Awakening

Daemon had been in Cryogenic Stasis for a very long time. He didn't have many memories, only a few depicting scary men in white coats poking and prodding at him, an uncomfortable feeling. One of them liked to talk to him alone, keeping him company when everyone else left for some time. In his memory, he could see a hazy visage talking to him.

"You're a miracle Daemon! Your existence will usher in a new age on a scale never seen before!"

The person would tell him this many times until the day everything went dark. It was a cold day when everybody left in a hurry. Daemon could see their panicked faces through the window of his enclosed bed.

That person he talked to came by him for the last time.

"I'm so sorry Daemon. I wish I could be there to watch you change the entire galaxy but I probably won't be alive by then. I hope you live well Daemon, goodbye"

That was the last he saw of that man, in fact, that was the last he saw of anyone. Once everyone had left he suddenly felt a chill, his bed started to freeze quickly as his arms and legs became unresponsive. It was a horrifying feeling, that despite lasting only a few seconds, scared him. The feeling of your limbs freezing and solidifying as you lose control and everything fading to black left a terrifying scar in his mind.

All he knew from then was that he was asleep for a long time.

Cryogenic freezing usually has a safety time limit of 500 years. Past this, unwanted side-effects can arise. In Daemon's case his body, despite have been stored for millennia, had not changed a single bit, his mind, however, didn't escape this issue.

At some point, Daemon awoke. He was stuck in a subconscious state where he was trapped within his own body and had a slight perception of everything around him. It was like this for many years, where he grew to cope with being alone. His perception grew to be able to cover the entire research base, he could visualize even the tiniest rock out of place within this sanctuary of his.

Eventually, however, his idling days came to an end. A stranger, maybe even a trespasser appeared. Daemon was curious, but also slightly scared if this person found him. Yet before he could even think of what to do--

[Initiation Waking Protocol]

'Waking protocol? Wait, does that mean I'm waking up?!'

The freeze gradually retreated from his body and Daemon could start to feel the sensation on his fingertips. They felt so unnatural.

As he was preoccupied coming to terms with these new sensations, his bed door unexpectedly opened revealing the stranger from before staring at him with his golden eyes.

Surprisingly, the aura the stranger was emitting was actually quite comfortable, and Daemon didn't seem to be scared anymore. He exercised his newfound physical abilities to climb out of his once bed and politely engaged the stranger.

"Hello, I'm Daemon Xane, Nice to meet you!"

The stranger was silent, refusing to respond, instead, he seemed to shift his eyes away from Daemon and observe the surroundings.

Daemon frowned. Since this was the first person he met in a long time, and that person didn't seem to be hostile, he wanted to get to know him.

"There's nothing interesting here anymore. The only interesting thing that happened here in a long time is a failed subject escaping. I'm sort of envious of it you know."

The stranger tracked his eyes back on Daemon frowning. This situation was very unusual and he was still trying to analyze it. He contemplated just running but the building specifically mentioned him 'Commandeering the asset', the asset which he could only assume was this weird kid. He wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't and he didn't feel like turning into a cooked dinner for whatever was lurking down here.

"Let's go outside" The stranger replied and started walking back out.

Daemon followed close behind. His large 6th sense perception had only ever encompassed this building, and exploring made him quite excited.

"What's your name, sir?"

The stranger didn't respond.

Daemon wasn't fazed, he was determined to stick by this stranger's side and see more people again, it had been too long.

They exited the research base back into the cold, lightly lit cavern.

"The specimen is still alive wow! It even grew to such a size"

Daemon could sense the specimen with his incredibly wide sense of perception, it's presence was strong, even oppressive to Daemon.

"You know where it is?" The stranger muttered, he didn't see it so why the hell could this kid?

"Yep, it's around this base at the back, it seems to be feeding on something"

The stranger's grip tightened around his holstered gun, Daemon did miss this detail. The stranger started to walk towards where he claimed it was, unholstering his pistol while Daemon stuck to his back.

Eventually, the base's blue light had completely disappeared and only the light present was being emitted from the strangers' headlamp. As they continued deep gurgles emerged and got louder. They were horrifying sounds that Daemon had never heard before, but he was far too curious at the specimen's growth to understand that danger. The stranger was unaffected as well.

Continuing, the stranger finally caught a glimpse of the creature's body. It was gigantic at over 7 meters tall and 10 meters wide and resembled a giant, brown, slimy blob with several limbs that were similar to tentacles. It had no eyes but had a gigantic circular mouth lined with countless thick rounded teeth.

"It looks like it eats the rocks to get its minerals and energy, how interesting, that's likely why it must have survived this long!" Daemon excited exclaimed. A creature that was able to survive and grow entirely on mineral-rich rocks was actually quite impressive, not-to-mention surviving for thousands of years. Whatever his researchers were researching must have been quite interesting.

The stranger wasn't interested in the marvel that was the creature but was tracking his vision from the blood smeared around the creature's mouth and a small pile of bloody flesh and bones beside it. It almost looked as if the creature left if because it didn't like its taste.

The stranger fumed, his forearms bulging and his hand almost crushing the pistol's grip.

'You fucker, I ain't gonna leave till ur turned into a pile of flesh you monster'

The stranger aimed his pistol with one hand and fired.

BANG BOOM

The gunfire incredibly loud, Daemon slammed his ears shut to make sure they didn't pop. The blast round did what its name indicated, blasted a chunk of the creature away. The creature's massive shriek revered in the cavern, a terribly frightening sound that would shake the knees of any weak-willed person. The stranger and surprising Daemon neither were that person.

One of the creature's tentacles suddenly pounced on the stranger, who swiftly dodged to the right and shot at where the tentacle attached to the rest of the body, severing it.

'Four more rounds' The stranger thought. The monster was huge, and while his blast round took a chunk out if it, he doubted it would be enough to kill if without hitting its vitals.

He proceeded forward while waving his hand to indicate to Daemon not to follow him.

The creature launched three more tentacles in succession at the stranger, who expertly dodged them by rolling to the side and jumping over them. He proceeded closer and aimed his gun at the mouth of the creature, putting three rounds into its mouth to destroy its insides.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

The creature shrieked and shuddered continuously, as if in terrible pain. The stranger stood by, ready to shoot his final round if it tries to attack him again.

The creature, still shrieking, rolls onto its face, revealing a massive tentacle on its back that is now facing above. The stranger braces, but instead of attacking him, it instantly extends to the top of the cavern, grabbing a massive stalactite, a spike formation at the top of the cavern, and uses its whole body to pull it.

The stranger realizing its intentions shoots the massive tentacle base severing half of it. However, it was too late. The stalactite breaks from the roof and falls. In the stranger's eyes, it falls almost slowly as if time itself had slowed down.

'Is this where I die? Fitting, I should die where Reggie did'

The stalactite reached just above the stranger's face when he suddenly felt incredibly light. His vision shifted from the reality he was in into floating in a weightless world of colorful lights so blinding he had to cover his eyes with his arm. It lasted only a second until he instantly reappeared back to reality in mid-air next to Daemon. He fell to his butt and looked around dumbfounded.

"What the hell just happened!" he exclaimed with his mouth still gaping open.

"I couldn't let you die like that mister, I don't even know your name!"