New Era's Dawn

Chapter 1

Emergency Protocols 37-71-2b Initiated.

Emergency Protocols 45-89-15c Initiated.

Power Systems critical.

Life Support critical.

Initiating evacuation and cleansing procedures.

It was a mechanical male voice, so cold and unfeeling, that tore through the thick inky blackness that enveloped my world. The darkness became streaked by bits of flashing warm light; bright reds and yellows so out of place in the cool pallet that it forces me to open my eyes.

Unauthorized access detected; emergency cleansing at forty-nine point five percent.

Emergency lockdown initiated in sector 2, please proceed to safe rooms 2A and 2B until further notice.

The flashing lights dimly illuminate a distorted and warped room in red and yellow hues; sluggishly I raise the palm of my hand only to bump into something solid and cold. Glass.

Emergency cleansing at seventy-two point eight percent.

The lights gleefully paint silhouettes across the barren walls, taunting me, laughing at me... I look down... only to find that I can't. There is something holding my head in place, a band stretching across my brow.

My thoughts come slow and forced as if something was holding them back, afraid to let go of its precious contents.

Where am I...?

Emergency cleansing at ninety-nine point eight percent. Initiating first phase.

Emergency lockdown initiated in sector 2, please proceed to safe rooms 2A and 2B until further notice.

There was a gentle vibration that crept its way up from the soles of my feet to the tips of my fingers; it was comfortable at first, soothing even. It was a gentle caress to the chaotic robotic voices that claw at my eardrums. A part of me should have been freaking out, but the majority simply did not care. I was floating carelessly in a world of my own making.

That is, until the soothing motions became bitter and jagged, stippled with sharp bursts of pain. My lips part in a silent agonized scream and my eyes blur the already obscured room.

Emergency cleansing at ninety-nine point nine percent. Initiating second phase.

I could not move, I could not see.... And yet, it felt as if some unseen force was casually peeling off my skin piece by piece, savoring every silent, torturous moment. A hot, thick liquid licks my limbs in small rivulets, originating from the many points of pain located across my body.

Emergency cleansing complete.

Emergency lockdown initiated in sector 2, please proceed to safe rooms 2A and 2B until further notice.

Commencing patient ejection, please stand by.

So many voices... so much agony...

There was the soft whoosh of air against my tortured body followed by a hiss that whispers in my ears; moments later, gravity wraps its merciless hands around my weakened soul and I tumble onto a hard, marble-like floor.

I gasp between a combination of pain and chills that flare up my spine, shaking uncontrollably with each breath clawing through my body. Every motion sets a thousand daggers forth that rake across the entirety of my being. I crawl forward, desperate, confused... fearful.

What is happening to me?

Where was I?

Emergency lockdown initiated in sector 2, please proceed to safe rooms 2A and 2B until further notice.