Amadeus
Snow. That was the only thing present in the land far north. The
substance filled the surface and air as far as the eye could see and
there was seemingly no end to it. As such, it was only logical that most
people, even those used to harsh einviorments, avoided the frozen
wasteland. Nevertheless, there was a person that braved through the
snowy desert. Dressed in heavy polyester clothing and carrying a
backpack filled with equipment and supplies, the young man walked
onward in spite of the inhospitable weather.
Darius countinued his journey deeper into the snow storm, his feet
thrudging through the watery substance lying on the ground. For most
people, snow was nothing but a nuisance. Water in semi-solid form which
blocked the roads and forced them to clear their yards. But for Darius,
it was one of the most beautiful aspects of nature. Every winter, he
would move his hazlenut eyes to look through the window in hopes of
seeing falling snow. But with each passing year, his moments of joy
were becoming less frequent. Due to global warming, snow was becoming
a rarity, even in areas where in the past it was not out of place for
there to be a metre of it. After being forced to live through another
winter with nearly no snowfall, it seemed like visiting the land of
eternal snow was the perfect location for his next journey abroad. For
while poets saw winter and all its elements as symbols of death, Darius
saw them as symbols of rebirth.
But he was not thinking of that as he was considering his situation at
the time. Despite his rather stubborn effort, the heavy weather was
quickly sapping his strength and he needed rest. However, the strong
wind was preventing him from placing a tent. As such, he searched for
a good place to dig a shelter and rest for the day.
Due to the heavy snowfall and his own deep thoughts, Darius did not see
that he was approaching an object and almost smashed into it. Once he
realised its presence and examined it, he was stunned. Standing in the
middle of nowhere was a minor concrete structure. It was difficult to
see from afar due to its simplistic design and lairs of snow upon it,
but the young man was certain it was there. He was perplexed. He was
certain there was no station in the polar desert as he was well informed
about the area. His curiosity overcame his fatigue as he
noticed the entrance in the form of a metallic door. Carefully
approaching it, he grabbed the handle with his gloved hand and gently
pressed it. As the doors gave way, he entered the building.
If the sheer existance of the complex was not suprising enough, Darius
was even more shocked by its content. The entrance room was filled with
computers and technological contraptions he had never seen before. The
only table in the room was filled with research material and papers.
Exploring the enclosed space with his eyes, the explorer thought he had
indeed discovered a research station that he was unaware of. However,
none of the devices were working and the room seemed abandonded.
"Hello?" he asked loudly as he closed the door behind him. But other
then the whistling sound of the wind he heard before the door silenced
it, there was no response. Moving deeper into the room, his attention
was caught by a large tube-like device that layed silently in the
corner. Stretching from it was a platform with comfortable cushions. It
looked like a rather strange bed. This reminded Darius of how fatigued
he felt. Although he hated doing so without permission, he decided to
rest until the inhabitants of the building returned. He hoped they would
understand he was tired. Taking off his heavy backpack and placing it
next to the wall, the young man collapsed onto the platform without
taking off his clothing. He closed his eyes and was ready to fall asleep
instantly.
Suddenly, all the devices in the room came alive. Before the young man
could coprehend what happened, the platform, along with Darius, was
pulled into the tube-like machine and closed behind it. As blue neonic
lights turned on within the small chamber, the young man banged the
walls and shouted for help. But it was to no avail as the unknown
procedure countinued. Darius suddenly felt a cold sensation within his
lungs. Without realising it, his brain began to function in a slower
pace and he was banging the walls almost entirely by instinct. A few
moments later, his fruitless endeavor ceased and darkness overcame him.
**********
Numbness. That is what Darius felt when he had returned to his senses.
As his body was slowly returning to full function, his ears were reached
by the sound of a mechanical moving. A nearby voice spoke:"He is alive
and regaining consciousness."
Strangely, it sounded quite static, as if it was coming from a radio.
Opening his eyes, he was immediatly blinded by powerful light. As he
rose his hand to defend himself from it, he realised his whole body
felt heavy. Suddenly, the light was shifted, allowing him to see things
more clearly. He was in a room, which he remembered was the entrance
room of the facility he had found. Standing next to him was a pair of
black-dressed people who wore unusual gas masks on their faces and
held strange flashlights. Looking
at the shape of their bodies, which was evident due to the synthetic
design of their clothing, he realised they were a man and a woman. Both
of them looked at him through the dark lenses on their masks. Suddenly,
the female figure spoke to him: "Who are you? What is your name?"
As Darius rose himself into a sitting position, the woman countinued to
ask the same question in diffrent dialects while the man examined him
with a strange device and commented how his lifesigns were stable. As
he became fully aware of his senses, he realised that he was soakingly
wet. Looking at the woman, who had just spoken in one of the Chinese
dialects, he slowly replied:"I...I understood you the first time. My...
my name is...Darius Phoenix..."
"Ah, he understands English. That should make things simpler," commented
the unknown man as he stopped examining Darius and looked at him. "Do
you know where you are?"
"Not...not exactly," replied the young man as he attempted to think
clearly."I was exploring this polar desert...and...looking for a good
place to make a shelter when I....when I found this building. What..
what happened?"
"You were placed in a cryonic sleep. An error in our scaners accidently
examined this location. That is how we discovered this building. Do you
have any idea who placed you into the chamber?"
"No. I...I was just so tired that I lied down and then suddenly all the
devices went off and I was...pulled into the machine. Last thing I
remember was banging from the inside and shouting for help," came the
reply a lot more clearly.
"I see. Mister Phoenix, I am going to ask you an important question and
I need you to think of the answer clearly," spoke the man again in a
slow and polite manner. "What year is it?"
Darius looked at him, perplexed at the question:"Em...it is 2008. You
remember that, do you not?"
The pair moved their heads to look at each other while the explored
switched his gaze from one to another, not understanding why they did
not answer and wondering if the question was some sort of a unusual
joke. As both of them turned their attention towards him again, the
woman slowly replied:"Mr.Phoenix, it was 2008 when you entered cryonic
sleep. The current year...is 2508."
"What?" Darius asked, quite certain he did not hear clearly."
"The current year is 2508. You have been in the chamber for half of the
millennium."
The young man looked at the two, obviously incapable of understanding
anything. Was this some sort of a twisted joke? But then again, why
would they go deep into a polar desert just to make a prank? He
remembered that people are placed into a cryonic sleep in order to be
revived in the future. Was it possible...that they were telling the
truth?"
As he sat there in disbelief, the black-dressed pair grabbed him on the
sides and carried him towards the door which was open. His heart froze
as he realised the full weight of the words the woman told him. His
home, his family, his friends, his career...everything that was a part
of his life was now gone. As he was taken outside, Darius being
completely unaware of the calm conditions and the sun high in the sky,
the fact finnaly sank into him. The world he had lived and known is long
gone...and nothing would ever be the same.
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