My, how you've grown!

[Atragon9 0]

{Water - when was the last time I washed with water? On the ship, it's a sonic shower, and then I've run some holodeck programs of Millburn Park, back home. That lake, we would swim and kayak, they built the waterfall into it. We would have picnics there and, later on, we would have water training for Belisarius. It's so much harder to move or hold water than a solid object, it was one of my most difficult classes. As much as I dreaded those exercises, I got to play in water, in the lake. The observers did realize that their subjects *were* kids, so they always gave us play time when we went to Millburn. It wasn't much, but we hardly had any play time while training and I loved it. Such fond memories of splashing around and ... and ...}

{Wet - I am being showered with hot water. Wait, when were my clothes removed? The water, it has a smell to it, medicinal, cleansing. I guess I haven't gotten clean since I have been here and there have been a lot of meals, a lot of sleep cycles - when they let me sleep. How long has it been? Why has no one come to look for me, rescue me. After all this time in Starfleet, all the terrible things I have done "for the good," here is my reward, my prize, my penance, my punishment, my fate, forgotten.}

{Damp - I am cold, I am wet, I am waiting, I don't understand. Why clean my body if it will never be seen again outside of this room, by another person? Why am I still alive, what do they want from me, why haven't I been questioned?}

{Dry - It must be warmer here than I thought, I am dry, I am warm, but I am still naked. Is this the next stage of my captivity? Nothing to hide, nowhere to hide, exposed, open. They are right, I am nothing. They have cleansed me and I am a blank. They ask me nothing, I have nothing to give}

{Dressed?! - I don't remember falling asleep, but I find myself waking up, wearing a simple tunic and leggings. Familiar to me from my youth on Titan, yet totally plain, unadorned, no neighborhood markings or development coloring. How am I losing these big pieces of time and consciousness?}

::A9 realizes that he has fallen unconscious again and is awoken by the sound of a heavy door opening behind him with a bright light beyond in the outer room, He sits up and squints at the light as a figure wearing similar clothing as his, steps into the room and speaks::

"Attie, you have been my guest for a long time, I suppose it's time we met face to face - or should I say, meet again. How many decades has it been, we're both getting so old..."