AWAKENING PART 1

Day 0; 0450 (Morning)

Focus: Scene; Earth

The clear night sky sparkled and danced as the cosmos showed an immaculate display of wonder and beauty. A single house stood atop a barren mountain observing the majesty of the event, as if to say: I am the sole witness to this marvelous view.

But the house was empty. Instead, a giant network of underground facilities spread out beneath it like a three-dimensional spider-web fracture. The house itself, was nothing more than a marker; a landmark; a monolithic structure that served as an emergency escape location for the number of scientists living and working underground.

No one observed the exalted, starry skies atop that mountain; no one stood in awe as the night seductively danced for attention; no one...seemed to care at all.

Those living within the mountain had eyes for only one thing: research.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

“BWOOO!...BWOOO!...BWOOO!”

Sirens blared throughout the halls of the 4th research facility, signalling the start of a new round of experiments for Project Prometheus: the 1st Beta Phase. The goal of this experiment is to send out individuals to the new world without prior knowledge, obligation, or understanding of what lies ahead of them. The unknowing participants would act as the scientific control group from which future large-scale experiments and missions would be compared against.

In order to increase the survival rate of the test subjects, most will be transported to ideal locations pre-determined by logistical teams from earlier missions -- missions that had transpired during the Alpha and Pre-Alpha phases of Project Prometheus.

These earlier teams were a mixture of researchers, engineers, combat specialists, doctors, scholars, and administrative personnel sent out to scout, gather information, and build infrastructure for future missions. Of the 500 individuals that had been sent to the new world, 331 remained alive. Of the 331, roughly 63 have been bedridden or deemed out of commission due to various injuries or mental distress.

Now that enough infrastructure had been laid down, active members of earlier missions have been given an additional task: monitor the test subjects and report their growth to HQ.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Day 0; 0456 (Morning)

Focus: Scientists

“BWOOO!...BWOOO!...BWOOO!”

Sirens rang again.

The scientists of the 4th research facility grimaced at the noise as they waited for further instructions. A few moments of silence was followed by a loud, mechanical voice that spoke inside their heads.

Voice: “ATTENTION. ATTENTION. All immediate personnel please move to the nearest observation platform. Subject force-transfer procedure will commence in five minutes...”

“ATTENTION. ATTENTION. All immediate personnel please move to the nearest observation platform. Subject force-transfer procedure will commence in five minutes.”

The voice echoed within the minds of every scientist. Among them, was a tall, lanky man who found himself inside one of many transfer rooms, housing numerous test subjects for the next round of experiments.

He was finishing the final pass of diagnostics for his assigned test subject when the announcement came. The transfer room he was in, which was packed full of medical and monitoring equipment, had became even more cramped with additional people. Like him, four other scientists were hurriedly completing their own finalization procedures as they scurried around five equally spaced, diagonal transfer pods that encircled a central node found in the middle of the room.

For the 1st Beta Phase, each scientist was assigned one test subject to monitor and prep for force-transfer.

After completing his diagnostics, the lanky man moved his hands away from the terminal and massaged his temples; the announcement had caused a small migraine to take root inside his head.

Wincing in discomfort, he grumbled out a complaint.

Lanky: *sigh* “I can never get used to that.”

He continued to mumble words of dissatisfaction as a dumpy-looking man inside the same room followed up the complaint with one of his own.

Dumpy: “Why did we get cochlear implants if they still plan to use that infernal PA system? The god awful noise is too much.”

Looking visibly annoyed at Dumpy’s casualness, he fired back.

Lanky: “We aren’t paid to complain, bud. We are paid to observe.”

Lanky turned, making his way towards the nearest observation platform, just like the announcement had suggested. This left Dumpy alone inside the transfer room, with a face full of ugly smiles as he preoccupied himself with fantasies.

Dumpy: “If you ask me, I’d rather get paid to force-transfer over! Huhuhuuu...what I’d give to get laid by a-”

Stopping mid-gallop and turning his head to face Dumpy, Lanky quickly interjected.

Lanky: “I’ll stop you right there. First off, I wasn’t asking you. And secondly, if you want to talk about your furry fetish, do it somewhere else. Oh...and get the hell out of the transfer room. You’ve been hovering and ogling over that brunette test subject for over an hour. Our female colleagues are...well, uncomfortable being near you.”

After finishing his self-righteous speech, Lanky adjusted his glasses and sneaked a glance towards the three female researchers who had sprinted out of the room when announcement had finished. He sighed inwardly as the weeks of effort spent getting closer to them, had been thoroughly squashed by the actions of his uncouth contemporary; the dumpy man.

Seeing the visible frustration written all over Lanky’s face, Dumpy pressed.

Dumpy: *scoffs* “You are such a pitiable man.~ I can clearly see that hunger in your eyes.~ It ain’t my fault you haven’t gotten laid since you got here, bud.~”

Dumpy smirked as he sang his ad libbed song in a melody that would make a tonedeff person cry -- he was no bard. Seeing that it was more fun to torment his tall friend than to lust over a brunette test subject he couldn’t touch, he gleefully skipped towards the lanky man to dish out more insults, face-to-face.

Upon reaching the place where his colleague had stopped, Lanky bent over and whispered into Dumpy’s ear.

Lanky: “I wouldn’t consider your use of a fleshlight and blowup doll as ‘getting laid’. Just so you know, people can hear your sloven grunting at night. It’s quite disturbing.”

The jab to his manhood mixed with the condescending smile aimed at him, caused Dumpy to boil with anger as his hands made a fist, his knuckles turning white.

Dumpy: “You fu-”

Before Dumpy could cry a voice of livid protest, the siren blared again.

“BWOOO!”

One ring. Not good.

Voice: “WARNING! WARNING! Anomaly detected. Subject 513: mental collapse imminent. Host survival rate: 10%. Searching data logs for-”

“WARNING! WARNING! Anomaly detected. Subject 513: mental collapse imminent. Host survival rate: 8%. Quarantine procedures: commencing. Safety contingencies: activated. Test protocols: revalidating.”

Throughout the 4th research facility, researchers’ faces lost their vibrant color as blood drained from fright. They hadn’t expected a discrepancy of this magnitude to arise just minutes before a force-transfer procedure. Some had their eyes opened wide as they stared at one another, looking for someone to blame, while others shrugged the announcement off and continued their way towards the observation platforms.

The two men who had been quarrelling, to the point that they’d attracted a crowd of onlookers, put aside their animosity for one another and stood in silence. After a brief moment, they looked at each other, bewildered by the information that still rang inside their heads.

Rather than issue out another mouthful of complaint for the shoddy deployment of announcements, Lanky voiced a question not becoming of his character.

Lanky: “...what the hell?”

Dumpy: “Someone fucked up, big time. Isn’t 513 one of the test subjects for the 1st Beta Phase?”

Lanky slapped his forehead with his right palm as he slowly sucked-in enough air to fill his lungs, before letting out a long-winded sigh. Only when he re-opened his eyes, did he respond to Dumpy’s inquiry.

Lanky: “Yes...making this a huge problem. Of all the times the system had to find an anomaly, it had to be when all test subjects are under lockdown and awaiting force-transfer.”

Dumpy: “No way to reverse the tide? What if other test subjects are affected by the anomaly?”

Lanky: “No, no. It should be fine so long as quarantine procedures hold up and the anomaly is identified.”

Dumpy: “All systems go, then? What happens to 513? Mental collapse...he’s gonna’ be a fucking vegetable.”

Lanky: “Nothing we can do right now.”

Dumpy: “So...basically these test subjects are S-O-L? What happens to future participants?”

Lanky: “Well, the current test subjects aren’t exactly the cream-of-the-crop type if you know what I mean. It’s not a huge loss for the experiment so long as the anomaly is contained to one sub-”

Before he could finish, another single blare of the siren interrupted the men’s conversation.

“BWOOO!”

Voice: “DANGER! DANGER! Subject 513: mental collapse. Host survival rate: 0%. Brain deterioration: 10 minutes. Machine intervention: advised...Anomaly identified: Subject 513 lacking SubSplit procedure…”

“ATTENTION! ATTENTION! All immediate personnel please move to the nearest observation platform. Subject force-transfer procedure will commence in: 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1…”

As the countdown ended, every test subject inside the specifically designed transfer pods started to warp and stretch as if they were being pulled apart by a taffy machine; their bodies folding into itself.

Hair, clothing, facial features, everything seemed to merge as the stretching and warping molded their bodies into a perfect sphere of unrecognizable mass. And then, they began to shrink.

Like an object being sucked into a miniature blackhole located within its core, the perfectly spherical bodies blinked out of existence almost instantaneously, leaving a small explosion of energy in the form of a superheated pressure wave.

Due to its design, the transfer pods absorbed some of this energy, converting it to conventional power used to run several research facilities. The remaining unabsorbed energy shook the 4th research facility as a whole, causing fractures to appear on some structural supports, prompting logistical and engineering teams -- present for the event -- to redouble their thoughts on mission constraints, structural stability, and efficiency in energy absorption and conversion.

After the theatrics of the process had ended, those who made it to the observation platforms in time for the ‘show’, felt horror, fascination, or both. Researchers seeing the event for the first time, now understood why test subjects were so heavily sedated prior to the procedure -- no one would’ve wanted to go through the process awake, no one of sound mind anyway.

The two men who had been interrupted by the most recent announcement, finally made their way to an observation platform -- unfortunately, or fortunately, not in time to see the spectacle of transference.

Finding that they had missed the ‘show’, they continued their conversation.

Lanky: “Well, that’s that.”

Lanky was deflated, not being able to witness such a large force-transfer procedure left him mentally reeling, as if someone had kicked him in the nuts. He had observed seven consecutive force-transfers, this was to be his eighth.

Dumpy: *sigh* “Someone’s getting canned for negligence.”

Not distracted by missed opportunities, Dumpy stayed on topic.

Lanky: “Or made to force-transfer in the next batch of experiments.”

Dumpy furrowed his unibrow like it was a dancing caterpillar, giving Lanky an inquisitive look.

Lanky: “We do need to research that world’s torture methods, afterall.”

After a short moment of awkward silence, Dumpy continued with his questions.

Dumpy: “I’ve always wondered this, but why are the experiments and missions named after software release cycles?”

Lanky: “When did you start working here?”

Dumpy: “About six months ago...how is that related to my question?”

Lanky: “Ah so you’re still green...I’m sure you are aware of the NDA you signed when accepting the job...on paper, Project Prometheus is an independent research group with the sole purpose of testing the safety of new breakthrough technologies for consumer use -- especially those that come with a myriad of complications. However, in truth, well, you know what we actually do.”

“We justify our use of test subjects by labelling them as participants in safety trials involving VR technology. As you may know, full-dive VR has become a hot topic, but has currently been deemed too dangerous for public use. As such, Project Prometheus is taking the lead on testing this new technology.”

“Since the monitoring of test subjects for the First Beta Phase and the trial participants for full-dive VR are similar in nature, we can buffer our numbers, claiming that those we force-transfer over to the new world are also willing participants of the VR safety trials. With the flood of applicants for the VR trials, we are able to increase the number of test subjects to 500, without anyone being the wiser.”

Realizing he went on a tangent, Lanky digressed and answered the question.

Lanky: “As for the naming convention, the nomenclature of our experiments are there to trick people into believing we are working on new software that will replace our current analytical systems. Of course, this information hasn’t been released to the public, and is only there for people interested in snooping into our affairs. It’s not exactly a honeypot...let’s just say it’s one of many contingencies set in place for obvious reasons.”

“Basically, we have a cover, and it is one that makes us altruistic in the public eye.”

Dumpy: “I see. So...plausible deniability behind a veil of good intentions. I guess that’s why half of our time is spent testing gadgets and other shit.”

Lanky: “Yes, legitimize the facade by doing the work...wait, how do you not know any of this? Don’t tell me your some kind of corporate spy?”

Lanky knew of the strict and thorough vetting process each potential employee was subjected to prior to being granted access to any of the facilities within the scope of Project Prometheus. So, the likelihood that the man he’s been talking to is a spy, is rather small. Instead, he brought up the question to see the short man’s reaction.

Dumpy: “Pfft. Spy, shmy. I tossed that on- thousand-plus page ‘welcoming book’ in the garbage as soon as I got into my room. I’d rather spend my time lurking under the stairs, looking up women’s ski-”

Lanky: *clears throat* “You do know we are in a public area, right? If your looking for sex, look for a whorehouse.”

Dumpy: “Oh? And where exactly would a young, distinguished gentleman like myself find such a fine establishment?”

Lanky: “It’s across the street.”

The matter-of-fact response Lanky gave, made Dumpy rapidly blink in amazement. In his dumbfoundedness, Dumpy let out a soft whimper, realizing his ignorance.

Dumpy: “...seriously?…”

The two men continued their conversation, not giving any further thought into Subject 513’s predicament. As far as the two were concerned, 513’s body alongside the other 499 unknowing participants had been force-transferred to the new world, brain dead or not.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Inside the dark, isolated room that contained Subject 513’s physical body, a red andon light swirled, indicating the decoupling of the test subject's body from the transfer pod. Normally, this would be a welcomed sight, as it showed the completion of the force-transfer process. However, the automated message on the monitor screen attached to the pod, told a different story:

“Subject 513: missing. Force-transfer procedure has been cancelled. Foreign matter detected.”

Inside the transfer pod laid a pile of grey ash, remnants of what seemed to be: a cremated body.

---Chapter End