Ch. 2: Carolin & Containment Zone

When he opened his eyes again, the sky above was gray, hazy, and unfamiliar. A woman stood over him, her sharp blue eyes narrowing.

“You alive?” she asked, giving him a small shake.

Leo groaned, slowly sitting up. “What… happened?” as he looks around…

“You tell me.” She glanced around at the remains of those robots. “What were you doing out here, alone? You don't look like a soldier… were you looking for something…?”

He blinked, looking at the wreckage. “I… don’t know. Did you… save me? From those robots…”

She scoffed. “You were already lying in the middle of a dozen scrap heaps when I got here, so I don't think I saved you.”

Leo looked down, confused. He remembered the robots. The heat. The force. But the memory of how it happened was gone—lost in a fog. He forgot, he was the one to destroy those robots. In an instant nonetheless.

“I woke up inside a building, I don't know where I am, or where this is. I remember I got hit by a truck then I somehow got here,” he explained.

“Everything was ruined. I walked around, trying to find someone. I… I don’t know how I got here. I have nowhere to go. And I'm hungry, I saw something move at the distance so I rushed towards it thinking it was someone. But when I got there it was these weapon wielding robots, that tried to kill me.”

The woman folded her arms, clearly skeptical. “You don't know how you got here, this robots were gonna kill you. But you're alive, You sound insane.”

“I might be, but I'm telling the truth” Leo said.

She sighed. “Name’s Carolin. I’m taking you to the Containment Zone ZE. There we'll ask more about this. Follow me.”

—

(Few minutes earlier, from Carolin's perspective)

Carolin was wondering outside the Containment Zone, trying to find enemy robots to fight. She was bored from her usual training she wanted something more exiting. And fighting actual robots seemed more fun to her, instead of training bots they have.

“Ughh… I did sneak out alone from the Containment Zone to fight robots but I hope I don't encounter too many of them” Carolin thought while walking.

B A A A A M . . .

An explosion went off in the distance, Carolin caught off guard. Trying to identify the explosion looked where it came from.

“What was that… it sounded like an explosion. Is there people out here flighting? Or was it something else”

She located the explosion area, and found scraps of robots everywhere. She wondered what happened. She looked around more. She saw someone unconscious, she tried to wake him up.

It was Leo.

---

Elsewhere in the ruins, gunfire echoed.

Soldiers in black armor battled another group of rogue machines. Their leader, a grizzled man named Conrad, barked orders through the static of his comms unit.

“Keep firing, these seems to be the last of them…” Conrad said out loud encouraging his soldiers.

As the last wave of robots was defeated, a soldier entered the tower bearing the message that crackled through his earpiece.

“Sir, Carolin has returned… and she brought someone with her. She says it's someone not from here or any other containment zone.”

Conrad raised an eyebrow. “Someone with her…? Whose not from here..?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take me there,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

---

At Containment Zone ZE’s underground headquarters, Carolin slid a small can of food toward Leo.

“Eat,” she said. “You look like hell.”

Leo nodded gratefully.

The door behind them opened with a hiss. Conrad walked in, his expression hard but eyes calculating.

“I told you not to go scouting alone,” he told Carolin sharply.

“I would’ve finished my mission if some dumbass hadn’t stumbled across me,” she shot back, glancing at Leo.

Conrad exhaled. “I’m glad you’re safe. I thought next time I saw you, it’d be in a body bag. These machines aren’t a joke, Carolin. They’ll kill anything human. I have told you many times to not go alone.”

Carolin rolled her eyes and walked out without another word.

Conrad turned to Leo and sat beside him. He offered a calm but unnerving smile, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Well, buddy, we’ve got a lot to ask you.”

---

Minutes later, Leo was led into an interrogation room—white walls, steel table, and a man who looked like he’d seen the end of the world a hundred times.

Conrad leaned forward. “What is your name? Where are you from? What were you doing outside the Containment Zone?”

Leo hesitated, then decided there was no point in lying.

“My name is Leo, I came from another world,” he said softly. “I died trying to save a little girl from a truck. Then I woke up… here. I know it's hard to believe, but I'm telling the truth.”

Conrad raised an eyebrow. “You, from another world. You died and got here. Are you messing with us. Or did you hit your head kid.”

In the next room, separated by one-way glass, a woman watched silently—Saylin, one of the base’s key advisors. She stepped in before the questioning could get more aggressive.

“Leave it there, Leo’s doesn't seem to be a threat,” she said firmly. “Even if his story sounds… impossible, people process trauma in strange ways. Maybe he’s just confused.” She looked at Leo kindly. “You don’t have to hide anything. Just tell us why you were outside the zone.”

Leo repeated his story. “I woke up inside a ruined building. I walked for hours. Then Carolin found me.” He paused. “I really did die. I remember it clearly. I don’t know how I got here.”

Conrad leaned back, arms crossed. For a moment, the room was quiet. “Alright,” the commander said at last. “We’re done here—for now.” as he left the room while saying, “You can take it from here then”

---

Later, Saylin showed Leo a small room—clean, simple, but warm compared to the cold ruins outside.

“This is yours for now,” she said.

On the way, they passed Carolin waiting by a corridor wall. Saylin smiled.

“Carolin, would you mind showing Leo around the Containment Zone? Well maybe he just lost his memories, which might return when getting familiar”

“No I am completely sane…” Leo said quietly.

Carolin sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Seriously? do I have to.”

Saylin gave her a look.

Carolin shrugged. “Fine. Come on, dumbass. Let’s get this over with.”

Leo followed her down the corridor, unaware that his arrival had already started to shift the balance in a world long forgotten by hope.