Black. That's all Alex could see. Just the endless void, was he dead? He couldn't move… but he could feel himself breathing. He relaxed, funny he didn't remember being tense, and tired to move again. His body felt like it was weighed down by several tons of weight. All he could hear was the deafening sound of silence.

Then, it broke. Alex could hear muffled talking, incoherent words forming in Alex's ears. Alex struggled to make out the words. The first thing he heard was a softer, feminine voice. Even though it sounded lovely, there was an edge to the voice, "-don't need them coming in to-"

"Relax," an older voice, this one more masculine, quickly interrupted, "they won't come in for quite sometime. Not until he regains consciousness. Then, we can-"

Alex tried to move again, this time, he felt it easier to lift his left arm. As he slowly began to stretch to his arm, Alex could hear the feminine voice gasp, "Doctor! I think he's waking up."

Hearing a rush of footsteps, Alex heard the masculine voice say, "Easy, son. You've had a rough ride."

Slowly opening his eyes, Alex groaned loudly as the bright light slammed into his eyes. He lifted his left arm to block the light as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. He was in a small room, natural light filtering in through the large window to his right. He was laying in a white bed, with the covers over top of him. The cloth felt cool against Alex's bare chest, and he saw that his right arm was inside a sleek machine that was quietly humming.

On his left side, Alex saw the two people he had heard moments before. There was a man, somewhere in his forties. He had short black hair with tints of gray in it, as well as a trimmed beard. He was taller and more fit than most his age. He wore a white lab coat and carried a rectangular pad in his right hand. This was obviously the Doctor.

Then there was the girl. She had long, velvet red hair that fell past her shoulders. She was paler, with freckles on her cheekbones and deep green eyes. She looked about Alex's age, maybe a year older. He blushed a little at the sight of her. The Doctor looked at Alex, "Hey, how you feeling?"

Suddenly, Alex felt a wave of pain and soreness spread out through his entire body, making him groan and hiss through his teeth. He looked at the Doctor and said through gritted teeth, "Like I fell out of the sky. Where am I?"

The Doctor smiled reassuringly, "You're in a safe place. You took a few hits and you're here to be healed."

"How bad was I hurt?" Alex asked.

"Nothing too serious, surprisingly," the Doctor said, "A couple burns, some bruising around the ribs and your right arm has been broken. We've healed most of your surface blemishes, but you will still feel the pain. Now, where are you from?"

Alex laid his head back, "Iowa."

The girl cocked her head to the side, "Io-wha?"

Alex sighed, he had heard that many times before. It was like the entire United States had no idea where Iowa was. Sitting up slightly, Alex was about to explain when the Doctor cut in, "Iowa is a state in America, back on Earth."

"Exactly, a state-" Alex paused for a moment, "Wait, what do you mean 'back on Earth'?"

The Doctor looked at Alex, "You're about 10,000 light years away from Earth, son."

"T- Ten thousand?!" Alex exclaimed as he sat upright in shock. Immediately he regretted it as the pain exploded through out his body and he cried out as he laid back down. The girl rushed to his side, "Hey, take it easy, you took a pretty nasty fall… from the sky…"

"Wha-" Alex was completely baffled.

"Son," the Doctor sat beside the bed, "what exactly do you remember?"

Alex searched his mind, trying to recount the events, "I-I was at home. Playing a game, when this, this bolt of lighting struck and I was being sucked into this wormhole thing. Then, I blacked out."

"Where were you playing your game?" the Doctor said, his voice laced with concern.

"I-in my home, back on Earth," Alex said, his voice shaking.

"Odd," the Doctor said as he stood up, "and it seems you've lost your omni-tool."

"My omni-what?" Alex asked, his head drowning in the overload of information.

The girl looked shocked, "You don't know what an omni-tool is?"

Alex shook his head, "Um, no… in fact, I don't know much."

The Doctor looked at the girl, and she back at him. Alex sat in silence for a long moment. He hung his head, feeling himself well up in tears of frustration. He felt like an idiot, fumbling around in the dark. Finally, the Doctor spoke to the girl, "Go get one of the advance models downstairs, I'll talk to our friend here."

The girl nodded, "Okay."

She left the room quickly, leaving the Doctor and Alex alone. Alex looked at the Doctor, "I'm sorry, I just… I'm really confused."

The Doctor smiled kindly at him, "It's ok, things happen. You probably hit your head a little too hard and lost a little memory. Let me bring you up to speed."

Sitting down beside Alex, the Doctor smiled and said, "The year is 2170. We've met several alien races. We've made several advances in technology, including the omni-tool."

Alex was flabbergasted. 2170? He jumped forward over 100 years into the future? Met alien races? Omni-tools? What was next, giant insects? Or maybe flying unicorns that shoot rainbows from their horns. Alex hid the shock well and the Doctor continued, "Now, the omni-tool is an everyday device we use here on Mindoir-"

"Mindoir?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Oh?" the Doctor said in response, "You've heard of us?"

Alex was stating to piece together the story. The game, Alex was in the game. Mindoir was part of the background story. The story for his character! Alex started to try and recall all of what he had read. Unfortunately, the Doctor was right. He had lost a little memory. He couldn't remember a lot of what had happened.

"Y-you could say that," Alex muttered.

The Doctor smiled, "Well, its good that news of our little colony is making its way all the way back to Earth. Now, the omni-tool has many functions, and it is commonly worn as a little bracelet, charm. Or it is implanted."

"Implanted?" Alex asked.

"Only the really high-end models are implanted," the Doctor shrugged, "Now, watch."

Raising up his right arm, the Doctor revealed a tiny, silver bracelet around his wrist. Suddenly, his arm was engulfed in orange light. Alex gasped as he saw the light take for into a gauntlet, with gears and cogs pinning around above and below his hand.

"That's cool!" Alex exclaimed.

The Doctor nodded, "Now, most standard omni-tool have scanners, photo-taking capabilities, communicators and other little gadgets. The one I'm giving you ahs something… more."

As if on cue, the girl walked back in with a tiny bracelet much like the Doctors. She walked over and gave it to the Doctor, "Here, and the family is still trying to get in."

The Doctor sighed, "We'll let them in a few minutes. Now- Son, what's your name?"

"Alex."

"Alex, my name is Don," Don said with a smile, "No, can you hold up your left arm?"

Nodding, Alex held out his arm as Don put on the bracelet. Alex yelped when he felt tiny needles poke into his skin. Don chuckled, "Sensors attaching to your nervous system. Your thoughts control the omni-tool. Now, try and activate it. Think 'on'."

Looking at his arm, Alex tried to imagine the orange gauntlet sparking to life on his arm. On, he thought verbally. And, just in the next instant, the omni-tool started up. Alex grinned like a little child, it was so cool to have a holographic gauntlet on his arm. He looked up to see Don and the girl grinning. Don spoke, "Now, most things on the omni-tool just require thought to use. You have to focus, it'll get easier as time goes."

"Try taking a photo," the girl suggested.

Don nodded, "Good idea, Alex, the lens in the gear looking shape in the palm of your hand. Point it at me and my intern here. Then think, 'photo'."

Lifting up his hand, Alex tried his best to point his hand at the two. Then, when he felt like he got his aim right, he though, Photo

And then, Alex saw a flash and on the top of the gauntlet Alex saw the photo of the girl and the Doctor, "Pretty cool."

Don walked forward, "Now, this model has a built in… safety device. The Alliance came through the other day and gave us a new program for the omni-tool for this defensive measure. Think 'blade'."

Doing as instructed, Alex witnessed the omni-tool transform before his eyes. It blinked out for a second, then returned as a darker orange/red and was shaped differently. A single, sloped blade extended out, humming with energy. Alex quickly deactivated it, "Definitely will come in handy. Thanks."

Suddenly, a beep was heard and Don looked down at his omni-tool. He swore softly, "Sorry, I have to tend to another patient. Do you mind watching him?"

The girl nodded, "Sure thing, Doctor."

Don nodded back and grinned at Alex, "I'll be back soon."

As Don left the room, silence fell between Alex and the girl. He sat in the bed, avoiding her gaze and trying to act cool. Stuck in a room with a pretty girl, who wouldn't try and be cool? After staring at the ceiling for five minutes, the girl spoke, "So, where did you get your pants?"

"Pants?" Alex looked at the girl, his voice bewildered.

She blushed and nodded, "Yeah, the Xbox pants? Those are vintage. They're worth some major credits on the extranet."

Alex was about to say the truth when he realized that saying that they were a gift from Christmas over 100 years ago may be a bad idea. So, he replied, "Just found 'em. I needed pants."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, rather not fall from the sky in my boxers," Alex said with a grin.

The girl laughed lightly, it was a sweet sound. Alex enjoyed it for a short moment before saying, "So, you intern here, Red?"

"Yeah, been doing it for a mon- did you just call me 'Red'?"

Alex blushed, "Y-yeah. So?"

"Only my friends can call me Red," the girl said with a smirk.

"Oh, so the guy who nearly died falling from the sky and is currently 10,000 light years away from his home and has no friends isn't your friend?" Alex put a hand on his chest, "Oh, I'm hurt."

Red smiled, "Well, I guess you can be an exception."

Alex tried to bow, "Oh, I'm so honored."

Red laughed again, "So, what's it like in Iowa?"

"It's not all farmland, like most people seem to think," Alex huffed, "Its kind of a lot of suburbs and smaller cities, kind of like your colony I would guess."

"Oh, cool," Red said as she sat beside Alex, "What about your family?"

Alex panicked for a second, how was he going to explain that they died over a century ago. He quickly thought of a lie, "They, um, died in a car crash."

Red gasped, "Oh, I'm sorry. How long ago?"

"When I was younger," Yeah, about 100 years younger.

"Well, you're welcome to say at my place once you're out of her," Red offered.

"Thanks," Alex grinned, "I might take up that offer."

The door hissed open and Don came walking back in, "You two get acquainted?"

"Yeah," Red replied.

"Good, cause he needs to get some rest," Don said as he motioned for Red to follow him, "Later, we have some visitors for you."

"Okay, see ya later," Alex called as Don and Red left the room.

Laying back down on the bed, Alex recalled the events. He had been sent 100+ years into the future, was 10,000 light years from Earth, has been confined to a hospital and got a badass tool thing. Pretty cool for a terrifying situation. As he lay his head back on the pillow, Alex thought of home and what they had done since his disappearance… then he drifted to sleep.