The first thing that he registered when he woke up was a painful throbbing at the side of his head. He groaned, slowly forcing his eyes open and causing the bright light to attack his sensitive eyes. He hissed in pain, the noise was muffled by the mask over his face, bringing his hand up to block the light from hitting his eyes.

"He's waking up." A muffled voice declared.

Who is that? Why are they watching me sleep? It made him feel even more confused, he wanted to see who was speaking. He forced his eyes open again, letting his hand fall back to his side. He could see fuzzy silhouettes above him, standing in front of the bright lights. They seemed to be looking down at him.

It took several seconds of frantic blinking for his blurry vision to clear, and for the figures in front of him to gain features. As soon as he could make out specific details, he took in every single one possible.

There was see-through glass above him, and behind that he could see four people staring down at him, each one of them holding clipboards and wearing strange white coats. He tilted his head, frowning up at them. Who are these people?

"The subject is responsive, he seems to be examining his surroundings," The man on his far right, who had shaggy brown hair and piercing brown eyes, declared.

The subject? Why are they calling me that? Why don't they just use my name? He thought, and then froze, his heart skipping a beat. Wait… What is my name?!

Before he could descend into a panic, there was a whooshing sound, and the glass that had been covering him before went away. A rush of cold air hit him, making goosebumps appear all over his pale skin.

The strange man on his far left brought a gloved hand up to his face, pulling the strange mask off of his face. "So, you finally wake up," He said, his voice smooth like silk. His hand slid upwards, resting on the middle of his back. "I want you to try to sit up for me, okay?"

I can try… The confused man thought to himself, giving a small nod of confirmation. He let the lab coat man lift him up. Once he was sitting upwards, he tried to place his hands down to hold him up, only to cry out as pain stabbed through him.

He quickly lifted his throbbing hands back up, turning his eyes down to look at them, and froze in shock. Huh? Why are my hands… They were wrapped tightly in white bandages, beginning right at his wrists and ending at his shoulders. What happened to them?

"Don't put pressure on your arms," The shaggy haired man ordered, lifting up the pillows behind him. "Lean on those, be careful with your arms."

He duly nodded, scooting back to rest against the pillows, slowly letting his arms fall back down to his sides. Once he felt comfortable, he turned his curious eyes back towards the men in front of him.

They watched him for a moment, before the man with the smooth voice said,"He is sitting up alright, despite the condition of his arms. Do you think he would be able to stand?"

"It is possible he won't be able to, he has been unconscious for a long time," The third man, one with a shaved head said.

The fourth man, who had a head of curly brown hair and sharp brown eyes replied,"We best not push our luck, he has just woken up. We should move him to the prepared room and examine from there."

Why are they talking about me like I'm not here? The subject of their conversation wondered. It's starting to annoy me…

He turned, looking at the man with the smooth voice. "Excuse me… I- I don't understand, who are you guys?" He asked, looking at the others. "And… And why am I here?"

They stared at him quietly for a second, before they all looked down at their clipboards, scribbling something down. Once they finished, the bald man came forward and asked,"Tell us what you remember."

He frowned at that, turning his eyes down to his lap. He scraped all over his throbbing head, trying to grab at something, anything… But there was nothing. Shaking his head, he looked back up at them. "I… I don't remember anything." He admitted, growing a little frantic. "Why… Why can't I remember anything?"

"Stay calm," The curly haired man ordered,"Panicking will not help at all."

You say that like it's easy… The memory deprived man thought, but tried to follow the advice anyway. He took a few deep breaths, forcing his pounding heart to relax to a more steady pace before he looked up at them again. They seem pretty calm about all this…

"Do you…. Know who I am?" He asked them hopefully, his voice crackling from how little it had been used..

They didn't react, not outwardly. They stared at him, seeming to still be observing him. Then, three of the men looked towards the one with shaggy brown hair. They seemed to be waiting for him to speak. Is he their boss?

The shaggy haired man took the cue, and walked up to him. "I'm afraid such questions could be a little overwhelming to your mind right now," He said,"After all, you just woke up from a coma. We must take it slow."

I suppose that makes sense… The amnesiac thought begrudgingly, remembering just how tired he felt just from sitting up. I'm not sure how much I could take in one day…

He looked back at the shaggy man, and gave a short nod of understanding. Even though he wanted so desperately to know who he was, why he was here, and who these people were… But if they said that he should wait, he figured he should listen to them. It was the least he could do, considering they seemed to have been taking care of him.

"Good," The shaggy haired man said, a gentle smile climbing up onto his face. "Thank you for understanding."

He stood up, walking towards the door with the other men. "Have one of the technicians bring a wheelchair and move him to the other room," He ordered,"Tell them to get a meal prepared as well as provide me his full chart-"

They opened the gray door, and started to file out of it. Before they all could leave though, a desperate desire exploded through the amnesiac. He quickly leaned forward, grabbed at the edge of his strange bed despite the pain that caused, and called,"W-wait!"

The shaggy haired man, who had been just about to close the door, stopped and looked towards him. He didn't say a word, but the amnesiac hoped that he was willing to listen.

"I-I understand what you're saying, and why you want me to wait… B-but…." He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and looked back up at the man. "Can you at least tell me my name? P-please…?"

The man stared at him, expressionless, and then turned and walked outside, the door slowly shut behind him.

The amnesiac felt hurt by the complete disregard to what he asked, not even an answer. He lowered his head and let out a sad sigh, picking at the bandages on his left hand.

After a full minute of silence, a creaking sound jerked him out of his stupor. He looked up quickly, and saw the shaggy haired man staring at him again.

"Your name is Izaya."

A few minutes after the four men left, a young man in a similar lab coat walked in with a wheelchair. He helped Izaya into the chair, and then wheeled him out of the room.

Izaya's curious ruby eyes took in every little detail as they walked down the hall. The long hallway had several other people in those coats, some talking, some writing on clipboards. There were some see-through windows against some walls, but they all just looked into other rooms where more lab coat clad people were moving around.

He looked behind him at the young man pushing his wheelchair, he was staring ahead, not even a glance at Izaya. It actually intimidated him quite a bit, almost making him too scared to ask his question. Thankfully, it seemed Izaya's curiosity always won out in the end.

"What's your name?" He nervously asked the man.

Still, the man pushing his wheelchair didn't even glance down at him. It was as if he didn't exist, even though there was no possible way he didn't hear the raven's question.

He sighed, looking down at his bandaged arms again. In a vain attempt to make conversation, he muttered,"My name is Izaya…"

"I know." The man bluntly replied, his voice blank and void of any emotions.

Izaya huffed in annoyance, but accepted defeat. It seemed he wasn't going to get anything from the young man, just like how he hadn't gotten anything from the other four.

He didn't mean to be nosy, he just wanted to understand what was happening, why he was in such a strange place. Was I hurt really bad? He lifted his bandaged arms slightly. My arms still really hurt, maybe that's why I'm still here…

"You may call me Kaede," The man pushing his wheelchair suddenly declared, which made Izaya to jolt in surprise.

The amnesiac honestly hadn't been expecting a response, especially after the four men from before took so long to tell him his name. It felt good, to just be acknowledged, even the slightest bit, in his strange situation.

The wheelchair was stopped in front of another grey door, this one had a small circular window. The young man leaned over, tapping in a code on the keyboard and sliding a card through the slot next to the keycard.

Once the door slid open, he rolled Izaya inside. The room was a simple hospital room, with a cot, a connected bathroom, an IV, and all the other amenities one would expect to be there. But there were a few things that made it feel… Off. The camera in the corners of the room, the absence of windows. the very advanced technology, and the things he had already seen before being brought here.

Izaya frowned, looking at the place with confusion in his eyes. "This place… Isn't a hospital, is it?" He asked, looking up at the young man.

Kaede seemed to hesitate for a moment before he shook his head. "It's not a hospital, you are correct," He replied, stopping the wheelchair and circling around to stand in front of him. He helped Izaya up, setting him down on top of the small bed. He then knelt down, taking Izaya's wrist gently in his hand.

The amnesiac frowned at the declaration. That only makes me more confused… He thought, leaning forward. "If it's not a hospital, then what is this place?" He questioned.

The lab coat clad man reached into his pocket, pulling out a strange-looking bracelet. He took Izaya's wrist, clicking the smooth steel band around the skinny wrist, and then began hooking him up to some of the machines in the room.

"This is your home, Izaya-san," Kaede declared once he had finished. He then stood up, took the empty wheelchair, and exited back through the door they had entered through. The grey door quickly slid shut with a whoosh, leaving Izaya all alone.

He stared at the door, the things Kaede had told him mulling over inside his mind. He turned, looking around the room once more. Is this really my home? It doesn't feel like a home... He wondered, a frown gracing his pale face. Why would I be in such a strange place?

Izaya lifted his wrist, toying with the steel band wrapped around his wrist. He noticed something interesting on the band. It was small, and hard to notice, but something was engraved on it. It says… AD-S1… What does that mean? He wondered. Is there something wrong with me? Is that why I'm here? He sighed, flopping down on the bed. This whole place feels… Strange.

But, I don't have a reason to doubt them. They haven't tried to hurt me, they are even fixing my arms! They took care of me while I was asleep… Maybe I'm just overthinking things… He rationalized, slowly letting his injured arms rest on top of him.

All the excitement of the day finally seemed to catch up with him. His eyelids began to grow heavy. He couldn't even fight as his exhausted body pulled him back into the relaxing state of slumber.

The four scientists stared at the sleeping Izaya through the security cameras, inquisitive eyes watching everything the raven did. They relaxed only after the young man's eyes were closed, and his heart rate showed he was truly asleep.

The one with the shaved head looked at the others. "We are treading on dangerous ground right now," He declared.

"We knew that when we took him, Yumi-san." The smooth voiced man said,"Why would this be any more dangerous?"

The one with the curly hair frowned at the smooth voiced man. "Isn't it obvious, Kenji? It's dangerous because if he remembers, he'll definitely attempt to escape. He is our first test subject for this experiment, we cannot allow him to return to the outside world no matter what." He reminded them.

Kenji and Yumi's faces slackened as they began to understand the curly haired man's position, especially as the curly haired man continued,"Even if we manage to keep him here, can you imagine what such traumatizing memories could do to our data? Getting shot by that Varona women? Heiwajima-san breaking his arms? The Dullahan? If he has a bad reaction to those memories, the data could be damaged."

Kenji sighed, lowering his head. "Well then, what do you suggest we do, Izuru ?" He questioned the curly haired man.

Izuru hesitated, for he didn't have an answer. Instead, all three of them turned to look towards their fourth companion. The shaggy haired man, who was still staring at the screen. He hadn't spoken yet.

Kenji, Yumi, and Izuru exchanged a concerned look, and then turned back to the fourth. Kenji took a deep breath, and then stepped forward.

"Shingen?" He asked,"What do you think we should do?"

Shingen stared at the screen a while longer, and then turned back to the others with a goofy grin. "Surely you three aren't going to let something as simple as this make the project stumble? Blocking memories is easy, I've done it myself many times."

He reached out and grabbed his clipboard, scribbling down a new order. "Give him these pills once a day and this shot once a week. As long as he gets those regularly, and we keep reminders to a bare minimum, Izaya's memories should stay buried,``he ordered.

Handing the piece of paper to the men, he picked up his white gas mask, and continued,"I need to go back to America and tie up some loose ends. I'll be back soon, continue testing without me. With luck, our experiments will prove successful."

"The first test subjects of an experiment are usually always a failure…" Yumi muttered to himself.

Shingen chuckled. "That is true, but you three don't know Izaya-kun as well as I do," He reminded them. "He is stubborn, persistent, and very intelligent. How else do you think he could have awoken the Dullahan head? Believe me, he is the perfect candidate for this experiment."

The three scientists lowered their heads, nodding in understanding. They took the paper, adding it to the file that was labeled AD-S1.

Shingen attached the mask to his face, and bid the men goodbye. As he walked down the halls, he smiled to himself. "Ah, this amnesia is such a kind gift, Izaya-kun," He cheerfully said,"I wonder if we can test the differences in personality due to this, maybe see what changes as we do these tests. Ah, the possibilities are endless!"

Stepping out of the facility, and onto the small island his facility called home, Shingen took a deep breath, grinned, and declared,"I have a feeling that the excitement is only just beginning!"