This is Part 1 of a three-part serialization. Read Part 2 and Part 3.
The man wakes up woozy and bandaged on a cot, his head throbbing. He has the sensation that he’s on a boat, but otherwise his mind is blank, pounding with unformed questions that he doesn’t have answers to. As his eyes adjust to the dank little room, he becomes aware of voices outside. Men’s voices. They sound upset about something—stressed, tired. The man strains to make out the words. They’re bickering over who was supposed to wash the dishes, whose turn it is to make breakfast. In a flash, the man knows exactly what he must do.