Orbs Of The Galaxy

One

The room was silent when Annabelle Hughes opened her eyes. She tried to sit herself up but her trembling arms felt like boiled spaghetti and could not support her weight. She managed to get a glimpse of something; bodies sprawled over the floor, all unconscious. Her surroundings began to waver. In a matter of seconds, she was out cold once again.

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The first thing she noticed when she regained her consciousness was the low buzzing sound that echoed around the room; softly at first but it became louder as seconds passed. Eventually, it started to hurt her ears. Her eyes flickered open, pupils constricting as they adjusted to the bright light. Once again, she tried to sit up. This time she was able to. The sound was coming from the people surrounding her. The bodies lying next to her earlier all seemed to have woken up. She felt a pang of relief in her beating heart. Somewhere deep inside she had feared that the people were not unconscious but dead. She felt weak but wanted to stand up. Nobody was sitting. Out of nowhere a hand extended towards her.

"Hey. You've been out a while. The longest here actually. Let me help you up." A energetic feminine voice entered her ears. Taking hold of the extended arm, Anna hauled herself to her feet. The world around her blurred for a second, but the dizziness went away momentarily. She blinked as she took in the scene around her. She was surrounded by about 50 people who she did not recognize. Their faces were familiar but not familiar at the same time. The room was medium sized and very brightly lit. Where was she? What had happened? Anna stressed her brain but she couldn't remember anything. What did she look like? Her heart dropped. Did she have a forgetting sickness?

"I'm Olivia but you can call me Olive...I think that's my name. I'm having some trouble remembering things. What's your name?" The girl chirped.

"I'm Annabelle. You can call me Anna. I don't remember anything either." Anna politely replied. She always had trouble talking to others. Social Anxiety. That's what it was called. Over time, Anna had gotten better at talking to people but her heart rate still increased.

"I think that's a problem we all are encountering right now. There's something oddly familiar about you Anna. I cant really put a finger on it."

"When I look around, I feel like I know these people but I can't recognize them"

"Same"

"Do you know where we are?" Anna stuttered,trying hard to disguise the panic in her voice.

"I don't have the slightest cl-"

Olive was interrupted by the high pitched squeal of a microphone.

"People, people, settle down please. I know you are confused and maybe even scared. I assure you, you are safe here...for now. You have been brought here today to perform an important  task in the name of science and humanity. Some of you will be more able than others. We did not handpick you. However, you have all proven yourself worthy in one way or another. You have come here today to take part in perhaps the greatest discovery of all- an alternate universe, world, call it what you will. I shall not explain it in great detail because it is not necessary. You will learn along the way. You may also have noticed a loss in memory. That is because this mission is dangerous and to get past it, you must work together. We assume that you will work better together if it is taken as a fresh new start amongst you and your peers. Another benefit is that this way the only thing you will be concerned with is the mission that you have ahead of you. However, our memory technology is not developed enough. We did not want you to forget past training and conditioned reflexes. Hence you will find your colleagues familiar. If your bond was a strong one, you might even retain feelings about them; positive as well as the negative. This is for the best. We do not know what you will encounter on your mission. We do not have long so I must rush this. You will be dropped off in an hour. You all will be given wristbands with the newest technology and this will enable you to keep in contact with one another as well as us. It also tells you your needs and stats and will help you tremendously along the way. All your instructions will be given to you in both your wristbands as well as an instruction manual. For the rest of the hour, I urge you to get to know one another. Eventually you will have to make teams and this will make it easier. Teamwork will be your strongest suit out there. You have to work together. That is the only way of keeping as many of you alive as possible. See you on the other side, soldiers. Take care."

The mic squealed once more before silence covered the room like a canopy. Everyone just stood there,  trying to take in all this new information.