The Ultimate Amnesia

(Inspired by The Bourne Identity written by Robert Ludlam and its movie)

By Novian Ter Haar

Chapter 1

Loss

Cold rain was being showered over the Lost Sea, as a small fishing boat was being buffeted by the fearsome waves that threatened to tear it apart. The captain and his crew knew that if the waves couldn't kill you, then the freezing waters would do the job. Everybody on boat knew that they had a job to do though, catch as many fish as they could and leave as soon as possible. Many fishers have been lost to the waters' rage but the captain wasn't going to roll over like a dog and admit defeat.

The captain was in his mid-sixties, he had an abnormally large and bushy white mustache that looked like brooms on both sides. Age also seemed to have taken a toll on his hair long ago which was probably why baldness had decided to catch up to him.

His overcoat was soaking wet after tending to the engine in the back and his glasses were fogged up by the moisture. He knew he had to get inside quick otherwise he was going to catch a cold. Plus he was late for the nightly poker game that he and his crew were supposed to play.

As soon as he was pleased with the engine finally working, getting back inside was his new priority. For not only would he be greeted by warmth of the furnace, but also the warmth of his crew, which he was proud to have called family. "Sometimes", he thought to himself, "I wish my real family was still among the living." Although nothing could ever bring his long deceased family back to the living, moving on was what he has always been doing. Luckily his train of thought disappeared as soon as he heard the shouting and laughter of the crew.

What they were conversing over was the same thing, relationships with someone, complaints about "The Next Big Thing" in today's media, and of course about the Baseball World Series.

This was a perfect way to distract the captain of his troubled past. Hopefully the competition in tonight's game will be even more.

…

Out at sea, something was floating in the water. To some people, they would think that it was a piece of driftwood. But if one were to look closer, that piece driftwood would turn out to be something unexpected… a living being. A living being that was cladded in a black diver's suit. An emergency light was blinking dimly in the darkness like a weak flame on its back. It's most distinguished feature was the fact that it wasn't human but a hedgehog. He appeared to be unconscious, unaware that he was being tossed and turned like a spoiled child throws a rag doll while having a temper tantrum. Its presence seemed to make the waves angry, for they kept on buffeting him around, trying, and desperate to rid themselves of this creature that was invading its domain. But no matter how many times the waves tried to submerge this creature, it refused to drown.

Through the waves, another object was seen traveling towards the creature's destination. It was a boat, a fishing boat.

...

Knowing that tonight was his turn to guard the boat up top, which was a job that nobody wanted to take part in, one of the crew members dreaded this. Mostly because what kind of a fool would want to trek through this just to raid a simple fishing ship. Plus, the icy rain felt like nails being driven through the flesh and the waves, which rocked and buffeted the small boat, made sea sickness seem to be standing at the front door.

If only he were somewhere warm instead of this freezing rain. Perhaps Adabat or Chun-Nan. Hell, he'd take trip down to Shamar. As he was pondering on asking the captain for a chance to take a vacation, something caught his eye. There was a faint light blinking on and off.

Unsure of what was out there, possibly a fellow fishing ship that was sunk by the angry storm, he did not want to take any chances for there could be injured people and the last thing he would rather see is for them to be claimed by the sea.

…

Just as the captain was informed of the predicament, he immediately rushed out to see the situation. As he looked wildly at the sea, he saw the faint glowing light. Shouting orders to his crew to head towards that light, he kept his eyes focused on that light, hoping and praying that whoever was out there was out there still among the living.

By the time they reached the area where the floating creature was seen, no one on board had time to think. Action was to be taken. Using the net that was normally used for catching fish, they knew they had no other choice, so they flung the net at the creature's body. Checking the pulleys to see if they were stable, they pulled on the rope with all their might. Surprisingly, the body was light so they had no problem hoisting it on board.

As soon as they finished, they started eyeing the creature, inspecting it. It was a hedgehog alright, but its spikes were pulled straight back with its tips slanted upwards except for the top and middle which were curved downwards. Its fur was jet-black except for the tops of its spikes because there was a streak of crimson red on each spike. It was wearing black shoes that looked like the belonged to a construction worker. Covering its body was a diver's suit but there was no oxygen tank on its back, which was quite odd. By the looks of its condition, it was either unconscious or dead.

Shocked at this discovery, everyone was murmuring. My God, one of them spoke up in Apotisian, while putting his hand to his forehead. What, you never seen a dead hedgehog before?, said another sailor. Just as they were thinking of saying a prayer, the hedgehog's hand twitched, causing all of the sailors to jump. The hedgehog was probably still alive, so without a second thought, they picked up the body and brought it to the bottom of the ship. This was not the captain's night, he hoped that he would just get through this storm without a problem and now a body that's been fished out of the sea was being brought below. So much for the poker game, he thought to himself.

As soon as the body was laid out on one of the tables, everyone but the captain exited to the top. Eyeing the body and taking a deep sigh, he figured it was time to get to work. Before he was a captain, he was once a scientist and a doctor. "Lucky him", he thought sarcastically. Looking at the body, he figured it was time to get down to work.

Looking for his old medical tools, he figured it would be best to get the suit off of the body. Grabbing a small knife, he carefully cut into the suit. With great precision, he finally got the suit off of the hedgehog. He then saw the chest rising up then down. That was a good sign.

After freeing its feet from the shoes, he noticed a small amount of blood coming from the hedgehog's back. Taking a closer look, he turned over the body and noticed three bullets embedded in its back. Two missed his spine completely except for one that just barely touched it. There wasn't a lot of blood leaking out, probably due to the salty sea water. Being one that was nonviolent, he was slightly disturbed by the sight though. "What happened to you?" he thought to himself. Shaking his head of horrible thoughts, he grabbed a pair of small clampers from his surgery bag and started pulling the bullets out one by one then placing them each into a metal tray. It was a difficult process but he succeeded.

After the bullets were pulled out, he noticed something stranger. On the hedgehog's side, he noticed a bump or something underneath the skin. It looked like something was implanted. Without a second thought, he grabbed a surgical knife, pushed his glasses into place, and proceeded to carefully cut whatever it was that was embedded.

After a few minutes, he finally freed the mysterious object then proceeded to stitch up the wound. As soon as that was finished, the captain started to wipe the sweat from his brow. It had been years since he had done something like this with a patient and it surprised him that he still had it in him. Taking a sip from his coffee, he then washed the blood of the metal object so he could take a good look at it.

It was about 2 centimeters in length and 1 centimeter in width. After carefully inspecting, he saw a button on it. Curiosity taking over, he pushed on the button and laser pointer shot out of it into his eyes. Shocked and slightly blinded by the bright laser beam, he pointed the object at the wall. What he saw was a bank account number, which led to another question, "What on Earth is-".

Broken from his train of thought by a loud noise of metal hitting the floor, he slowly turned around, looking at the empty table where the body was laid. Feeling fear creep through his body, he started looking around, for what? The possibility that the being that he rescued from the sea might kill him?

Then there was a loud crash from behind that as soon as he turned toward the noise, two hands reached for his shirt collar, and pushed him into a wall viciously. Struggling to free himself of the grip that felt like iron, the captain took a good look at the assailant. It was the creature, alive, angry, and… confused? "WHO ARE YOU?!" the hedgehog shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!", "Please, please, calm down", the captain said, "You have to calm down." The grip was getting very tight. "WHERE AM I?!" the hedgehog shouted. The captain, having a hard time trying to keep from losing his sanity to fear, said in a struggling voice "A… boat, a fishing boat. We pulled you out of the water." he said, "You were shot in the… back." Feeling the grip slacken a bit but not completely, the captain saw the hedgehog was shaking his head like there was something in his head that he was trying to get rid of. "I… I… what?" the hedgehog said, grunting with confusion and pain in his voice. "You were shot in the back three times." The captain then pulled out the metal object and asked him, "Why was this in your hip?" Looking at the object seemed to make the hedgehog look even more strained from confusion. "Wh… what..?" was all he could say. Wondering if what the captain just saw was true, and praying he was wrong, he then asked him, "My name is Gerald, I'm a friend. What is your name?" speaking in a calm voice, "What's your name?"

The hedgehog stuttered and then said "I… I don't… I don't know. I… don't… I don't remember." Then without warning, "Oh God", was the last thing he said before collapssing to the floor, unconscious.