HURT 

By Karl O'Connor /  KarlOConnor

Imagine being told something so surreal that you would have no option other than to believe it. Imagine being informed that you are Humanity's last hope. Everything rests on your shoulders. Could you accept such a thing? Would you rise to the challenge? Or crumble where you stand? Could there be any acceptance, especially when your own senses deceive you?

***

Uh ... my head hurts ... What is that sound? It's an alarm of sorts or at least I presume it to be, and hell ... it is loud ... turn it off ... someone please turn it off. Where is it? Where am I? I can't see ... I can't see ... anything. Dark ... everything is dark. I've only just woke ... that's it, I've been sleeping. Was I knocked unconscious?

Got to ... uh ... open my eyes ... work damn it ... everything is ... blurry. That sound ... it is hurting my head. Got to turn it ... off. Can't see much ... blink ... my eyes are cakey ... dry ... seconds pass and sight ... improves. Where the hell am I? Am I dead?

No, not dead ... then why am I in a casket? It's not a casket. A tubular resting place ... metallic, not wooden and it is open. There is a clear panel on that open door or lid or whatever it is, and if it were closed with me inside ... then my head would be visible to anyone who may be nearby.

It, this lid with the clear head sized panel, has opened outward, remaining attached to the rest of this ... contraption. I had been encapsulated prior to now ... why? To be observed? That panel, glass, or plexiglass, or whatever it is, would indeed allow for my head to be seen ... What is all this?

Am I sick? Was I sick? I don't know ... my head hurts ... my sight had taken a moment to come to me ... why? Is this some sort of life prolonging chamber or something of the likes? Nah, can't be, such a thought is ridiculous ... probably not half as ridiculous as what I am probably about to discover.

The lighting here is alternating ... brightness, when it comes, is strong ... pure white ... wait ... how long have I been sleeping? Is this why my head hurts? Is this why my eyes are what they have been? What the hell? My body ... it too is taking time to ... adjust ... adjust to what? I don't know how or why I have come to be in the position I am in? The memory just isn't there ... no memory is there ... What is happening?

That lighting though ... it is to and froing from that pure white to a black or dark red ... spending a little longer in the white. That noise ... it needs to stop.

An alarm system of sorts ... is this what woke me? Woke me from what? A dream ... a coma ... something else? It soon abates and I am left in silence and bright white light. Thank God for that. Yeah, the sound, the dark and the red have all subsided ... leaving the bright white to remain.

'Hello ...' I try to say but nothing comes, no words ... nothing.

Am I some sort of creation or something, a clone perhaps? ... I need to stop having silly thoughts or questions. It takes or took my sight a few seconds to get going ... perhaps I just need a moment or two and the rest will all just ... come flooding back ... but if it doesn't? ... just give it a moment.

'Hel ...' I cough ... my throat ... '... hello.'

'Welcome back commander ...' a disembodied voice speaks.

The voice sounds female ... it sounds ... artificial. ... Commander? My fingers ... I have them moving. I can turn my head.

'Who said that? Where are you?'

'I am right here commander, right where I always am ...'

I elevate myself slightly. This seriously hurts. I don't see anyone. This place ... it is a room ... some sort of hybrid ... living quarters come hospital space ... is it computerized? Hell ... I think it is ...

'Who are you? Are you artificial?'

'Yes commander ...'

'Why are you addressing me as commander? Am I artificial?'

'No. You are Commander James Terrence Anderson of the United Earth Alliance ...'

'The United what? ...'

'The United Earth Alliance and I am Zora, the main operating system for this vessel ...'

'Wait ... what? ... Vessel? ... Zora ... where are we?'

'Eighty-five light years from Earth, soon to be approaching the Andromeda System ...'

'What?'

'Commander, I believe you are experiencing memory loss due to cryo-sleep, your sudden awakening. It is not recommended to wake so quickly but protocol has been overridden ...'

'Why?'

'Lack of time. The vessel ... this vessel ... is fully automated and is capable of running under its own cognition for another hundred and twenty years as is but ...'

'... but what?'

'An unforeseen problem has arisen. A virus of unknown origin has been detected ...'

'And the problem?'

'I am incapable of eradicating it. In approximately forty-eight hours ... it will begin to override all current programming and I will no longer be in control of this vessel ... we will begin to lose people from then on, probably slowly at first, that will quicken at an exponential rate.'

'Is there anything that can be done about this?'

'This is why you were woken, commander. You, or someone else aboard the vessel must do what I cannot, find the origin of the virus and destroy it ...'

'And if this is not accomplished ... then what?'

'It will be the end of Humanity or at least our corner ... the most important corner ... we will be destroyed.'

'Zora, explain our corner of Humanity? What are we so important?'

'We are the lead ship in finding a new home for Humanity. There are follow on ships ... some which can continue on if we fail though chances for success greatly rely on us ...'

'What can I do?'

'Find the virus or wake someone who can?'

'I have no memory before waking so ...'

'Yes, you do Commander. While in cryo-sleep, your mind plus all the minds of those aboard the ship, were interconnected and were living in an alternate reality. This is the best way to preserve Humanity on such a long trip. Of course, this was no more than a hypotenuse. To ensure that cryo-sleep is survived over a potential number of centuries, it was deemed that it was necessary to keep the human mind occupied ... otherwise on revival there may not be anything to revive ... This is why you currently have memory loss ... waking should be done over days ... yours was as instant as it gets. Your mind is in transition. I believe you will fully regain your memories though as you are aware ... time is against us.'

'Yeah, eh, no ... we can't wait for me to regain my memories to see if I have the knowledge to do what needs to be done. Is there anything you can recommend, Zora?'

'Yes. I can hook you back up to and put you directly back into the collective reality without sending you back into complete cryo-sleep. You will need to interact with others and do so quickly, find those who can be best tasked with finding the virus. I will then wake those of whom you suggest, and we will get to work ...'

'What if they too struggle to remember when they wake?'

'It is a risk we need to take for it is our only hope.'

'Zora, how many people do we have aboard this vessel?'

As you ask this question, you manage to move to a sitting position. This room you are in, most definitely is one where technology rules. It smells ... smells ... disinfected. Odd how the spoken virus is not one which could be eradicated through cleanliness.

'Four hundred, eighty-three thousand, twelve hundred and nine, including yourself. '

'What? All in cryo-sleep?'

'Yes, forty-two are located in rooms like this one, all command level personnel, and the rest are located in facilities equipped with multiple backup systems.'

A nearby monitor displays multitudes of capsules just like the one you woke in.

'Alright ... no time to waste then so. I have no option other than to take you at your word. Send me back in, Zora.'

***

Can you imagine waking to such a thing? What would you make of it? If truth is told, then is Humanity more or less at an end? Or would any possibility of a fight for the future exist? What do you think?