Darkness.
It wasn't a normal darkness. It wasn't the darkness of a room without light or closed eyes. It was an absolute, motionless void, where time seemed to have ceased to exist.
...
A high-pitched beep cuts through the silence.
BEEP...
BEEP...
BEEP...
"Cryogenic Life Support... restoring..."
A synthetic, distant, and emotionless voice resonates in a language you barely understand. Your body weighs an eternity. Every muscle seems to have forgotten how to move. Air rushes into your lungs for the first time in an immeasurable amount of time, causing a dry, painful cough.
A metallic click breaks the silence.
With a long hiss, the capsule in front of you begins to open. Frozen vapor spills onto the floor as ancient air, trapped for thousands of years, finally escapes to the outside.
Your legs barely respond when you try to sit up. Everything hurts. Your vision remains blurred, covered by white flashes and lines of interference.
You don't remember who you are.
You don't remember how much time has passed.
You don't remember why you were there.
You only know one thing.
You are still alive.
...or at least you think so.
The room around you seems to belong to another world. Endless rows of cryogenic capsules occupy a gigantic underground facility. Many have been open for centuries. Others remain sealed forever. Some contain only skeletons reduced to dust. The monitors flicker, showing error messages impossible to comprehend.
ERROR: NETWORK CONNECTION LOST...
LAST SYNCHRONIZATION...
9,438 YEARS AGO.
Silence dominates the place once again.
Then...
CLANG.
A metallic noise echoes somewhere in the complex.
Then another.
And another.
Footsteps.
Not human.
The echo of machinery slowly approaching makes the floor vibrate beneath your feet.
Instinctively you look for something to defend yourself with, but the room is empty. Only rusted remains of a forgotten civilization and the faint flicker of emergency lights that should have gone out millennia ago.
A flash crosses the hallway.
A sword cuts through the air.
The sound of metal against metal explodes in the distance.
CLANG!
A strange mechanical cry resounds through the corridors.
"GyaaaAAaaAA..."
Then... silence.
The footsteps change rhythm.
Now they are light.
Precise.
Disciplined.
Two figures appear through the smoke.
The first is dressed completely in black. Her white hair contrasts with the darkness of her military uniform. A visor covers her eyes while she holds an elegant sword still stained with black oil.
Beside her walks a young man of similar appearance, also with white hair. He carries a short sword on his back and observes the room with evident curiosity while a small floating drone remains on his shoulder.
Both stop as soon as they see you.
"..."
The silence weighs for several seconds.
The young man is the first to speak.
—Huh...? 2B... am I seeing things...?
The woman doesn't respond immediately.
Her hand remains firmly on the hilt of her sword.
Her posture changes just a few centimeters, enough to react if you represent a threat.
—...No.
Her voice is calm. Cold. Professional.
—Confirming an unknown life form.
The small drone beside her projects a blue light over your body while it begins to scan you.
Analysis in progress...
Biology detected.
Human DNA...
Result... impossible.
Silence falls again.
Even the drone seems unable to process what it has just detected.
The young man takes a step forward, completely incredulous.
—Wait... that can't be...
—Humans... went extinct a long time ago...
The woman remains motionless.
Her sword continues to point discreetly toward the floor.
But now there is something different.
For the first time since she entered the room... she hesitates.
And you... not understanding where you are, who these people are, or why they look at you as if you were a ghost... can only watch the ruins of a world that should no longer exist.
In the year 11945, on a Earth forgotten by humanity, your story has just begun.