“It does,” Blake confirmed, closing the gallery and opening up a Chrome tab.He plugged the name into the browser, nodding to himself.“That’s what I thought.”
“What?”Celeste asked, angling their head to better view the screen.“You recognize it?”
“Sure do,” Blake confirmed.“I recently took an art therapy class there last semester—it’s right over in Folsom.”
“Huh,” Celeste remarked.“Small world.Well, at least we have a lead to go off of.”
“It looks like it opens at ten,” Blake reached out to divide the bottom of the poster into four columns, labeled Monday through Thursday.Inside of Monday’s column, he jotted down “Lakeside Art Studios AM”.
“Okay,” said Celeste.“But what about work that day?”
“I have a doctor’s note,” Blake recalled.“It’s good for three days, so I’ll have to figure something out about Thursday, but there’s no way I’m going into work while someone’slifeis on the—”
“Wait,” Marin interrupted.“I think you should go in for at least one day.”
Blake blinked, taken aback.“Why?”
“There’s probably information about who manufactured me somewhere on the premises, right?”Marin pointed out.
Celeste snapped their fingers, nodding in agreement.“Going into work would be a good excuse to look around for paperwork or something like that!”
“That’s a good point,” Blake agreed.“But if I’m working, then when would I have time to look for that stuff?”
Marin shook his head.“Leave that to me.You can bring me with you and I’ll look around while you’re working.”
“Would that really be okay with you?”Blake asked, frowning.Marin had spent the last twenty or so years bound to Water Zone—it was a little messed up to bring him right back the moment that he’d managed to escape.That, and Blake would be wasting eight of their precious few hours to save Marin on nothing more than a hunch.
“It would probably be the best place to find out that information, right?”Marin returned.He glanced over at the phone, appearing deep in thought.“Unless you think this little TV can help us find out about where I come from?It seems like you were able to look up information using it fairly quickly.”
“You can use it to access a database called the Internet,” Celeste filled him in.“Leave that part to me.I’ll see what I can find online while you guys are at the park.”
“Okay, so that takes care of a good chunk of tomorrow.”Blake paused, his marker halfway to the poster board.“As long as you’resureyou’re okay with doing that, Marin.”
“More than.”Marin smiled.
“Okay.”Blake nodded and scribbled ‘Search Waterzone PM’ inside the ‘Monday’ column.“I don’t want you to feel like you have to take on any of these burdens yourself.You’re already under enough stress as it is.”
“Thank you.”Marin continued to smile at him.“I appreciate it.”
“Let me know if you change your mind, okay?”Blake checked in before he went to write the poem on the top half of the poster.
“Nope, give me the pen,” Celeste interjected without warning, prying the marker from Blake’s hand.“Your handwriting’s shit and sitting here doing nothing is making me anxious.”
They divided the top of the poster into four columns as well.After several minutes, the poem occupied the farthest left, while the remaining three were labeled: Dying Wish, Place of Death, and Worthiness of Love.
With each addition, the weight in Blake’s chest quadrupled.
“Okay.”They concluded the final letter with a flourish before glancing between Marin and Blake.“So do we haveanyleads on these first two?Do you remember anything at all from when you were alive?”
Marin shook his head.“Not that’s coming to mind, no.One of the first things I can remember is asking you for a churro, actually.”
Celeste sighed.“Okay, so that’s a dead end.”They stared at Blake expectantly.“Any ideas?You’re the one with the psychology degree.Is there any particular way to jog an amnesiac’s memory?”
Blake tapped his chin thoughtfully.“I can’t say I’ve studied it at length, but from what I recall treatment for retrograde amnesia typically consists of CBT and OT—cognitive behavioral therapy and occupational therapy.”He supplied at Celeste and Marin’s blank looks.“Another form of amnesia is called a dissociative fugue, which can also be treated with therapy or medication.”
“Don’t suppose you have any spare antidepressants on you?”Celeste deadpanned.
“Nothing that isn’t prescribed to me,” Blake snorted in reply.
