Awakening

A crackle, a hiss. These are the first things to reach my awareness. Complete darkness shrouds my vision, though it is several seconds before I realize that I should be able to see. A pressure hits me suddenly with another hiss, and soon afterward a cacophony of sounds strike my ears. Only a few moments pass before they die down, and I realize that I must have been in absolute silence, before. Suddenly weight hits me, and as my feet touch the ground I crumple to it, my legs weaker than I ever remember them being. It is only then that I realize something even more startling than anything having happened thusfar: I do not remember anything before the last fifteen seconds. Vague memories of skills and knowledge, but nothing more. I'm shaking, suddenly. I'm not certain why until sensation returns enough for me to feel a chill; a chill than runs straight to my bones. I gasp, filling my lungs with the first breath of air in ages; though, I'm not certain how I know this, besides the dull ache in my chest. I can feel that I have no clothing on, but in light of my situation, this seems like a very unimportant side note.

Still blind, my fingertips and ears provide my only conduits into discovering the world around me; all I can feel are cold, perforations. Distant synapses spark, and I come to the conclusion that I am semi-laying upon a steel grate, the gaps wide enough for my slender fingers to fit through, but only just. It quickly becomes uncomfortable to remain kneeling upon, but without sight, and my quivering body still too weak to stand, I am forced to reveal myself, if I was ever hidden to begin with. "H-Hello?" My voice cracks and quakes, and I am immediately revolted by the sound, though lacking a cultural background I am unsure why. After a polite pause, as if to make sure I am finished speaking, a voice speaks in reply;

"Ah, so you are awake." The voice was female, and yet whatever it was, it sounded more mechanical than anything. The sound assaults my ears. "I must admit that I was rather afraid that you would not." I recognize now that the sounds are coming from all around. An intercom or something, then. I pulled myself into a seated position, legs sprawled out before me in a rather indecent position, considering my nakedness. It was easier than I thought it would be; it was almost as if I were going to float off before gravity reasserted itself, and eased me back down. My vision was still dead, but it was comforting enough that now it was becoming more of a lighter blur rather than completely black. I turn my eyes toward the brightest source of light, blinking blearily a few times. I speak again after a few moments, my voice still quaking, with a wary tone;

"Wh-wh-what d-do you m-m-mean? Y-you th-thought I was d-d-dead?" I was noticeably cringing at the sound of my voice, still unsure as to why it bothered me so much. The voice promptly responded this time, with a reassuring quality to it; "No, I would have known if you were dead. I was not sure if your brain was responsive, however." Despite the reassuring tone, the cold nature of the words chilled me significantly more than the actual cold in my body. It must have shown on my expression, as the woman quickly continued; "I am glad that you're awake, you know. After all, you are my friend." Even without sight, I blinked a few times. This woman? My friend?

"I'm embarrassed to ask, but who are you?" My voice was quickly steadying, as my heartbeat picked up and my sluggish blood began to pump through my body. I could feel my hair tickling the back of my neck as I slowly turned my head left-and-right, trying to discern my surroundings. The voice was silent for a long while, and I was about to speak up again when finally she said; "...You don't remember me? Hm. What do you remember?" The voice was somehow even more distant, now. But something tugged at me, I could hear carefully disguised sadness cloaked behind a natually clinical nature.

Now it was my turn to be silent. My silence stretched on though, as I probed my empty mind. My unseen companion was silent throughout the duration, merely watching me as I struggled to come up with something to tell the her. "My name is Nastasha. Nastasha Romanov." The long silence continued before the voice replied; "Is... that all?" The hesitation in her voice denoted incredulity, but I could hear the dismay in it as well. "No, I also know... the sound of your voice when you are sad." I could feel my eyes recovering, I could now see distinct patterns of light; actual shapes were still blurred though. The woman spoke again after a few seconds with a neutral tone; "I am not capable of sadness. Put your mind at ease. Is there a problem with your eyes? It has been several minutes, they should have recovered by now."

I push myself to my feet slowly, my body still shaking just slightly with the effort. "No, I can see, but it's all blurry. Do I need to wear glasses?" There was a short pause, and then; "No, you should not need to. Your vision was always near-perfect... For a human." Her voice registed clear surprise, this time. But it was me who felt shocked. "Are you not human?" There was a sudden laughter coming from all around me, perfectly phonetic and spaced out, but sounded more alive than any sentence spoken so far. "No, I am not a human. I am the ship's AI."

With just that sentence, a whirlwind of information spun through my mind. 'I'm on a ship, and I'm assuming that I'm in space, which makes sense, on account of how light I am. So I'm on a space ship, and apparently my only friend at the moment is a computer. How can I use this?' I blinked; where had that last thought come from? Perhaps a phantom of who I once was. It was as interesting as it was disturbing. Would I be able to regain what I apparently once was? And if I could, would I even want to? I sound like a terrible person. This prompts me to ask, "Who am I? And where am I?" I assumed that she would know what I meant.

"You are on the ship LNS Mariana. We are in deep space, far outside the communication range of what is known, or once known as the Sol System. You are the current ranking commander aboard this ship, and before the incident, you were the Lieutenant Admiral of the fleet; however, pending a mental health diagnostic, your rank in such a regard shall be suspended, until it can be determined that you are not completely batshit crazy." The frank words caused me to laugh suddenly, as it was so different than the attitude of the woman--or rather, the AI--that it caught me off guard. The smile clung to my lips for several minutes, even while the computer tried to usher me; "I know it must be difficult with your damaged vision, but could I get you to try and walk forward into the next room? It is directly ahead, and do not worry, I will make sure that you do not fall."

Glad to see that the speaker seemed to be feeling better, I walked forward with a sort of tentative confidence; I was sure I would not run into anything, but not so sure I would not fall from my own weakness. By the time I made it to the next room, which I determined by the change in light intensity and patterns, my legs had already grown much stronger. "There is an observation table to your left. Please lie down upon it." My first instinct was to believe in her and lie down, but intellectually I was not sure if I was ready to be tested upon just ten to fifteen minutes after waking up after who knows how long of sleep. Either way, I moved over to it and sat down on the edge of it. "Fine, but do not put me out. I feel I've probably slept enough the past..."

Trailing off, I scooched back on to the table, twisting around and laying my nude form in an easily accessible position. "Besides that, I would like to ask some questions, if you do not mind." The other responded, and from the corner of my eye I saw a flurry of color that I presumed was the speaker, as it moved in time with her words; "As you wish, I will leave you awake; just be aware that I will be directing some very uncomfortable tasks. As for any queries you have, certainly. What use would I be if I did not?" I had to chuckle, lightly, but I felt she was serious. "As far as I can tell, you have been of great value to me already. Even before I was awake." There was silence for a long period.

"I am going to immobilize you. Do not be alarmed." Mere moments later, a sharp prick enters my inner elbow, and I feel a fluid being pumped inside of me. Perhaps I was a little alarmed but by the point I could react, the drug had already taken effect. I could not even wiggle my toes after the first two seconds, and by then the barrage of testing had already begun. Perhaps the injection had paralyzed me, but it had not taken away my ability to feel. Pricks and pokes everywhere, inside and out. It was as if she were trying to map my whole body by pricking it with pins. Occasionally something would probe a random orifice, and that violation was even more uncomfortable than everything else. And throughout it all, something fiddling with my eyes. From what I could guess was a retinal scan, to flashes of light directly into my pupil. A classic optometric pair of goggles, which quickly flipped through a variety of settings until for just a brief moment, a flash of clarity shown through. It was only long enough to tell that the right setting had been found before the goggles flashed away and a mechanical set of hands were placing a pair of glasses over my eyes.

I can not move my head, but I can still move my eyes, which dart around in an attempt to see what the machine is doing to me. "Glasses?" I ask, strained but incredulous. "Surely there is better technology available?" The woman, who I can now see moving across a large screen, speaks again; "Surely you have better questions than that." Now that I can see her, I can more easily tell her emotions. She is teasing me, I can even see a slight smirk touching her face.

I can see now that she is clearly not human, whether or not she actually has a physical body. I can only see her portrait, but I can tell from her narrow shoulders that she appears rather slender, and frail. Greyish skin laced with multicolored vains that ran from fingers to face, and orange eyes that glowed like the sun shown inside wide eyes. The rainbow color lacing her skin continued into certain streaks of her hair, though I was unable to tell the significance, or if it were simply a cosmetic choice. Her nails were also luminescent, red to violet from one hand to the other. The colors were not static, moving as she did, which it turned out was a lot. Smiling weakly, as even my lips were hard to move, I say, still straining; "I suppose you are right. How long have I been ... away?"

The testing continued as the woman spoke, a look on her face that said she was very into it, and perhaps even enjoying it a little bit. "Well, an approximation would be, based on our positioning, perhaps a million years. I admit that I myself have not been awake the entire time, perhaps just the last half of that." The response struck a blow to me, and I found that it was a good thing that I was restrained by the paralytic agent. I find that I can ignore the pain of the tests as my mind dwells on the reality of my situation. Anyone I knew is likely dead at this point, which feels depressing, even if I do not remember them anymore. The pain must show on my face, as she flies into motion as she speaks to comfort me.

"I am sorry. I should not have dropped that on you so blasé. I had no thought as to what pain it might cause you. Not everyone that you once knew is dead; indead there is a sustainable population of humans aboard this ship. Many of them know you. Or once did. I can only assume that most if not all have suffered the same damages as you." Strangely enough, this was enough to comfort me. I know now that at least I am not the last human alive. I close my eyes for a moment to concentrate, and ask my next question. "Why did you wait so long to wake me?"

She piped up immediately, perhaps to take my mind off the last question, perhaps because it was an easy one. "Well, like I said, I was out myself for a long time, and when I did come online, the ship itself was in massive need of repairs. Repairs that I quite simply did not have the supplies for. I've been drifting from system to system, collecting what I needed to bring the ship to a life-supporting state; not to mention find the medical supplies to fix you and whoever else we happen to need."

I wasn't disturbed by her calculated attitude toward me and the rest of humanity. Having a bunch of civilians running around a derelict ship was bad for business. I was beginning to get used to the sharp thoughts that cut through the foggy haze on my mind. "That must have taken a lot of effort. And such precision." Suddenly I found I could move again, and took that as permission to stand. Slipping off the table, I lightly touch the ground, and move to cover myself with my arms. It's not embarrassment, just modesty.

"It's kept me going." She said mutedly. I looked toward the screen, staring at the woman who seemed to be gesturing for me to move. I followed her gesture, walking out of the previous room into a lengthy corridor. The AI's presense follows me through the hall. "We need to get you some appropriate clothing." I was left to my own thoughts, at that point. She seemed to recognize my need to collect what thoughts I could. I could feel one poking at the back of my head, tugging at me. I tugged back. "It seems like you've got everything under control. What do you need me for?"

The AI was silent. I had come to take this as a sign of ... processing. She is calculating. A slow, soft noise emanated from the screen. It sounded like a cross between an error message and a sigh. "To be honest, I was expecting you to be yourself. For conflict resolution, of course." Her clarification is misleading. But I didn't have anything to go on, so I simply said; "Conflict resolution. What possible conflicts do you encounter this deep in space?"

For the second time, the AI let out a phonetic laugh, but this time it was on a deeper octave, and much slower. Almost derisive. "You would be surprised." I felt it echoing in my own head, filling me with dread.