Brightness blinding the eye. The wind, cold against the skin, water flowing, birds singing. A hot summer's day. These were the first things Mads observed as he could see again. He was confused as to his location, but it was peaceful. As his mind began to pick up the pace, he regained his wits more and more.

He was waist deep in the water. It was a nice temperature, not too hot, and not too cold. It was a river of some kind, though it wasn't all that big. The sun was high in the sky, Mads breathed in the air, and found it almost sickeningly sweet in its nature. A group of people were gathered a few yards in front of him. Standing in the shallow water.

Still confused, Mads made his way towards them. The water made movement slow. Mads realized what it was when he got closer. The people stood in a circle around a single man, a man dressed in all black with a grand beard. It was a baptism, but for whom?

As he was almost about to enter the circle, he felt a sharp pain in the right side of his skull. When he brought his hand to where the pain was, it was covered in blood once he inspected it again. He was worried, but only for a second. A low and comforting voice called out to him.

"My child! Have you come to be born again?" The man in black asked. It was safe to assume he was a priest of some kind. Mads stood in silence as everyone's eyes turned to him. They all had smiles planted on their faces.

"Born again?" Mads asked, more confused than before. Was it for him?

"Why yes! To wash away your sins and start a new life! Completely free of charge!" The man joked, and everyone standing in the circle laughed. "Don't you want to join the Lord in heaven? Don't you want to carry out his mission? Don't you wish for fulfillment?" The questions became a blur to Mads as the priest continued to list all the different reasons to go through with it.

"Where am I?" Mads asked, a bit concerned. It was all coming back to him. Every memory, every single thought. Everyone laughed at his question, including the priest.

"You are exactly where you need to be." The Priest's voice had turned sinister with that statement, like there was no question about it.

"Look pal, I need to get back." Mads tried to reason.

The Priest shook his head. "There is no going back, not to that pit. No, there are bigger things waiting for you, my son." The Priest explained. "Go through with this, and you shall be given new purpose. It's the only way."

Mads stood there, dumbfounded as he processed the words spoken to him. This couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of dream. He was still in his military outfit, and the blood seemed real enough. Mads simply couldn't decode what the preacher was saying.

"So, you mean to say that-" Mads began, but he was cut off.

"Yes. This is the only way." The Priest replied.

Mads was utterly convinced this was a dream. There was no way in hell this was real in any shape or form. No, he was probably laying on an operating table right now, and this was his mind's way of justifying it.

Still, Mads approached the Priest. Mads then gave a quick nod. "Well chosen my child. You will not regret it." The Priest smiled as he firmly grabbed Mads' hand.

"Do you hate your sins, my child?" The Priest had locked eyes with Mads, and it became a little worrying for Mads.

"I do." Was the simple response. Mads spoke it as if without thought.

"Do you want to be washed clean? Do you want to live again?" The Priest asked, he laid a hand on Mads' back.

"I do."

"Do you wish to fulfill the Lord's mission? Do you wish to be his follower?"

"I do."

"In the name of the Lord, and of our Father, you shall be washed clean!" The Priest shouted. People cheered as Mads was lowered into the water. This time, the water was freezing cold. Mads took it lying down, he had chosen this path…. Had he not?

He could still hear the faint cheering from under the water. He could still feel the Priest's hand pressing him down into the water. Mads was brought up, and took in the precious air. He was only up for a few seconds before he was forced down again. The force used was stronger this time, Mads could feel it.

Though, Mads was not brought up. In time, his natural instincts began to kick in. He was drowning, and he limps began to wildly try and get him free. But the Priest's grip was firm, and unyielding. As things once again began to fade away, he heard voices. Not the cheering, or the Priest's voice, no…. This was a different voice.

"Is this the one?" He could only faintly make it out. It was hard to think.

"Indeed. Project Vossozdany. Test subject Alpha-1-5." Another voice said.

"Good, load it up. Bring it with us-….- He is no good to us with a halo and a set of wings-….." The time between each spoken sentence was becoming more and more of a blur.

"What does the records say?-…. -Described as one of the best officers in Russian service, 28 confirmed kills…. - Born 31st of August – Roughly 24 years old -"

It was clear they were talking about him, but who were they? Mads couldn't think straight, his head was still hurting. "Are you sure this isn't unethical? -… Minor issue. Think of the potential! I'd say not to waste the gift the Russians gave us…..."

Mads wasn't sure what was real or not anymore. It all felt like a dying man's dream. There were several people speaking over him all the time, and he couldn't place a single one of the voices.

"Funding is approved by the general staff. When do you think he'll be ready?"

"Few months, maybe half a year."

"Good. Nice work Colonel, I do believe a bonus is in order."

"Thank you, sir. I'll have my team continue."

When Mads' eyes finally shot open, he realized a few things. First off, he was still in water. But this wasn't freshwater…. Hell, it probably wasn't even saltwater. Second, the reason he hadn't drowned yet, is because he was wearing some sort of tube. He also realized he was confined to a small place. There was a glass window to the outside.

Mads tried his best to knock on it, but water slowed his movement down a lot. While his breathing was secured, he wanted nothing else than get out of this confined prison. As Mads realized that punching the glass wouldn't help, he re positioned himself, as he could put pressure on the window with his legs. After some time giving it all he had, the glass finally couldn't take anymore.

He came out with the water. Mads' breathing was ragged as he removed the tube from his mouth and began to calm himself down. He took a minute or two just taking it easy. That was until he realized he was lying upon the broken glass, which had begun to sting in his back. Mads coughed out the last water as he stood up. His legs felt wonky as he had trouble walking. He had to support himself by the wall, and he had to catch his breath all the time.

This place looked straight out of a science fiction comic book. Large tubes to hold things inside. The other appeared to be empty, and Mads found himself becoming more and more concerned. "Nurse!" He called out several times, but his voice was hoarse, and felt like it hadn't been used in ages.

He was only in his underwear as he walked down the long hallway. It felt so empty in there. The rational part of brain signed this off as probably just him waking up in the middle of the night. Still, there should be a doctor…. Or at least a nurse on duty….. Shouldn't there? He had to admit, he hadn't been to all that many hospitals. He seemed to be largely intact, he could feel the scar on the right side of his skull, it was a large on as well. But other than that, he felt fine and couldn't spot anything. He did feel out of shape, like he had been idle for a long time. His tattoos seemed to be in order, though a few of them did look a bit faded.

Great, now I need to spend more money getting my ink renewed…. Great fucking day. He bitterly thought.

As he continued along the hallway, he continued to search for any lifeforms. He did spot something more sinister though, it looked like machines, or robots, working on maintaining the hallways. Mads stayed clear of them. They did not even look up at him as he passed by them.

He didn't want to overthink he situation right now, last thing he needed was him worrying. Now, he would find someone and everything would be fine. He finally spotted a sign that read "Security office" with an arrow that pointed in to a room. The sign was in English, which told him he probably wasn't in Syria…. Or Russia.

Inside the office, a man in his early 30'ties sat at the desk. He seemed lost in, what Mads could presume to be, a computer of some sort. It looked weird, like the display was a projected. Mads looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was around 3:45 am in the morning. This confirmed his original theory.

"Excuse me sir, do you mind telling me where I am?" Mads had asked this in Russian. The man jumped up from the chair quickly turned around. The man had, what Mads assumed to be, fear in his eyes.

"Holy shit." The man finally said after staying silent for a while.

"Let me guess….. I'm not in Russia…." Mads theorized.

"C-c-correct."

"Mind telling me where I am then?" Mads asked again.

"L-London, sir"

"London? What do the British want from me?" Mads asked, but then quickly realized the man probably didn't know. "Alright, what date is it?" Mads then asked impatiently.

"12th of March, sir."

"12th of March? But it was just the 17th… What year is it?" Mads became concerned at the revelation.

"2174."

Mads stood there speechless for a moment, before quickly rationalized that he had simply heard the man wrong. "Come again?"

"… 2174."

Nope, it was the same answer. Mads stood there for moment, just thinking about it. Then Mads began to chuckle. "Ahhh, you almost had me" Mads said as he pointed a finger at him. "Alright, where is the camera?" Mads asked.

"What do you mean?" The man asked in a nervous tone. Mads had begun to search through the nearby plant, trying to locate the camera.

"Where did you hide the secret camera? What is it? Some sort of reality show?" Mads asked as he kept looking through out the small security station. The man took this time to hit a button on the desk. Mads kept searching.

"Okay, I give up. Where is it?" Mads asked.

"There is no secret camera. The year is 2174. What is the problem?" The man asked. His fear of Mads seemed gone in that moment. Mads wouldn't blame the fella for not feeling comfortable within reaching range. Mads was about 6'5 feet tall, his arms, hands and back had long since been inked. And even though some of his more refined features was gone, he was still physically imposing.

"You're fucking with me, aren't you. Well, it ain't funny anymore, cut the shit." Mads ordered. His voice had went from friendly to more sinister. This was not a game he was willing to play anymore.

"Look, I have contacted the medical staff, they will be here soon. They will explain everything." The man explained. Mads' eyes narrowed in on the name tag on the uniform. It read Jason. Mads sighed as he inspected the uniform. He had never seen anything like it. It seemed like a crossover between most of the NATO countries' uniforms. It was weird, and it had a navy color.

"Jason. Be 100 % real with me right now. Swear on your life you ain't fucking with me." Mads demanded.

"I swear." He swiftly replied. Mads endlessly searched his face for any trace of a lie. Either this man was the greatest actor to ever live….. Or the nonsense he was speaking was actually true. Mads prayed to God it was the former.

"Mr. Romanov! Please stay calm!" A voice called out behind him. Mads turned around to face whatever was speaking. It was a few different people. A few them had lab coats, some had security uniforms and whatnot.

"What the fuck is this?" Mads asked, before he was detained by the security officers. The out his hands in cuffs.

"Stay calm and we shall explain everything." One of the men in a lab coat reassured.

"You have a lot to explain!" Mads grunted as they tighten the handcuffs and pressed him forward.

He had been ordered to shower and he had been given clean clothes. There had been no explanation offered yet, only small hints here and there. However, the technology he saw only caused him to believe in the theory more and more that this was actually 2174.

Though it couldn't be, he had to be dreaming or something. He was probably in a coma. He would wake up at any moment, it was only a matter of time….. Right? God, it hurt to think. Mads tried all the tricks in the book to try and determine if this was a dream or not. But….. None of them checked out.

The ordered him to sit in a chair inside a office. Mads had read the tag on the door. A certain Admiral Hackett. With the amount of decorations, he must have been a quite important admiral. He sat there for what felt like hours on end. Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone to come and tell him he was fine, tell him he was wrong. That everything was in order. But deep down, he knew that wasn't going to happen.

At some point, the door did open. Two men stepped in. Mads looked over his shoulder to address them. One was busy taking off his coat, while the other was putting a box on the table. Mads took notice of them. One was an older white man, and the other was a slightly younger black man.

"It's too early in the morning to be dealing with this crap." The white man remarked. He took a small package from his coat and handed it to Mads. "File said you were a smoker. 'Prince' cigarettes, right?"

Mads accepted the package. "Yeah…. Thanks." Mads replied as he eagerly opened the package. His nicotine withdraw was already killing him.

"Don't worry about the fire alarm. It hasn't worked in here in ages, and it even if it did, it can determine what kind of smoke it is. Here, use this can as your ashtray." The white man threw him a can of beer. They were probably trying to either calm him down, or warm up to him.

"My name is Admiral Hackett. This here is Captain Anderson. I understood your confusion, and we'll get it sorted in no time. I'm going to read from your file, and you tell me if anything is false….. Understood?" Mads nodded at his request and quickly opened the beer can. After the first sip, Mads knew it was a low quality beer. Might as well drink piss if this was what quality was.

Hackett had begun to read out details from the file. Most of it was basic. Date of birth, hometown, nationality, service record and so on. Mads sat there, silent as Hackett kept on reading each detail with his low voice. As Mads downed the last of the beer, he quickly used the one timer lighter that came with the package to light himself a cigarette.

"I don't know how to tell you this… But you got fucked son. The file states that after declaring you K.I.A, you were volunteered to this project. You have been on ice for 157 years….. I'm sorry." Hackett finished off.

The information hit Mads like a fucking train. He sat there, speechless at the confirmation. His entire life…. Gone, like that. It's true what they say, you can lose all in a matter of seconds. Mads kept puffing his cigarette as he tried to fight back the tears that threaten to spill over. One thing was on mind.

The strong don't cry

The man named Anderson gave the box to Mads. "This is what we were able to find from the achieves that belonged to you. I know it ain't much…. But it got to be something." Anderson explained.

Mads slowly opened the box. Inside, a few reminders of his old life resided. His jackboots, his belt and holster, complete with the 44. Magnum. His zippo lighter was there as well. He had it custom made, with his unit's name. Well this forced his tears to come out, it was still an identity to cling to.

"A lot has happened since you checked out. Let me give you a brief run down:….." Hackett embarked on a long history lesson where he explained most recent events as well as big events within the last 150 years.

Mads was actually surprised they nuked each other yet. With how things seemed to be boiling over, it was only a matter of time. However, humans had apparently united more than ever before. They had taken to space, and settled the age old question….. Do aliens exist? Apparently they do, but not like how he had envisioned them.

Even had a small war with one of the races. The human race had really evolved since his time. So many new things to use. FTW travel, omni-tools, wider communications. The list went on, and Mads stopped listing half way through.

And the whole ordeal about the Alliance seemed awfully weird. Humans had always gone to war with each other. Mads had accepted it as human nature. Now, they had banded together to fight what could be a common enemy. Interesting, to say the least.

The part that really got him though, was the fate of his own family. While Hackett listed the cause of death for his parents, his sister and brother. Mads couldn't help but let the tears flow. He couldn't help but feel like a failure. Everyone was gone, but in their place was the children and grandchildren they left behind, even great grand children. Though, they had never met him.

"We have an offer for you, Mr. Romanov." Hackett started, and Mads wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at him. "Here at the alliance, we value skills like yours. Tactical know-how and the power to motive troops is in mighty short supply, especially a combination. You have good experience, and that's why I'll give you this offer."

"We will employ you in the Alliance. You will undergo training by Anderson, and if you do well, you'll be lifted to the N7 program. Once you are done, we'll grant you the rank of lieutenant and a position within the Alliance. Or….. You could say goodbye to all of this and go live your life somewhere else. It's your choice." Hackett offered. It was clear to Mads that they wanted him. Otherwise, they wouldn't have spend all this money on him. He had never seen himself as a good leader, but other people kept thinking so. Taking a deep breath, Mads knew what the right thing to do was. He would make his sacrifice and give in for the greater good. He gave his answer.

"I'll accept."