Vulnerable and yet strong

It was as if she was waking up from an eternal slumber and entering a new life.
The memories of her awakening are hazy, but it was the most terrifying moment of Silvia's life.

Two men in uniforms look at Silvia with a worried expression. They talk to her, but she can't understand their words.

Then a cut - everything goes black.

A middle-aged man looks at Silvia. His dark brown hair is slicked back and his slender body has a stiff build.

His face is expressionless and his eyes, despite their intense sparkle, seem lifeless.
He also says something - but again the words are inaudible to Silvia.

Another cut - everything goes black.

She wakes up in a kind of prison cell.
Her days consisted only of daily visits from various doctors, followed by depressing loneliness in her room.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months.
But her head remained empty. Her memories are gone.

She still knows her name: Silvia Antigone. And she must be around 27 years old. Everything else is gone.

Where does she come from?
Who are her relatives and friends?
What about her job and her hobbies?
What are her real passions and fears?

Who is the real Silvia, shaped and molded by her past experiences and feelings?

Silvia can't find any answers.
Even now, three months later and finally free...

From the stands, Silvia's gaze wanders over the sports hall: the facility is large and clean, with white walls and a brownish floor. A pleasant silence hangs over the room, occasionally interrupted by the athletes' jumps and kicks. Neither the place nor the atmosphere seem familiar to Silvia.

Perhaps she had never been here before her amnesia?

With both arms leaning on the railing, she continues to watch the activities on the ground.

The group of young ladies are doing their warm-up and stretching exercises. Silvia watches the girls with great fascination, but one of the gymnasts in particular catches her eye: Vivianne Vernelle.

She is sitting apart from the rest of the group, doing the splits and bending her upper body towards the floor.
Silvias is increasingly impressed by the little lady with pink hair.

However, she seems a little lonely.
While the other ladies are constantly talking to each other, Vivianne remains in a focused silence and seems to be completely oblivious to her surroundings.
Is she not interested in a little small talk?

Vivianne is also quite taciturn towards Silvia - unless it concerns her work. Silvia can't blame her - they are never friends and their relationship exists on a purely professional level.

Perhaps Silvia was too open when they first met on the space station.
Vivianne was visibly overwhelmed by Silvia's outgoing and energetic behavior.

She is probably quite happy to be able to do her sport in peace now. Silvia has already caused her enough problems and worries today. Especially the conversation with the fan club members in the hotel must have really upset Vivianne.

But that's just the way Silvia is... or so she thinks.

To be honest, Silvia constantly hides her true feelings behind facades.
She is unable to show fear and discomfort, as Vivianne does. The fear of being vulnerable is too great.

Vivianne is not like that: she is vulnerable and yet strong.
After this case is solved, Silvia would like to become friends with her. Perhaps she can learn something for life from Vivianne.

“Is your sister training here?”

Silvia hears someone approaching behind her; the footsteps of her bare feet are loudly audible. Silvia slowly turns her head to the side to see who the voice belongs to.

“Or is she perhaps your cousin?”

The person asking is a young woman who must be around Silvia's age. She has long, blue hair with lots of curls. Like Silvia's, her strands cover one of her eyes. She is wearing a dark leotard like the other gymnasts and sports shorts cover her legs.

Vivianne has asked Silvia not to talk to others unless absolutely necessary, but this place doesn't seem familiar to her anyway, so no one will be able to trigger any memories here.

Silvia casually leans lower against the grounds and sticks out her bottom as she grins at the unfamiliar lady.

“I'm just watching my friend. She really wanted me to watch her train.”

Silvia points at Vivianne with her index finger:

“I mean Vivianne.” She adds, revealing the identity of her 'friend'.

The lady claps her hands together in delight:

“Oh, Vivianne! She really is a sweetie, isn't she? So shy and yet so ambitious when others need her help!”

“Oh, really? So she's very helpful?”

“Of course she is! As her friend, you should know that. How long have you known her?”

“Since today...”

The woman raises an eyebrow suspiciously.

“A year ago today.” Silvia adds as a lie:
“Anyway, I'm Silvia. Nice to meet you!”

She jumps up and holds out her outstretched hand to the gymnast.

“Oh that's right! I'm Trice. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier.”

Trice shakes Silvia's hand with a firm, but not painful, grip.

“Tell me Silvia, are you a gymnast too? Your clothes look like one.”

Trice's gaze falls on Silvia's outfit.

“Oh, that? No, that's a cosplay. You know, I'm really into costumes and all that stuff.”
Silvia lies again as she pulls on her skintight suit.

Of course, Silvia has no idea why she's wearing this outfit or whether it's trendy. She simply has nothing else to wear and costumes come in all colors and shapes, so she should have dodged the question well.

But unfortunately, Trice follows up with another question:

“Oh, cosplay! What show is that from?”

Crap. Silvia knew what a cosplay was, but of course she has no knowledge of series - after all, her hard drive is wiped clean.

She puts her index finger to her lip:
“I won't tell you. You'll have to guess.”

Phew. Dodged it again.

Trice seems visibly dissatisfied with Silvia's answer:

“Huh, no idea where it's from. I'm honestly not interested either.”

Wow, she didn't get an accurate answer and now her goodwill has instantly disappeared...

“Keep watching your friend. After all, she rarely comes to training, so it's a rare sight.”

Before Silvia can say anything, Trice turns her back on her and leaves the stands without a word. What a two-faced woman. But Trice's sudden change of mood and unfriendly departure doesn't really bother Silvia: people like that aren't worth her time and anger.

She would much rather check out the other rooms in the sports center now. Vivianne certainly won't mind if she's gone for a moment.