While the hall had depth to it, she walked through a 2-dimensional world. The walls were barren with tiles dual-toned and bored. The only hint of character she could see were the edges of the wallpaper, curling away from the walls, and the door standing ominously in the shadows ahead.  

The door’s stare didn’t sit well with her. It was like the door had eyes that peered through her skin; poking and prodding where it shouldn’t. She looked over her shoulder to see nothing. The only path to go was towards the door in front of her. 

Putting one foot in front of the other, she pulled the IV pole with her. The wheels wobbled and squeaked. An itch lodged in her throat, and the cough spewed between her cracked lips. She wiped the drool from her chin with the back of her hand and trudged onward.  

When she gripped the doorknob with her boney fingers, the black surface coiled around her wrist and melded with her skin. Her brows furrowed when the door opened, and the lurking darkness pulled her into the swarm of shadows below. 

* * * * * 

A loud electronic ping jolted her awake. Her eyes fluttered as she processed the voice airing over the intercom and the people crowded around her in the subway compartment.  

“AC4 drop off for Legal Verification. AC4. Exit to the right.” 

She looked down at the tag tied to her pinkie. The paper was worn with oil stains and ruffed around the edges. From the black letters inked onto the tag, she gathered she was supposed to get off at AC4 for Legal Verification and her name was Key. She couldn’t decipher her last name since a smudge left it unrecognizable. 

Key stood in the middle of the aisle with every eye watching her as she held her tag in her hand. The hairs on the back of her neck rose when no one else had gotten up to leave. It was as if she wasn’t supposed to be here. She could still feel their eyes prickling at her back as she walked to the exit and stepped onto the platform.  

The platform was nothing more than white concrete with pillars lining her path to a staircase leading above the subway. Key whipped around at the sound of the doors sealing shut. She wondered if the people were still staring at her, but only the stairs behind her reflected off the glass.  

The train lurched forward as it struggled to continue through the tunnel. Key could still feel their eyes watching the back of her head and she couldn’t tell if it was out of curiosity or if getting off the train was a grave mistake. 

Key looked down either side of the tunnel. One end was full of darkness and down the other end she could see the back of the train slowly fading away. She gripped her tag and searched from where she stood for another way out, but there was no other choice than to go up the stairs. 

She followed the path and climbed the stairs. After a while, they seemed like they would never end. When she got to the top of the stairs, the room opened to several tall, white pillars running along the blue-tinted windows to the ceiling above. The ceiling was as reflective as the floor and the rooms multiplied in their own reflection. 

At the end of the room, a white door stood alone. Even the doorknob was white. She walked closer and noticed the door had no shadow. She reached out her hand and turned the knob until it clicked.  

With one blink she was sitting in a chair in front of a desk. The hexagonal-shaped room was surprisingly bare with no bookcases, windows, or paintings. Only blank, white banners lined each wall. When she looked in front of her, there was a man sitting there with no face and his skin was as white as light.  

“Welcome to my office, Ms. Key,” the man said with a chuckle. “I see you made it here in one piece.” 

“Do you know where I am? I... I was just opening that white door and then I was in this chair. I’m not really sure I’m supposed to be here-” 

“You made it to the right place, Ms. Key. Let’s talk about your contract-” 

“Contract?” Key asked.  

The man was unmoved as he studied her in a silence that lasted far too long for her comfort. “Yes. Your contract, Ms. Key. I hope you didn’t lose your mind on your way in here!” 

His laugh was something Key didn’t understand. There was nothing funny about this situation. She didn’t understand how or why she was in this room with this faceless man. It almost felt like she was waking up from a numb slumber; finally getting the right to her mind back.  

“We'd hate it if you have lost your mind. You wouldn’t want to lose this opportunity, would you?” 

“What opportunity is that?” Key asked.  

“Your right to be a citizen.” The man slid a thick piece of paper across his desk. “While we usually wouldn’t consider someone like you, we have decided to make a slight acception. Considering your skill, it would be beneficial to have you as a part of our team.” 

Key studied the black text of the document. She couldn’t read it. It was all gibberish. The sentences were far too long to be comprehendible, and the grammar was that of a two-year-old. The only things she could understand were the squiggles of the signature and the white seal at the bottom of the page.  

“What team?” Key asked. 

“That’s not in detail just yet. All I need you to do is sign right here.” The man tapped the open space above the signature with his long white finger.  

“Why do I have to sign it?” 

“To show us that you agree to the contract.” 

“What does the contract say?” 

The man leaned back in his chair, intertwining his fingers. “The contract states that you’ll become a citizen and work with us. You’ll abide by all laws, or your contract will be terminated.” 

“Then what is all of this extra text for?” Key asked, pointing to the small lettering that extended for paragraphs.  

“Oh, that’s not important. That’s why it’s small. Just sign here and we can get you started.” The man pointed to the open space again. 

Key furrowed her brows as she thought about it. There wasn’t anything she could do to be helpful if she didn’t know what the laws were or where she was. She wasn’t even sure what her skills were.   

“Can I leave if I don’t sign the contract?” 

“No.” 

“And if I do?” 

“You’ll follow the guide we have assigned you to.” 

“And where will I go after that?” 

“To your next assignment.” 

Key pressed her lips together. She was getting farther away from getting out of here by asking questions. While the contract didn’t sit well with her, it was her only way to find the answers to her questions.  

She checked her pockets for something to write with and pulled out a purple pen. She clicked it open and put it close to the paper’s surface. 

“You can’t write with that pen.” 

“Why not?” Key asked. 

“Legal Documents can only be written in blue or black ink.” 

“Why?” 

“Because that is the law.” 

Key looked at her purple pen. It didn’t look any different from any other pen. The color couldn’t possibly be that important. If it was her name written on the paper, that’s all that should’ve mattered.  

“Here- try this pen.” The man pulled out a black pen from his desk drawer and handed it to her. 

Key took his pen and wrote her name on the document. 

“You need to put your last name,” the man said. 

“But... I don’t know my last name.” 

“Then put an ‘X’. That should suffice for the time being.” 

“Isn’t this a legal document?” 

“Yes, but we can make an exception.” 

Purple ink wasn’t a believable signature, but an ‘X’ was a legitimate last name? Key couldn’t have been more perplexed. Yet she marked her last name as an ‘X’ with the black pen and handed it back to the man. 

“Perfect- that will do. Now, let’s discuss what you must do in order to become a citizen.” 

“Wasn’t that the document?” Key asked. 

“There is more that we require from you. That document was for legal purposes. Now, while you were born here, you must go through our process to gain that citizenship.” 

“Wouldn’t I already have a citizenship if I was born here?” 

“No. Because of your ancestry, you needed to earn your right to be a citizen. But now that time has come. First, you will need to go to the Registration office to order your forms and request a citizenship number. Then, you wait until your next assignment.” 

“Where is the Registration office?” 

“Your guide will bring you there. It’ll be easy for you at your skill level.” 

Key wasn’t sure how her skill would help her sign documents she couldn’t even read, but nothing seemed to make sense so far. Knowing why she was here, and where she was, would be helpful. She only hoped her guide wasn’t as vague as this man. 

“It was very nice meeting you, Ms. Key. I’ll be delighted to see you again at the end of your citizenship.” The man stood from his seat and held out his hand to her. 

Key shook his hand and followed him to the front of the room. When the man opened the door, a faceless woman wearing all black stood before them. Key noticed there was something different about her. The woman’s flat face was like a mask while the man’s flat face seemed to be his own skin. She wasn’t sure if this was normal, but the man didn’t seem to care.  

“Ms. Key, this will be your guide. I wish you the best of luck,” the man said before walking back into his office.  

The woman stared at Key for some time. Key wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say something, so she looked around at her surroundings and noticed the long, white hallway was lined with doors that didn’t seem to end.  

“Come with me,” the woman whispered as she grabbed Key’s hand and pulled her quickly down the long hallway before turning around several corners. 

“Where are we going?” Key asked as she tripped over her feet. 

“Shush!” the woman hissed.  

The woman took one last turn before stopping in the middle of the hallway. She looked both ways before pulling them both into a room. Key stumbled over her feet and when she turned around the door vanishing into the brick wall.  

“Why were we running?” Key asked between breathes.  

“Because I’m here to save you.” 

Key’s eyes widened when the woman looked nothing like she had before. She couldn’t even tell what gender this person was. Their hair was filled with every color of the rainbow and their black and white striped blazer was torn with beads spilling from the distressed strands. Cotton wrapped around their torso, and an eclectic set of rainbow brooches clipped onto their blue velvet shorts with yellow fishnets running to their shin-length platforms. It was almost too much to look at. 

“Save me? Am I not safe?” 

“Ya guessed right.” They said with their fingerless-gloved hands pointing ‘L’s at them in the shape of a picture frame. “Now we ain’t got much time. You think you can catch up?” 

“How can I catch up? How much time do we have?” 

The person pulled out a pocket watch from their blazer and flicked it open. “We’ve got twelve hours. A little bit under actually. But we can work with that. How much do you know?” 

“Nothing. The guy wouldn’t tell me much but something about me becoming a citizen? Do you know anything about that?” 

The person fit their chin in-between their thumb and index finger. “Hmm... I do- unfortunately. We might not have as much time as I thought. I’ll give you a quick rundown before we go any further. The guy? Is [redacted]. He wants to take over our country and he’s been brainwashing everyone. Anyone he can’t brainwash is punished in the Human Resource Center. There is only so many of us that managed to escape. But you- you aren’t brainwashed, and he doesn’t know that yet. You can help us take him down. And when I say ‘us’- I mean the people who suffer from his reign. I know you don’t have your memory, but I can help you with that. Can you trust me?” 

“What will happen to me when he finds out I’m not brainwashed?” 

“He’ll... He’ll take you away. Strip away your rights and torture you. You’ll be lucky if they put you on enough meds to kill you. It’s horrible.” 

A tension built within her chest. This was worse than what she had thought. She couldn’t imagine thinking it was okay to take away someone’s rights based on someone else's opinion. Key wasn’t sure how she could even help someone come out of a state of mind like that. 

“How can I help? I’m just one person,” Key said. 

“One bee can die to a million ants, and in turn, I can help answer your questions. We’ll just have to gather our army of ants first. Ya in?” The person extended their hand to her.  

Key took a second to think about it. There was the train, the contract, and now, the rainbow person who needed help. It was all very confusing but, the rainbow person seemed truthful with their words and getting her answers from them would make it easier than finding them on her own.  

Key held out her hand and the person gripped it with a grin on their face.  

“Follow me.” 

Key didn’t have much time to think before she was dragged to a vent. The person pried at the vent cover until it popped off the wall. They crawled their way inside, leaving Key to follow or to stay behind. She thought about staying behind and figuring out what was truly going on, but the shadow looming underneath the door was not as inviting as the rainbow person. 

Key got on her knees and crawled inside the vent; praying she was making the right choice.