Chapter 2 – Connection to the Past
Cammy awoke startled from a nightmare that she could barely recall. Seeking comfort, she reached out to the left side of the mattress, her fingers expecting to feel the warm security of a muscled shoulder but her grasp came up empty. As she sat up in bed, it dawned on her, like it did every morning since she arrived here, that she was in bed alone.
Perhaps her reaching out for someone in the morning was habit she had before she lost her memory, but her body could not forget performing the simple motion every time she awoke from a bad dream. Finding no one to reach out to left her feeling colder than she did when she first woke up. It always reminded her that she had no idea of who she truly was.
The Delta Red doctors had advised that she had potential of remembering her whole past but Cammy didn't believe them. She simply couldn't get past the feeling that they were patronizing her. She was fully aware that her amnesia wasn't brought on from the concussion that they discovered when they found her comatose body at their doorstep. When they conducted brain scans on her, there were obvious signs of foul play when it came to her long term memory. The British Intelligence and Delta Red Agency had concluded together that the last opponent that she had encountered had taken the extreme precaution to erase her memory because she must have had invaluable evidence on them.
Afterwards, they subjected her physical tests to determine if there was anything else her last opponent may have tampered with. Despite her loss of memory, she still proved to be a worthy soldier. None of her military skills were compromised, as she was still lethal in battle just as she was before the life-threatening injuries. Thus, the British Intelligence having no use for Cammy in their agency since she could not remember her time undercover, went ahead and approved Cammy's transfer to the Delta Red squad.
Cammy could not have been happier with the outcome. She felt no affinity for the British Intelligence because of her amnesia. As well, she was already attached to the Delta Red team because of how quickly they took her in without even knowing who she was. Furthermore, being a member of Delta Red was the only thing that kept her mind sane from the emptiness she felt for not having a true past. They had become her surrogate family.
As if sensing her loneliness, a fuzzy orange tabby cat mewed loudly before he hopped off the windowsill above her head and sauntered into her lap.
"Good morning, Wisent. I'm doing much better now that you're here," Cammy cooed with a small smile as she affectionately scratched the chubby tabby between his ears. Wisent was a stray tomcat that she had taken in last month and she couldn't help but spoil the fluff ball outrageously. There was something about his twinkling ruby coloured eyes that brought out her less lethal side. Also, she felt like she understood him as they were both strays in their own way.
Cammy glanced at her digital clock at her bedside and noted that she had only one hour to get ready for the briefing scheduled today. Playfully shoving Wisent's fuzzy face away, she swung her shapely legs over the side of her mattress, slipping her feet into her slippers. Then she heard a loud rapping noise at her door.
"Cammy! Are you ready yet?!" A voice called from the other side of the door.
Quickly pulling a robe over her lingerie clad body, she hurriedly opened the door to let in fellow member Lita Luwanda. Lita was a couple inches taller than her and wore her dirty blonde hair loose soft waves about her shoulders. She was the only other female member of Delta Red and was excited to finally have another female to hang around with. Lita had brown paper bag clutched in one hand and held a cardboard carton of beverages in the other.
"What's the rush? I still have an hour to get ready," Cammy replied, fastening the belt of her robe tighter.
"You know me, I like to be early." Lita retorted with a grin. "Early bird catches the worm and the chocolate croissants that always run out by the time you get there…"
Lita shook the tantalizingly brown paper bag in front of Cammy nose. The delicious scent wafted up and Cammy's mouth watered.
"OK, give me 15 minutes, I still need to brush my teeth and shower. In the meantime, make yourself at home." Cammy said, eyeing the paper bag with desire. "And you better save me one of those when I get back!"
"I make no such promise!" Lita teased, as hopped onto the edge of Cammy's bed. Wisent hissed furiously at being jostled so unceremoniously.
"Sorry Wisent! I thought you were an ugly fuzzy pillow!" Lita consoled unsuccessfully.
After the 10 minutes Cammy returned to her bedroom, fully dressed in her Delta Red green leotard uniform, red beret, matching red fingerless gloves and black combat boots. She had plaited her long hair into two separate neat braids. Wrestling the paper bag from Lita's grip, Cammy made quick work of her breakfast, demolishing two croissants and quickly chugging down whatever vegetable fruit concoction that Lita had brought over.
"You eat like a guy," Lita commented, nibbling thoughtfully on her croissant. "Do you think you grew up with lots of brothers?"
The British Intelligence did not reveal which operation Cammy had been under when she got beaten to a pulp. They would not release one page of her file to help her jog her memory. They stated that her file was sealed because the information was classified. So, she didn't even have the slightest clue to her own past. So, her amnesia was a curiosity amongst her comrades and it became some kind of guessing game among them. Whenever she did something that was unique or weird, they all liked to speculate on what it was in her past that made her that way.
Cammy shrugged as she wiped her mouth with a beige napkin. Crumpling the napkin in her fist, she began clearing away the remaining napkins and crumbs from her little dining table.
"Do all girls with lots of brothers eat like guys?" Cammy asked innocently as she tossed the rubbish into the trash bin.
"Maybe, there's never been an official study on it. But who knows, maybe you have a whole tribe of handsome brothers searching for you as we speak!" Lita stated with wide eyes as she headed for the door. As they made their way to Lita's jeep, Cammy couldn't help chuckling at her companion's imagination.
Sliding into the passenger seat, Cammy rested her eyes for a bit as she allowed herself to imagine her past through Lita's eyes. She pictured herself as a little girl sitting at a large table with clan of imaginary brothers taking up the all the seats around her. There was a succulent meal at the table and everyone was devouring the food like there was no tomorrow. There would be friendly chattering amongst them, retelling of exciting events from their day as they shovelled food into their mouths. However, as soon as they noticed that the bread basket was getting emptier, utensils would clatter to the floor as everyone would fight for the last bread roll. After all, dinner was survival of fittest for a family as big and as boisterous as theirs. She envisioned the younger version of herself quickly swooping in and triumphantly stuffing the bread roll into her mouth, while all her brothers groaned for not being fast enough. The sound of another car honking loudly interrupted the dream and abruptly the dinner table disappeared from sight.
She felt a pang of longing after she was reminded that she having fantasy and not actually remembering a past moment in her head. She really hoped her unrefined eating habits actually meant that she had big family of brothers out there somewhere. What she would give to have her memories back… Almost anything.
"Ms. White, I do hope that you awake from that miserable dream you seem to be in…" A gravelly male voice stated with concern. Cammy could sense sunlight upon her as her eye lids fluttered open.
"Was I asleep?" Cammy asked, as she rubbed her temples. She felt disoriented but her grogginess was slipping away. Her bewildered blue gaze met with steely grey eyes that were filled with worry. Cammy was in the strong arms of Keith Wolfman and she didn't know why.
"I was briefing the team on the new mission and you seemingly thought that it was appropriate to pass out at the end of it." Keith explained as he released his hold on her. Setting her aside, he stood up and stretched his legs. "The last slide must have caused quite a reaction. You got up from your seat, pointed at it and promptly fainted."
"How long was I out?" Cammy inquired as Keith extended his hand to her, helping her off the floor.
"Not very long, I'd say. Perhaps, only 10 minutes." Keith estimated, tugging on one end of his grey moustache.
"Where is everyone else?" Cammy asked, taking her seat by the window.
"They're worried over you and looking for the medic." Keith replied, leaning against the desk across from hers as he crossed his arms. "How are you feeling after your tumble?"
"I feel fine…now. Only slightly dazed," she answered with a small smile and Keith smirked at her response.
"You did hit that floor pretty hard. Feeling 'slightly dazed' is definitely warranted, Ms. White." Keith retorted. "Did that last slide bring back any flashbacks from your past life?"
"I'm kind of fuzzy on the last hour. What was the last slide? Maybe if I look at it again, it will jog something."
"Well, after the reaction you just had…I thought it was best that I turned the projector off. Maybe it's better that you don't remember." Keith answered, but the last sentence seemed like something he said more to himself.
"Spare me," Cammy replied as she rolled her eyes at his protectiveness. How could not remembering be better?
"Tell me, what do you remember from this morning?" Keith queried.
She contemplated deeply on what she could dredge up from her morning. She had breakfast with Lita. They drove over to the Delta Red compound together. They met up with George Gims and Matthew McCoy, the other team members of Delta Red. Matthew blatantly flirted with Lita but she blatantly ignored his advances. As soon as Keith arrived, he began briefing them on their latest mission.
Turning on screen projector, Keith had told them that Delta Red was going to enter a sparring competition, held by criminal syndicate Shadaloo. A slide showing the Shadaloo symbol promptly filled the screen. As Keith explained that this competition was one of the only few times that anyone could get access to the head of the organization, M. Bison, images of past competitions whirred before their eyes. Keith went on to explain that the elusive M. Bison attended the World Warrior competitions to recruit only the most talented of the competitors. Then pictures of notorious Shadaloo members appeared, ranging from a well-muscled Afro-American boxer in the Las Vegas ring to a delicate looking but deadly cage fighter slicing up his opponent with his sharp claw weapons. Cammy remembered feeling a curdling sensation in her stomach as she looked at their pictures.
At this point of the presentation, Keith revealed the other purpose to their mission. There was intelligence that M. Bison was doing more than recruiting at his World Warrior competitions. Unbeknownst to the participants, M. Bison was planning on experimenting on them but the reasons behind the experiments were only know to M. Bison's inner circle. Pictures of the science labs in Shadaloo's complex filled the screen. The curdling feeling in her stomach had then turned into hot boil. Then, Keith ended the briefing with a head shot of M. Bison. And that is when Cammy felt her stomach practically erupt.
There was something about M. Bison's face that struck a chord in her. She got up and pointed at the dimple in his chin like it was important. Several waves of emotions washed over her, recognition, confusion, fear, hate, lust…love. It was then too many emotions for her to handle all at once and felt herself drowning under all crashing waves. That was when she must have fainted.
"I remember everything from today, Colonel Wolfman. I even remember that last slide." Cammy murmured.
"The one of M. Bison? Well, he does have a face that many are not likely to forget when they do happen to come across it." Keith declared as he raised a bushy eyebrow.
"I must have known M. Bison before I joined Delta Red. For some odd reason, I feel a connection towards him." Cammy confessed. "He's probably responsible for the condition I was in when the team found me! He probably gave me this hideous scar that has my face scaring away all the small children!"
Keith swallowed down a chuckle, as it was not appropriate time to laugh. But the thought that Cammy was made ugly by the scar across her cheek was certainly laughable. She had such a lovely face, no silly little scar could take that away.
"I cannot wait to get my hands on that Bison! This mission will give me the answers that I need!" Cammy stated vehemently.
"Ms. White, let's look at this logically. M. Bison could certainly be a viable suspect for your amnesia but we cannot know for sure." Keith stated reasonably. "Furthermore, look at the fragile condition that you are in only from this mere briefing. Perhaps, it would be best you sit this mission out."
"No, I must enter this World Warrior contest. If only for my sanity!" Cammy pleaded. "Besides, would you rather I enter this competition alone (because if you do force me to sit this one out, I will enter it alone!) or would you rather I enter it with Delta Red by my side?"
"Ms. White, Delta Red will always be by your side…"
