Helios Fighter

Chapter Two

Undercooked

To find that I was not dead almost came as a morbid shock. That shock disappeared when I woke up with a pain in my arm. At first it was a prick, but waking fully turned that prick into a burning stab.

"Gah!" I winced. "Gheez!"

"Rise and shine," giggled a soft voice to my right. I turned to see a nurse pulling a needle from my arm. "You woke up fast."

"It's...a... reflex," I groaned. "Where...am I?" The nurse's eyes glowed yellow as if to answer, which for some reason triggered some feeling of familiarity. I shook it off, thinking that it was just my imagination. Then, she left the room; the very white...quiet...safe...room. I sighed with relief. I thought back to how this started, and winced at the phantom pain in my leg. Sitting up, I pulled my pant leg up to find that the bullet holes had been stitched and bandaged. I sighed in frustration. Not even because I was shot. I was absolutely upset because everything I worked on and for was gone. My multiple flash drives, all of which contained hundreds of gigabytes of data, all backed up numerous times. All of it, gone. But despite all of this felt something strange. And sad. For the first time in... weeks, I was able to relax. Working on my solar project... Trying to prevent this from happening...I didn't notice the stress until I was lying motionless on my back in that room. With my project destroyed and no hope of attending the Solar Fair, I had nothing I had to crunch time for, which strangely lifted so much weight off of me. Perhaps, it wasn't meant to be... I needed a break... and... despite being passed out just a second ago...I needed... to... ssssllllleeeeepppp........

I don't know how long I slept for, but when I woke up, I was still on my back, but in a different room. Well... "room" wasn't the best word. It was more like a glass case with living accommodations. I sat up. I was almost sorry I woke up; the bed was so comfortable. It was clear that someone wanted me awake. At the edge of my bed was a new set of clothes, and at the foot of the bed was a new set of boots. I donned the new clothes; a grey sweatshirt, new blue jeans, a pair of white gloves, my boots and.... I stuffed my orange cap into my pocket. I looked around at my room. There was a door in front of my bed. I walked toward it and opened it. I walked outside. I eat not expecting what I saw: a highway of bustling people. Directly adjacent to my room was another one that looked exactly like mine. Looking further, I saw that there were rows of these rooms, sort of like a colony. Everyone was wearing the same outfit that I was. Some looked like they had urgent business, while others looked like they had no care in the world. I started walking around trying to understand this place but realized that I'd never get anywhere if I didn't talk to someone. I'd nearly gotten lost in that maze of rooms, but it looked like people were flowing from one central point, so I followed it back for a few minutes. Eventually, I came to an open space, in the middle of which was what I thought to be a receptionist's desk. I continued walking towards it. I found a lady, who looked about four years older than I was busy with her keyboard.

"Uh... Excuse me," I said.

"Hi," she said very cheerfully. "I don't think I've seen you around here, yet. You need help with something?"

"Uh, yeah. I kinda just..."

"'Woke up in a glass box?'"

"Yeah."

"Heh, no wonder I haven't seen you around. Let's see... What's your name?" I became uneasy. She looked up at me and laughed. "It's not a trap. Just need to find your superior." Looking at her face, I saw something I wasn't used to: genuine concern and interest. My last day at home, along with my time working on my solar project had been so grueling that that kind of expression was almost foreign to me. "Sir?" Her cheeriness was had a twinge of sympathetic fear. Her concern made me drop my guard.

"Helios."

"Mmm-kay, let's see here... Ah. There we go–" she stopped short. Her face went pale, and I became concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Uumm.... what's your... last... name?" the receptionist asked shakily.

"Radiatose," I said almost as shaky as she was. "Why?" She got up, grabbed my wrist and started pulling me away from the desk.

"Come on!"

"Not sure if this is appropri-ahhh!!–hey!" I yanked my arm free. "What's going on?"

"You're a month early!"

"What!?"

"I don't know, but he told me to bring anyone who was ahead of schedule!"

"Wait, who did?"

"Your superior!" She started pulling me again. She led me to an elevator and pushed me inside.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Just... go up. Go to the top. Press the blue button.... you...just...you'll need the supplies."

"You seemed afraid of...something. Are... you... Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes!" I was startled. "Sorry...just... go... Please?" In response to her urgency, I nodded and pushed the top button, which by my estimation was approximately sixty floors higher than the Empire state building. The door closed and the elevator started moving. There was a blue button next to the floor buttons. I pressed it and a compartment to my right opened. Inside was a... a... a semiautomatic rifle? I picked it up and held it like I would a video game rifle. The elevator continued to rise. The whole time, I kept wondering what I would need it for. If this was for a training exercise, at least I had an idea about why I was here. Then, I had a thought. If this was some type of training, wouldn't they give this to me during or after training? I found myself aiming the gun at the doors, looking down its sight. The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Immediately, I tensed. Someone on the outside yelled "Open Fire!" I pulled the trigger and everything that happened after I never could have predicted.