The Birth of The Unity (sequel to Chronicle of Nautilus)

Chapter 3: Our World

With a bit of help from the two men, Adam got to a seated position. The first thing he noticed was that his body was a grotesque mess: skin pale almost white, limbs thin and bony, blood vessels bright red. And there was something strange and numb about the face. He felt that he was not yet ready to be given a mirror. A needle was stuck into the right vein. He figured it was the nurturing him, to keep his vitals going for even a swallow of saliva hurt his stomach.

He felt tired, but the will to understand gave him strength. He spoke, inarticulate at first, but was clearer with each sentence, "So, what is this place you brought me to?"

The old man replied coldly as if he had learned the words by heart, "A spaceship. We're are to ensure the survival of our species and establish a new colony, on a planet far from our home-world." The dullness of words told Adam that they must have been spoken countless times.

The young scientist talked with an improvised manner and unnecessary gestures of his hands. He said, "There was a huge problem back home. Luckily, we were given an opportunity to start everything anew. And you, my friend, are a part of the people who were given this opportunity. You might consider yourself lucky."

Adam said, "Am I lucky? Or is this just another fake reality, fabricated for reasons beyond my comprehension? How do I know you are real? Hell, how do I know if I am?" He coughed and gave a despicable glance at his limp body.

"A perfect question to ask," the doctor replied. He pointed his two long indexing fingers at Adam, put them down and said, "In a sense you can not grasp the difference between the dream you had spent your young days in and this place. The simulation you were is called virtual reality for a reason. It is indistinguishable from this place by human senses. The main difference is that you can die here, and there, well, there you would only wake up as if the death experience was a bad dream. It would be silly from someone to put you into a reality within a reality, wouldn't you think? I would not suggest doing that experiment to prove me wrong. You'd be surprised but there were people who tried to.

"You will know many things about the ship, even though you haven't walked it's corridors yet. We had taught you about it. You must have come to realize how your world was illogical before we disconnected you from the system. Every illogical thing was put there for a reason, for you to learn. The painting on your wall, for example, was the map of the ship, all nine levels from top to bottom." The doctor spoke too quickly for Adam's taste. Either he loved to speak or did not get many opportunities to.

"There were ten pictures."

"The tenth was the scheme of the engine connections."

"Quite a long dream I had. Does everyone have the identical artificial life before they are awoken?"

"No. There are variations. But you both had it the same from what I know, " The doc rolled his eyes to the old man. And he replied with a nod. "Captain, would you be kind to tell him his full name? That should make things clearer for him."

With a hoarse, tired voice, the old man said, "Your full name is Adam fifteen."

Shivers ran down Adam's weak body. If there was anything solid in his stomach, he felt he would have vomited it all out. His head felt dizzy. For a second, he needed to gather everything of the little strength he had to keep conscious. His face could not hide the panic that arose after the revelation.

The two men had undergone the same reaction and knew what went on in the head of the newborn.

After a few minutes of silence, the captain added, "Everything will be just fine you'll see. Don't be afraid you won't go through this alone. We have some help prepared." He lifted his eyes to the ceiling and said, "Jane, please introduce yourself."