25 making... progress...?

Once he had left, they were led into a waiting room, where admin staff called them I none after another, making sure to avoid the order given by their old number-”names”. And it took ages for each of them.

So, when she entered the room, she had no idea what to expect.

Behind the desk, a young woman smiled at her. “Hello, give me your hand please.”

Curious, she did as ordered, watching as she took a drop of blood, holding it over a scanner.

“Ah yes.” The other woman smiled. “Good morning, Miss Jones.”

Curiously, she looked around, only to snap around when the other said. “That’s your name. Bonnie Jones.”

Slowly turning back, she saw the secondary screen facing her showing a personnel dossier. With her face on it. And that name-

“Wha…?”

“Like every other of the captured women there, you are an agent of the organization, kidnapped and brainwashed. I only have clearance up to Secret, which limits what I can tell you. Until declared MIA, you were on the following missions...”

Listening to the list and seeing pictures appear on the screen that showed a woman looking like her – because it was her! The recognition hit her like a hammer – she had to sit down.

An hour later, a thoroughly confused 2… Bonnie left the room, unconsciously playing with a little plastic bunny the woman had claimed had been on her desk. Before she had been a numbered pet.

So they claimed. Then they had given her the bunny. Bonnie, Bunny... close enough?

.. still. She actually thought she remembered some of this.

In the waiting room, she met another woman just leaving, playing with something in her hand, too.

They looked at each other. “Hi.”

The redhead smiled. “Hi. They say I’m Elisha. And this is supposed to be mine”

“They say I’m Bonnie. Same here.”

“Do you…?”

“Sounds convincing.” She replied. “I’ll accept it. Besides… they work for Master.” She shrugged. “If Master decides to call me Bonnie, I’m Bonnie.”

“...fair point.” Elisha pondered. “But not what he ordered.”

“If I was that woman, it’s my name because it is.” She shrugged. “If he just wants me to believe I was, it’s my name because he decided. Whichever way, I’m Bonnie as long as he says.”

Behind the security cameras, a doctor hit his head against the wall. “Guess we expected too much, too soon...”