1 Waking Up

*Bubble sounds*

"Initializing awakening sequence"

*ZZZZAP*

"OWWWW"

"Subject 241, awakening successful, beginning stasis pod drainage."

*Bubble noise intensifies*

*Grunting*

"Where the hell am I?"

Looking at his hands, he noticed they were no longer the hands of an old man.

"Welcome, Subject 241, you have awakened. We shall now start a few tests to verify your mobility. Please walk to the entrance of the room."

He started panicking, realizing the voice he kept hearing was from inside his head.

"WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING IN MY HEAD!!!"

"Our appellation is Automated Combat Conscience. We would advise the host not to yell, as we are not a physical being, and that might appear as signs of mental instability."

Calming down, the man tried remembering the most basic of knowledge. Starting with his name.

Slowly, his memories started coming back to him.

His name was Karl Hampton, CEO of Hampton Technologies. He was eighty-five years old (or at least he used to be) and had a son.

Coming back to things at hand, Karl heard another 'notification' in his head.

"Mobility tests have yet to be accomplished. We advise the host to complete said tests, as problems with the body should be fixed quickly."

Without further ado, Karl walked to the door before him after exiting the tubular-shaped glass he was standing in.

"No anomalies detected within the body. Please proceed with exiting the room for further results."

Stopping his steps, Karl asked his new brain buddy, "Why am I in this young body? I'm eighty-five, yet I don't feel a day older than twenty."

"Host body age calculated at twenty years, two months and seven days."

"Wow, that's precise. Now, how did I even end up here?"

"Host has acquired a modified body as per orders of project God of War Super Soldiers. The project is in the infancy stages and has yet to succeed."

"Project what now? Wait, I remember now. I was getting old and was approached for a project about conscience transfer. But I don't remember anything about the War Super Soldiers thingy you just said."

"The host has been assigned a combat-ready body per project regulations. Please complete physical tests for further information on body capabilities."

Meanwhile, Karl was jogging his memories in his mind, hellbent on remembering exactly what had happened.

He remembered starting to be out of time (you aren't getting any younger at eighty-five years old) and being approached by a man offering a solution.

"Hello, senior citizen. My name is Ezekiel Rineback, and I'm here to offer you the deal of your life!

"How would you like to get back those years of youth you have long lost and be able to live life again without losing all that knowledge in your noggin?

"Then we at Phoenix Co. have what you need! With our new program, Project Eternity, we plan to take the world's economic leaders and give them life anew.

"The process is simple. We copy your consciousness into our servers, take a sample of your DNA, and reconstruct it to be stronger and healthier. Then we grow you a new body up to 20 years old (the age of perfection, body-wise) while you sleep in a program without ever knowing you were gone.

"So what do you say, good sir? Interested?"

As the CEO of a large company, Karl remembered finding his sales pitch 'top-notch.' It had spiked his interest immediately, and he had signed the paperwork without even reading it, thinking, "What could happen? I'm bound to die, anyway."

The next day, he went to Phoenix Co.'s lab in the Alps (go figure why the mountains) and underwent the procedure.

"Alright, mister Hampton, you're set to go. Today is the sixth of August, 2156, so we will wait for your body to grow and awaken you twenty years from now. So have a great sleep and we'll see you in 2176. May you rise from your ashes strong and wise."

And now here he was. With that in mind, he walked to the door to see how the world had changed in twenty years.

He opened the door, walked into the hallway, and found it pretty empty.

"Hello?!" he yelled, hoping to have an answer.

"System advises the host that no other life forms have been detected nearby."

"Hmmm, nifty. What else can you tell me about my location, System?"

"The System's detection radius is one hundred meters. For further readings, the host will need to move further away."

He thought to himself, 'OK' and started walking to his left. After walking for about fifty meters, he stopped in front of a sign on the wall.

The sign gave directions for multiple departments with scientific names, making him believe he was still in the lab. But what drew his attention was the words 'surveillance room' to his right in the next corridor.

Having met no one so far, he decided to walk to that room, hoping to find someone there. Picking up his pace, he got there pretty fast, but having received no new notification from his brain buddy, he wondered if he'd find anyone there.

Stopping in front of the door, he pondered.

"Eh, what do I have to lose?"

Slowly pushing on the door, he entered a room with many screens, flickering black and white. Only one screen had something on it, and it seemed like a message set on a loop.

The sound was off, so the message was unclear. Turning on the sound, Karl watched the message from the beginning.

"This is an emergency broadcast to all Phoenix Co. staff. We are ordering the emergency protocol 'Promised Land' and, as of right now, evacuating all facilities around the planet. You now have one month to gather and assemble all your valuables at the indicated warp point. I repeat, the last warping will be on the 31st of October, 2265. Good luck, and may we all rise from the ashes strong and wise."

"System... What date are we today..."

"Today is the 14th of June, 2273."

"WHAAAAT !!!!!!!??????"