Monday, April 29, 2013

Query? [Pt. 1]

I groan as I sit up, gripping my aching head.  What happened?  I can't seem to remember anything.  Somehow, I know that this is nothing new, that I often wake up groggy and confused.  It will all come back to me soon.

Dragging myself up to my feet, I move across the floor and settle down into the only chair in the small room, facing the computer terminal.  The screen glows blue in front of me.

QUERY?

"What happened to me last night?" I type in, and hit enter.

UNKNOWN VARIABLE: "NIGHT".  SENSORS INDICATE THAT YOU EXPERIENCED A PERIOD OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS LASTING SEVEN HOURS AND FORTY EIGHT MINUTES.

QUERY?

The computer didn't recognize night?  "What time is it?" I type.

THIRTY-NINE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY HOURS HAVE PASSED SINCE TIME ZERO.

QUERY?

This is even more confusing.  I do a bit of rough calculation in my head, and come up with slightly over four and a half years.  I put my hands on the keyboard again.  "Define "time zero"."

TIME ZERO IS DESIGNATED AS THE MOMENT WHEN THIS CHAMBER WAS SEALED AND SCENARIO FOURTEEN WAS ACTIVATED.

QUERY?

Chamber sealed?  I stare around, suddenly realizing that, although there is the outline of a door on the far wall, it was definitely shut, and the handle appears to have retracted into the door itself.  I get up and try pushing on it, just to be certain, but it won't even budge.  I return to the console.  "Define "scenario fourteen"," I put in.

SCENARIO FOURTEEN ENCOMPASSES ALL MAJOR EVENTS CREATING A BIOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE OF LEVEL FOUR OR HIGHER.  PROTECTED USERS ARE SEALED IN PERSONAL CHAMBERS UNTIL THREAT LEVELS HAVE DECREASED BELOW LEVEL TWO.  DUE TO UNKNOWN TIME FRAMES, PROTECTED USERS ARE MAINTAINED AT CURRENT ENTROPIC LEVELS THROUGH NANOBOT REJUVENATION.

QUERY?

I still don't understand quite what was happening, but I can feel a deep pit opening in my stomach, a rising wave of horror threatening to engulf me.

"What happened to trigger scenario fourteen?"

WARNING: MISSING DATA.  SUMMARY COMPILED FROM BEST FIT ANALYSIS OF DATA.  SELF-REPLICATING BIOLOGICAL FORM OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN TARGETED CARBON BONDS OF DNA, CAUSING COMPLETE BIOLOGICAL EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT.

QUERY?

To be continued....

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