When I awoke, I was sore. Which is a relatively new feeling for me, because I don't take that many beatings. I just lay there, taking deep steady breaths with my eyes closed.
Okay, keep calm. What happened? You were doing some research on the Dimensional Area technology, then what? That's right, there was that bright light! But after that…I can only assume that I passed out. Finally, I figured it was time to open my eyes.
The sun shone down brightly and I was lying in the cool grass. Sitting up, I decided to look around. I was in a park all right, but not the park in Net City. I began to run through all possibilities.
Maybe the Net City server had gone down. That had happened a couple times before. No, that's not right; the server only went down during the Gospel incident. Perhaps the city was undergoing an update. That would explain the new layout.
But then again, how did I get out of my office?
I pondered this. Indeed, I had been presented with challenges in the past, but this was something I had never encountered.
Standing up I walked over to the nearest tree. Reaching out, I touched the bark. It was rough and felt grainy beneath my fingertips. I moved my finger down the bark and was rewarded with a splinter.
Sucking in a breath, I clenched my fist. Pain. Not something I was used to either. Looking at my finger, I decided to use my usual tactic for this sort of thing. "Recover 50." I stated, looking at my finger to watch the data dematerialize.
Nothing happened.
Clearing my throat, I repeated myself. "Recover 50!" Still, no result. What was going on? I knew I had that chip data stored within me, so why wouldn't it work?
Taking another look around, my situation became stranger. I was in a suburban area. I was supposed to be in an urban area! Birds chirped overhead and I could hear them bouncing from branch to branch. Net City may have been advanced, but there were no birds there.
I heard a car pull up behind me and a door opened and slammed shut. Turning, I found myself looking at someone I never expected to see except through a computer screen.
Chaud Blaze was staring at me as if I had sprouted wings.
"ProtoMan?"
"Chaud?" I looked around and then back at him. "I'm not in the Cyber World any more, am I?"