 

[Yo--e fu—-ing ---zy.]

 

[You’re --ck--- --azy.]

 

[You’re  fucking crazy.]

 

[Well, that was rude of you to say.]

 

His mouth opened up in shock. The stranger was right! He could speak to him using thoughts! Suddenly all the dots connected in his head. This entire time the man was speaking to him, he couldn’t see him. He had assumed they were just hidden from view or behind a door, but if he could speak to him with his thoughts, then why couldn’t the stranger? But he did say that they hooked up a prototype to him. Maybe he was equipped with a different type of thing? That didn’t matter right now, because now he could talk and finally ask some questions of his own.

 

[When do I get to leave?]

 

[Already asking questions? Looks like that accident did your brain some good. I’d imagine most people in your position would have a minor breakdown. For now though, why don’t we focus on your recovery?]

 

He couldn’t help being disgruntled by the lackluster response he got. While they phrased it like a question, he could tell he wouldn’t be getting answers from him. At least not yet. For now, he just nodded.

 

[Excellent. Next we’ll discuss how to access your menu. Accessing it is all about intent really, but the bigwigs like having things done in a specific way. So just focus on the word status. Give it a try.]

 

Hesitantly he did as the man said and a menu manifested in his mind. It was bright and seemed to give off its own dim blue light. But when he looked around the room, he found it was still dark. This “menu” wasn’t something physical. Which meant the light it gave off was an illusion. The menu itself might’ve been an illusion only he could see.

 

[Name: Unknown

Race: Giant centipede

Level: 1

Title: ^3/@15\{

 

Mutations-

Venom glands

Sturdy mandibles

Sturdy carapace

Compound eyes

Antenna: Vibration and hearing

 

Skills:

Apprentice rank-

Rending bite

Sprint

Veteran rank-

None

Journeyman rank-

None

Master rank-

None

 

Spells:

Apprentice rank-

None

Veteran rank-

None

Journeyman rank-

None

Master rank-

None]

[Well, there’s nothing too out of place. No name, but I guess after what you went through that’s understandable. That just means if you didn’t like your old one you can choose a new one!]

 

[I’m a… centipede? What exactly is that?]

 

[You mean you don’t remember? Man, your head really got messed up bad. Centipedes are long wiggly freaks with a lot of legs.]

 

[Er… what?] He shifted, feeling a multitude of stubs on his body move with him, albeit slowly. Some of them didn’t even move at all. Were these his so called “legs?”

 

[You’ll get used to it. You also have a very ugly mug. Some might even say horrific.]

 

[Hey! That was a bit harsh to say. Picking on a wounded seems like an awfully low thing to do!]

 

He ground his mouth together in frustration from the casual insult hurled his way. Strangely though, it took a few moments to complete such a simple motion. While he was pondering this, the stranger continued to talk.

 

[Yeah, I’m very harsh. Back on the subject! We have just one more thing to discuss. You’ve signed a contract.]

 

[A contract?] His attention shifted back to the stranger.

 

[Yeah a contract, and unfortunately despite your current situation you still have to fulfill it.]

 

This troubled him. If it had just been recovering, then things might have not been so bad. But a contract he doesn’t even remember seeing just screamed trouble. Hesitantly, he asked the question on his mind. [And what exactly do I have to do?]

 

[Military service. You’re a soldier and I’m supposed to get you back in fighting shape.]

 

[Seriously!? You can’t be serious! I can’t even remember signing the contract much less why I signed up in the first place!]

 

[I’m sorry but that’s just the facts. I’ll give you a couple days to rest and get used to your body. You can expect food to arrive later.]

 

With that a presence he didn’t notice earlier left, leaving him alone in the darkness of his room. And in a certain sense, his prison cell. Amnesia, accidents, and military contracts. Just what did he get himself into? What sort of “accident” did he get himself into? And what exactly did this military contract entail?

 

Maybe the stranger was supposed to answer his questions and keep him from panicking, but he only had more questions. And he was panicking just a little on the inside. But someone was probably watching, so he did his best not to show it. Not that his body was in any shape to panic properly. speaking of his body, his new current goal was getting used to his body should be his focus. But it was a good idea. He just barely noticed earlier, but his movements were lethargic. Clumsy, and that’s not something anyone wanted when in a military contract. They might send him out to fight!