The first thing the Boy heard were the wailing, echoing among the claustrophobic urban valleys devoid of people. Armed with his trusted bat, he ran towards the sound, ready to assist as much as his seven-years old frame could.

He found the source by the park, its patchy grass struggled against the concrete jungle, a small oasis of green standing in resistance against the gray. To him, the one place in the Satellite Zone that didn’t feel like a cage.

A girl holding her bleeding knee while rolling in the dirt. Frozen for a second, he felt as if watching a scene from a fairy tale, surreal in a way he hadn’t encountered yet.

She looked small, like a porcelain doll, but slim as a baby reindeer. Without hesitation, the youngster stepped forward, asking what had happened while pulling a piece of cloth from his backpack.

Some kids had thrown her ball on top of the tree, said the Girl. While he cleaned her knee, she explained how she fell when trying to get it back after the mean children had left. She used her hands a lot, illustrating with precision the scene. When asked why she cared so much, she said it had been the last gift from her mother, before she and her dad got unmarried together.

He offered to get it back for her. She asked why he would do that for a stranger. Mommy had told her to be wary of them, and she had never been wrong.

He paused, scratching his head and thinking on how his brother always said to help people in need. Then she shrugged and said he could try if it wasn’t any trouble.

She responded on how dangerous it would be. He chuckled, claiming he had done it several times. The Girl doubted him, crossing her arms in front of her chest in defiance.

And then, the Boy leapt into the trunk, hands gripping the wood like a squirrel, even imitating their cries, making the child below laugh. That turned to a gasp when his foot slipped free for a second, before he recovered his balance.

Ball recovered, he made the descent with greater focus, not wanting a repeat of the climb. And upon recovering her treasure, she clutched the ball to her chest as if it were the world itself, her tear-streaked face now beaming like the sun after a storm.

“What’s your name?” Said the girl, offering her hand. “I’m Sam. I just moved here.”

“Hello Sam, I’m Caelan.” Responded him, accepting the hand into a firm handshake. “I think I’m your first friend here.”

-----

The first thing he noticed would be the pain. Like his blood had been replaced with molten metal. Growling a bit, Caelan tried to sit up, finding each of his movements far slower than usual.

Then he felt a massive mass at his stomach. That had his awake faster than the time a lighting takes to appear.

A gigantic belly greeted him, with his chest now two mounts of fat falling over his round shape. Breathing fast, he grabbed at it, finding out not only that it did belong to him indeed, but that his arms looked closer to overstuffed sausages than the well-toned machines he worked years to carve.

What is going on? He pinched himself—hard. The pain shot through his nerves, all too real. Oh, great…

Looking around, he couldn’t place where he ended up finding himself. White curtains boxed him in from outside, but the sterile look of everything reminded him of a hospital. To his surprise, a young girl, around the end of his teens, slept at a chair besides the bed.

“Excuse me, miss…” Calling her didn’t seem to produce any effect, so he gave a gentle push. “Hey, sorry to wake you, but I would like to know what happened.”

Her half-opened eyes locked on him, making her perk up at once, utter shock all over her young face. Tears started coming down her hazel eyes once she relaxed a bit. “My lord! You are awake!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, I should go find a doctor! Wait just a moment, my lord!”

“Wait!” Ignoring him, the girl ran outside the space closed off by the curtains. “Guess I am in a hospital.”

Could he had spent time in a coma? But if that had been the case, he would have lost muscle mass, not gain fat. Upon closer inspection, he noticed his hands looked far less roughed up, lacking the many callouses he cultivated over years of boxing and the military. Not to mention the skin looked off in its tone, too pale even compared to the lightest he ever got, back when his leg got broken.

“Fucking useless maid!” To his side, a somewhat echoing voice ringed.

What Caelan saw couldn’t be explained by logic. A green blob in a shape closer to a human floated just at eye level, a more detailed face staring daggers at where the girl had left. Upon noticing the man staring at him with his mouth agape, his teeth scraped against one another. “You fucker can see me?”

“Well, I guess I am going insane.”

“Give me back my body, you slimy piece of horse manure!” The creature flew at him, ignoring the resistance offered by Caelan’s raised arms to protect himself from impact. Instead, it went through him, ending on the other side. “What have you done to me?!”

“What have I…? I don’t even know what’s happening!”

“Bollocks! You must have done something to end up controlling MY body!”

Just as he would give an answer to that remark, the girl came back, with an old woman dressed in a white lab coat. Without waiting, she stepped forward, asking a barrage of questions while checking his condition. “My lord, does it hurt anywhere? How much do you remember of what happened?”

“Just tell her you took my body from me so we can correct this fuckery!”

“Shut up!”

From the corner of his eye, he could see the apparition freeze. “Wait, I can hear your thoughts! What in the abyssal shit is this?”

“If you don’t know, how am I supposed to?” Gripping the blanket, Caelan turned to the older woman. “I’m sorry, but could you repeat that last part?”

For some reason, both women seemed taken aback by his request. The young maid even came close to falling to the ground, so strong were her knees shaking. The older doctor, looked at him with clinical eyes, before pressing her hand against his forehead. Her gaze turned to concern as she gripped him by the shoulders. “Lord Sturmfeld, do you recognize this woman behind me?”

Freezing up, Caelan kept his own eyes fixed on the doctor. “What… did you call me?”

“No… this can’t be!”

The woman sighed at his question. “Maia, could you do me a favor and leave us just for a moment?”

“No! Can’t you all see this is an impostor! He doesn’t even know my name!”

Pulling a chair closer, the woman sat beside the bed. “First, let me assure you that you are safe.”

Despite everything seeming too unreal, Caelan managed to let out something of an answer. “Alright…”

“I’m Doctor Moreau and I’m the one in charge of taking care of you. Do you remember why you are here?”

“Because he stole my fucking body!”

Just as the blob said that, a passing headache passed right between his eyes, causing him to flinch. Shut up already! Looking at how the doctor waited for an answer, he swallowed what little spit he had before giving one. “I don’t…”

“Right. Sorry if I’m wrong, but are you being honest right now?”

For a moment he took a quick glance at the floating ghost haunting him nearby. “No… ma’am.”

Moreau leaned back, relaxing just a bit. “Do you feel any physical discomfort? Pain, nausea, anything?”

Extreme confusion. “Just a short headache just now.”

“Do you remember who you are?”

To that, Caelan pondered. An idea crossed his mind, so absurd in its entirety he chastised himself for even coming up with it. He reminded himself of the words of his former C.O:  Keep it simple, soldier. Ain’t no time to solve a riddle when bullets are flying. With that in mind, he had no choice but to, at least for now, accept the possibility as the truth. But first, he decided to test the waters.

“Leopold,” He said, testing the name like a foreign word on his tongue.

“See? He’s clearly pretending!”

The woman had a relieved smile on her face. “And what else can you tell me about you?”

“Well… I think I am a noble, son of a duke.” The woman nodded, encouraging him to continue. “I think… I study at Hollowbane Academy, under the Weaver course.”

“What else?”

“That girl from before.” He focused on her hair and clothing, realizing he had seen them before. Or at least, a pixelated version of it. “She’s my personal maid, Maia.” He paused, coming to the conclusion he should play it safe for the moment. “That’s all. Everything else feels… muddled.”

A silence filled with weight followed between the two. “Very well. I know things might be very confusing right now, but I’m here to help you through it. Alright?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“There’s been… an incident, which caused you to be sent here, under my care.” From the corner of his eyes, Caelan could see the talking blob flinching, looking away from the scene, silent for the first time. The medic got up to her feet, placing one hand over his shoulder. “This may have caused your memory loss, but we’ll only know for sure once we run some exams in the morning. For now, I’ll send Maia home so you can rest properly, alright?”