Okay... first off, I do not know where I'm going with this story.

This is just something I cooked up in the four or so years I've been away from fanfics. In my opinion, this is gonna be something very stupid but, you guys tell me.

Anyway, this is chapter one, just an introduction so don't expect anything too story-y.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I Don't own Nier or Nier: Automata. This author does not have the creativity to make those.

This wire goes here, and that wire goes there, right?

*spark*

Ok, maybe that wasn't it.

Oh, hi there, sorry I didn't notice you! As you can see, I'm currently working on this thing, radio thingamabob. Ok, I don't know what I'm doing but what I do know is that I shouldn't be talking to figments of my imagination like you people are. 'Bad for my health', the doc said, but what else can I do in this damned bunker!

Right, context.

Well, to start, the year is currently 2031, but if you want to be even more specific, the date is October 13, 2031. More than two decades after the appearance of the dragon and that giant statue over Japan, in Shinjuku to be exact.

Yeah, as it turns out, dragons actually existed. I say that because some asshole pilot and the Japanese government thought it was a good idea to launch a missile at it. Sure, maybe it was a danger to people, but people wanted to see a real live dragon, damn it!

Naturally, like any other government, the Japanese tried to cover the whole incident up. But with the advent of cellular phones with cameras, and the internet, covering it up was a near impossibility.

But that's not the reason why I'm in a bunker. Nope, the reason why I'm in a bunker, which so happens to be nearby Shinjuku, is because of a deadly disease called White Chlorination Syndrome or WCS for short. Unlike other diseases though, this one is a bit special.

Remember that giant statue I mentioned earlier? It turns out that said statue released some kind of particle scientists called maso that causes WCS. And unlike other diseases, WCS is a hundred percent fatal, breaking down your body into salt or it will drive you insane. Yeah, WCS turns you into humanity's oldest condiment.

That or you turn into Legion, basically the zombie version of WCS.

Ironically, maso is killing humanity, but it's also the thing that will save humanity.

The dragon I mentioned earlier also had this maso stuff, and according to the scientists in this bunker, the maso found in the dragon was, I guess, more or less useable by humans because the various governments of the world have done research into weaponizing it. Chief among these is the Hamelin Organization, humanity's leading force against the WCS and the Legion.

There have been criticisms about how the Hamelin Organization conducts its work, namely their use of child soldiers or generally young people to fight against the Legion. There have also been rumours that the organization had dabbled in human experimentation by infusing humans with maso, but all of that was brushed aside in favour of survival, after all, who would give a damn about morals if they're a pile of salt on the ground.

Not if that research gave humanity the key to survival.

Project Gestalt. Humanity's answer to surviving the WCS. Heh, the thing was, Project Gestalt wasn't a vaccine or a cure against the WCS. No, Project Gestalt means to pluck your soul from your body and they would put your soul somewhere, and when WCS is wiped out from the face of the Earth, your soul, or Gestalt as the project calls it, would be put into a vessel matching your previous body's genetic code, the Replicant, and thus humanity is saved, the end.

Of course, this was met with a lot of public outcry, after all, this is the soul we're talking about, and it's hard to trust a process that just recently developed and probably done in a rush.

So, the Hamelin Organization planned alternatives to Project Gestalt, and two candidates held the most promise.

The first is a sci-fi favourite, cryogenic chambers, the more popular alternative to Project Gestalt. Because of how similar it was to Project Gestalt but minus the taking out your soul part, not to mention how much cheaper it was to implement than Project Gestalt, it was the go-to alternative for most.

One of the few downsides of cryo technology was that the equipment would degrade over time. No one knew how long it would take to get rid of WCS, but rough estimates from the Hamelin Organization say that it would take at least five centuries, so the equipment would need to hold until then.

To counteract this problem, cryo facilities would use maintenance robots to ensure nothing breaks down while the inhabitants are asleep. While they weren't androids like the Devola and Popola units assigned to Project Gestalt, they were more than enough to make sure that the facilities didn't collapse on themselves.

The second alternative is something straight out of Attack of the Clones. It would also make use of cryo technology, but instead of using it on humans, it would instead be used to preserve genetic material, and once WCS has passed, it would then be used to grow humans in a tube. I'm not too sure about the specifics on that one, but that's what I got when I managed to ask one of the science staff in this bunker.

Unfortunately, unlike Project Gestalt, the two Alternative Projects were woefully underfunded. Where Project Gestalt had numerous facilities and virtually unlimited resources at its disposal, the Alternative Project only had four facilities, one in America, two somewhere in Europe, and the last one here in Japan.

One of the facilities in Europe is housing the genetic materials, and the rest were all cryo facilities. Each cryo facility could house 150 inhabitants each, and that didn't include the 60 personnel running the bunkers, so that meant only 90 civilians could get into the bunker and enter cryo sleep.

It's as if the Hamelin Organization only made these facilities just so that they can say that they have alternatives.

In any case, that's it for context. And just so it wasn't clear-

*KnockKnock*

"Yeah?" I turned towards the door.

"It's two o'clock Alex, you're gonna miss your lesson with the Chief!" wait, what?

I turn to the clock on the wall, and sure enough, it was 1:50 PM "Oh shit, Chief's gonna kill me!"

The person on the other side of the door chuckled "That he will, better get going then!"

"Fuck you too Richard!" I shouted, but that only made Richard laugh out loud. I heard footsteps, so he must be on his way to his post.

Sighing, I look at the very thing I was tinkering with a moment ago. It's an old ham radio that I got from the bunker's supply officer. Apparently, the radio was on its last leg, so I told the guy if I could have it instead. He said I could, but I had to sign a few things first, which was fine.

So here I am, tinkering with an old ham radio in a bunker underneath Tokyo, inside an Alternative Project cryo bunker, counting the days until humanity enters a deep sleep for who knows how long.

Hmm "Maybe I should ask if they have a maso-powered battery?"

Eh? Ehhhhh?

So, what do you guys think? This is going to be a bit different from how most Nier: Automata fics start, at least those that I've read, because this takes place four months before Project Gestalt starts in earnest, and you'll be getting a more detailed(?) picture of the dubbed Cryo Alternative Project. A bit of worldbuilding if you would.

All right, that's all I'll say for now. If you have questions just put it in the review and I'll try to respond in a non spoiler way. Constructive criticisms are always welcome!

And this is Qrious, signing out... god I missed typing