I told Martin and Jonas what happened before I came here, leaving out as much detail as I could about Alex. They are both looking at me in silence with utmost seriousness. Knowing what I do about the people here, it's likely they can relate.

  Breaking the silence, Martin tells me, "Your roommate sounds like a dick. Not us, but Ryan."

  "He has his moments. I could tell he didn't like me when I moved in. I could have found my own apartment, but sharing an apartment with him was cheaper." I tell Martin.

  Jonas enters the conversation by asking, "You said that was all because something happened to your fiance. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

  "That's a-whole-nother shitstorm." I tell Jonas before a momentary pause. "Maybe another day I'll tell you about Alex. It's still really painful to think about him."

  They both nod before taking a bite of pizza in unison.

  "Sharing your backstory here is a rite of passage, if you will. Although not everyone is very open about their past, so thank you for sharing, Adrian." said Jonas.

  Martin shrugs as Jonas thanked me for sharing what happened with him. We both glance over at him, believing there is a reason he reacted that way.

  "Martin has yet to share his story with the class. But that's okay." Jonas tells me.

  Martin remains silent, looking down at his lap. It's strange seeing this man look depressed after being flirty all afternoon since I got here.

  "Well then." Jonas says as he sets his plate and drinks on the entertainment stand below where the TV is mounted against the wall. "You were kind enough to share with us, It is only fair that at least one of us shares with you.

  "I was heading to Millennium Park from my apartment in Chicago to meet a girl I was sweet on. We met at the Starbucks outside my building and I finally got the courage to ask for her Telegram. Well I got held up by a very heated call with my boss, spoiler alert, they fired me and it put me behind nearly ten minutes to meet with my date. So I left my apartment in haste, running to the park. All of a sudden, I hear sirens down the road behind me. Not unusual for Chicago. But next thing I know, the cop cars are stopping around me. I think there's a perp nearby, but it was me they're after. I have guns being pointed at me, cops are yelling orders at me. Apparently I got name-dropped by some wealthy ass senator whose son was murdered the night before. Now everyone thinks it was me. I'm all over the news now and anyone I ever knew, even my own parents, vouched against me. They said because I grew up with autism, struggled socially, and was picked on a lot, they think this is something I would do."

  Tears begin to flow down Jonas's face as he's retelling his story. Martin and I are completely frozen, listening to Jonas' story.

  He continues, "It's true, I grew up autistic, I was socially awkward, no one wanted to be my friend cause I was the weird kid. My parents were even burdened by me. They never believed there was any hope for me growing up, no one did. Everyone thought I was some kind of monster, but I would never hurt a fly, let alone kill someone. I was sentenced to life in prison with no real evidence besides this asshole's word it was me. People in the courthouse were cheering when my sentence was handed down. People outside the Chicago courthouse were holding up signs, wanting me to be put to justice. Hell, one guy even made a petition to reinstate the death penalty, just for me. It actually got enough signatures to be put into motion, but I was released a year later when the real killer confessed. That senator did not give up though, he still believed it was me. You would think I would get some sort of restitution for being wrongly locked up, well no one wanted to help. Lawyers wouldn't help me seek restitution from the state of Illinois. And when I had to leave Chicago after getting several death threats and an assassination attempt, I had nowhere to go. No job, no money, my parents wouldn't even help me out. I was alone. Last thing I remember before waking up here was I was trying to sneak onto a train to Colorado. Obviously, I didn't have money to buy a ticket so I was going to try and hide in a luggage compartment or something, I don't know. But as soon as I got on the train, this big train conductor grabbed my shoulder, and literally the next second, I woke up in Building 0."

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  Holy shit. Someone framed him and he lost everything because of it. That's really fucked up. I honestly don't know what to say to someone in that situation. I wanna just say 'I'm sorry,' but that just seems too insincere for what he's been through.

  But there's something else bothering me about that story. This guy was witch hunted. Why would this senator want to frame Jonas, a guy just going to meet some girl at the park, for the murder of his kid? And why would he want to keep pursuing the notion that he's the killer, even after someone confessed? Something seems very wrong about that story, but I don't want to pry any further.

  "Jonas, I'm really sorry that happened to you." I tell him anyway.

  He shrugs and tells me, "It's why we're here. My life was finished even before I stepped on that train. But I'm much happier now."

  Martin breaks his silence and asks me, "Adrian, you said you saw a deer before you woke up here, right?"

  "Well I didn't say it was a deer I saw. My vision was blurry, it was dark out, and they were almost a block away from me. They had antlers similar to a deer, but it could have been any mammal with antlers. Deer, elk, gazelle, maybe not moose but you get what I mean." I told him.

  Martin sits up towards me, legs crossed, and tells me, "I won't go into specifics, but before I came here, I saw a police officer trying to revive me who was a deer. He was the last person I saw before I woke up here."

  Is he implying this deer is the same one I saw walking towards me?

  "Jonas, did you see a deer before you woke up here?" I ask.

  "There's deer everywhere in Chicago, no offense to deer's. There weren't any on the train I boarded. The person who grabbed me definitely was not a deer. They were a bigger feline for sure."

  Unless we know who this deer is, we can't really determine if they are related or not. It seems unlikely they had any part in bringing Jonas here anyways. Also, where is Martin from? Jonas said he's from Chicago.

  "Martin, where were you before you woke up here?" I ask him.

  "Kalamazoo, not far from either of you." he replies.

  So right now, the one thing the three of us have in common is that we were living in the Midwest before waking up here. Although, it's unlikely everyone here is from the Midwest.

  "You know what guys?" Jonas says like he's about to change the subject. "I almost forgot about the real rite of passage in Stratosylum."

  "Oh yeah!" Martin says in his normal flirty tone as he and Jonas both look at me.

  "We gotta get you out of those newbie clothes!" Jonas tells me.

  "You're officially one of us now, Adrian. You gotta dress like it." Martin says.

  That's right, I should probably find something better than a sweatshirt to wear. This seems really basic compared to what everyone else was wearing. If I'm going to be here, I should at least find something cool to wear too.

  Jonas stands up and says, "It's only 13:30. We've got plenty of time to find you a better outfit."

  Martin gets up and grabs my paw, raising it gently so that I may get up with him. To be honest, I don't really mind the flirtiness. It kinda helps with the anxiety of being brought here.

  We all walk out the front door, en route to the main loop of buildings to find an outfit that fits me best. For a little bit, I almost forgot about trying to find an exit here. Martin and Jonas seem really nice. They care about me, they fed me, they are very welcoming towards me being their new roommate. I didn't get this sort of camaraderie back home, especially after... No. I just want one day of happy thoughts. One day where I can feel like someone gives a damn about me before I manage to fuck it up. Like I always do.