Dr. Grey: D-3903, do you hear me? I repeat, D-3903, do you hear me?
D-3903: I read you loud and clear.
Dr. Grey: D-3903, can you tell me what your surroundings are like?
D-3903: I have a name ya know.
Dr. Grey: D-3903, please answer the question.
A sigh can be heard from D-3903
D-3903: Fine, I see a meadow. Or rather, I am in a meadow. All around me are grassy hills. I can't see too far ahead though, the grass is almost up to my neck.
Dr. Grey: Very well. Please pick a direction to explore, keeping track of where the door is.
D-3903: I can't. The door's gone.
Dr. Grey: Very well. I suppose just wander around, and let me know what you see then.
D-3903: Okay.
The sound of grass being pushed aside can be heard for approximately 32 minutes
Dr. Grey: D-3903, has the landscape changed at all?
D-3903: Ya know, I hate being called D-39-
Dr. Grey: D-3903, has the landscape changed at all?
D-3903: I can't tell. The grass is now taller than I am by about a meter or so.
Several more minutes are spent in relative silence
D-3903: I have a name.
Dr. Grey: Huh?
D-3903: I have a name, Derick.
Dr. Grey: Unfortunately it is Foundation protocol that I call you D-3903 instead of your real name.
D-3903: Well that's d-
D-3903 is abruptly cut off, and the sound of skin against dirt can be heard
Dr. Grey: D-3903, are you okay? What happened? I repeat, D-3903, are you okay?
D-3903: Yeah, I'm alright, if a bit bruised.
Dr. Grey: What happened?
D-3903: I fell down a giant pit. It is about twice as tall as I am. I didn't see it through the grass.
Dr. Grey: Do you see any way out?
D-3903: No, there doesn't appear to… Wait, what the hell?
Dr. Grey: D-3903, can you please elaborate?
D-3903: I found the door! It was just lying here, behind a few blades of grass!
Dr. Grey: D-3903, please proceed to enter the door. Upon entering it tell me what you see.
D-3903: Alright, I see a red carpet. There are stone walls that seem to go on forever, lit by torches placed periodically. Behind me is another stone wall, and above me a stone ceiling.
Dr. Grey: So you're in a hallway?
D-3903: Yep. I guess I should start moving forward, try and find a way outta here.
Several minutes of footsteps can be heard
D-3903: So why is it Foundation policy?
Dr. Grey: Huh?
D-3903: The name policy. Why do you have to call me 'D-3903'?
Dr. Grey: Oh. If I were to make a guess, I'd say its so that way we don't get too attached to the D-class.
D-3903: Because we will be leaving in a month, or because the experiments the Foundation performs are too dangerous?
Dr. Grey is silent for a few minutes
D-3903: Ms. Grey? Did you hear me?
Dr. Grey: Yeah… I heard you.
D-3903: Whats wrong? You didn't respond to my question.
Dr. Grey: I… I can't do this…
D-3903: Do what?
Dr. Grey: Do you know what D-class means?
D-3903: I assume it is some sort of security clearance code, or something.
Dr. Grey: No. It means disposable. The Foundation doesn't care if you die, just that you do what you're told.
D-3903: Ha, makes sense I suppose. I mean, they are offering death row and life sentence inmates an opportunity to be free after just a month. I guess-
Dr. Grey: No.
D-3903: What do-
Dr. Grey: That's not true. They aren't going to let you free in a month.
D-3903: But what about Fredrick? Hank? Jessica?
Dr. Grey: Dead. Terminated. Killed after a month.
D-3903: So that's what you meant by disposable… I found the door… I'll let you know what's on the other side.
D-3903: There are several pyramids in the distance. The sky is purple and the sand is green.
Dr. Grey: I really am sorry about… Well, about everything.
D-3903: It doesn't matter. I was gonna die either way.
Dr. Grey: Look, I dislike the termination policy, but I have-
D-3903: Can you do a dead man a favor?
Dr. Grey sighs
Dr. Grey: Sure.
D-3903: Can you please listen to my story? You're the last person I have a chance to convince that I'm not crazy. My mom died when I was about 3 months old. She was killed, by my father. Drowned in the bathtub of their new home.
D-3903: I was then sent to live with my Grandmother. She died when I was 7. I don't remember much of the following few years. It's as if there is a cloth covering my memories. The first thing I can clearly recall was when I was 12, and I was exiting a doctor's office after getting vaccinated for the flu.
D-3903: From that 5 year time span I vaguely remember something happening at my old school. Some sort of animal that was captured by animal control. I recall that the creature killed multiple teachers and students. I have a vague remembrance of the feeling I felt when I was adopted. Other than those two events I don't remember much else.
D-3903: I eventually graduated high school, and got a job at a lumber mill. I managed to make a small living, eventually settling down with a gal named Rebecca. She was perfect. A few days before our marriage a creature broke into our house. It was a tall and humanoid, but instead of hands and feet it had hooves. It was so skinny that one could count how many bones the creature had, and was covered in black leathery skin. However, by far the creepiest thing about it was its face. It looked like a hybrid of a deer skull and a humans face, almost like the two were haphazardly melted together. It hurt to look directly at it.
D-3903: Despite not having hands, it somehow wielded a large black butchers knife. It must have been the length of my arm, but the only thing scarier than that creature was what it was doing. It had killed Rebecca, and was spreading her organs all over our house. I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed my hunters gun and shot, but the bullets did nothing. If anything, they went through him. Eventually it left… although I don't know how. I blinked and it was gone. My neighbors must have heard the gunshots coming from my house and called the police.
D-3903: Everyone thinks that I killed her. Maybe their right, and I am just a madman locked in a padded cell somewhere. But I know what I saw that day, and I swear to you that it was real. I have spent every day of my life since then thinking, wondering, why did she have to die? Why couldn't it have been me?
D-3903: When I told the police what had happened, they obviously didn't believe me. I was arrested, and charged with a life sentence. Then, one day a man offered me a chance out. A chance at redemption. I took it. Now I can only hope that I see her again when I… Well, you know… Kick the bucket.
Dr. Grey: Deri- I mean, D-3903, for what it is worth, I believe your story.
D-3903: Thanks. It is nice to know that at least someone out there thinks I'm not crazy. I am almost at the base of a pyramid. I can see the outline of the door from here. I should be able to reach it in about 20 or 30 minutes.
Dr. Grey: When you enter it, be sure to tell me what you see.
D-3903: Sure thing, Doctor Grey, sure thing.
There is relative silence for the next 27 minutes
D-3903: Okay, I am at the door.
D-3903: I see a mountain. It stretches as far as I can tell to the West and East, and its peak pierces the clouds. Behind me is nothing but the sky. I appear to be on some large sky island or something.
Dr. Grey: Do you think you could climb the mountain?
D-3903: Sure. It doesn't look too steep.
Several minutes of relative silence occurs
D-3903: Ya know, I've been thinking lately. If I am understanding this correctly, the Foundation's goal is to lock up weird shit.
Dr. Grey: What the Foundation does is not necessary information for you to know… But yes, that is a goal of the Foundation.
D-3903: Considering the fact that I am dying for the Foundation, I for one think that this information would be fairly necessary for me to know. I mean, I may as well at the very least know what cause I'm dying for.
Dr. Grey: Deri-, I mean, uhm, D-3903, please focus on your assignment.
D-3903: I am, I am. I'm about 30 meters up the damn thing. I was just a bit curious as to how you decide if something is weird.
Dr. Grey: You mean anomalous?
D-3903: Sure.
Dr. Grey: If it strays from what is considered normal, then it is an anomaly. Simple as that.
D-3903: But how do you decide what is normal? I mean, for the love of god, you guys aren't even locking up the goat guy!
Dr. Grey: What goat guy?
D-3903: A few days ago I saw a goat man outside my holding cell. He was fiddling around with the control panel. When I asked him what the hell was going on, he just ignored me!
Dr. Grey: Oh, you must be talking about Dr. Ram. He's a ram, not a goat.
D-3903: Doctor Ram?! Doctor?! How the hell is that not considered an anomaly?
Dr. Grey: How do you know that he isn't considered an anomaly?
D-3903: Cause he's not locked up!
Dr. Grey: We don't lock up everything. There are dozens of anomalies that we just leave alone. Have you ever been in a hallway that always feels colder than what the actual temperature is? That's an anomaly.
D-3903: But why the hell is an anomaly researching anomalies? I mean, aren't you at least a little bit concerned about scientific integrity?
Dr. Grey: Please, Dr. Ram doesn't even perform that many studies. His doctor title basically just exists so that way he can perform his job better.
D-3903: What the hell is his job then?
Dr. Grey: Risk assessment management. Besides, he wasn't always a ram. Apparently a security test went wrong one day, and poof. Dr. Ram was, well, a ram. A ram man, if you will.
D-3903: How often does he have to deal with ramen jokes?
Dr. Grey: Enough to swear off them.
D-3903: Okay, I have reached a ledge. There appears to be another door… I am assuming you want me to enter?
Dr. Grey: Yep.