Episode 3: Strange Case of Amnesia
"What's happening to her?" Daniel Fouts had been called to the infirmary not long after Michela was brought in.
"I haven't seen anything like it. She's having a strange case of amnesia. The last thing she remembers is in 1987." Lee Myers, the medical professional who headed the infirmary tapped a pen against his mouth. "It could be a new virus one of our enemies are working on," he surmised.
"Or the Nightingale program has finally taken its toll on her brain." Fouts muttered.
Lee glanced at Daniel in surprise. "Isn't that program a little before your time?"
"I was fully debriefed about everything the Foundation found... troubling. This was Chandelor's fear. One of Franklin's experiments going sideways."
Lee patted Fouts' shoulder. "I wouldn't jump off the deep end just yet. Sometimes these things have a way of working themselves out."
"I hope you're right, Dr. Myers."
___
Michela Forsythe thought she was having a dream. Maybe this whole spy agency deal was just a figment of her imagination. Things like this couldn't possibly be real They were only things people wrote about in books.
The doctors had come around taking blood and mentoring her heart rate. She really doubted they'd find anything enlightening in those readings. She was beginning to wonder if this was some kind of freakish time travel accident like "Back to the Future." Maybe she was in the future for a reason.
She sat up and felt her hair. It was probably a rat's nest. Maybe one of the nurses would have a brush. She made her way to the mirror to make out the damage. The second she glanced at the reflective surface she screamed.
"Holy Freaky Friday! That is not me!" She shouted stumbling away from the mirror and then began pounding on the metal door. "Nurse! Nurse!"
Dr. Myers and Fouts appeared at the doorway in seconds. They'd been watching her from the two way mirror in the next room.
"What is wrong with me?" she screamed at them. "Have you seen my face? I'm old! Yesterday, I looked like myself and today I don't! What have you done to me?"
Michela tried to elbow her way out of the room, but with Myers and Fouts securely clamped on each arm, she knew she wasn't going anywhere.
"Calm down, Miss Forsythe. We'll figure this thing out." Lee Myers tried to soothe her but his voice wasn't doing the trick. Fouts motioned to a nurse to apply sedative.
"Figure it out? Figure it out? How old am I now? This isn't something you can fix!" She pulled at he skin which wasn't as peaches and cream as it once was.
"You turned forty-two on your last birthday." Fouts said in a stiff monotone.
"Forty-two? My God, I'm ancient!"
Fouts grimaced at her declaration. As the sedative began to take effect, Michela curled up on the bed and began to weep.
"I guess we can rule out the theory that she's faking it," Lee said.
Fouts showed no emotion. "I want a brain scan done immediately. There has to be some medical reason this."
The medical staff didn't question his order. They wheeled her bed out of the door leaving Fouts alone in the room. He pulled out his encrypted cell and called a familiar number.
"I didn't get the intel, but I'll let you know when I do." Fouts didn't say goodbye. He snapped the cell closed and shoved it into his jacket pocket.
____
In a hidden mine under a mountain, masked agents guarded two men housed in separate cells. One man, the older of the two, had been there for many years. He was gaunt and sickly. Much too skinny for his height. He had lost count of his days and nights in captivity, but he knew it was a long time.
The younger man in the other cell was healthier and full of motivation. The idea of staying her for any amount of time was out of the question for him. It was something he couldn't fathom, something he wouldn't accept.
The older man's name was Franklin Fairchild and he had no idea the atrocities that had been committed in his name. He didn't know the Black Council had created a necklace device that could change any man to look like him. He didn't know about the experiments in the Legacy on its agents. He didn't know what had happened to his family since he fell off the grid. But it was the memory of his children that got him through each day.
Now focusing on the younger man in the other cell, the man he couldn't see was keeping his mind off how miserable he felt. Having the young man to focus on was now the only thing keeping him alive.
___
Mila Ferguson thought visiting her father in England would be fun and exciting. She'd never been to the home of her father's employer before. The house was an estate in the country, much bigger than she ever imagined. She had marveled at how lovely the mansion where her father worked truly was. The entire trip had been very exciting until she took a wrong turn on the stairwell and ended up outside of Chandelor Knight's office.
"She's more beautiful than your photos," Chandelor steepled his fingers in thought. "She has Julian's eyes."
"That hasn't been determined yet, sir," Fergus said. "We'll know much more after the blood tests."
"I know this has to be hard for you. You see her as your daughter, but I thank you for keeping her safe all these years. You were well compensated. She was even living under Quentin's roof and he never once suspected she could be his granddaughter."
Mila was horrified by what she'd overheard. Was it possible she really was someone else's daughter? She ran into her room, gathered her things and fled from the estate.
