The Cyber Age

Prologue: The Test

Braden opened his eyes. They felt heavy, as if he'd been asleep for decades. He felt . . . Nauseous, almost. Nothing felt right. Nothing felt real.

He was standing in the middle of a wasteland, surrounded by nothing in sight except for a giant warehouse. It looked around four thousand squared feet, and fifteen somewhat feet tall.
Braden wasn't that far from it. He could actually hear voices coming from inside the building.

That was when he remembered. It was like a moment of deja vū; everything came back at once. He remembered why he was there, and what he had to do. Well, sort of. He ran toward the building with haste, approaching the entrance in no time. There was a plastic awning above the double-door. The door was made of a strong titanium and, strangely, it was unlocked.

Braden attempted to open the door, and was greatly surprised by its weight. It probably weighed around two-hundred pounds, but that didn't stop him. Braden had won trophies for lifting weights in a high school competition many times. He was much stronger than most other sixteen-year-olds like himself, due to his daily practice of weight lifting. He only started that to impress a girl, but he sort of made a habit of it.

Braden had short brown hair, a very mild tan, and deep green eyes. His mom always said he would make some girl happy, but so far he hadn't had much luck. Braden couldn't remember what had happened, besides why he was here. The last thing he remembered was . . .  the accident! He and his mom got into a car accident!

But . . .  how did he get here? Braden hadn't the slightest clue. He wasn't used to that, not knowing. When he was thirteen, Braden followed in his older brothers footsteps and did the accelerators program. He never had all that much trouble with school; he was very bright, like his brother. Everyone said it was a family trend. But he knew what they really thought. Though Braden was smart, he would never be as smart as his brother. It didn't come as natural.

He had just finished school, and was going to his graduation ceremony. His mom let him drive since he just got his drivers license. They were on a highway; he looked down at his phone for one second, to turn on his Bluetooth, when his mom yelled at him to look up. Braden got a tiny glimpse of an eighteen-wheeler. They crashed unimaginably hard and probably totaled the truck they crashed into.

That was the last thing he remembered, but why couldn't he remember anything else? Well, that was of no consequence. At least not right now; Braden was positive of his mission.

When he opened the big, titanium doors of the warehouse, Braden saw a giant, dark room, completely empty. The lights were off and no one was occupying it, but it didn't feel right. He shook it off, becuase honestly, nothing felt right. He went inside and saw a metal pop-up chair, a few feet from the door. On the chair was a forty-five caliber pistol, and a flip knife. He figured he'd never be using the knife; knife combat was never a good idea, but you never know. He might have to cut off a tag or something.

He picked them both up, putting the knife in his left pocket and the gun in his right. The pistol didn't hardly fit, but he ignored the uncomfortable nature of the situation. Braden saw light in the corner of his eye. It was being cast as if a door was barely cracked. He jolted his head in its direction, discovering that it was in fact a small door. Not big and titanium, just cheap metal.

From the light coming from the room beyond, he could see a light switch next to the door. He felt uneasy, but reluctant. Braden armed himself with the pistol in his right hand, and flipped the light switch on with his other. He sighed with relief; all that happened was the lights of the room he was in currently went on. Then he realized: if there was anyone in that other room, they would have noticed the lights come on.

He couldn't be slow now. Braden pushed the door open with immense force, flinging the door open so fast that the door knob put a hole in the dry wall. Braden saw a very short hall; it was vacant. There was nothing in the hall save a door at the other end, which was only fifteen feet away. Braden walked toward the door he just spotted, adrenaline rising.