Arc 1: The Aura Complex

Chapter 4: Reminiscence


~Zelda~

Zelda stared at the bracelet currently locked onto her left arm. '07-B' it read. She sighed and began walking through the dull and prison-esque hallway to find Dormitory Hall B.

"Room 7-B." she repeated, despite the fact that she could stare at her bracelet at any time.

She walked up to her dorm room, hoping to hop on her bed and think about what just happened. About what that Vaati man said.

"This is where you'll be staying for the rest of the foreseeable future."

"That gene causes strange... abilities that are beyond our understanding."

These words rang over and over in her mind as she approached her room. Of course she was confused. Of course she wanted to leave. But as of now, there was no situation where the pros outweighed the cons. She swiftly unlocked the door with her bracelet and entered. As she looked around the dorm, she saw two empty beds laying on each side of the room, with two desks, two dressers, and two nightstands. There was a mini fridge in the right side of the room that, once Zelda opened it, she realized was already stocked with sodas, bottled water, and juices. She shut the mini fridge door and explored the desk. She pulled a drawer out of the bottom of the desk only to find a pad of writing paper and around five pens. She closed it swiftly and crawled onto her unexpectedly soft, comfortable bed. Despite waking up from a who-knows-how-long slumber in the auditorium, it didn't feel the same as real, comfortable, sleep. Checking the time on her bracelet, she realized it was only 2:30 PM. Regardless, she shut her eyes to let the familiar sleep sink in.


Zelda was jolted awake by the speaker system in her room. She heard the voice that she recognized as Vaati on the other end.

"Attention all residents. You may now leave your dorm room if you wish, and explore the facility to your heart's content. Please remember to abide by all rules of the Complex, as well as rules plastered beside the entrance to each room."

Sitting up, Zelda rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Checking the time, she saw that she had gotten two and a half hours of rest, as it was 5:00 PM. But, one thing had changed about the room before she fell asleep. One of the swivel chairs at the desks were occupied. She sat and stared at the redhead, who was facing the other way and seemed to be reading something. Zelda quickly got out of her bed and walked up to her new roommate.

"Hey." she said. The girl turned around and replied. "Uhh... hi. You're awake!"

"Yeah... I was just really tired, that's all." Zelda said.

"What's your name?" the red-haired girl asked. "I'm Malon. Malon Lon."

"Zelda." she replied, shaking Malon's hand. "What're you reading there?"

"It's a pamphlet. Vaati or someone else slid them under the doors while you were sleeping. It displays the layout of the complex, where you can make credits, how much access to certain facilities cost, and several other things. I'm normally a bit more energetic, but after what I've just been told and the fact that my hometown and ranch were shot up, I'm just kind of losing hope right now."

Zelda was speechless. "Hang on. What did you just say?"

"I'm normally a bit more energetic."

"No, the other part."

"I'm just kind of losing hope right now?"

"No, you said something about your town being shot up?"

"Oh." Malon said. "Yeah. That's kind of the reason I'm here. That's kind of the reason we're all here."

"I don't recall anything about a mass shooting."

"Well, it wasn't really a mass shooting than more of a war attack." Malon corrected. "I've talked to a few people, and they all have similar stories to me. If you weren't abducted from that act of war, how did you get here?"

"Well... I..." Zelda said. "..."

Zelda tried to reach for the memory, but she was coming up short. She just couldn't wrap her head around it. "I'm sorry. I think I'm just a little bit confused."

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me if it's too hard for you. I know it may be personal."

"No, it's not that. I just can't seem to remember."

"...? You don't remember? I doubt that's something you'd forget. Where are you from?"

Once again, Zelda could not retrieve the answer. It was lost, irretrievable. If Zelda's mind were a maze, the memory was walled off on all four sides. She knew it was there, but she couldn't seem to consciously recall it.

"Silence again?"

"I'm sorry." Zelda said, putting her hands in front of her. "This is... this is just too weird for me."

"What is?" Malon asked.

"I... I can't remember."

"You're an amnesiac." Malon said, her hand covering a small gasp. "Alright, alright." Malon continued, tone getting continuously concerned for her roommate. "You remembered your name."

Zelda nodded, slight tears streaming down her face.

"What's your last name?"

Zelda thought for a second, but once again, no answers were coming to her mind. "I-I don't know."

"Okay, here's my last question. Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?"

She took a moment to think. She desperately reached for memories such as her last birthday, first days at school, what her parents looked like, but nothing came to mind. The tactic she decided to use was to think of today, and begin moving backwards. Meeting Malon. Room 7-B. The introduction speech. Waking up strapped to the chair.

...

"The last thing? Waking up in that chair in the auditorium."

"And since then, you never realized that you were walking without your memory?"

Zelda nodded.

"Look, Zelda, as much as I would like to help, and with how serious this is, I don't know what to do. For now, let's just walk around the complex. We'll explore what our new world has in store for us. Maybe if there is an infirmary or a hospital or something, we can go to them. But now, let's take our minds off that."

Malon stood up in her beautiful white dress, right hand outstretched to Zelda. She grabbed it as Malon hoisted her up. She wiped the tears off her face and tried to stop herself from sniffling. Looking around the room to distract herself, she noticed a mirror on the back wall.

"Wait. I don't even remember what I look like." she thought. She walked up at it and stared at her own reflection. From what she could see, she was a medium-height teenage girl. She had blue eyes, golden locks and was currently wearing an average white T-shirt and a blue cardigan with a gray skirt. Around her neck hung a silver necklace with some sort of golden gem in it.

"This- this is me?" she asked herself. Malon stared at her, amused. "Like what you see?"

"There is no way I'm this gorgeous. No way."

"Wow. Ego much?" Malon replied, laughing. "I see what you mean though. You can flaunt your beauty to the guys in the dining hall. Or the girls if you're into that. Let's go. I'm starving."

Zelda and Malon left their room and the girls' dormitory.

"I hate how this hallway is so... unwelcoming." Malon explained. "Why is it all concrete? Why can't they just decorate it or put out some nice tile on the floor?"

Zelda kind of ignored her as her eyes were gazing on the amount of rooms they were passing to get to the dining hall. She noticed a Dormitory Hall A, la0undry room, pool, grocery store, auditorium, and library before they turned a corner into the dining hall door. She stopped for a second to read the rules plastered on the side.

Dining Hall Rules

1. No food fights

2. 1st serving is free. If you want seconds, you must pay an extra 10 credits.

3. Breakfast will be served from 6 AM to 12 PM

4. Lunch will be served from 12 PM to 3 PM

5. Dinner will be served from 5 PM to 9 PM

6. If you are taking your food out of the dining hall, please take a to-go box.

The dining hall was unlike anything that Zelda had expected. Going in, she expected a prison-esque cafeteria, with metal trays, mystery meat, and solid gray floors, tables, and walls. But, she got a work-like cafeteria with plastic trays, delicious-looking food, and polka-dotted floors, wooden tables, and beige walls. A main difference was the lack of windows. She directed her gaze towards the large menu on the back wall.

Today's Dinner Menu

Normal Options: Beef Meatloaf w/ Gravy or Pepperoni Pizza

Vegetarian Options: Tofu Caesar Salad or Cheese Pizza

Sides (Choose 2): Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, French Fries, Creamed Spinach

Dessert: Chocolate Cake

Looking closer, Zelda realized that there were no actual people dishing out the food. The people ahead of them were tapping orders on a screen, as the food came out from a slot. She leaned in close to whisper to Malon.

"This place has really high tech for a prison."

"I'm pretty sure they're just trying to disguise the fact that this is a prison, and make us less eager to try to leave." Malon replied. "This place is so much more preferable than a prison, in my opinion."

"Don't tell me you want to stay here?" Zelda asked.

"Oh. Definitely not. I'm just saying that this is preferable to living a life in jail."

While Malon's words rang true, she couldn't help but think.

"A life outside is preferable to living a life in here. The first chance I get, I'm leaving."

"Are you just trying to look to the positives?" Zelda asked.

"Am I really that transparent?" Malon replied. "I'm just trying to cheer myself up. But, in all honesty, you're the one who needs to be cheered up."

The two girls approached the ordering machine, which was just a screen in the wall.

"How does this work?" Zelda asked. She noticed a scanner below the screen and scanned her bracelet. Then, the four dinner options appeared on the screen. She tapped the option of 'pepperoni pizza' and then tapped 'french fries' and 'steamed broccoli'. She waited a few seconds before the opening resembling a mail slot opened up, and pushed her food out towards her. The food looked much better than she expected. The pepperoni was huge, and the cheese looked warm and freshly melted. The smell of cheese and tomato emitted from it, making it seem vastly more appetizing than square school pizza. On the side was steaming french fries, which somehow smelled better than the fries at McRonalds. The brocolli steamed as well, emitting another fragrant smell into the air. She grabbed the tray, and waited for Malon to finish ordering. As she turned around, Zelda saw that she had gotten a sizable slice of meatloaf and gravy. On the side, she had the mashed potatoes and french fries.

"You must really like potatoes to get both of those sides." Zelda said.

"Since I have a side of gravy, I can eat it with both my potatoes and my fries."

"Fries with gravy?"

"Have you never tried them? They're delicious!" Malon proclaimed, obviously getting excited.

"Why don't you tell me how delicious they are?" Zelda asked playfully.

"Just try some." Malon said, grabbing a fry and scooping gravy onto it. She shoved it into Zelda's mouth.

Zelda wiped her mouth. "Was that necessary?"

Malon sighed. "Do you like it or not?"

"Oh, it's actually pretty good!"

"See?"

Malon and Zelda plopped down on the end of a vacant table. "So, why don't you tell me everything that happened to you for you to arrive here?" Zelda asked. "Maybe that'll jog my memory."

Malon looked down. "Okay, if you say so. This is going to be a long story.

My father and I live alone on a ranch. We were on our way to Kakariko to sell our famous Lon Lon Milk, but then they arrived. I noticed a tank in the distance, and they began firing at us. I got separated from my father in the struggle. As I was trying to make my way back to him, a group of men in red shirts seized me. They grabbed me, then threw me into a dark container on a truck. A few hours after that, I think we got hit by knockout gas, and then the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Oh. I'm really sorry about what happened to you."

"It's alright. What matters now is that you're okay."

Malon put her hands around her shoulders. "No. What matters now is that I can escape this place and return to my old life."

Zelda couldn't help but try to remember about who she left behind and forgotten. They were probably worried sick about her, most likely hearing about the assault from the news channels.

"Even if I did escape, how would I know where to go, who to look for, who to trust?"

"I...I think I'm done with dinner." Zelda finished, standing up. "All this depression is kind of ruining my appetite." She grabbed her tray of half-eaten food and walked a couple of feet to the garbage. When she returned, Malon was scarfing the meatloaf down.

"Sorry. Didn't want to keep you waiting." Malon said. In a couple of seconds, she was done with her food and placed the tray on a shelf on top of the garbage bin.

"We should... we should probably walk around." Zelda insisted.

"If we want any chance of escape any time soon, we should get a good survey of the area."

Malon and Zelda speed-walked out of the dull dining hall and began treading around the hallways.

"They really need to decorate the halls of this place." Malon mentioned. "The dorm hall was very nice, almost like a hotel. The dining hall and hallways are just extremely bland and make me want to keel over and die."

"By the way, there's some things you ought to know." Malon said. She handed her the pamphlet that she was reading earlier. "I read most of it before you woke up, but it's a pretty big pamphlet. The important thing I want you to know is the facilities we have access to. Just read that part."

Malon looked over Zelda's shoulder and pointed to a segment labelled 'Facilities', surrounded by a blue box.

Facilities

(Free)

Dorm Halls A and B

Auditorium

Infirmary

Dining Hall

Laundry Room

Grocery Store

Kitchen

Mines ($)

Factory ($$)

(500 Credits Each)

Department Store

Buffet

Gym & Pool

Indoor Sports Field

Market

Library

(1000 Credits Each)

Restaurant

Arcade

Park

Garden

Casino

Spare Rooms (1 Per Person)

"There are so many things here." Zelda said, kind of stunned. For a prison, this place seemed like it was some sort of society, almost like the outside world. Despite her situation, she couldn't help but feel relieved that a life here wasn't going to be that boring. She looked at her bracelet, which had only five hundred credits on it.

"So far, unless we work, we can't get access to any of the new stuff." Malon said. "I'm not eager to work right now. Let's just explore the place we have now."

Malon and Zelda looked at the map described on the pamphlet for Building A. "Want to check out the grocery store?" Zelda asked.

"Sure. Whatever you want, giiirrrl."

The two girls came back the way they came and passed by the auditorium and the library. Zelda and Malon stopped and stood broad in front of the entrance to the grocery store, which was only distinguished by the shop name on top of the door. As Malon entered, Zelda went quickly to read the rules engraved to the right of the door.

Grocery Store Rules

1. No Shoplifting

2. No opening products in-store

3. No Recklessness

4. You break it, you buy it. (If you don't have enough credits, you will be put in debt.)

After reading the rules thoroughly, Zelda followed Malon into the store. What greeted her was a typical grocery store layout. It was small, no larger than a soccer field. The ceiling lights were typical rectangular LED lights that were placed in a particular pattern to get maximum light coverage. While there were grey cashier desks with conveyor belts and scanners, there were no actual people manning them. Zelda could, however, see a scanner similar to the one used to enter her room. She stared at her bracelet for a second, but then tore her gaze towards the rest of the store. It was separated into five categories: Produce, Meats, Dairy, and Snacks. Just above the Dairy sign was another intimidating surveillance camera, similar to a teacher watching his subjects.

"Zelda, 'ya gonna buy anything?" Malon shouted from the snack aisle, holding a bag of Spud Chompers and Buglehorns.

"Nah. I'd rather buy access to the Library or something." Zelda replied. Malon thought about that for a second and then put her chips back on the shelf. "You're right. It would probably be better to buy a new area anyway."

"I'll be off to the library then." Zelda informed. "Are you gonna come with me, or go somewhere on your own?"

"I think I'm going to go back to the dorm. I'm not sure if the library is worth that five hundred credits, considering that we don't know how many credits we could make by working those jobs." Malon replied. Zelda nodded and waved goodbye.

"I'll probably be back by eight." Zelda said. She walked off away from the redhead and stood in front of the giant, wooden, library doors. The look of the doors were completely ruined by the electronic scanner placed underneath the door handle. She once again stared at the rule board.

Library Rules

1. You may not remove books from the library.

2. Please be silent when others are reading.

3. No food or drink in the library

4. Destruction of a book will cost 15 credits.

Zelda scanned her bracelet on the electronic scanner.

*WHIRR-CLICK*

The doorknob unlocked as she slowly entered. When she did, she saw a circular room, with a diameter around twenty-five meters. The floor was made out of dark spruce wood, but had a soft, red carpet in the middle. On top of the carpet stood six desks, each with a desk lamp. There was a single, dim light hanging from the center of the room. But the defining feature, was that the walls were lined from floor to the ten-foot ceiling with books. There were two massive, rolling ladders lying on some circular track on the perimeter of the room. On the wooden floor, were two words, dividing the room into two halves. Fiction and Non-fiction.

"This place is amazing." Zelda thought. "And, I have it all to myself."

Zelda walked up to the Non-Fiction section, and gripped the ladder. She climbed up the stable scaffold, and then pulled out a book at random.

"The Hyrulean-Labrynnan War" she whispered, slowly reading the cover of the book. She descended the ladder and then strode to one of the mahogany desks. She turned on the lamp, and began reading.

"Although I do want to escape, this library is heaven" she thought "I could live like this.". But no matter what she told herself, she just couldn't fill the void of her past.


I'm posting this today as there will be no post on Sunday.