Chapter 2: The Awakening

Memphis Ruins

In a hidden bunker, where a laboratory works twenty meters deep in the heart of a mountain, a young man, barely out of adolescence, lies captive in an incubator capsule. Suddenly the computer that kept him sleeping begins to activate. Everything seems to be perfectly coordinated so that at that moment the artifact is opened in perfect silence. Only intense blinding light activity is displayed at times. After ten seconds, the young man wakes up from his lethargy, sits up and asks himself:

"Where I am? Who I am? And what am I doing here?" In his mind there are no memories, only those that are installed after his awakening. However, a feeling of "deja vu" worries him.

Bewildered in the midst of all these machines, he stands up without difficulty, walks a few steps and when he turns around, the central nucleus of the computer stands in front of him, speaking to him:

"Hi John, how did you wake up?"

He, surprised, thinks: "John called me. How can this machine know my name, and who I am? Why can't I remember anything?

He then looks for a way to clarify his doubts and asks:

"How do you know who I am? What is this place? What am I doing here and why do n't I remember anything? "The machine does not respond immediately, it seems that it takes its time to analyze the situation. Then speak.

"Your name is John Roswell and you are twenty-one years old." It is currently the year 2050. This place was built by your own father, the great scientist Max Roswell, and served to keep you safe during the war. To achieve this goal it was necessary to erase your memory, especially to protect yourself from your past. The young man immediately reacts.

"What do you know about my past? Answer me!"

"Sorry John, that information is not in my database".

Increasingly confused, the young man wonders why his father did not incorporate that information. The inability to remember makes him uneasy. He walks a few steps, then stops and asks again:

"What about the war? What do you know about the war?"

"The only thing I know is that about ten years ago, a conflict between two human groups arose because of a new discovery capable of transforming all of society, leaving the world in ruins. Your father, who held a hierarchical position, decided to hide you in this secret laboratory to protect your life. Even without understanding the situation and disturbed by the unknown", John continues

"And what's outside? What do I have to deal with? Is the war still going on? ... I don't understand the reason why I'm here, nor what is intended of me! Should I go out into the world and clarify my doubts by myself?"

"Excuse me John, I am here to help you in any way I can, that is my duty, but I repeat that the information that I can provide you is the one in my database".

As he speaks, John fixes his gaze on the center of the computer as if he is talking to a person.

"Okay, although you are a machine, I can sense how you feel. I will try to calm my anxiety and thus clarify one at a time the doubts that torment me and I suppose that the first thing will be to meet my father so that he can explain this extremely strange situation to me; so I'll have to look it up as soon as possible ..."

"Exactly! Your father left orders that you look for him when you woke up. Note, this is a clue that I can provide to facilitate your search: his photograph."

A large hologram comes out of the center of the computer showing the image of the scientist. A man with a beard and long, gray hair, a white complexion and piercing green eyes, looks at him from the photograph.

"Its location is unknown -explains the machine -because it lives traveling from city to city, trying to expand its scientific knowledge. Travel aboard the great ship called: Sky Breaker, which is capable of crossing the highest skies that surround the earth's crust."

No matter how hard he tries to understand, in John's mind the void of memories leaves blank spaces that prevent him from coherently aligning the events he is experiencing.

"I have a question! How do you know so much about my father? I know he was the one who built you, but how can you know what he 's doing right now, and those things you just told me about? "

"By building me, your father was able to fuse what you mistakenly call soul, with my central nucleus; that way we are connected at all times. It also controls my flow of information, allowing me what to know and what not to know".

"You mean that he is aware of my awakening?"

"Exactly, possibly you already know it," says the machine, as it receives the young man's gaze and verifies that his eyes are as green as Max Roswell's ... He actually looks a lot like him!"

"Well, if you tell me how to get out of here, I must go. I don't want to wait any longer. I will try to know my origin and the reason for my presence in this place. But the most important thing is to meet my father. I suppose you will show me the shortest way to reach him."

"John, wait! I understand your anxiety but you must be careful with the world you are going to face. After the war and its consequences, it is full of people who do more harm than good; such is the case of the children of war, or mutant genomes, and other of the many creatures affected, product of radiation, that have joined in groups. Before you leave you must be prepared to face what awaits you. And there is something else. To find your father's ship you must go to the ruins of the city of Neo Genova, which is currently the capital of the world. Once there, you will look for a man named Rigan; He is an old friend of your father who will surely help you find him."

Although the boy wants to reconnect with his father to investigate his past, he does not understand the reason for the order that he "look for him when he wakes up." Perhaps it was a family reunion, but a mystery is stirring in his heart that for now is impossible to decipher. At times he has the feeling of living a life that is not his, a life on loan. Suddenly he thinks that although the machine claims to know his father, the most logical thing is that he also has a mother; but he remembered that he had proposed to clarify his doubts one by one so as not to go crazy.

The machine continues to explain how to get to Rigan's inn, gives him the virtual map that will serve as a guide, and warns him; - Be very careful with the world that you are going to find outside; As I warned you before, the war left serious consequences; wherever you walk you will meet unscrupulous people for whom good no longer exists; Before you leave you must be prepared to face what awaits you.

"Children of war, genomes, creatures who are they all? He asks increasingly confused."

"Action and consequence. Most of them are murderers who don't care about anything other than taking over the world to shape it in their own way. But everything must happen in due time, John. I understand your curiosity and your cravings, but I recommend you not to rush. If you are willing to go out and face that world, you need to train properly so as not to suffer the consequences of the hostility and violence that you will find out there. That door that opens to your right will take you to the virtual training room. Just trust and let yourself be guided."

Inside that cave several meters underground, there are not many alternatives that you can choose, so follow the instructions of the machine.