Others were waking up, each having the typical reactions. Wiggling about, trying to look around, some crying or whimpering. The one who had felt his way about the darkened room now made his way to some of those who were having trouble with their bindings. Kenji could hear well enough to pick up his name. Donny. [i]Doesn't sound like he's from around here... No, wait. Where is "here?" Where was I...before? My name is Kenji. Nakamura Kenji. I'm Japanese. Donny's not a Japanese name. Before I was here, I was... ... What the hell?[/i] The boy felt gingerly around his head with his fingertips. No bumps, no blood, no cuts, no suspicious microchips sticking out of his skull. He was fine, from head to toe, aside from the chafe marks of the ropes and a general sense of unwellness, likely from the atmosphere and environment he'd found himself in. No head trauma. So why was he missing such a huge gap in his memory? [i]Two plus two is four. Yeah, that's definitely right. Sine, cosine, and tangent are functions derived from quadratic equations that produce predictably shaped graphs. I have a high school education. I WENT to high school at... At... Dammit, okay. Japan, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea...I'm pretty sure I remember a lot of the names of countries from wherever I was. I'm Japanese, I have a Japanese name. I must have lived in Japan. Therefore, I LIVED AT... ...Dammit![/i] The woman with the gun was speaking. Kenji's eyes cut to her sharply, not wanting to miss anything she might do with that firearm. She said something about "hunters," putting enough emphasis on the word that Kenji didn't think she meant regular game hunting. She told them that she would answer their questions, if they followed her to meet someone--or something--called the Absolute. [i]...I think they're speaking English, not Japanese. I know, despite these gaps in my memory, that I cannot speak fluent English. But I understand these people perfectly. That woman says she'll explain everything, but let's see what I can figure out on my own.[/i] Slowly, he stood up against the wall. He looked around at the others, who for the most part seemed just as lost as he was. Maybe more so. [i]Now that I think back, I do remember hearing...sounds, before that old man's cackling. Metal, clanging on metal. Things...things that I want to say perhaps sounded bestial. The old guy talked about blood and eating people. This woman talks about Hunters. The old guy was scared of her, and... Huh. If that old guy's not dead yet...[/i] Kenji looked into the corner where that freakish cannibal had retreated. With another look back towards the group, Kenji approached the old man freely, no longer bound by the ropes. Instead his bindings had been fashioned into that makeshift flail, which he spun fast enough to make it whistle lightly. Standing in front of the twisted, blind creature, he hardened his eyes and his heart. "Alright, freak." he said, the first words he'd spoken aloud in this place. "That lady says she's gonna do the explaining, but I figure you're already here. So why don't [i]you[/i] give me some answers first?" He popped the short length of rope like a whip near the old man's face. "What building, in what town, within what country, on what planet, are we currently, in that exact order?" he asked, his voice like flint. "And what is a [i]Hunter[/i]?" The only answer was a pained gurgle. The man's throat wound was apparently bad enough to damage either his airway or his vocal chords. Either way, he couldn't give Kenji the answers he wanted. The threats wouldn't change that, so the boy sighed and simply left the creature there. He thought about maybe trying to kill the old man again--to at least make his passing quick--but when he thought about how utterly fucked everything around here seemed to be, he decided that he didn't have enough pity to do that. "I don't suppose anyone else would be willing to pool our resources and information, before we go out there blindly believing everything we're told by a woman with a gun, huh?" he asked, though his voice had lost its edge and become rather half hearted. He kind of doubted some of the other people would even bother responding to him, as little communication as there had been so far.