…
…
bzzz…
…
…
Bzzz…
…
…
Bzzzzzzzz…
what is that awful droning?
Buzzzzzzzz…
Buzzzzzz…
Buzzz…
"Waking procedures complete."
"Lowering Amnestic Fluid…"
waking procedures? amnestic fluid? where the heck am i?
I had felt my body being exposed to the open air for the first time, and the cold stung. It was like being in a hot tub for many days, and then being thrust into a frozen morning. I looked around the room, and it was very creepy to say the least. I was in a small room made entirely of metal, and pipes ran through the ceiling and the corners of the room, and had a couple of green outlines. I felt a chill run down my spine as the last of the fluid I was submerged in, as the platform I was on began to steepen, and my head was risen in the air.
I was expecting to be moved by the platform into some unknown other room, but as soon as I was nearly upright, it stopped. In fact, the whole room went dead silent, while I adjusted.
Am I supposed to… get out? The room did not respond to my thought as I fully committed to getting up. My body felt just as weird as the room itself as I stood up, and got a chance to feel my feet on the ground after… after… How long has it been? Have I ever been awake before? I decided it wasn't worth it to ask that question just yet, rather leave this place I have been confined to.
I looked around for a little bit again before seeing something I swear I didn't see before… It was a small tower table, covered in those green outlines, making a snaking pattern that pointed to the center of that thin table. I looked at those hypnotic outlines for longer than I thought, they pulsed white, as if bringing some type of power to whatever was on top of that table. Forcing myself to stop staring, I looked at the illusive object on the top of the table. It was small, thin, rectangular, and completely alien to me. It *seemed* familiar, but I wasn't sure.
As if it knew I was watching it, the table began to morph around, getting taller and closer to my chest level rather than hip level, and put the object vertically on its width, showing its shiny other side.
I hope that means I can grab it. I began to slowly inch over to the table, trying to keep my balance after not walking for who knows how long. Nearly falling down, I quickly grabbed the table and was hoping it would stabilize me. Despite the thinness of the table, it held me and didn't move an inch. Sturdy!
Now that I was closer, I got a better look at that object, which I could now see had what was clearly an outer shell covering what I could only assume to be a very breakable object. Pushing my nervousness aside, I went to go and grab this object. It was so expertly balanced that it almost felt like there was nothing holding it up, so it was effortless to pick up. It was definitely dense, but not too heavy, and still had that black side, and the other side had designs similar to the table it was held on. After holding it for a couple of seconds, the black side had changed, and began to show a design that again, felt familiar, but I couldn't exactly tell where it was from.
Now that the object had been taken from its pedestal, a part of the wall began to lower, but wherever it was, it was significantly brighter than the room I had gotten used to, and my eyes recoiled. It took a couple of seconds to get used to the new light level, but once I did, I prepared myself to walk again.
Nearly falling over again, I got into the next room, where it looked similar, but now the ceiling had what appeared to be skylights that gave the room some natural light, however it was being mostly blocked by a lot of vines and leaves. I certainly hope this is as bright as it gets, I thought, before looking around the room again. I spotted another small table, right by a large door. What is that word I'm thinking of? Pillar? Table? Pedi- Pedestal, that's it, I thought while walking over to this pedestal. I spotted the same symbol that was on the object I was holding in my hand. Realizing the obvious, I pulled out the object and held it to the pedestal, and it responded in kind, flashing and spouting a small message:
"Authenticator accepted, activating tablet, opening door."
Tablet, eh? Got it. The large door began to raise itself, leading to a room with even more natural light. I recoiled again, but eventually got used to it again. This time, the room was filled with a couple of things, some metal boxes, and another pedestal. There were 3 metal boxes, all of different sizes. The first one was the smallest, and when it was opened, it contained in itself some clothes. This is the moment I realized: Oh, I'm not wearing anything. I thought it was weird I wasn't wearing anything, but couldn't put my finger on why. Either way, I put on the clothes given to me, which was a tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt, and a black jacket, along with some tight-fitting black pants and black laceless shoes.
Walking over to the next box, it was larger, but not as large as the third. I unlocked the latch and found what appeared to be a sword and some kind of folded object, most likely another weapon. I grabbed both with one hand and began to feel like I'm missing something. I waddled over to the third and largest box, my hands full now.
The third box had that same symbol, so I placed the tablet on it, and it opened automatically. I'm definitely gonna be doing this a lot. Looking inside the final box I found a few things. The first was a large backpack, which came as a relief to me, as I didn't wanna carry all that stuff all the time. Looking at the backpack, it definitely was able to hold my new stuff, it even had a spot for me to sheath my new sword, but a majority of the space appeared to be for a fluid pouch. Why the hell would I need so much space for fluid?
The second item for me to take was a small box, what was inside I didn't know, but a piece of plastic was sticking out of it, so I had a clue. Maybe a box of gloves? Some balloons? I put it in my backpack. Third, I found a small cube. I had no idea what it was. But when I held it, I could feel it pulsate, almost like it had a heartbeat. Into the backpack it goes. Finally, I was given what appeared to be 2 pieces of metal. Almost by habit, I struck them both together, a spark flew, and I instantly knew what it was for. I placed those 2 into my backpack, realizing how little space I now had.
I had thought I was going to be sent out into who-knows-where without anything before, but now I felt decently prepared. I walked up to the pedestal and placed my tablet on it, and it did exactly as expected, and opened the door next to it. Another different message was spoken this time, though.
"Authentication complete. Auditory assistance activated. Adding context logs."
Context logs? Auditory assistance? I didn't hear anything, so I shrugged it off for now and continued. The next door opened to the outside, this time, no vines, no leaves, and the light of day was unleashed in all its holiness. One more time my eyes adjusted, before I began to walk towards the light.
I should have waited for my eyes to fully adjust because I had bumped into a fence right before I could exit. Nice. Good job, me. I was hoping I could climb over, but the fencing covered the whole exit. Now what do I do? I thought to myself. I took a second to think before realizing what I had in my possession. I pulled out my tablet and tapped on the black part of it, and it lit up. A voice rang out.
"You have suffered minor memory loss. This is considered an optimal outcome. This Homophone has been set to explore mode. Please refer to the databank for detailed information on the past."
The homophone opened what appears to be a map, but there's no data on anything. I saw a couple of buttons that have different symbols, a map symbol, a tool, and a paper. I pressed the paper, and the databank appeared in front of my eyes. There was 3 entries, one named "Context", another "Your Physical State" and "Exiting the cryo-chamber." Clicking on the first, Context, some text appeared.
Hello creature! That's a bit weird to call me 'creature' and not something more welcoming, whatever. Welcome to the earth, apologies for the state of the cryo-chamber, but we hope it was at least manageable. In the time you were conceived, we saw rising sea levels due to… a lot of very different circumstances. We combined the DNA of our species with another, one that was deemed worthy of combining, one that could survive the new world. The sea slug. Really? Is that what you consider worthy? A slug? The cryo-chamber should have also found DNA from whatever is the current top species of the world and incorporated some of its features into you.. Here's a few things before you should go on your way:
In the boxes you should find some clothes that automatically adjust to your size, and show off a bit of our style, some weapons, again, based on the top species' own tools and weapons, and some flint & steel so you can properly eat cooked food.
You most likely have realized your ability to read this and do many things. You did not learn this on your own. In fact, we were able to give you these basic habits so you may be self-sufficient as soon as possible. We also added our history to your learned memory so you may learn from the past, and there should be more information in our other facilities, which are waiting for you to activate them.
Finally, you should be able to pick up other languages extremely quickly, as we wanted you to be able to teach the new apex species the knowledge of humanity, so you should be able to learn and be fluent in their language with only about a month of exposure.
There are many more surprises for you waiting, but this is most likely overwhelming enough. Humanity wishes you the best of luck in a world alien to us, and hopes for the best for you. Ad Astra Per Aspera!
After reading the whole thing, I stood there for a few minutes in shock. They were definitely right, it was very overwhelming. I tried to pull from my memory their history, but I couldn't. So instead, I went on to the second entry, Exiting the Cryo-Chamber.
You might be wondering how to exit the cryo-chamber, as there is something blocking your way out. Alas, even we do not know what will be at the end of the chamber, as the chamber itself generates a way to challenge you, and it's based off of your physical state, and some features you might not know you have. What we do know is that it is possible for you to exit the chamber, so don't get discouraged.
Wow. Helpful. What's in the next one? I opened Your Physical State.
This is a computer generated summary of your physical state.
Vitals: Perfect Condition, no unexpected diseases, immune system has been properly trained.
Physical State:
First Form: Human-Like Form:
This form takes from a human being, it's bipedal and mostly skin, with some tentacle-like appendages in the former hair region on top of the head and on the eyebrows.
Second Form: Sea Slug-Like Form:
This form looks like a sea slug, and scurries on the floor. It has the ability to squish itself extremely flat, allowing it to pass through fences, and very small spaces. Unknown to its other features, the creature must report the abilities when it knows.
Mental State:
The creature has all necessary habits learned and ready to be used. The memory planned to be added was not able to be added. Find this information at another site.
Second form? I have a second form? I pondered as I looked at the fence one more time. I focused on my core, almost a mental hand holding my chest. I then let my body go limp, and tried to let this mental hand squish my core, and I could feel myself almost melt as my body turned into fluid, along with the rest of my stuff. A half-second later, I could feel my form come to, but my limbs I was just getting familiar with were gone, and I was much closer to the ground. Did I do it? I pondered, before staring at that gate one more time. I slithered towards the gate, and ran into it, just like I did minutes before. But instead of the gate warping to me running into it, I instead warped into it, my body passing through it, almost like a fluid with a more defined shape. Before I knew it, I was on the other side. I let go of my core, and I came back to my more human form, same with my stuff, but this time, I was on the other side of the gate.
I was only a few steps away from the outside, and I saw sand blow into the final doorway, as I stood at the edge of the chamber. I took a deep breath, and walked into the unknown.
{This whole chapter was inspired off of 2 different games, one being Breath of the Wild's opening, and Subnautica's PDA. I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully I'll add more chapters soon, but who the hell knows.}