“The guard comes in 10 minutes. After they have checked on us and left we will put our plan into action.”

“Let’s go through it one last time; it must work seamlessly.”

The room was dark; nothing could be seen except silhouettes. Shadows were cast across a man’s face.

“Alright, you’d better remember it this time. What happens first?”

“The guard opens the door and I steal the keys, hiding in the shadows. Then we wait for about 20 minutes before going out the door and going to the canteen where we crash through the window and run through the hole in the hedge you saw at dinner.”

“Wait, why are you the one pickpocketing? I am a trained pickpocket, I used to be a spy, before I went rogue. You just stole some cars to get here. No, I’ll hide in the shadows and you lie on the bed.”

“Everything you have just told me is a complete and utter lie. Now tell me the truth and we might both live. Do you have any pickpocketing experience?”

“No,” the man sighed, “sorry.”

“Exactly, I used to pickpocket people’s car keys so I am pickpocketing the guard. Now you go lie on the bed: she’ll be here any second.” In position, the man on the bed wondered why he was here; it had been so long that he had forgotten, what was his past? He thought it strange that he had no recollection. He needed to escape to track it down.

A noise, the deadlock turned from the other side of the door, which opened presently.

“Mr Williams, make sure you get to sleep now; you’ll need energy tomorrow,” a woman in a nurse’s uniform whispered to the solitary man. The door closed and the deadlock twisted shut.