Affinity
Now, for the love of God, let this Fanfiction begin!
Chapter #2: "Room to Breathe"
Location: Ark X
Date: 3 January, 11,942
Time: 4:12 AM
POV: third, (slightly un-)limited, some narration, Alexander José, 27 years of age
Gamma loadout was essentially just a basic kevlar vest over anything - so long as it wasn't overly bulky - cargo pants, an all purpose butterfly knife about four inches off the handle, and a mask. Also, all skin had to be covered to prevent the WCS. If he was diseased, that last bit wouldn't be required.
The exit of the facility was practically a medium sized warehouse, devoid of anything but gray, metallic walls. To save power - and to attract less attention given anything was alive out there that was remotely sentient - Alexander kept the power off, and he was barely able to see anything through his mask .
[Recommendation: Turn on night vision.]
"Not yet, A-T," he denied. "Unlock the door."
[Affirmative. Unlocking.]
Luckily, according to the time, it was just about four in the morning, so he figured the sun wouldn't be out for a good hour or so. "Moonlight should be sufficient enough," he thought.
He approached the small door to the right of the main bay doors. It was normal sized and accomodated him well. He turned the knob after it clicked, indicating the lock was undone.
Opening the door was a rather surreal experience for him, looking ahead at what appeared to be a myriad of colors on a cliff some hundred meters ahead of him. Unlike what he had expected, the 4 AM sun was a few hours higher than he remembered, but he ignored it for now. The ground beneath him was a course and sparsely populated with grass and other plants. Small critters and little insects dotted the landscape, jumping or flying around respectively.
A little bunny hopped across him, and he tracked it with his eyes. The bunny ignored him for the most part, until reaching his feet, looking up at him.
To prevent it from startling, he came to a knee slowly, raising his hands up to indicate catching it, and it jumped into his arms.
[Update: The surrounding air is uncontaminated,] A-T reported. He listened idly as he pet the creature in his arms. [Wildlife is stable. Trace gasses in the air are as follows: approximately 78% of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, approximately 20.9% is oxygen. The remaining amount is primarily argon gas, but trace amounts of carbon dioxide, neon, and helium are also present.]
"And this little guy?" he asked, lifting the thing to his face, or more accurately his mask since it was covered. He shook the guy minutely to play with it a bit and it replied in kind by kicking a little.
[The animal - designation: lepus brachyurus - is healthy. No detectable diseased traits or habits. For further information, bring the creature to a laboratory.]
He flinched, and the rabbit, almost detecting the uncomfortable movement, escaped his grip and hopped away.
"Experimentation?" Alexander asked after he had composed himself. The little thing had escaped his field of vision. "Really?"
[If you required further information on the subject-]
"End conversation."
[End conversation confirmed. Statement: The surrounding atmosphere is deemed unharmful. You may remove your helmet.]
"I can remove it, huh?" he rhetorically asked, the annoyance for earlier falling off of him like water. He lifted his hands to his helmet, released the latch at the sides of where the helmet met the collar, and turned it. Immediately he could smell everything he'd hoped for.
He quickly removed the helmet and tossed it to the ground, ignoring A-T's protest to the action, and immediately ran into a patch of green, filled with white tipped tulips. The wind rushed past his face, gently caressing his skin, a smile etched deeply onto his face.
Alexander had a slight complexion and he had eyes like a Frenchman and trimmed facial hair like a Mexican, having been born to a French mother and a Mexican father. He laughed and ran around, happy with the current situation, having not been able to experience this in decades.
He'd barely remembered it. It was too far long ago when he'd been able to appreciate since the surge in land requirement for corporations all over the world dropping their greedy ways to attempt to save it.
Greedy, still, he narrated with disappointment in his voice, all fighting for the spotlight like that.
[Recommendation, level 5 imperative: Return to the Ark.]
His elation still saturated him, causing him to respond nonchalantly. "Why is that, A-T?"
[Hostiles detected.]
He immediately snapped to attention, eyes widening and ears listening, and he heard a faint clunk behind him. H spun around just in time to watch a red blur and a sudden, powerful force at the center of his chest.
HUMAN! KILL!
Thank God for kevlar, the narration ended.
End Chapter 2
Comments:
Silver Prima (for upload 1): "Wow! What happen? ...
..
.
Can't wait to see what happen next! Good luck!"
Reply: "Well, uh, y'see, Miss Prima, I-"
Silver Prima (for upload 2): "Umm... that was interesting."
Reply: "Well...if you're confused about the Future Content stuff, that's just to keep me focused on future material. That last one was in A2's perspective, btw (chapter 1, future content 2, specifically). If you were confused about the way Alexander was acting, it's a coping mechanism since he's surrounded by dead bodies."
Dictionary:
Lepus Brachyurus: The Genus and Species, respectively, of a hare native to Japan.
Future Content 3 (last one for awhile)
A/N: Also, the last FC was in A2's perspective just like this one, btw.
[...-uditorial functions fully online.]
"Where am I?"
[...visual functions fully online.]
She opened her eyes to find no blue sky, no green canopy, no black cave - but a white ceiling.
[...physical sensory functions fully online.]
Warmth filled her, and she felt half tempted to fall into a trance, basking in the glowing that encased her. She clasped the soft cloth under her fingers and lifted it so it pulled over her shoulder, and she turned on her side, eyes shutting.
"Ah, eh, oo." Her eyes widened, but she did not move.
[Speech functions restored.]
"Waaah, fuck," she exclaimed quietly, sitting up, "that sucks without being able to pronounce anything," she complained, before the cold hit her. She automatically reached for the blanket around her to pull it back up, to preserve the warmth she didn't need, but what she did want.
"Pod," she continued, "where am I?"
[You are in an apartment complex once created by humans thousands of years ago.]
In response to the explanation, she looked around herself. The white ceiling ended at the edges, following blue walls, and carpeted floors. She moved to stand, and her bare feet preferred the soft, cotton matting, and she dug her toes into it. She'd worn her foot wrappings constantly, so having them removed slightly disconcerted her, but through the network she shared with her Pod, she could feel her weapons.
She wasn't afraid.
She found a dresser to the side of the bed where she had risen from and searched its contents, finding dishevelled, but neatly folded clothes inside. One drawer had one less shirt, and that was when she noticed it.
She was wearing a shirt.
I'll buy you a t-shirt, 2A!
Impossible. The store has been unused for millenia.
She shook away the memories, walking to the other side of the room, ignoring the door for now. This side of the room had one window, covered by blinds that were slightly transparent, which meant that it was just barely lighter than pitch black. Her inner clock, provided by the Pod floating beside her, told her it was just before dawn. She did not draw back the blinds.
Underneath it was another, but larger, drawer than the night stand by the bed. Inside, she found more garments worn by humans, but on top were some gimmicks. A few chips and hologram projector were strewn about the desktop, along with some old photographs that were framed.
She lifted one, and found a grayscale monochrome picture of a man, a woman, and their daughter.
"Pod?" she asked, tentatively - rare, for her.
[Affirmative?]
"Define...family."
End Future Content 3
And now, for the love of God, let the next Fanfiction begin!