Adventures of a Drunkard Pilot

Chapter 1: Unsealing the Hushed Casket

The first thing I noticed was the feeling of liquid on my skin. As far as I was concerned, that was my first feeling as a human being. Right after that, however, I felt the liquid that was also in my lungs, and began violently trashing. I hit something solid on all sides, and forcing my eyes open in a blurry haze of what tasted like copper and dish soap, I found myself in a vat about the size of a twin bed. I slammed my hands against the clear walls keeping me trapped in my watery tomb, but they had no give. I started convulsing, the liquid in my lungs taking over, but right before I blacked out the liquid suddenly drained out the bottom of my test tube at an alarming rate. I landed in a heap, only then finding out that I was completely naked. The ground was cold metal grating that hummed with vibrations from unknown machines. The tube let out a hiss as it retracted into the ceiling, the sound drowned out by my retching and heaving as I tried to get everything out of my lungs. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind. I reacted out of pure instinct, swinging around with a right hook. It connected, and as my unknown assailant dropped I noticed his white lab coat. I also noticed the white lab coats behind him looking at me in disbelief.

"He just came out," a female coat said, "how did he react like that?"

"I don't know," a male one responded as he stepped towards me, "but we need him sedated. If he strains now we'll lose him."

I noticed a hypodermic needle in his hand. As he stepped closer, I kicked out and slid his foot out from under him. He landed hard, but was up fast and jumped back. I scrambled to my feet. I was in a hospital room of some kind, with only my tubular prison, a foot locker, and the lab coats in a room the size of a public restroom. I had no room to work with. I saw one of the coats move and looked at them. There was the one I had cold cocked, a middle aged black mad with glasses I had broken. The one with the needle was an elderly black man who was being hid behind by the female voice. There were 2 other males, young white men who were obviously in good shape.

"What's going on here?" I demanded. "Where am I?"

"Mr. Maxwell, please calm down," the elderly coat replied, "Just calm down and we will explain everything." He raised his hands in a calming manner and stepped towards me.

"Don't!" I shouted. They all looked shocked and stopped before taking a step back. "Who are you people? Why were you trying to drown me?" I looked for something to use as a weapon, but there was nothing. "And who the hell is Maxwell?"

"Wait, you don't remember?" the female voice stepped out from behind the elder coat. She was probably mid 20s, long red hair and glasses.

"Remember what?" I asked. The elder coat stepped forward again. "I said stay back!" I shouted.

"Stop, wait," the redhead said to the others. "He doesn't remember anything. Just like the first guy, he lost his memories while he was under."

"Wait, what?" I asked, "First guy? While I was....?" What's going on? TELL ME!" I roared.

"Please, can I get into that locker there?" the redhead asked, motioning to the foot locker next to where I had been held. She looked at me, and after a moment I realized she was waiting for my permission. I nodded to her. "In this are your personal possessions. There's a video that will explain everything." She kneeled at the front of the locker and opened it. After fishing through some stuff I couldn't see, she came up with something I did recognize. It was a black iPad with familiar logo on the back. It was a shield with a skull on the front and a sword running from the top to the bottom. A memory hit me.

"Lazarus," I whispered.

"Yeah, that's right," the redhead replied. "Project Lazarus. Do you remember anything else from it?"