Cold steel. That's what the room was made out of. That's what the floor, walls, and ceiling, were made out of. It's what Era could taste. It's the only thing Era could *feel*. Was this prison? Was this hell? Heaven? A court case, an escape room? Era had time to survey what was going on. The walls were studded with bolts, a cobalt blue, same as everything. nobody was in the room. Era tried to get up. No dice. He was attached to a chair via straps, with some sort of IV in his veins. It was pumping something into him, but he didn't feel any weirder, other than the hangover you get from... from... The past escapes him. He truly doesn't know how he got here, even to the best of his abilities. Was it the injection? Maybe it was some kind of memory-wiping drug. No, no, they wouldn't have gone that far, and if they wanted him, all he could offer was knowledge and skills. Was memory wiping even a thing? Era swore he had heard of it before. Yet, it was escaping his thoughts, like the runaway he was. Some chatter outside the room. Something disengaged. The wall directly in front of him opened up, the iron bars receding into themselves like the teeth of a maw moving away as it prepares to bite. A single person in a lab coat walks in, not even protected by any guards. They are unremarkable: brown hair with a cowlick, despite all the colors that it was agreeable were safe to keep your hair at, eyes that didn't really point daggers as much as they pointed plastic knives, like rubber bullets against a brick wall. Their voice sounded young - maybe even a little *too* young. "Please state your name for the record." Era spoke softly and calmly. Nothing would go awry so long as their questions were answered. "Era." The scientist expected more. "Era...?" "I didn't know my parents, sir, so I was never allowed a last name. It is just Era." The scientist wrote something down on his clipboard. "Very well... We have some time to spare, but not too much. The sun sets soon. If we could make this brief, we could shorten your time here." Era nodded. "Whatever you need. It's you and me both, honestly." Instead of rattling off questions, though, the man reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a photograph. An old polaroid, something you'd use to represent someone on a conspiracy board. He held it at arm's length so Era could see it. "Do you know this person, Era?" Era squinted, getting a closer look. It was a woman, blonde-yellow hair, longer than the streaks of the sun, with earrings that dangled down gently, one of the sun, one of the moon. While most of it was hidden, he could tell that she was wearing something of a soft woolen sweater, white in color. "No, never seen them in my life." "That's strange...", the researcher noted. "That would be your mother. Mazki [[Cyclone]]? You never met her?" Era shook his head no. It started to hang a little, though. "No, never. I never knew my parents. I don't know if I was abandoned at birth, or... they hated me, or... something. I don't know." Era fully tilted his head downwards towards the floor. "Just keep going. I'll tell you everything I know." The scientist sighed, and withdrew the image. "Have you ever been diagnosed with any mental disorders, or issues of the mind?" "No, sir." "Are you aware of the Outburst phenomena?" Era stayed silent. "No? I feel like I've heard the term before..." The scientist looked down at his clipboard. "See if you can focus on it. We need to know everything you know about it. As of now, we know nothing. What do you [[Remember]]?" Era prodded his mind with a pitchfork. Didn't work. Maybe a knife? Nothing doing. But with a sword? Something popped. Maybe it was his ear? The IV bag? His mind? Something was pouring out. His memories. "My... My father, he... I think I knew him once... When I was born, plucked out of the ground... He and my mother looked at me with such love... Such everlasting love... They wouldn't do anything to me that would hurt me, they would protect me. My father started going on about the future, about what good it would do for all of us..." Era tried to hold back a tear. He failed. It ran down the whole of his body, depositing onto the floor. "He... he rose into the air with such happiness... Like a balloon, like an angel... Then, he... he... he..." Era couldn't take it anymore. The tears, they kept coming and coming, like throes against a rapid's current. Another person came in - a woman, this time, hurriedly, wearing something of a security officer's outfit. "Engine! There was an anomaly reported here, you need to move, now!" "What anomaly? And what about the patient?" "What *about* the patient?" The officer looked over to Era. "Their... hair is darkening. Is that normal?" Era kept weeping. "D-darkening? I... it's so dark... I didn't want this..." The officer saw something in his tears. Maybe it was that a boy this young couldn't possibly be the cause of anything. Maybe it was the breaking of an aeons long silence in his head. Didn't matter. "Engine, leave and close the door. I'll handle this." "But Saddle-" "GO! NOW!" The door closed. The officer undid the straps, letting Era move free. He got up from the chair. He couldn't even form the faintest of words. "I... I'm so, I... Saddle, am I going to die? I fuh-feel bad..." "No, no, it's okay, just... try to calm down... Just breathe in and out for me, you'll be just fine." Era breathed in and out fast, then slower, then even slower, finding a rhythm to decelerate their heartbeat. In and out, in and out... The color started to return to Era's hair. "You're... broken, aren't you?" "A little... They made me do bad things... Things that I hate thinking about..." Saddle looked at him. She saw herself in him. She knew this was against code, but it's what she would have wanted. "Do you want a normal life, Era?" Era shook his head enough time for the tears to go everywhere. "Good. Just turn around... You'll be forgiven for this, okay?" "Okay..." Era turned around. That would be the last time he would remember that place.