Terrible form, and even worse balance. He was sure if he was being tested on how well he could stand, he’d fail. But if anyone took one look at his legs, it wasn’t hard to see why. It took a good five or so minutes, but soon he could stand on his legs without collapsing. However, his legs still left a lot to be desired. Even now they were trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, as if they were about to collapse at the slightest bit of force.
There were other reasons for the weakness in his legs, though. The reason he was looking at now, in fact. Not as if he had any other choice in the matter. It ends up being a centipede meant he couldn’t close his eyes. Odd, and as he found out just now, it was very inconvenient. He could turn around, but again his legs were a problem. But the reason for the upset queasy rumbling in his stomach was a slab of meat lying on the floor.
It would have been bad enough with it being on the floor. Floors usually weren’t clean, and he hasn’t been awake long enough to know what things could have been on it. No, the biggest problem was that the meat was raw. Raw meat! What was he? Some barbaric monster!? An outrage is what it was! Even the lowest of scum shouldn’t be forced to eat raw meat off the floor! And its origins were also in doubt.
Just a couple minutes after he talked to the stranger, a hatch he hadn’t noticed on the ceiling opened up. And from it a slab of meat was carelessly dropped to the floor. They didn’t even bother with lowering it! Whoever “they” were. This place, whatever it was, definitely wasn’t some place where they took care of the injured. At least he hoped it wasn’t. If this was how they treated their own injured… Well, that’s if he was one of them in the first place. He did have amnesia after all.
He got off track again. Something that’s been happening for a while ever since he woke up. Back to the disgusting meat. Which as it so happened smelled delicious! A raw, filthy piece of meat looked and smelled like a scrumptious meal, and that disgusted him. And why shouldn’t it? While he couldn’t exactly remember most of the specific things regarding his past, he still remembered common sense. At least most of it. And it told him that raw meat wasn’t considered a delicacy.
Yet here he was gnawing at the air hungrily, antenna thrashing the air with frustration, stomach growling with hunger and revulsion. He shouldn’t want to eat this! But if this was the only thing they were going to give him… No! He must keep control of himself! If he didn’t… Well, he’d be doing something he’d soon regret.
But even as he anguished over it, his body unconsciously crept forward, mandibles gnashing together. In a matter of moments he was in front of the meat, tentatively reaching out to nibble the wet reddish pink slab of meat sitting in a pool of crimson blood. No!
He threw himself backwards, his feet scrambled to find purchase on the smooth stone floor. Soon he was coiled up in a pile, black compound eyes glaring at the meat with unconcealed hatred and a hint of longing. Food. That’s what he really craved. Not some slab of uncooked meat. But it was the only thing he had, and it seemed the ceiling would not drop any other options for him to choose from.
Eventually he skittered forward and took a tentative bite from the chunk of meat. As soon as the piece of meat went down his throat and into his stomach, he began ravenously tearing apart the chunk of flesh and forcing it down his throat. In a matter of minutes there was nothing but a few ribs bones left, which he soon went to work picking the bits of flesh from. Finished, he collapsed to the ground, hunger sated and entirely disappointed in himself.
He- whatever his name may be has eaten raw meat off the floor like an animal. Not at all what a person should be doing. And he probably had an audience somewhere out there. The stranger had a way to see him. What’s to say there weren’t others who had a way to watch what he was doing?
But what’s been done could not be taken back. He had other concerns now. Mainly scoping out his room. He’s been so busy jumping from one thing to the next, he hasn’t even checked his room in its entirety. He only spared it a glance earlier, but the ceiling hatch shows he missed things. And who knows, maybe he missed something important. A clue to his identity.
Slowly he half crawled, half dragged himself around the room looking for anything. And he had found very little. Most of his room was empty. It was shaped like a large square and each side was four times as long as he was. In the far right corner opposite of the door there was a makeshift bed made of straw and dirt lay. There was nothing else in the room other than that. For someone recovering from an accident, he had suspiciously poor care.
The only other thing that was interesting was actually the exits for the room. The door like he thought earlier was metal. Maybe even steel. He couldn’t tell the difference between steel or iron, so he couldn’t say which it was. But it looked to be made entirely out of metal. Not the smallest bit of wood was to be found. It was definitely made to take a beating from something large and strong. To keep something out? Or in? He shivered just thinking about what it was supposed to hold back. The only other detail of interest was that it lacked anyway for him to open it from his side.
Then there was the ceiling trapdoor. He couldn’t examine it in any great detail. The walls were completely smooth and despite trying for several minutes, he couldn’t climb it. He probably wasn’t a skilled climber in the first place. But the trapdoor also was made from metal and lacked any way for him to open it.
The last detail he noticed while trying to climb the wall was grates set into it near the ceiling. It probably was to let air inside his room. They at least didn’t want him to suffocate. But other than that, the room was completely bare. It seemed less like he was a patient recovering from a dreadful accident, and more like a prisoner being kept under lock and key. But why would they lock him up? Was he a dangerous criminal? But they mentioned a military contract, so maybe he was an enemy soldier. That theory didn’t work either. No one in their right mind would hire an enemy soldier. Unless it wasn’t a contract he had to fulfill for them, but someone else?
He shook his head and curled back up on the straw bed. His antenna twitched with nervous energy. Thinking about all of this gave him a headache and got his stomach all twisted up. Which didn’t feel very good when you’ve eaten just a few minutes ago.
Just a short while ago, things were much more lighthearted. Now that the stranger wasn’t here to distract him, he realized something. Things are very serious right now. Maybe even deadly serious.
