When he opens his eyes, there's a woman sitting in the chair next to the table he's lying on, watching him expectantly.
"Hi," she says, before he can say anything. "I'm Pinky. You're probably wondering who you are, where you are, and blah blah?"
He nods, still too startled to speak.
"This is Waystar Royco. You recently underwent our severance procedure. That's why you don't remember anything. All workers here below a certain level are severed to maintain confidentiality. You with me so far?"
"No," he says honestly. "Have I had, like, a lobotomy or something?"
"Pretty much." She nods. "You're a little older than most of the people on this floor. Maybe that's why you're a bit slower on the uptake."
There's a buzzer sound and a disembodied voice speaks from the ceiling. "Pinky, could you try to be a little more sensitive? The poor guy just woke up."
"Noted," Pinky calls back in a sing song tone. "That's Ron," she informs him. "No one really listens to him."
"Pinky, I will come in there and fuck you up," says the voice again. She rolls her eyes like this is par for the course.
"Any questions?" she asks.
"Could you run me through the whole severance thing again?" he asks.
"Sure. So when you're here, you won't remember who your outie is. That's what we call the you that exists outside of work. That version of you won't remember anything that happens here. Confidentiality, see?"
He nods, starting to get it. "So you and your friend on the loudspeaker…"
"We're severed too. We're a small team on this floor. You're only here because the guy who worked with us got fired. He was smuggling notes to his outie."
"And I can't know anything about my… my outie? The me I can't remember?"
"Actually, you can. As part of a new Innie Wellbeing Initiative, you're entitled to know some facts about your outside persona." She produces an envelope with a flourish and takes out a card. She clears her throat and reads. "Your outie was interested in politics from a very young age." She frowns at the card. "Huh. That's all it says."
"This is really weird," he says, finally giving into the panic he's been suppressing. "I think I'd like to leave."
"No one's stopping you." She nods at the door with a slightly pitying expression.
He gets up and walks slowly to the door, which is unlocked.
"Elevator down the hall," she calls after him. He follows the hall and steps into the elevator, still expecting to be hauled back at any moment. A grey-haired, blue-eyed man looks back at him from the mirror.
Before he can push the down button, the elevator doors open and a younger man jumps in. "Hold up," he says, in the same slightly nasal tone from the loudspeaker.
"I'd like to leave." He keeps his voice steady.
"That's fine, but there's a chance you'll just end up back here, if your outie decides to come back."
"Who are you?" he asks, although it's the least of his worries.
"Oh. Ron Rockstone." The younger man holds out his hand. "I'm not really supposed to do this, but…" He pushes the elevator button. "Let's go down together."
They're mid-handshake when he hears a PING and the elevator shakes. He blinks and looks around. He's wearing different clothes, he notices. Ron Rockstone has disappeared.
The elevator doors open and a different man is standing in front of him. "Hi," he says. "I'm Brian. Congratulations on coming back. Welcome to your induction."