“I can’t remember anything!” The young man revealed his current condition with a hint of apprehension. He subtly inhaled then exhaled a bit longer than usual to calm the already increasing tension in his nerves. The cramped hall inside the castle had already been filled with black-cloaked men when he entered it.

He stood firmly at the center of this tiny conclave trying very hard to ignore the slight twinge in his already sore legs. All that running from Central Square seemed to be finally taking its toll. Both of his hands clasped together against his abdomen served as his anchor. He didn’t have anyone or anything else to hold on to except himself while the inquiry forged on.

With a deadpan expression, he had been staring silently at a group of eccentric looking men wearing black cloaks for over half an hour. The men’s hoods covered most of their faces, concealing their eyes, showing just their lips and noses, in an extreme effort to hide their identities. All that time, he had been fervently trying to keep his hands and legs from trembling.

Hearing the barrage of accusations thrown against him confused him even more. Everything he heard overwhelmed him and made him feel really vulnerable. He simply had no idea what they were talking about.

He felt trapped, astutely aware as the congregation examined every minute detail of his language, both verbal and nonverbal. The strange men scrutinized him as though he were a minuscule specimen under their invisible humongous microscope. Their eagle-eyed stares collectively made the atmosphere really intimidating and somber, almost suffocating him at his core.

***

“Are you certain that you remember absolutely nothing at all?” The old man occupying the most important seat of this gathering asked the young man sternly.

The question diverted the young man’s attention exclusively to the speaker’s wrinkly face, the only face he could see among the crowd. The old man wore a red cloak, highlighting his supreme authority among the black hooded figures.

“I am saying that with a hundred percent certainty.” The young man responded to the old man honestly. Yet, deep inside, despite the impassive look in his eyes, he felt his self-confidence slowly dwindling. He began to regret trusting his instincts and coming here.

“For example, I sense something familiar about you!” The young man looked directly at the strange yet familiar face. “However, I can’t remember anything about you or this place.” He intensely hoped for the old man to believe him, sensing something vaguely familiar about the old man’s gaze. The old man clearly doubted what the young man claimed.

A murmur rose through the crowd. Each hooded person seemed to be expressing utter disbelief in the young man’s insistence that he did not remember anything.

“Headmaster, if I may...” The man standing beside the old man respectfully asked for permission to speak. “There is something I would like to point out.”

The old man simply nodded without saying a word. The crowd immediately became silent in deference to the speaker who appeared to outrank them all. The color of the man’s robe seemed darker than the colors of the robes worn by the rest.

“Well, if you can’t remember a thing, how were you able to get here in the first place?” The unknown man instantly started probing, obviously not buying the young man’s explanation. Everyone looked intensely at the young man. “We all know that Shangri-la’s access points are modified periodically to continue keeping this place a secret.”

“Don’t you think those periodic changes would be too intricate for someone, claiming not to remember anything, to discover?” The unknown man smirked, his tone dripping with contempt and ridicule. “Yet, you managed to arrive right on time before the access point was changed. And right now, you are standing inside the very hall that you insist you do not remember.”

The young man simply stood there, speechless, focused on controlling the boiling rage he felt towards himself. He knew exactly why he felt such rage. He had no way to explain how he remembered the escape plan.

He could see most of the crowd nodding, clearly revealing their stance. They openly agreed with the unknown man’s point of view, expressing their displeasure at his seemingly peculiar excuse that he didn’t remember anything.

“Gentlemen!” The old man’s amiable yet authoritative voice resonated throughout the entire hall, to quickly quiet the agitated crowd. The young man could see the futility with which the old man viewed the situation. “Let’s reconvene tomorrow. I need time to talk to him in private.” Without a doubt, the old man had issued a command, not a request.

The young man internally sighed with relief and breathed more easily, as he saw the hologram of each hooded figure disappear one by one. Now, just the old man and himself remained in the hall.

***

“I’m not lying!” The young man stated matter-of-factly as he observed the old man more closely now that they were alone in the hall. He perceived the wrinkly old man in front of him as real and not just a mere projection. Throughout the conclave, all those virtual projections had resembled real people.

“I really can’t remember anything!” He stared at the old man eye-to-eye. The young man’s rigid stance exhibited resolute determination, his eyes sharp. He had every intention of resolving whatever mess he had created in the past, a mess he absolutely had no recollection of. “I don’t even know who I am!”

The young man directed his glance at the intricately designed throne, the old man’s seat. 'What do all those symbols carved on the chair mean?' he thought. Finding those same symbols, at the gate and all over the castle, intrigued him.

“You actually expect the council to believe that?” The young man gazed back at the old man, his thoughts cut short by the old man’s accusation and line of questioning. “You actually think amnesia can wash your hands off the huge mess you created?”

“We have been operating in the shadows for centuries!” The old man did not wait for the young man to respond, the tone of his voice rising. “You have gone on a rampage these past few months, breaking each protocol we have painstakingly put in place.” The old man openly displayed his frustration.

“You have already been warned that your last job was your final chance!” The old man rose from his chair, his body visibly trembling from anger that he had been trying to control. “Yet, you blatantly killed your target out in the open for the whole world to see.”

“And you didn’t even finish the job.” A few prominent wrinkles on his forehead quickly turned into a frown. “Such indiscretion is compromising the secrecy of the entire organization!”

“Go!” The old man sighed, pointing a finger towards the exit, ending the meeting abruptly. “The council will decide after we subject you to some tests.”

“You had better be telling the truth, Dimitri!” The young man stopped to listen more closely to the old man. “Otherwise, even my position as Headmaster will not be able to protect you from the Council’s wrath!”