Chapter II

	Dark.  

	Where am I?

	He -- at least he assumed it was "he" -- had just opened his
eyes, to the sight of nothing but endless black.  Turning his head, the
darkness continued.  

	That was one question solved.  He was somewhere that was very
dark.

	Who am I?

	Based on his previous assumption, he was male.  That was,
unfortunately, about all he knew on the issue.  He didn't remember
_anything_ at all; his memory was darker than his surroundings.  

	Let's try another one:
	
	Why am I here?

	He decided to skip that one.  He didn't have a clue.  He
couldn't even remember who "I" was; there was no way that he would
remember anything about how he'd gotten to this endlessly dark place,
this...oddly cold endlessly dark place.

	Am I dead?

	He didn't _think_ he was dead; he moved his fingers and toes,
legs and feet, and yes, he could feel himself.  He felt his body to make
sure that there was nothing missing; interesting.  He was naked.  At
least he had confirmed that he really was male.

	Assuming I'm _not_ dead -- where am I?

	A thought hit him like a load of bricks hurled from the top of
the KCT building: he was in a coffin, buried alive.

	His first reaction to the thought was, of course, shock.  Buried
alive?  Oh shi...

	Wait a second.

	What's the KCT building?

	Now _that_ was a memory.  

	He could almost hear the creaking and breaking coming from
inside his brain as the dam holding back his memories moaned under the
pressure of a lifetime of memories...

	He could _almost_ hear it.

	The enlightenment didn't come.

	Dammit!  Why can't I remember something so simple as who the
hell I am?  What the fuck is keeping me from remembering anything so
simple as my name?

	With that thought, he exploded.
	
	"Where the FUCK am I!"

	Yep.  Voice still works.
	
	A small light suddenly turned on, blinding him.  At the same
time, a voice came through some kind of speaker.

	"Unable to process request for information; word 'fuck' does not
comply with context.  Would you like to repeat your question?"

	It took him a few seconds to realize what the significance of
this was.  In the mean time, he said the first thing that came to mind.
"Turn off that damned light!  And what the hell do you mean 'fuck does
not comply'?"

	Having said his piece, he then realized that something else
existed, and that he had just yelled at it.

	"Complying with request."  The light turned off; again, it was
pitch black.  He regretted asking.  "And the grammar computer could not
figure out what you were saying."  

	The voice stopped.  Again, there was only blackness.

	Oh shit.

	"Hello?"  He had to try talking.  Unfortunately, he didn't get a
response.  Oh _shit_.  He'd made the voice go away.

	"Is anybody there?"  One more try; he had to try...

	"Nobody is here but you."

	This time, he knew better than to yell at it.  Instead, he tried
to figure out what it was.  It sounded female; it also sounded a little
bit like a computer.  It was coming from all around him, or at least
sounded like it.  

	Oh my God.

	"Are _you_ God?"  He had to get this question asked; he'd never
expected God to be female.

	"No."

	Short and to the point, eh?  At least that possiblity was
gone...wait a second.

	"Are you the Devil?"

	"No, sir.  I am not."

	Alright.  Death was ruled out.  Hopefully.

	"Who _are_ you, then?"

	"I am Sally."

	Human.  Sally.  Strange.  He didn't remember humans having a
voice that came from everywhere.

	"Who am I?"

	"You are Mr. Kirr.  Sir."

	"Kirr?"

	"Kirr."

	Mr. Kirr.  He was Mr. Kirr.

	He felt a crack in his brain-dam.  And then another.  And
another.

	KST-corp.  The invasion.  The trip to safety.  Bodyguard.
Stasis.  Mr. Kirr.

	His dam broke in two.  The river of memories flew into his
conscious memory...

	And suddenly hit the thing that had brought up the dam in the
first place.

	"Sally!  Don't say that..."

	The darkness somehow got a little darker.