"And…here. This is your room." A tall man with a white shining face leads you into your new room. It's a light grey lined with slightly-chipped paint and lights fused into the wall. Other than the walls, the room is bright white and burns your eyes. You squint to make out furniture. In the corner is your bed, shining and sterilized. The sheets are thin and are made out of what seems to be shower curtain material. Beside it is a small nightstand and a glass of apple juice. In big letters, the cup is labeled 'DAVE'.
There are brightly colored stuffed dolls in a pile but you make no move to sit on them. With a slight peak of curiosity, you point to them.
"Ah yes, those were property of the last patient. He looked a lot like you." The man, preferably called Doc, examines your face. Warm colored eyes, shades, pale skin. Almost as if you and he were relatives.
Alas, you don't remember any sick siblings. You don't remember a lot of things. Where you used to live, who you lived with, all gone. As if your mind was a vortex. The only memory you have is of just a few hours ago, when the judge deemed you crazy and you were pulled away from a man. Who was this man? He was wearing a hat….and he was standing next to a woman. Was he your mom? No, you aren't sure if you had a mom. You aren't quite sure you even remember what it's like to have a mom. Or even a simple definition of what one is.
"David." Doc pokes your shoulder. You nod as he pushes you gently into the room. When the automatic door closes, you breathe a sigh of relief. That doctor was cold to the touch. You know for a fact that hands aren't cold. The man's hands were warm.
"Hello?" A squeaky voice knocks on your glass door. Adjusting your shades, you press the button and open the door. The boy jumps into your room, only to be hit by the cruel hand of gravity and fall to the floor. He lied there, splattered across the floor. You gasp and head for the emergency beeper, As your fingers grace the bright red surface, a burst of laughter erupts. The blue-pajama-d boy stands up without a scratch.
"I really thought I could fly that time. Oh well." The boy shrugs. "Anyway, my name is John and I can fly!" John points to himself proudly.
"Hi. I'm Dave and I played a game." You mutter.
"What?"
"I played a game. Sburb."
"Me too!" John jumps up in the air for joy. As he starts to talk about something called 'god tier', a small girl in purple struts in. A notebook is held tightly to her chest. Her hair is adorned with a light purple hairband.
"You played Sburb as well?" She looked astonished.
"Yea. I could time travel."
"I had magic wands." She takes out two silver dogwood sticks. "I still like to pretend I have that power." She frowns.
"Rose, where's Jade?" John asks. While you were talking to rose, he snatched your apple juice and was slurping up the last few drops.
"Sleeping. I'm sure she can meet you later…" Rose faulters. She stares at you.
"Dave."
"Yes, of course." Taking John's hand, they lead you out of the cold room and into a common area. One boy strikes you as oddly familiar.
"Karkat?" You two stand in shock. Then Karkat snaps back to reality. His face turns bright red.
"You imbecile! I cannot believe it took you this long to get here! We were going to leave you behind but no, Terezi just HAD to have you here. I bet you forgot about Sburb already!" He yells, "To try and kindle what little memory ashes soaked into the minuscule working part of your thinkpan, I'm going to ask you a question a grub will know."
"Grub?" A tall girl looks up from her book, "Is that Alternian food?"
"Kanaya, I told you. A grub is like an earth bug." Karkat sighs.
"I'm being compared to a bug? I know I have a bad memory but if anyone's a pest, it's Gamzee."
"Who's Gamzee?" John asks.
"I'm not sure. He sounds like a high-off-his-ass moron though."
"Strider, you are actually right for once. Gamzee, my moirail, has as much knowledge as a…" He pauses, "…a magical rainbow." Karkat squeaks as he speaks that last blurb, mocking an overly-sweet girl. You flick his head.
As you get settled in with Karkat, a little girl with cat ears glued to a headband hands you a cup of tea. Like Karkat, she wears a black shirt, One cat ear is colored like a piece of candy.
"Hi…" She stops.
"Dave. Dave, meet Nepeta. Nepeta, meet Dave." Karkat pulls your hands together, shaking the. Nepeta rolls her eyes and scurries away.
"Hey Karkat?" You sip the tea. It's gross but somewhat addicting.
"Yes nookwhiff?"
"Why do you and that girl have candy in your hair?" You gently touch the horn-like protrusions. Karkat pushes you away, quite violently. He tries to hide his blush in his turtleneck.
"Don't touch those." He whispers. You back away, but not as far as to offend him. You know, in this light, his skin is starting to look a little grey.
"Dude, before you transform into whatever the hell you are, can you ask me that question?"
"Hold on." Karkat takes a few deep breaths, Gradually, his skin turns pale white again. "Sure." You return to the position you were originally sitting in. The couch seat was sunk in from where you sat.
"Are you ready?" Karkat's voice gets very soft. He seems almost nervous.
"Yea." You lean in. Why was Karkat acting so secretively?
"Who was—"
"Heeeeeeeey!" A tall girl with blond hair and bright blue mascara juts in between you. "I don't mean to interrupt, oh wait, yes I do. Eridan wanted me to tell you two to GET A ROOM." The girl hisses, a silver skull and bones necklace hangs from her neck, swinging back and forth.
"Vriska, we weren't doing anything like that. First of all. Our relationship is strictly platonic. Secondly, Dave and I were trying to have a conversation."
"Poor you." Vriska laughs. Her necklace smacks you in the face.
"Hey, can you lay off? I'm supposed to be taking a completely useless pop quiz." You push Vriska's chest out of your face. She doesn't bat an eye.
"Uh huh, yeah. Well, I'll leave you two to make out. I'm going to hang out with someone who actually keeps his quadrants to himself." Vriska spins around, giving you a face full of hair.
"What'd be even better would be to keep your chestglobes to yourself!" Karkat screams. A niurse frowns through a glass window embedded in the wall.
"Where were we?" You ask.
"Before anyone else interrupts us, I'll make this quick. Who is Dave Strider?"
"Me." You shrug. Karkat widens his eyes, waiting.
"What about you?" He says slowly.
"Uh..well, I used to be able to time-travel." You shrug. This pulls at the concrete-heavy lips of Vantas. Guess that was the right answer.
"Anything else?"
"No. Sorry dude." I watch all hopefulness drain out of his eyes.
"It's alright. I just expected…more. Like the old you. The one I read about."
"You read about me?" You look around for anyone who could overhear this conversation.
"Yes. If you stop acting like you have the Krusty Krab formula, I can show you the book. Now, follow me." Karkat stands up, stretching his legs. They must have fallen asleep.
"Wait, why is this secret?"
"It's not. You're just making a big deal out of something that isn't."
"Isn't what?" You follow Karkat's footsteps. He opens a creaky wooden door.
"Isn't allowed to be viewed by the others."