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Hidden: Chapter 3 Reminders

"We'll take a short break here." The admiral put down his pen and notepad, taking care to ensure I couldn't see what was written on it. When I had started talking about Colonel Mathews, the admiral's attention peaked. "Are you thirsty, you haven't had anything to drink since we began?"

I did notice that I was a bit parched, all the talking that I had done left my mouth dry with a sour taste to it. "I could go for a cup of water if it isn't asking for too much."

The admiral looked a bit shocked. "Nonsense, how is water asking for too much? This may be a military prison, but it isn't run by savages." He looked past me towards the one-way window and made a gesture with his hand. "Get the captain a glass of water..." He took a long hard look at my muzzle before adding, "and a straw if you can find one."

I had forgotten that there were people outside of the room that were watching everything I did. I wish I didn't remember because the thought made my tail tuck a bit. I was self-conscious enough with just the admiral and his guard in the same room as me and I didn't particularly needed to know the extent of which I was being scrutinized. 'How many people were watching me right now?' I quickly pushed the thought out of my head for my own good and focused on the man who was sitting a few feet away from me.

"How are you adjusting to your situation captain?" He leaned forward a bit in a way that reminded me of a therapist who was questioning a patient. "I can only imagine how difficult this must all be."

"Well, sir." I paused to think about what was different in my life and the answer came swiftly. "I'm not doing too well. Not too long ago, I was leading a squad of some of the most highly qualified soldiers in the solar system. I was in control of my life and was happy." I leaned back into my chair and took a long deep breath in, held it for a second and then let it out. "Now... now I'm here in a prison that's probably buried underground on Mercury or something like that. That's not even the worst part. If you haven't noticed, I'm a dog. How does something like this even happen? How did something like the Eurasia even happen? How does..."

I was interrupted when the door to the room opened and a guard came in with a red plastic cup that held water in it and a flimsy plastic straw. He walked over and set it on the table and left, but not before giving me a glance with a look of disgust.

I thought about continuing my rant, but decided against it. Instead I grabbed the cup with both hands since I still had cuffs on and brought it up to my lips. I took a sip and was surprised when the water simply spilled out of the side of my mouth and onto my lap.

I quickly put the cup down and was met with by a chuckle from the rather amused admiral. Despite my embarrassment, my tail wagged slightly. 'What is going on with me? Why did my tail wag when this man began to laugh?' If I ever got the chance, I would have to learn more about how this change is affecting my brain.

"I did ask for the straw for a reason." He picked up the straw that was lying on the table and plunked it into the cup. "I may not have pets, but I'm observant enough to realize that dogs can't drink the way people do."

I shrugged off my last attempt and brought the straw up to my mouth and greedily drank. A bit of water dripped out of my mouth, bit it was definitely better. I realized that I didn't even know how long it had been since my last drink of water. I had woken up in a cell and was brought here. I had no idea about how much time had passed since the events on that damned ship had occur....

"Did you just compare me to a dog as in a pet?" I nearly jolted out of my seat when I replayed the admiral's previous comment in my head. I set down the cup and watched the admiral who became flustered when he realized what he had just said.

"Well, no. Not in the way you've interpreted it." He quickly interjected. "If you think about it, there's nothing else to compare you to in this situation. You've proven that you can't drink water through sipping and even a straw isn't that effective." He began to appear more at ease as he built his defense. "If I wanted to treat you like an animal, I wouldn't have brought you a cup. I would have brought you a dish."

He had me there. "I guess you're right. " The fur on my neck, which I didn't realize had bristled up began to settle down. "I'm sorry sir. That was unprofessional of me."

The admiral had picked up his notepad and was writing something down. "Don't worry. It's my fault really. I let myself slip." After finishing whatever he was writing he began to gather his things. "I think that's enough for today. You seemed stressed out and I think it would be best if we continued after you've had some time to rest."

"You sure? I mean, I'm sorry for that outburst." Why didn't I want him to go? I knew he was right, but some urge wanted to stay with him. It felt like there were two people living inside of me that were both trying to gain control.

"I'm a bit tired myself. Lots of paper work to fill out and that kind of stuff." He smiled at me and motioned for the guard. "Lieutenant, take the captain back to his quarters."

"Yes sir." The guard moved over to me and unhooked me from the table and led me into the corridor outside of the room. I didn't really pay attention the last time I walked down these halls, but I could tell that this was no ordinary prison. A light push on my back got me moving. I noticed that the walls were an industrial metal and there were pipes running along the ceiling. The hall was lined by unmarked rooms with blacked out windows or sometimes they had no windows at all. It was like this until we got to the cell block.

The cell block was a three story tall rectangular prism that was approximately 100 feet long with only one entrance and exit, the one that I had just entered through. The exit was a heavy blast door that I assumed could be closed by a guard that resided in another room. Each floor had about 20 cells on both sides of the room and a catwalk that went around each floor and ended with a staircase that connected all of them together. The cells had metal doors with a number welded to the top, two ports, one at about chest level and one near the bottom and a small bullet proof window.

I walked down the cell block and noticed that I was the only prisoner here. Either that, or everyone was on the upper floors and wasn't making any noise. I reached my door which was numbered 119, one before the last cell. The guard opened the door and I walked in. The port opened and the guard instructed me to put my hands through. I did and was rewarded with cuff free wrists. It was a bit awkward with my ankle cuffs since I had to get as close to the door as possible so that the guard could reach in and undo them. Eventually I was left alone in my small cell.

It looked pretty standard, if not barren. Five foot by ten foot and eight feet high. There was a bed in one corner with a single pillow and a wool blanket, a toilet in the other with a sink next to I, a small mirror above the sink and nothing else but the light in the ceiling. I sighed and went to sit on the bed.

I was surprised when I heard a crinkle under my blanket when I sat down. I lifted up the blanket and saw a small note. I looked back towards the door and saw that there wasn't anyone looking. I picked up the note and read it.

"Looking forward to our next chat. As a reward for openly sharing so much, I want to let you know that today is February 3rd, you seemed interested in knowing the date. Make sure no one sees this or figures out that I told you this. With regards, Admiral Cornway."

My tail began to wag when I read the admiral's name. "February 3rd." I said it out load for no particular reason. "That means it's been four days since the mission. I was out for four days." I went over to the toilet and flushed the note and returned to my bed.

I began to think about all of the people on board the ship and wondered what happened to them. I thought about Colonel Mathews and wondered if he knew where I was. Even though I never considered him a friend, he had always preferred to talk to me in person when he simply messaged others. I didn't know why, but I liked to think that he was attempting to bring me into his circle of trusted people. That made me think of my own circle or rather, the only other person that I had been around long enough to trust, Sergeant Crane. The last time I saw him, he was gasping for air as he was exposed whatever was on the ship just like I was. He was lying there on the ground with his mask shattered, surrounded in both his blood and the blood of others as he reached out for me. I was helpless to save him, my own suit had been breached and I was on the ground just like him and just out of arms reach. I never felt so weak and useless than the moment before I passed out.

"Oh god," I gasped as I fought off a sob when I thought about how I hadn't even given a shit about Crane until just now. Before I was brought to my cell, my thoughts had centered on the admiral and I couldn't understand why. My best friend was probably dead or in a similar state as me and all I could think of was some stranger who said a few nice things that made my tail wag.

"My tail." I looked down and saw that it had begun to wag again at the thought of the admiral. I grabbed it to force it to stop, but it just continued to wiggle under my grasp. I fell over onto my side, my head on the pillow and with my tail brought around in front of me where I held onto it. I laid there for what felt like an hour, thinking about everyone who was involved in the mission before I released my grip. A shock of pain went up my lower back from the appendage when I released it, I had been holding on to it tight enough that I had cut off most of the blood flow to it. I felt the familiar feeling of pins and needles as the blood rushed back to my tail, it was soothing, a temporary distraction from my thoughts.

With a reprieve from my thoughts, I finally fell into a restless sleep. I dreamt of various things, my days in boot camp to missions that resulted in the deaths of various members of my squad. The dreams never lingered on any one thing for too long, but they lasted long enough to remind me of everything that I lost.

I woke up with a layer of crust on my eyes and my body tangled in the blankets. I got up and untangled myself and saw that my fur was matted in random directions and my now sensitive nose detected the foul stench of sweat and grime that was coming off of me and instead of having just an oily head of air, my entire body felt heavy like a stick of butter. Before I could do anything about it, the upper port on the door opened.

"Approach the door and stick your hands out through the port."

I did as I was instructed and a few seconds later I was standing with a pair of cuffs on my hands waiting for the guard to unlock the door. I was glad that there were no ankle cuffs this time, they felt weird since my ankles were much higher than I was used to.

The door opened and the same guard who had brought me to the cell the previous day motioned for me to exit the room.

As I walked out, I asked, "Where are we going now?"

"You're a mess. The admiral wants to continue today, but you're hardly presentable." That was all he said and he escorted me out of the cell block, down a few metal halls before we entered a large room that had shower nozzles hanging from the white tiled ceiling. I was told to strip and the guard stood off to the side.

There was an unmarked bottle of shampoo in the corner and nothing else. Seeing how I was covered in fur, I suppose I didn't need anything else. I fumbled with the dials to one of the showers for a bit, trying not to look at the guard who was standing on the opposite side of the room. I managed to get some hot water going and began to clean myself as best as I could with cuffs on. The shampoo had a neutral smell but I still smelled like wet dog in the end. I finished up and the guard pushed me out of the room still soaked.

"Umm... uhh." I sputtered as I was forced out.

The guard said nothing, but the look on his face showed that he didn't like being dripped on by me. He would probably go and get cleaned up after he was done with me. He eventually led me to what I guess was the woman's locker room due to the lack of urinals, thankfully no one was there.

The guard set me up a locker that held hair dryers that had the cords going into the wall to discourage theft. The guard handed me one and once again stood off to the side as I started the long process to dry off my two layer coat.

It began taking long enough that the guard came over wordlessly and took a second hair dryer and helped. I was soon dry and extremely fuzzy. I was then given a set of military blues and a brush. "Brush yourself as we walk." I did so and I found myself in the same interrogation same as yesterday.

I was sat down, but not cuffed to the table. The guard left with the brush and I was alone in the room. I looked back at the one-way window and just watched my reflection. I looked so alien, I was so used to seeing a man with short brown hair and a square jaw, not a dog with pointed ears an elongated snout with fur covering everything but the wet black nose.

My thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Admiral Cornway walked in with a different guard who like the last one positioned himself behind the admiral as he sat down.

"How was your morning?" He set the folder down and looked up at me.

My tail wagged and I forgot what I was just doing. "It was different, but went by smoothly."

"Good." He picked up his notepad and pen. "Now when we left off yesterday, you were heading off to the mission briefing, let's pick from there."