Quoted By:
It's a difficult decision to make. You have no idea what this enemy is or what you're going to do about it. Hell, you don't even know your name. You're not very fond of this wretched little man either, or how insistent he became the moment that you showed weakness. Yet you were chosen to survive when the rest of the world was doomed to perish. Perhaps you were meant to help those who survived. It would be the right thing to do.
“I will save you,” you reply after a moment. The barbarian's face lights up with relief behind his beard, yet you raise a hand to stop him before he gets too excited. “But I need... I need time.” Your skull starts to ache as your understanding of this language gestates inside of it. You find yourself knowing and saying words that he hasn't even said. “I need clothes, tools, my friends.”
“Yer friends?” The savage looks baffled. “Yer the only one 'ere, awakened one. Yer tomb was all aglow with light when I busted in 'ere, all o' the others are dark. I had a look at 'em, there ain't anythin' inside.”
That can't be right. There were other chambers. Unsteadily, you make your way across to one of them – the one that held the sleeper who smiled at you. Where there was once a window, there's now a mass of geometric crystals protruding out of that space, white polyhedral structures fused together in clusters. Other chambers appear to have suffered similar fates – in some cases, the nanite growth was so severe that the doors had burst from the pressure.
You're the only one left. Despite your absent memory, you find yourself saddened by the revelation. You're alone in this primitive, alien world.
“Give me that.” You reach for the barbarian's torch. Thankfully, he relinquishes it without a struggle and you lead the way through the bunker's corridors. You don't know where you're going, but thankfully there are signs to lead the way. They say things like <span class="mu-s">Cryostasis</span>, <span class="mu-s">Observation</span>, <span class="mu-s">Maintenance</span> and <span class="mu-s">Inventory</span>. That last one is what you're after.
Yet with each step you take, your mind begins to piece itself together. You don't remember everything, but a few valuable details return to you.
You recall...
>... access codes for the armoury. Cutting edge weapons and body armour can be found inside – just what you need.
>... memes. Not funny pictures from the Stream, but memetic protocols that will allow you to shape the human mind like clay.
>... how to neurally link yourself to an autonomous drone and where one can be found. You need a companion you can trust.
>... the world before the apocalypse. Your identity and circumstances still elude you, but you now remember the old world.
