Vanguard: Awakening

Awakening: Chapter Four

"This can't be real. It shouldn't be real."

Faring was adjusting shackles to Cedric's wrists. The metal of their construction felt flimsy, rather weak actually. It certainly wouldn't be an issue to break them if needed. Though out of respect, he refrained - still struggling to process his current situation.

"Well, it kinda is so... Uh, welcome to House Kilik I guess?"

"You know, it wouldn't be an issue to break these cuffs."

"I know you humans are incredibly strong, so I believe you. Would there really be a reason to have to do it though?"

"I suppose not. I will say this now, I do not agree with this."

"I'm sorry! But this was the only way to stop you from getting taken by the imperials. Even then, it won't last forever. There's... A lot you don't know, I guess because you shouldn't exist in the first place."

She began to lead him away from the wreckage. It was a conundrum, figuring out how to give Cedric an ample supply of oxygen so that he could breathe. Faring instructed her charges to retrieve oxygen from the craft they arrived in, and compress it into an air bottle that was normally used by her species to breathe in atmospheres that were not suitable for them. Cedric ran the unique situation through his head several times, and he had not figured out one important fact. Why could they breathe, but not him? All living beings need oxygen, right?

"Why is it you can breathe just fine. Yet when I take a breath, I feel like I'm dying. Probably because I technically was..."

Faring thought for a moment, wrapping the information around in her head herself.

"Well, oxygen is a poisonous gas. Nitrogen isn't. Maybe that's why?"

"You breathe Nitrogen?"

"Yes, all living things need Nitrogen to survive - even plants."

"Everything I know is just getting wrapped around itself. All living things need oxygen, not nitrogen. Plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, which all living things then breathe to survive. Plants intake nitrogen from the ground to survive, and from waste. This is all so strange."

"So you're telling me, that everything that you know of uses poisonous gas to survive?"

"I don't understand - oxygen isn't poisonous unless it's in high concentrations."

Cedric was still struggling to take steps forward, but at least he wasn't falling down to all fours anymore. The sight that beheld him was rather comedic, being led away in chains by a group that was not only half his size - but a small percentage of his apparent strength as well. There was so much that was different than what he was used to, that the time he spent in that pod may have been significantly longer than he previously thought. It seemed, after a quick inspection - that the substance used to keep him alive was at critical levels when he was awoken. Another two hundred years, and that was in an ideal situation, it would have run dry. Not only that, but many cryopods that should have been in his segment of the wreckage was nowhere to be seen - seemingly removed from their attached bolts. This meant that maybe, others survived - but whether or not they were rescued at the same time was remained to be seen. Several of the nutrient storage pouches responsible for supplying an ample supply of nutrition to the cryo'd soldiers was missing. Some detached, some ruptured, and others just plain missing - almost like they were cut out. It just so happened, that a large portion of the substance remained attached to his segment of the wreck. he was on some kind of higher gravity planet, the situation of it was what spurred his muscled growth and lack of old height as a result of his body adapting ever so slowly to the conditions presented. If Cedric was to glean any further information of the matter, he'd need a lot more than some carefully educated guesses based on his knowledge. He'd need some kind of team to begin to puzzle together what exactly happened. All records on the ship were either lost, or corrupted - and with nobody present that was an expert on data and programming - it was nothing more than like kicking a rock and hoping for different result. Similar to the definition of insanity, he couldn't help but notice. He decided then, that that would be his priority as soon as he was afforded the opportunity. He honestly felt like he was a smart person, he just never had the opportunity to prove it - given his isolated nature. Now though, he had no choice but to cooperate with an entirely new species that not only did not speak his language, but had far different values than he ever thought would be possible to really exist outside of popular media and entertainment culture. A fever dream of feeling was ever omnipresent no matter what he seemed to do or where he seemed to go now. Yet, it was all too real. Cedric had even had it in the back of his mind that maybe it was an elaborate program or dream - and the solution was killing himself. He could never, because if it was as real as he felt it to be - death would certainly not be the answer. Killing oneself never is, but in such a delicate and shocking of an experience - it tends to find itself in the back of the mind of its affectees.