Ben awoke. He was groggy and his back was stiff from sitting up while sleeping. his eyes were gummed shut and his hands felt clammy as he rubbed them. Where was he, he thought. It was round and about twenty feet from wall to wall. Tinny sparks of light embedded in the stone wall provide light. Each spark a different random color and distance from the next. His back was to some kind of pillar. It felt like stone on his shoulders not cold or warm just hard and smooth.

He didn't know how he got in the weird stone chamber but he wanted to. The last thing he remembered was .... He was ?

What ? Ok not good, what about before that?

Oh. so that's disappointing. At least I remember my name is Ben. Looking down at himself he was wearing a single white garment. a pair of form fitted shorts. He was thin and pale with no pockets or items other than the shorts.

With a groan of effort Ben pushed himself to his feet. The ground felt overly hard to his soft hands and feet. His balance was weak so he stabilized himself with the pillar. When his hand made contact with it a beep sounded and the surface flashed with light.

word started to form.

loading

initializing systems check

fault detected = true

fault Identification number 892-55268

safe mode active

loading recovery program 892-5526/alfa-omega

welcome

Biological.

Entity.

New.

would you like to begin the tutorial B.E.N.

YES/NO

please touch yes or no

Oh.. That's probably why I don't remember anything.

there is nothing to remember. Well that just means I need all of the information I can get then doesn't it.

Ben touched yes

good morning Ben this is the fourteenth iteration of yourself to have been restored to the chamber

all other iterations have failed to save progress and no records exist thank you for being the first one smart enough to be curious

to save your mnemonic and or physical progress you need to touch the pillar while still alive

the options MNEM/PHYS will appear touch one or both

if you become too physically damaged to be acceptable

choosing MNEM only will allow you to start over in the condition you where in at the previous save

if you become too mentally damaged to be acceptable choose PHYS only all memories up to the previous save will be lost

in the event you die without saying progress

this concludes this tutorial further information will become available at subsequent restarts

menu

FOOD

TOOLS

WATER

EXIT

PHYS

MNEM

Ben touched the food option as he was a little hungry.

main MENU

food options

travel bread YES/NO DESCRIPTION

jerky YES/NO DESCRIPTION

supply raw organic matter STORE

available supply 200 units

supply sample SCAN

scanned samples none

Ben touched the description option for travel bread.

nutritious filling and tasty take some with you

won't stay fresh for long but it will never go bad

has every thing you need to stay healthy

Ben choose yes on the menu and a section of the pillar opened to reveal a small loaf of bread it was warm and it smelled wonderful. He reached into the cavity and took the loaf.

He took a small bite. It was wonderful crusty and soft.

Ben decided that he liked bread a lot.

Going back in the menu he found the original options and chose to save both phys and mnem

Ben awoke. He was groggy and his back was stiff from sitting up while sleeping. his shoulders could feel a, oh no THE pillar behind him. Something must have happened?