THE MOMENT
She woke up without having gone to sleep. It was late, and dark, and 23 was alone in a spacious, mostly empty garage. She stood quietly, patiently for a few minutes as she surveyed the brand new environment. Her sparkling brown eyes looked from thing to thing as the names of items came to her.
"Nodes...," she saw a stack of clear glass cards on a messy work table. It was surrounded by colorful cubes in various sizes, and she identified those too. "Nanos...," They were familiar to her without knowing why. She had no idea how she got there, nor what she might've been doing before she did. And yet, none of that concerned her. It felt appropriate in some sense.
She knew her name, 23, and she thought she had a decent sense of who she was. She was 10 years old with dusty blonde hair and brown eyes. She was confident about that and comfortable in her current situation. But she had no idea what to do next. She felt like she was waiting for something.
"HELLO!?" Rather than explore the dim warehouse, she attempted to attract someone's attention, but no answer came. "Anyone!?" she asked. She was sure about her own name, but she struggled to imagine a different name. She searched the recesses of her forgotten memories and managed to find a word that seemed important.
"Ballisea?" she whispered unintentionally. She meant to call out the name as loudly as her other attempts, but she went quiet at the last moment.
"There you are!!!! My little luna, how are you!!??" A joyous voice spoke as the shadows took shape. In moments, a tall, pale woman with bone-white horns stood there looking down at the girl with brilliant golden eyes. "I've been waiting for so long to see you again," she said.
"I don't know what's happening?" 23 shook her head. It was a broad statement, but 100% true under the circumstances. Ballisea giggled again.
"That's normal, mijita. You're not really supposed to know. The important thing is that you're in the universe! For a little while at least," she said.
"What am I supposed to do?" 23 asked.
"That's up to you, dear. Don't worry about a thing, now that you're here, there'll be much more excitement. Once things start happening, you'll get an idea of what you want to do. And, that's what you're supposed to," Ballisea's smile grew broader. "Until then, there's not much point in thinking about it."
"This is normal...? Not remembering who I am?" 23 looked up at Ballisea. "I'm a little girl and you're... a demon maybe? Why aren't I scared?"
"It's normal, for you," Ballisea nodded. "You'll learn about your history as you go. But, to get you started, I'll say you've only just been born."
"What?" 23 was surprised, and she looked at her own hands and body. She was notably older than any newborn or toddler. And, she knew things. "How?" she asked.
"Oh, the same as anything interesting that happens," Ballisea said. "Accidentally." She ended there, and 23 got the impression she wasn't going to elaborate at all.
"I have parents," she said suddenly. "Where are my parents?"
"One is sleeping soundly, and the other is working quite hard at this exact moment," Ballisea said. "Neither of them is aware of you just yet."
"They don't know?" 23 giggled as she looked around the warehouse. "Then, that means I don't have to stay here. Can you show me around?"
"For my favorite little luna, of course," Ballisea smiled. "It's your birthday, darling, we can do whatever you want."