Chapter 5

When morning came it took me a while to get out of bed. It felt so nice. The older man had left so I took my plastic bag and money and walked back outside. I definitely looked out of place. The majority of people had on skimpy looking outfits or really fancy outfits. No one dressed for comfort. It’s always interesting to me that when you have nothing specific to do, your mind races more. That is what happened to me. I didn’t know what to do next. Maybe I could go to the next city but I didn’t know where that was.

          I decided just to start walking down one of the main streets again. I walked by another corner speaker, who appeared to be saying the same things as the other speaker was the day before. Maybe there were several people who had that as a job. I thought it wouldn’t be a fun one if it was, but I guess not all work is enjoyable. I continued walking noticing the people as I walked by. Many couples were around, and most of them were in some physical act. The thought of public didn’t seem to bother any couple from making out or anything else.

          Anyway, before I left the town I wanted to learn a little more about this place. I made it to what appeared to be the center of the city. There was a circular glass building that was the tallest in the entire city. When I walked up to the entrance, someone yelled from behind me.

          “Well it’s obvious you’re new here,” he said. I stopped walking and turned to find a bigger man. “Not only are you in weird clothes, you are trying to go in there.”

          “What is so wrong with going in?” I said in a very confused tone.

          “Wow, you really are new. Well, only those who are invited can go in.”

          “How do you know I wasn’t invited?”

          “Simple, the way you were dressed. You are invited when you become known in the city. If you were invited then you would have been acting differently than you are now or you would have been dressed nicer. But you’re obviously not. You’ll get used to this place; just give it some time. Why don’t you get yourself some new clothes and hit up a club or something?”

          “Well thanks for the offer, sir,” I said, “But I’m not too interested in this city. Do you know anything about transitioning to another city? Or which one is closest?”

          “Well, just go to any side of the city: north, east, south, and west. There is a bus that will take you to the city in that direction. Of course, each city on the outside will have one side with no bus because there is no reason to go to the coast. Each city is the same distance from the ones next to it. If you want to walk, you’re on your own, but it’s a free service to go via bus.”

          “Alright, well thanks man,” I said politely. I knew this wasn’t the place where I wanted to be, so I was definitely going to head a direction. I just decided to head back to the gate I came through. When I got to the gate there was no bus system. So I knew that I was at the very edge on the south side. I don’t think I was ready to head out on my own so I went the east gate where I was met by a woman.

          “Are you wanting to head to Gula?” She asked as she pointed at the bus. I nodded yes and she gave me a ticket. When I got on the bus, I sat near the back. After about ten minutes the bus started its journey.  I started to listen to a couple older ladies sitting in front of me.

          “Why are you going to Gula?” one lady asked another.

          “Well, I eat lunch there every day with my husband. The food there is to die for. Not literally, of course though,” she laughed.

          “Oh that is great. I am going to stay for a couple weeks. I always like to have a party week before I go on my diet.” I started to feel weird for listening in so I just sat back and closed my eyes. Only an hour passed and we were at Gula.

Lets go with my next post being two weeks from now: March 5th

Chapter 4

There was a large building across from the speaker. The building looked like a hotel and I guess that by the name “Relaxation Station.” I always laughed at the names of these places. Everyone seemed really blunt in their speech and of course the titles of businesses. I walked in the building and immediately saw a sign reading “5 Coin a night.” I didn’t really want to look around for a place to stay; especially since I had no idea where I was. So I went to the front desk and asked for a five Coin night.

          “Enjoy your night of fun,” He said as he gave me my room key. I wonder what he meant by fun. I was just planning to sleep unless there was a bunch of free games to play in my room. My room number was “333” which I was glad because it was easy to remember. I decided to take the elevator since it was closer to the front desk. Only men were inside. Each one had a sort of guilty look on his face. I shrugged it off not knowing the characters each one had. I didn’t feel like I had the right to judge them. I got off the elevator on the third floor and went to my room. Once I entered a robotical voice came from a panel on my door.

          “Thank you for choosing relaxation station, please enjoy your night!” I had no understanding why everything here seemed to be about enjoyment. I had a funny feeling from it though; being in a new place in general could have been the cause of it though. Before I decided to sleep I went into the bathroom to shower. The water was nice and warm and as I stood there I began to think. What lies ahead of me? How am I supposed to go about life here? I didn’t know anything about myself. Then I thought on a smaller scale. I didn’t even have anything clean to wear. That’s always a bad feeling. I got out of the shower and after drying myself off I wrapped up in a towel instead of putting back on my dirty clothes. I walked outside of the bathroom and was immediately shocked. A woman was lying on my bed almost completely undressed.

          “Hey, big boy, you ready to have some fun tonight?” she said in a seductive tone.

          “Who are you? And why are you in my room?” I announced as I kind of backed up towards the main door. “How did you get in here?”

          “Didn’t you know what this place is?” she said, “I’m your prostitute. When you check into ‘Relaxation Station’ it’s assumed.”

          “U-u-um, well I didn’t know that.”

          “That’s fine,” she said, “is that going to stop us from having some fun tonight?” She was looking at me with such a seductive face. I was beginning to be tempted in going through with it, but something deep inside me kept telling me that’s not who I was.

          “Yes, I’m afraid it does. Will you please leave?” I said in a weak but intentional tone.

          “But it’s my job to be here all night. If I leave I will get fired. You don’t want that do you? Come on, just a little fun?” she mentioned yet again seductively. Then she started walking over to me and tried to place her body against mine.

          “Quit that,” I said as she started to do it more. She then started rubbing her fingers on my shoulders. I twitched backwards then she spoke again.

          “Quit struggling, it will be more pleasurable.”

          “I don’t want it to be,” I pleaded. Then she grabbed the edge of my towel, “I can’t take this.”

          “Oh yes,” she squealed as she ripped my towel off and started to bring her body closer.

          “No for the last time!” I yelled completely sternly. I pushed her back slightly and I ran into the hall and down the steps. I got out of the building and let out a sigh of relief. Then I noticed I had no clothes on. Two or three women walked by and whistled. I covered myself all I could with my hands and ran into an empty alley. Or I thought it was empty. I was pulled inside a doorway by someone within seconds.

          “What are you doing like that?” an older man asked. I was pretty much speechless. When all of that happened, it was so fast my brain could have exploded. I just stared at him with a confusing look hoping that he would talk again. I didn’t want to speak until my thoughts were together. “Well let’s get some clothes on ya at least,” he said as he started walking out of the room. He left for just a couple seconds and then walked back in with a plain white T-shirt and some overalls. He also had a plastic bag he handed me full of underwear. “Now put these on son, and we will have a little chit chat afterwards.” He said as he handed me everything. I could still only say thank you as I took the clothes and tried them on. They were a little big but at least I wasn’t naked anymore. “I’m guessing you’re new here?”

          “Yeah, I got here this morning.” Words were finally starting to come back to me.

          “Ah, that explains it,” the old man laughed. “I’ve been here for thirty years. My name is Arthur, what is yours?”

          “I don’t know,” I said, “I didn’t really feel like making one up.”

          “Ah, so you didn’t even get yourself a job? Well maybe this city isn’t for you.”

          “There are other cities?”

          “Oh yeah, there are seven total: Luxuria-Fornicatio, Gula, Acedia, Ira-Invidia, Socordia, Avaritia, and Superbia. All of them form a circle on this Island, with Superbia being in the middle of the island.” I didn’t even know this was an island; yet alone more cities. I remember not having much of a choice. But then I remembered, I had followed the large group into the city right after the bigger man mentioned going.

          “What’s outside of the cities? I asked.

          “Not sure, a lot of rumors say it’s dangerous. It’s like living on your own. There are no jobs or houses.”

          “Can we ever leave the island?”

          “Boy, you ask so many questions. Sit down, we’ve been standing here for quite some time,” he said as he showed me into the living area. We both sat in our own recliner. “Now what was your question? Oh yeah, leaving the island. Well, as you can see, I’m old and still here. But I just haven’t chosen to leave. I like it here. Don’t see what could be better.” He said as he leaned back in his recliner and smiled.

          “So you can choose to leave?”

          “Yeah in a way, right where you came outside, you can go back in. But they make you do a lot of tests.

          “What kind of tests?”

          “Boy, I don’t know, I haven’t tried to leave. If ya fail the test they send ya back out with amnesia again.”

          “Oh so everyone had amnesia? And who are these people anyway?”

          “Correct son. And no one knows anything about them. They are so forceful it makes me wonder if the rest of their world has just as much rules.”

          “There are only two rules though.” I laughed.

          “One too many if ya ask me boy. Well it’s time for me to get some sleep. I’ll show you to the guest room.” He said as he stood up. Then he led me down a small hall into his guest room. The place was huge for just a guest room. I have work in the morning, what are your plans?”

          “Well I was thinking about visiting the other cities.”

          “Oh you don’t want to do that just yet. There are so many things you haven’t got to do yet. Go to a club and meet some ladies. If you are a rule keeper and all you can go multiply or something.” He chuckled, “It’s pretty easy here. Everyone is open for fun.”

          “Well I’m not sure if that’s what I want to do. I feel like I was married or loyal to something before I had amnesia. I don’t want to be disloyal if so.”

          “Ah, the past is past kid. Just live up life!”

          “Well thank you for everything sir but I think I will leave tomorrow.” I insisted.

          “Ok, sure sure, well here is some money for your travels.” He said as he handed me another bag of Coin.

          “Thank you. Goodnight.” I said taking the bag.

          “Good luck kid.” He said. He left the room and went on down the hall. It had already been a long night so I got in the bed which was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever felt. Then I fell asleep not long after. 

Next post will be a couple weeks from this date. prob 2/19 or something

Chapter 3

Once the gate was lifted, we all went through into the city. It was huge. It didn’t seem near as massive from a mile away. Immediately upon entering, I noticed every sort of business. For some reason, my imagination made me think everyone was starting from the bottom up, but technology was booming. I stopped at a booth titled “Create Your Name, Find a Job.” I wondered if that was as simple as they made it. There were so many people pushing for a spot at the booth that I just backed up and watched. I thought it was funny that all of the men were naming themselves very manly names; the ones I can remember were Sparticus, Leonidus, and Zues. There were much more along those lines as well. All of the women were naming themselves after adjectives. Beautiful, hope, and honest were some among them.

          While I was still watching, another bigger man came up to me. “You look new here,” he said, “have this; go buy a drink.”

          “Thank you,” I said as I took a bag from him. I opened it to find fifteen coins. One side had a person’s face on it which I’m guessing the name “Titus D. Order” was his name according to that name being under the face. On the other side of the coin was the words “Worth One Coin.” I kind of laughed out loud at that moment. How original when coming up with a currency.

          I put the coin back and continued walking down the same road as the entrance. It seemed that the buildings grew taller and more complex as I went further down the road. There was a crowd gathered on the corner of the main road and an alley. Though it could have been the size of a road, I called it an alley because its comparison of size to the main road. There was one man standing on a wooden crate speaking to the crowd. I think I came right as he was beginning.

          “I know many of you wonder why you are here.” He said in a very eloquent voice, “but I tell you, I have received a vision. We are to seek what we desire. We are all great and famous people in our past, here to form an elect group of individuals looking to make a society for all to receive what they dream.” That made me think. I hadn’t slept in forever it seemed. The man continued talking but it seemed like he was repeating his basic message. It sounded really great. To imagine a place where everyone got what they wanted. No more poverty. In a way everyone seemed equal. According to him we were all high up in status.

          The day started to fade and the sun was leaving the edge of the horizon. I decided to find a place to sleep.

the next chapter will be added around February 7th or so :)

Chapter 2

The hallway ramped upwards until I was standing at ground level. I began to look around at my surroundings. It was warm and sunny and land spread out in each direction. There were no train tracks to be found which led me to believe it was an underground system. A mile or less away, I saw a structure that looked like a city surrounded by high walls. Then I noticed that the ones ahead of me were following each other to the city. Some even were going in groups. I was taking so long to look at my surroundings that most of the men on the train had came out of the hallway as well.

          One man was bigger than everyone stepped in front of us, “let’s all go to the city boys!” everyone didn’t really bother to ask questions; we just followed. I was fairly smaller to the others, but another man about my size started walking next to me.

          “Why are we here?” he asked me as if I would know.

          “I have no idea,” I shrugged, “I can’t remember anything about myself.”

          “Same here; I believe I have muscle memory of some actions but everything else is a blur.” The man paused, and then spoke again, “I can’t even remember my own name. What if I have a family or if I am some secret agent and don’t know it?”

          “Yeah,” I laughed, “I’m sure you’re not anymore if that is the case. I’m worried that I won’t be like who I was. I guess we’ll have to be cautious with our actions here.” The conversation carried on only a little longer and I started listening to other conversations.

          “I wonder what this city is like.” One mentioned to another, “what if this is all a trap or we are not welcome here?”

          “Ah quit worrying,” the big guy in the front yelled, “I bet this place is awesome. It’s a whole new beginning for us! It’s not like any of us remember our past.” It sounded like this man was positive of that. Would it be possible that everyone here (wherever we were) had lost their memory?

          By this time we had made it to the entrance gate of the city. We were met by a woman who wasn’t dressed as poorly as us but not as finely dressed as the men from the train. You could literally see the sigh of relief on the men’s faces when they saw a woman. Each one of us had probably felt very awkward of the mentioning of the second rule. The women greeted as all as she waved for others to open the gate. 

           “Thank you for coming by, we hope you enjoy your stay in Luxuria-Fornicatio,” she proclaimed. At first I thought to myself I had no other choice, but I had already forgotten about the vast land outside of the city. The big man kind of just led us all here. Of course I wasn’t going to try and leave. I didn’t know what was out there. I also didn’t have any plans or supplies.

i will be posting my next chapter by the 22nd of January

Chapter 1

“NO STANDEES.” The first thing I saw when I lifted my head. I was on a train heading a direction unsure to me because through the windows was only the color of black. For some reason upon awakening, I had no recollection of my past. All I knew was that I was a man who looked about in his mid twenties. I was not very well dressed only being in a jagged pair of shorts. My hands were bound by chains, and upon observing the rest of the room everyone else dressed like me as well. There was one man in front who looked a lot nicer. Though it was old fashioned, the man was in a suit sitting at a desk in front of the door to the next car of the train.

          Not knowing what to do, I remained silent. I watched as a man younger than me stood up and ran to the door in the front. The well dressed man very abruptly tranquilized the man running. Two men came from the car behind us immediately and grabbed the poor fellow, dragging him back with them.

          “If any of you try that move again, the same will happen to you.” The well dressed man addressed to us. I leaned over to the right and asked someone what was going on. He just shrugged at me with a very disturbed face. From what I could perceive, everyone might be in the same confusion as me. Because of this, everyone seemed too afraid to speak. The intimidation for the well dressed man was too much for anyone to ask questions. Silence was overtaking the room so much that I could hear the tracks rub against the train as it moved along them. Then I heard the train start to slow down until it was at a complete stop.

          “Everyone up,” yelled the man in the front very sternly, “don’t any of you try anything stupid.” From the sound of it, we must have all been outlaws or dangerous people. The precautions of the man were great. Soon many other men dressed alike began to come in and usher us out of the train. As I passed by the man in the front, he looked directly into my eyes and said, “We sure are glad you are here,” as he chuckled and nudged me on. I continued behind the line of men, and finally exited the train. We were still indoors but it was no longer pitch black as it seemed from the windows inside the train. There was a scattered fluorescent lights that shown on the long cement hallway that was before us. The well dressed men made us form a line until everyone had exited. Once the final man was off the train, the doors closed and the train immediately left the direction it came from. At once, the well dressed men escorted us down the blank hallway until we reached some stairs. They made us walk up individually. From my point of view everyone disappeared right as they went over the last step. It was my turn and from the looks on the men’s faces, I had no other choice. When I approached the last step I finally noticed some sunlight beyond the gate at the end of another long hallway. When I reached the gate, two men held me as they unchained me. A third man began to speak.
       “There are only two rules here for you to know. The first is that you can do whatever you like. The second is that you must go forth and multiply.” The man at the gate also chuckled the same way as the other. That last rule seemed cruel to me especially cause my train had only men. Even though I don’t like the idea of being forced to multiply, it doesn’t seem very fair to have all men. It wouldn’t even work in that situation. Anyway, the man shoved me through the gate and shut it. I guess the assumption was for me to continue a little further down to the light. So that is what I did.

the next chapter will be posted by January 15th