by Kurt Petrey
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
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Author's Notes
Legacy
The Awakening
by Kurt Petrey
Copyright © 2015 by Kurt Petrey. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited. The author greatly appreciates you taking the time to read his work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help spread the word.
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Chapter 1
Joshua
Images and colors flashed through his mind in a blur, desperately spinning as his body screamed for oxygen. He convulsed, gasping for air, but something solid filled his mouth. Whatever it was had also lodged in his throat, blocking his efforts. An attempt to scream produced nothing more than a weak, muffled grunt.
When his fingers went to his face they met some kind of mask instead. Both hands gripped the cold metal shape and pulled, despite the resistance that seemed somehow to be anchored deep within his body. He managed to channel his dwindling strength into one forceful tug. Something broke free, and a horrible slurping sound bubbled up from within his stomach, which turned and wrenched, further panicking him. He pulled harder, stunned to actually feel whatever it was sliding through his body and up his throat. The object slithered out through his mouth and thudded to the table beside him, followed by an opaque liquid. He coughed and gasped at the sudden liberation, his lungs burning from the sensation of a full, deep inhalation.
Something beeped nearby, stopping him short.
“Help!” he yelled, his voice strangled, “I need help!”
Screaming cut like a blade through his throat, but he tried again. No one responded. All he could hear was a distant humming and a steady, patterned beep.
“Is anyone there?”
The urge to throw up rolled him over and he fell solidly to the cold metallic floor, where more of the liquid escaped.
Freezing, he opened his eyes and ran his hands over his chest, discovering with surprise that he was totally naked. One bright light shone overhead, its rays focused on the table from which he'd fallen, but other than that, the room was dark. From what he could see, the walls appeared to be made of the same material as the floor—some kind of dark gray metal or stone. Near the table, the floor had a gradient, and pipes ran underneath.
Everything felt strange and unfamiliar, and though he racked his brain he had no clue where he was or how he'd gotten there. His heart raced with panic, his head throbbed, and blood pumped so hard through his veins he could barely hear the noise coming from outside the room.
He groaned and tried to control his limbs enough that he could sit up, then he wrapped his arms around his bent legs. Very carefully, wary of the pain, he lowered his head to his knees and searched for memories. How did I get here? He couldn’t find any answers, couldn’t even remember his name.
“Who are you?” he asked out loud. There was no answer within him.
The table from which he'd fallen was empty now, but—
He leaned closer, squinting, unsure of what he was seeing. Something hung off the edge, and it looked a lot like a collection of metal tentacles. Glancing down at his own body, he noticed small metal circles attached to his arms, near his wrists. They looked to be about the same diameter as the width of the tentacles. Horrified, he felt around his naked body and found more of the metal remnants, realizing as he did that the terrible things had most likely been connected to him before he'd fallen. The idea gave him a sick feeling deep in his gut.
Strength slowly returned, and he shifted so he could sit with his back against the table. His teeth chattered from the cold, and frozen shudders shook his body. He took a deep breath, struggling just to stay vertical, then looked around the room. A chair was nearby, to his left, so he crawled close enough that he could pull it to him. It wheeled over with an almost silent squeak, and he put all his energy into climbing onto it.
From his new vantage point, he noticed a smaller room to his right, filled with what looked like clothing. Shivering violently, he pushed off with his feet, rolling toward the room. A glass door slid open, allowing him in. As he'd first thought, the room was filled with shirts and pants, and they all looked exactly alike. Gritting his teeth, he placed his hands on the chair's armrest and pushed himself into a standing position, counting on his legs to take him the rest of the way. They throbbed with the effort, but he was able to stand upright. He grasped for the closest thing he could reach and pulled out a pair of pants that looked to be about his size. He braced himself against the wall as he slipped into the pants, his legs sore but steady. The pants fit perfectly and gave him a layer of protection from the cold air, as did the shirt.
Slightly warmer, he surveyed the room more closely. What is this place? His eyes went to the table, which he now saw looked somewhat like a bed. It was definitely medical in nature, and a variety of tubes protruded out of the wall. He rolled towards the door, pushing the chair with slow, unsure steps, and looked through the small window. A curved hallway stretched as far as he could see to the right and left, interrupted by a few doors. That made him wonder how many other people might be in this facility. Were others in the same situation as he? He shoved on the door, but it wouldn't open. Desperate, he banged on the window, yelling as loud as his tortured throat would allow.
“Can anyone hear me? I’m trapped in here!”
There was no movement outside his door. Evidently no one could hear him.
A computer monitor stood on the desk where the chair had been, piquing his interest. Using the chair to assist his walking, he pushed towards the desk then sat, his feet cold on the floor. A small, half sphere sat in front of the monitor, glowing red. Curious, he placed his right hand over the sphere. It immediately switched from red to white, and the alarm went silent. The monitor lit softly and words crossed the screen.
“Mind map failed due to an unknown command line structure,” he read aloud. “Executed SUB-B routine with errors. Data transfer unsuccessful with current specimen Joshua-147.”
Specimen Joshua?
The monitor turned off then on again and started executing commands. Confused, he lifted his hand, and the sphere faded to red. He quickly put his hand back on, and the sphere glowed white. The monitor spelled out, “Welcome Joshua. How may I assist you today?”
An impossible thought came to mind, and he stared at the monitor. “Am I Joshua?” he asked, the sound of his voice odd and unfamiliar—just like everything else.
“Yes, you are Joshua,” a smooth, automated, female voice said. “How may I assist you today, Joshua?”
He slid his chair back and glanced around instinctively, startled by the voice. But he was alone in the small room.
He started at the sound of voices coming from the other side of the door. They were talking just outside the room, though they seemed to be quite a distance away. He lifted his hand off the sphere, and the screen went black.
He stood, in control of his limbs once more and wanting to test them. Had he been injured? No, other than a lingering s
ense of weakness, he seemed fine.
An unfamiliar woman's face popped up in the door's window. She looked away briefly and yelled, “Another one is awake. I’ll handle this one!” She peered back inside and smiled at Joshua. “I see you are dressed and ready to go, huh? Can you please unlock the door so I can help you the rest of the way?”
Joshua didn't move.
Her smile was apologetic. “I know you are confused. I’m here to help in any way that I can.”
Joshua stood a little straighter. “Who are you?” he demanded. “What is this place?”
“Well, to your first question. I’m Ashley. To the second question.” She paused for a moment. “That’s a harder one to answer.”
Joshua regarded her, apprehensive.
She continued, “This conversation would be a lot easier if this door wasn’t separating us, don’t you think?”
He was pretty sure this wasn’t a prison, and the fact that the locks were apparently on the inside made him feel a little more secure. Since the door was the only exit, he decided to take a chance.
“Can you take a step back from the door?” he asked.
She continued to smile as she took four steps back then leaned against the other side of the curved hallway. “Don't worry. I’m alone here, and I just want to talk.”
She was wearing an identical set of clothing as his. Same shirt and pants that was gray with a black sash sown in across her torso. It looked better on her. She was tall with blond hair that reached her shoulders, and she had light green eyes.
When he was convinced, he placed his hands on what he thought was the locking mechanism, but nothing happened. “I can’t unlock it. It won't open.”
“Place your hand on the sphere next to the lock and press into it.”
A half sphere was fastened to the left of the door, just like the one on the desk but unlit. As instructed, he placed his hand over it, and the sphere responded by turning white, then blue. The door slid into the wall.
Ashley kicked off the wall and took a step towards him. “There. Isn’t that better? Can I come in and show you a few things that we've figured out so far? Would that be okay?”
Joshua stepped back to make room for her to pass.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I think it's Joshua. That’s what the voice said, anyway.”
Ashley smiled again. “Okay. Let’s go over a few things first. I’ll tell you what we think we know, then we can talk about what you think you know. Does that sound fair?”
“Sure, but I'm not sure I can add much from my side.”
“That's all right,” she assured him. “We'll get to that later. First let's talk about your room.” She hesitated. “Is it okay if I call you Josh? I think I like Josh better.”
“Doesn't matter to me.”
Ashley walked over to the bed and held out her hand. “Come here and give me your arm.”
He hesitated then complied since he could see no other option, but when she reached towards the tentacles, he yanked it away.
“At night you will want to lay down like you were when you woke up,” she said calmly, ignoring his reaction, “then insert these two tendrils into each arm. This is how the system knows what to do for healing, supplying medicines and nutrients to sustain you while you are asleep.” He reluctantly offered his arm when she gestured towards it, then watched closely as she snapped the tentacle on then off. “See? Like that.” She pointed back to the door. “There are toilets and showers down the hall but they’re not working yet.”
Joshua jumped to his feet, shaking his head. “Wait. What do you mean? This is my room? You expect me to live here?” He took a step back with a feeling of disorientation. The room began to spin. “Uh, I need to …”
Before he could say another word, Ashley had grabbed the chair and slid it around and behind him. He sat down with relief. While he regained his equilibrium, Ashley walked towards the wall and pulled down a panel that converted into a chair.
“Yes,” she said gently. “This is where you will live for now. We have some food and seem to have plenty of water, but there are a lot of questions that still haven't been answered. We don’t even know why we're here—or where here is.” She sighed, but her eyes were kind. “I know you have many questions. I still do.”
Joshua stared at her, then grudgingly nodded. “Start at the beginning. Tell me what you know.”
“Eight days ago the first of us woke up. Six men. After three days, twenty-four more people woke up. More wake every couple of days or so, and we don't know why. There are about fifty of us now, not counting anyone who woke up today. I just woke up four days ago. We have food sort of figured out through a hydroponics area, and we have a steady flow of water, so we are surviving. Other than that, I really don’t know a lot. Honestly, no one does.” She paused, watching for his reaction. Joshua was taking everything in, but he really didn't know what to say. “What are you thinking?” she asked quietly.
Fortunately, the room wasn’t spinning anymore. “Right now I have a lot of questions, but I'm not sure what you can answer. A lot of this just doesn’t make since. What is waking everyone up, and why were we all asleep to begin with? Why can’t I remember anything?”
Ashley extended her hands to reassure him. “I know this is difficult. Maybe we should go for a walk and let you take a look around. What do you think? There will be a gathering in the main hall in a little while.”
Joshua nodded. It sounded like the best place to get answers.
“Good,” she said. “We should probably head over there now.”
He stood up, and Ashley reached out to steady him. “Take it slow. I don't want you to get dizzy again.”
Chapter 2
Cade
Cade had a bad feeling this wasn't going to work out, but he had to try. He'd been awake for five days, and things were just starting to come together. After a full day of recovery then most of the past four days spent getting to know the way the software worked, he'd started to understand that the system was a kind of symbiotic creation. He looked down at the sphere hanging from the wall then finished connecting the two wires that he thought might bypass the locking mechanism to the door. If this didn’t unlock it, he wasn’t sure what to try next.
“Get ready to turn the power on,” he said.
Ryan was getting better at understanding the power grid of the overall system, which explained why they'd gained access to all these areas. Just a couple of days ago, no one had power. Now over half the hallways and most of the rooms were accessible—all the rooms, actually, except for this one. No matter what he did, they couldn't get it open.
“I’m almost ready,” Ryan replied, his muffled voice coming from underneath the desk.
Cade double-checked to make sure the wires were properly crossed, then waited for Ryan's signal. He didn't understand exactly what was going on with these spheres, but he could grasp the general idea. Each one operated differently, depending on its location. If it was by a door the sphere would unlock it, but only if the person had access. If it was a part of a console, then it could toggle through the system, again based on the individuals access.
Cade knew without a doubt that something important was inside this sealed room. Everything led him to this point, this room. Unfortunately, he had no idea what that was or even how he knew it. All he could do was rely on his gut.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Ryan said. “Power should be running through it now.”
But the door at the end of the room stood strong, defying the changes they'd made in the sphere, and Cade twisted two more wires into place. The sphere lit, but just as he was placing the sphere back into the wall, sparks flew out from under the desk, and Ryan jumped away.
“What happened?” Cade asked.
Ryan frowned at the desk, looked at Cade, then dropped his eyes to the desk again. “I’m going to try to reroute the power another way.”
The room they were in was long and narrow with a door a
t either end. Two large displays hung from the ceiling: one over a center table, and another against the wall, near the locked door where Cade stood. More consoles were attached to a dozen desks along the walls, which meant it had to have been a high traffic room at one point. Cade suspected people had once passed through, on their way to the room which was now blocked to them. Why would someone have needed that room to be inaccessible? Why had they cut the power to it? None of the other rooms were like this. He knew because he had personally searched through all the hallways and checked every room. Based on his current understanding of the structure's layout, this room was unique.
He also had a strong hunch because unlike everyone else here, he remembered—though the occasional memory flashes weren’t very helpful. Most of what he understood felt like random information. They didn’t teach him what had happened or what he was doing. They were just moments, and they passed too quickly for him to really understand. A few recollections allowed him to recognize certain things, and one had led him here, to this room. He clearly remembered being here, placing his hand on the sphere and walking through the door—through this very same locked door that he now couldn’t get through.
From what he could understand, he was the only one here who experienced flashes of memories. All the others had knowledge of their current situation, understanding the basic functions like speaking, but they remembered nothing. Not even their own names. How could so many people wake up with knowledge but no memories? Was there any way he could figure out how to gain more of both? More than once he'd wondered if he could connect back to the system, go back into the catatonic state the sleepers were in and somehow absorb more knowledge.
Frustrated, he walked to the nearest wall and flipped down a seat, then he pulled a handheld display from his pocket and started tapping on it. He looked over the power grids running through the room.
“Maybe we can pull power from the main line running through the room.”
Ryan crawled out from under the desk. “Maybe. I’ll see if I can tap into it from here. If I can connect it to the main line, it should turn on. Then we could walk right in.”
