Looking down, my body was in a simple long-sleeved white shirt and black pants, the kind of basic outfit I would wear on a day off.
The blood and sweat were also completely gone.
How did…
Ignore it, ignore.
Let's not ask too many questions right now.
In front of me was a woman wearing a tightly fitted black skirt suit.
Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her face was covered in a black mask tinged with green, similar to the color of copper when it oxidizes.
Stamped neatly in the forehead area of the mask was a simple green arrow pointed at an angle to the bottom left toward the heart.
On the left lapel of her suit was a simple silver name tag that said HR Employee: Belle
The woman was standing in front of a simple fold-out table, which had a white piece of cloth folded in a neat square, a silver name tag with {Life Preservation Team - Employee: 999} written on it, a full-faced plain white facemask, and a brown basket with items stuffed inside and clear cling wrap circling the whole thing with the words H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co stamped on it with big letters.
It looked like an easter gift basket, and when I spotted what looked like a 😊 plushie poking out, my face couldn't help but wrinkle in annoyance.
"Hello, Earth Employee 999; you may call me Belle. Welcome to H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co." Belle bowed slightly, and I did the same without moving my eyes away from her.
No need to be impolite.
"Hello Belle, where am I? Or rather where is this?"
"You're the last one here. H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co. is about to start the specialty intern orientation class for those who took the initiative to learn about our company first after accomplishing their first task. All you need to do is grab a mask that will adhere to your face and protect your identity if you so wish; this cloth here will transform into the most appropriate clothing of your choice, your employee badge, and, of course, a gift basket with specially curated items from our HR Team."
"Oh. I see."
"The items will make completing your intern tasks easier and give you an edge over other competing employees in your team and other branches. Additionally, it will help make your first year as an employee easier since they have a little bit of everything, including advanced task hints, snacks, and, of course, gadgets that can only be gotten here at H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co." Her tone became even more insistent at my bland response, like a puppy wanting praise for a job well done.
"Ah. I see."
"The HR team spent thousands of hours developing in research and development in hopes of having the new employees have an easier time while bringing great profits to the company. We sacrificed sleep, time with family, vacation, worked unpaid overtime, and more to ensure the items were perfect for this new batch of employees."
As her hands enthusiastically clapped, I swear I could see the textbox message "wow" overlaid over her head.
"Wow. Thank you for your hard work." Nodding, I smiled as politely as I could, and I swear I could see her sigh behind the mask, and her shoulders slumped downwards.
As she was part of the HR team, she must have worked hard, but what did that have to do with me?
Did I sign up for this job? No! I was forcibly coerced into joining.
"Feel free to grab your items and enter the auditorium, where you will receive an in-depth orientation about the student handbook. You can also meet other new interns, ask questions to veterans, and even play games to win fun prizes. Of course, a survey will be given at the end. Please fill it out when you have time."
"Sure. Thank you again for your hard work."
The moment I reached out to grab the mask, my vision flickered, and I began seeing double.
The image of the white padded room where I originally was began flickering over the image of Belle causing my body to shiver with nausea as the two images tried and failed to merge into one complete picture.
I could see the blinding golden tickets still positioned where they were, and above them, floating in the air, was an angel—the figure that announced this whole mess.
As the angel moved, I felt my stomach heave, my head begin pounding, and my heart begin racing, the sound of blood rushing filling my ears.
My entire vision flickered like a television whose channel kept changing, flickering between the mask, the golden tickets, Belle, the angel, the basket, and the white room.
It was a dizzying experience that was worse than any concussion I had ever had.
It made me feel like someone was constantly smashing cymbals against my head, each crash a new image.
"Is anything the matter?" The voice of the female employee broke me out of my reverie, and I slowly shook my head while leaning on the table to take a deep breath and calm down.
"Employee 999, is there something wrong?"
"No, not at all; I just felt briefly nauseous." I bit out while trying to focus as my vision shifted once again as my eyes followed the moving angel.
I knew what was causing it; after all, I had suffered from it all my life.
Sensory Hypersensitivity Trait.
In other words, the trait of a person is overly sensitive to external stimuli.
While I was awake, it was perfectly fine, but it was a complete nightmare when I wanted to sleep.
Any little movement, brush of air, change in temperature, pressure, or sound would wake me up regardless of whether I was heavily sedated or simply asleep.
It was like the worst version of insomnia, sleep paralysis, and sensitivity combined, where my body constantly tried to react to external changes while trying to sleep.
The rem cycle was constantly disrupted, and the body's communication signals were all messed up.
Sometimes, I couldn't consciously move my body for a while, but I was very aware of what was happening around me.
I wasn't joking when I said I wouldn't be able to sleep regardless of my tiredness.
The only way to avoid it was to seal a small space perfectly.
It had to be soundproofed, with minimal airflow, and nobody but me inside to let my body adjust and hope that nothing changed while I was asleep.
The running joke in my childhood was that I would make a perfect vampire since a coffin would be my ideal sleeping location.
After all, who would disturb a coffin buried underground?
"Ah, that happens sometimes due to the transfer of consciousness. It will fade away in a bit. Would you like me to help you with wearing the mask and badge? Your hands are shaking, and we're running a bit late."
Pressing down my nausea as my vision doubled as the angel moved once more and strange things began to pop up in my vision, I focused on responding with a smile while trying not to vomit, "Yes, please. Thank you."
"Of course. I am HR Employee Belle, so please leave me a positive review." With gentle movements, the employee badge was neatly pinned to my chest, the mask briefly covered my eyes before my vision became clear once more, while the cloth was tucked into the basket.
"Although it was short, meeting you today was a pleasure, Employee 999. Please remember to fill out the survey later."
"Sure." Without knowing how, I grabbed the gift basket and stumbled into the doorway while simultaneously watching the horrific sight before my eyes.
********