Marie felt herself coming too. Her brain threatened to crack her skull with every throb. Marie groaned as she touched her head before she opened her eyes.

She was in a dingy room. It seemed almost like a very large shed. She could see cracks in the walls. There was wood underneath her with the thinnest mattest she’d ever seen between her and the floor. She glanced around and something stirred. She remembered reading about barns in her history class in elementary school. They used to keep some of the animals in barns before all animals were taken away somewhere else. It seemed like the S.E.A. kept at least one barn for the hobos for some reason.

Marie saw a woman, most likely an S.E.A. agent sitting next to her. She was smartly dressed for someone in a barn. Her hair was half up in a ponytail, the rest down in soft curls.

“Where… what…” Marie started to say.

She felt a bit of panic, wondering if they’d already given her the chemical. Was she already supposed to start acting like she didn’t know anything? A deeper panic set in. She wasn’t sure how people usually reacted to not remembering anything about their past.

Marie looked down and saw she was in a cold shirt and pants, a little too used, and already crusted with dirt. Where did they find these clothes? She tried not to think about it.

“Are you okay, dear?” the agent asked.

Marie slowly sat up, placing her feet on the floor. Her headache intensified as she leaned over. She touched her head, trying to will her headache away.

“What’s going on?” Marie asked.

“We found you, dear. You’d come from across the wall. You’re one of the lucky ones. Not a lot of people survive what’s past the wall. Especially someone your age.”

So she was given the chemical. They wouldn’t dish out this lie if they hadn’t. At least the chemicals in her body fought that off. That part of her plan worked.

“I… don’t remember,” Marie whispered.

“No, dear. And I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but you won’t remember a lot of things. We at the S.E.A., that’s Singing Enforcement Agency, are working to find a cure. We’re working hard for you. We are as saddened as you are. Do you think you’re up for a little tour, or do you need to rest some more?”

Marie glanced at the woman, blinking back tears of pain. Her head hurt so bad. She wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to stand up. She reached up and touched her swollen eye, wincing.

“Ah, yes. It must have been something in the woods. They are so incredibly dangerous. Not even our bravest of scouts dare enter those woods.” Marie watched the agent closely, wondering how much she knew. Did this agent know the true meaning behind the hobos and was straight up lying to Marie? Or was she in the dark like most of the population of Musical Land and therefore simply giving Marie the lie she was fed her whole life.

The agent pulled out a mirror from her bag. “Here, take a look at yourself. It might jog some memories.”

Marie took it, not sure what else to do. She looked at her face and saw her left eye was, as she thought, swollen shut. Her wrists also had multiple bruises from where Josef held her. She also saw, for some strange reason, a watch on her wrist. It wasn’t hers. The S.E.A. must have put it there.

“Remember anything?” the agent asked.

Marie paused, trying to think of something, before she shook her head. She felt a little worried she wasn’t giving a passable act. Did she need to start hyperventilating? Freaking out? She felt like that’s how she would react if all her past memories were gone.

Tears started falling down her cheeks, but she felt that was more out of the painful headache that wasn’t going away. She used it anyway. She gave the mirror back, before wiping her tears away and simultaneously trying to force herself to make more.

“Hey, it’s all right, dear. It’s all right. As I said before, we are working hard to get your memories back.”

“I don’t even know who I am,” she whispered.

“It’s going to be fine, dear. I promise. We are close. Come, let’s take a tour. It will help ease your mind.”

The agent held out her hand, and Marie took it, her legs trembling as she got up. Marie groaned as she took a few steps. Her head pounded with each step and she felt so weak. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she did know she completely skipped lunch. And she was still incredibly thirsty.

“Are you okay?” the agent asked.

“I’m so thirsty. Is there any water?” Marie asked.

“Why of course! Come, let me show you.”

The agent looped her arm through Marie’s and steadied her as they walked out of the creaky barn that Marie just realized was supposed to be sleeping quarters. The sun was low in the sky, partially hidden from many of the tall buildings surrounding the city. After being in a clearing surrounded by trees, it felt jarring to come back to a place with so much civilization.

She looked around to get her barrings. Marie remembered driving by this place once or twice in her life. There were gates surrounding it so people wouldn’t stumble on it. Wealthy houses were just outside the gate, most likely the houses of high up officials in the S.E.A. Most of the population of Musical Land lived in apartments, and houses with their own yard was a luxury only a few could afford. The juxtaposition of the extremely wealthy and the gated community of the homeless seemed almost comical if Marie was in a laughing mood. Was this some added measure to spy on the hobos, to make sure they stayed in line.

There were two buildings in the compact gated area, if you could call it anything grand like buildings. The barn where they walked out of was the largest and most run down. The other medium sized building seemed more structurally sound, though she still didn’t feel like she could trust it in a stiff wind. The agent took her over to the other building.

“Here we are,” the agent said.

Marie glanced around. “What’s this?”

“This section over here we’ll get to in a second, but this small section here is the restrooms specifically for you hobos. Not a lot of people in the city will accommodate you and your kind, so we’ve got restrooms here for you. And right here is a spigot where you can get clean water.”

She pointed to a lonely spigot sticking out of the brick wall. Marie didn’t hesitate as she walked forward and turned it on. She didn’t care if it seemed degrading. She didn’t care that she had to bend down to let the water splash in her mouth and mostly over her face. She loved water. She missed it. She didn’t know how to get rid of her headache, but at least she could quench her thirst.

She straightened, wiping her face with the back of her hand. At least one thing was solved.

“So, here’s the restrooms. Men on the left, women on the right. We just came out of the sleeping quarters. This section of the building is the cafeteria where you have your breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” the agent said, pointing to the other part of the building. Cafeteria seemed like too nice a word for what that building looked like. “Breakfast starts at seven in the morning, lunch at noon, and dinner at six. They go for an hour, and if you miss it, you miss eating that meal. It’s absolutely nothing against you particularly, but we’ve had troubles in the past of hobos trying to steal food, so we’ve had to lock up the cafeteria when not in use. It’s simply easier that way.”

Marie nodded, still trying to figure out how she’s supposed to react to having her memories wiped out.

“Oh good, looks like you have a watch. That makes things easier. If I were you, I’d suggest making sure it was set to the clock in the cafeteria.”

Marie glanced at her watch, saw that it was 5:30, and felt the tiniest prickle of uncertainty. The agent, for whatever reason, didn’t specifically say the S.E.A. gave her that watch. Whether the agent herself knew or not, Marie wasn’t sure. What she was certain of, was that this watch did not belong to her. She couldn’t see anything specific about the watch. She’d have to look at it closer when the agent wasn’t around.

“I get the feeling there are more people like me. More people who have lost their memories. How many of us are there?” Marie asked.

“Around two hundred, I’d say,” the agent said.

Marie glanced around the gated area again. “Okay. Um, where are they?”

“We couldn’t exactly keep them all in this gated spot, could we? No, now that the weather is turning nicer, you may wander the city as long as you don’t bother the citizens. It is our only rule. If we get calls and complaints, we take them very seriously.”

Marie nodded because she didn’t know what else to do. From the tone shift in the agent’s voice, Marie could tell she was serious. Marie doubted her plans would bother citizens, since she knew the exact citizens she needed to get in contact with. She glanced around the gated section one more time, feeling anxious. She had so much to do now.

“I spend some time among the hobos, since I am one of the agents assigned to the official who is over all the hobos.” Marie bit her lip to keep her from asking who the official was who was over the hobos. She wasn’t supposed to know that, and she doubted if she really had all her memories wiped, knowing who was this agent’s boss was very low on her list of priorities at the moment. “It’s my job to do some evaluating and check to make sure things are going okay. I have found that people transition much quicker if they make a friend,” the agent said. The agent patted Marie’s shoulder. “Just some advice.”

Marie nodded. It was solid advice. She hoped Sophie and her dad were here. Then it would be easy to make friends.

The agent stayed for another half hour, showing her inside the cafeteria. She showed a bit of what it was like outside the gated area, mainly to help Marie orient herself with her surroundings. The agent reminded her once more not to bother the citizens before she left Marie inside the gate as other hobos were beginning to gather for dinner. Marie swallowed, feeling her stomach ache with hunger. She distracted herself by scanning the small groups of hobos who were waiting around the cafeteria. Marie bit her lip, her heart pounding in her chest. After over half a year, she was anxious to see a familiar face.

The doors to the cafeteria were thrown open by some volunteers, and the hobos waiting filed inside. They were in small groups, talking quietly. Marie remembered high school cafeterias and the high noise level, and this place seemed as quiet as a library in comparison. It didn’t seem like anyone had anything to talk about.

Marie kept glancing around, trying to see if she could recognize anyone. A sinking feeling pulled at her stomach. What if both Sophie and her dad ended up in the basement? Sophie got captured over half a year ago. Marie assumed that if Sophie knew some top secret information, President Arnold would wipe her memory. It seemed the logical step. Her dad was seen arrested and taken away, probably taken to the basement of the S.E.A. skyscraper, but would they keep him there? Marie had done everything in her power to make sure her dad had no idea about what she’d stumbled upon. There was no reason to keep him there. It would have been easier for them to wipe his memories and keep him with the other hobos. Unless they killed him.

Marie shuddered and immediately blocked the thought out of her mind. She couldn’t dwell on that. She refused.

Marie tried to follow what the woman in front of her was doing. She grabbed a small tray and followed along in the line. She kept her eye out, trying to spot Sophie or her dad in the filling sea of hobos.

A volunteer handed her a small bowl of green beans and Marie set her tray down to take it. “Thanks.”

She kept pushing her tray along, receiving a dry piece of wheat bread as she scanned again the group filling into the building.

An older woman, at least in her sixties, handed her a bowl of veggie soup. Marie gave a small tilt of her head. “Thanks, ma’am.”

She took the bowl before she froze. It had been engraved into her soul since she was a small child to pay proper respect to anyone who appeared in their sixties. They were the generation who survived the war before Musical Land. It had been engraved, but she was supposed to have forgotten those rules of etiquette.

Marie stole a glance at the older woman volunteer. The woman was giving her a curious expression, which made Marie sick with terror. She was so distracted, trying to find Sophie or her dad that habits she should have not remembered were slipping through. She needed to focus. She couldn’t make any more slip ups.

Marie grabbed her tray and scuttled away, forcing herself to blend in with a group of equally forgettable people. Hopefully the old woman wouldn’t remember her.