Whole New World
Chapter One
Awakening

Dano was bored, so bored he decided that he would go back to his dorm room and start drinking, even though it was only Tuesday. Just to liven things up. He thought as he stared blankly at the wall of his lab booth. He snapped out of his trance and looked around the room.

The concrete floor shined a bit in the florescent light. The small desks that dominated the middle of the large lab also had a sheen to them, as well as the seats attached to them. A couple kids sat around doing write-ups when one of them noticed Dano looking in his general direction. He waved and smiled, and Dano responded in kind.

His name was Tim, but everyone called him Sunshine because of his long blond hair. He was wearing a light red and black checkered flannel shirt over a white Budweiser t-shirt. Old, dirty blue jeans covered him waist down, and his legs ended in brown work boots. He was essentially wearing the ‘country boy’ uniform.

“You like what you see?” Tim asked with a large amount of sarcasm. Dano smiled, for a duel of sarcasm had begun.

“You look positively radiant Sunshine.”

Dano believed he was a funny guy, but only because of his uncle had taught him about the world of sarcasm early. Through high school he had developed the art until he could duke it out with the big dogs, but his uncle always got the best of him.

Tim pretended to look flattered, putting an hand over his mouth and looked down in fake embarrassment.

“You're not so bad yourself.” He responded.

Dano winked and the two students laughed. Tim went back to his paper work, and Dano went back to his staring into space.

What am I doing again? Dano was sitting on an old, large table made out of crappy wood that rested in the middle of a large booth. Three plywood walls rose nine feet into the air and ducts ran above, where the fourth wall would be there was nothing, intentionally left open to the rest of the classroom. Six students called this booth their workspace for their respective lab days, but only three were assigned to this day, and Dano was one of them. The other two were off enjoying lunch while he had to wait.

Dano turned his head to look at the rear wall of the booth, and his memory returned. His lab project was done, and he was waiting for the teacher to check it. Dano turned his head back forward, and looked at his watch. It was a little after noon, and Dano was happy that at least two thirds of his excruciating six hour lab was finished.

Dano stared at his watch, he remembered when his charismatic, adventurous uncle gave it to him when he graduated high school. ‘The straps have flexible solar panels in them’ Dano’s uncle told him, ‘so you will never need batteries, and it connects to GPS satellites so the time and date are always correct.’ Got to love modern technology huh. Dano turned his wrist and saw the digital compass that surrounded the time and date move to show him which way was north.

Dano was knocked out of his momentary entertainment by an annoyed cough. He looked up to see a short man in clean blue jeans and a maroon polo that was of obvious Italian decent. His short black hair was dense enough to stop a bullet, and his piercing green eyes could make a freshman cringe with fear.

“You said you had a project that needed to be checked Masset?”

His accent was from New York City, and the stocky man looked like he could knock over the city with a single large fist, or could cover it in his busy black eyebrows.

“Yes I do Mr. Denoto.” responded Dano, a bit of relief in his voice, he had been waiting for a half an hour.

Mr. D nodded and entered the booth, and Dano slid off of the table and followed. He waited behind the short professor as he checked over the wires, boxes and devices that made up his latest lab project.

“Looks good Masset, you have a real knack for electrical.”

“Thanks.” Dano responded, he already knew he was good.

His father had been an electrician since Dano was born, and he took him on internships when Dano showed signs of following his father into the trade. Everything he knew had come from his father from years of teaching.

“Alright, just flip the breaker and we can see if it works.”

Dano moved to the service panel to the left of his lab project and his part of the booth and opened the panel door. A small voice in the back of his head told him about safety protocol that Dano promptly ignored. He squared his shoulders right in front of the panel, and pushed the breaker into the on position.

The world flashed a bright white, and a sudden extreme heat blasted into Dano’s face and chest. He was launched into the air and landed a good five feet away, knocking over some desks in the process. Dano couldn’t comprehend what was happening, he could barely think. Every nerve on his body screamed in searing pain. Every move he made sent an even more powerful surge of pain into his brain. He tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn’t respond, like they were welded shut. Dano opened his mouth, sending even more pain into his skull, and tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a loud, deep, painful scream. One that animals make, not human beings. Dano heard voices yelling and screaming to get help or to get a fire extinguisher or to turn off the power as he withered in extreme pain. Dano finally stopped squirming as he slipped into unconsciousness, and to the relief of the students around him the blood curdling screaming ceased.

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Joseph sat in the waiting room of the small local hospital his son had been sent to. His seat was a cheap, foam cushioned, plastic chair, and was one of two dozen in the small room. Crappy grey carpet decorated the floor, and the walls were plain white. Behind the receptionists desk sat a young woman, probably an intern. She sat there humming a tune as she filled out forms, and seemed oblivious to Joseph’s mental state. This hospital was the closest to the college, and apparently Daniel needed help fast.

Joseph didn’t get any details from the college when they called him on the job, only that his son Daniel was hurt. After telling his boss about the call he let him go early, and Joseph made the long two hour trip from upstate New York down into Delaware County. Joseph feared the worse as he sped along the highway. He had lost his wife in a car accident when Daniel was eight, and now his son was in the hospital from an unknown accident. He was speeding the entire trip, and luckily the police didn’t see him.

Joseph was battling himself as he waited, logic versus emotion, so deeply that he never heard the doctor enter the waiting room.

“Mr. Masset?” Joseph jumped and looked at the doctor with a blank expression. “We need to talk, come into my office.”

Joseph felt his heart drop, but fought back the negative thoughts.

The doctor was middle aged, and his brown hair was just starting to recede. He wore a white lab coat over a baby blue button up shirt and khaki pants. He spoke cool and calm as he addressed Joseph, as if there wasn’t a problem at all.

The two men walked out of the small waiting room, passed the receptionist desk and down some hallways. The rest of the hospital was white, the walls, the floor tiles, the ceiling, and it made Joseph feel uneasy. He didn’t like the whole sterile feeling. He preferred the whole ‘lived in’ feel of his home and office.

After a few minutes of navigating the, what appeared to be, endless hallways of the local hospital the doctor opened a door that had the name tag ‘Dr. Scheck’ on it and let Joseph into his office.

The room was small and had the same white on white color scheme of the hospital, but had a couple book shelves made out of wood that rested against the wall to the left, and a large, expensive looking desk sat in the middle of the room. The books that rested on the shelves were all different colors, widths and heights. The boost of color made Joseph a little less uneasy about the color scheme of the place. Two small chairs that were exactly the same as the ones in the waiting room sat in front of the desk, and Joseph was surprised to see a man already seated in one of them.

The man was older than Joseph and Dr. Scheck, and had many wrinkles on his pale white face. Thick glasses rested on his nose, and were held in place by a loose black strap around his head. His receding grey hair was well groomed, and he wore a black and white suit that looked twice as expensive as the desk.

Once the man saw Joseph he stood up and offered his hand.

“Hello Mr. Masset, my name is Dr. Brockway.”

Joseph took the man’s hand and looked at Dr. Scheck with a questioning look. The doctor ignored Joseph and found a seat behind his desk. As he sat Brockway let go of Joseph’s hand and took his seat, Joseph followed the two doctor’s leads and took a seat in the only remaining chair. Dr. Scheck coughed and opened a manila folder, skimming it before looking up at Joseph.

“I’m afraid to tell you that your son, Daniel, is very hurt Mr. Masset.” The doctor’s voice was as calm as it was in the waiting room, his tone almost cold.

“What happened?” Joseph was crumbling inside, he was giving it his all not to break down.

“There was an accident in his lab at college, I believe it is called an ‘arc flash’ in the electrical trade.”

The dams broke. Tears began to flow, he had seen an arc flash before, and watched it blow a concrete wall into oblivion. The image of his son being seared like a steak as an arc of plasma and melted metal thousands of degrees hot blew him away.

“He had very severe third degree burns on his chest, face and neck, and his chances of survival are very slim.” The doctor’s voice stayed the same tone, cold.

Joseph didn’t hold back. He sobbed and his face fell into his hands, all he had was his son, and he was now dying. Joseph felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Dr. Brockway consoling him. Doctor Scheck just looked on with somewhat sympathetic eyes as the man vented his grief into his hands.

After a few minutes of crying Joseph finally pulled himself together enough to speak, albeit slowly.

“What can we do?”

It was Dr. Brockway’s turn to speak.

“I represent a medical company which has developed a machine that can help save burn victims sentenced to a slow death, like your son.”

Joseph pulled his head out of his hands, sat up and looked the old man in the face, his brown eyes dull from age.

“What is it?”

Without showing any emotion Dr. Brockway continued.

“In lay-man terms it is like a pod that is filled with a liquid that helps repair the skin and muscle damage. The problem is it has never been used on a human before.”

Joseph could almost feel the hook dig into him. The catch was huge, his only son, a test subject.

“You want to use my son as a test subject?” rage slowly building in the father.

Dr. Brockway’s brow furrowed in thought.

“No, it has already been tested, we just need a human to use it to see if it actually works on us, and not just lab rats.” His voice was also cold, as if the old man only cared about securing his subject for his new machine.

Joseph’s mind was racing with emotions and thoughts. He wished his wife was here, so she could help him through, but he was alone, and frankly had no choice.

“How much does it cost?”

Brockway smiled.

“Since your son would be doing us a favor by being the first human this gel heals, it will be free.”

Joseph was a tad shocked at the ‘generosity’, but his brain was quick to remind him of the fake emotion behind the gesture. Joseph phased out and descended into the battle that was erupting in his mind.

This is too good to be true, his logic stated. But your son can be saved, his emotion retorted. But at what cost? This could fail and we would still lose him, logic trying its best to win the battle. He can be saved. The final blow had been struck. Joseph left his mind and looked at Brockway dead in the face.

“You have a deal.”

The only thing Dano felt was cold wetness on every nerve ending. His mind raced as he tried to find out where he was after he had regained consciousness. Where am I, what’s going on, what happened. Dano tried to open his eyes, but they refused to open. He tried harder, but didn’t get anywhere. It felt like a film of something was covering them, keeping them shut. He mentally cursed his eyes then began his ‘wake up after being unconscious’ checklist, one he had used before, after waking up without remembering the night before. He concentrated on his limbs, and they twitched from the stimuli. Well, at least I’m in one piece. Dano felt a mask over his mouth and nose, what felt like a cold breeze was smacking his lips. He was on a respirator and surrounded by what felt like hard water. What is going on.

Suddenly a muffled voice came from his left breaking his train of thought, it sounded feminine. Dano tried to turn towards the voice, but found it difficult to move. The cold wetness was holding him in place. The voice came again, and Dano struggled even harder, to no avail. He gave up after a few minutes, feeling weak for some reason. The voice came a third time accompanied by the sound of draining liquid. Dano felt his body descend as whatever was holding him disappeared. He felt cold metal touch his back, and he reflexively jumped to get off of it, but smashed his head onto something. It sounded metallic. Dano laid back down and tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn’t budge.

A hissing sound filled Dano’s ears and soon light was assaulting his closed eyes. He sat up, his body aching as he did. Dano grunted as his abs tried their best to life his weight. Once sitting Dano raised his hands to his eyes and began to rub them, a crust broke and fell into his lap, and he forced his eyes wide open. Dano wished he didn’t, the light gave him a headache as he quickly closed his eyes again. Slowly he opened one eye at a time, and let them adjust to the light. Once he was able to open both of his eyes fully he scanned his surroundings as he took his mask off.

The first thing he noticed was the bright wall of light assaulting him from his left. Dano shielded his eyes with a hand and looked, only to find that it was actually a window and not a bank of lights. He slowly turned his head to the right, taking in as much as he could. The walls were painted white from the ceiling to about three feet off the ground. There was a thin strip of wood that ran parallel to the floor, and below it was some cheap wall paper with butterflies on it. To the far right was another window, but blinds covered most of it, so Dano couldn’t see the hallway. At least he thought it was a hallway. To the left of the covered window was the door, a light brown wood finish covered it. Underneath the window sat a fake wood table with nothing on top of it. A chair made out of the same materiel rested between Dano and the table. To his immediate right sat a dresser where Dano assumed his thing were.

Speaking of things, where are my clothes. Dano looked down at his lower body, and was shocked at what he saw. He was pretty much skin and bone. Dano had always had a little pudge that covered his gut and thighs, but now he could see his hip bones jutting out from under his skin. Dano looked at his arms and saw the same thing, skin and bones. I must have been out a long time.

Dano didn’t know what was going on, and his mind was trying feebly to put things together. Ok, white walls with crappy wallpaper, definitely a hospital. Maybe. I’m sitting naked in a… what am I sitting in? He looked over the edge of his ‘bed’ to see a stainless steel finish on the outside that matched the color on the inside. What looked like a small computer panel rested on a thin podium to the left of the tank. I’m in a steel coffin. Great. Dano turned around and looked at the top portion of his ‘coffin’. It had receded into the wall behind him. Okay I’m in a hospital, naked, in a steel coffin. Dano sighed and tried to verbally curse his luck, but all that came out was ”blugha”. And I forgot how to speak, today just gets better and better.

Sick of sitting in his coffin Dano tried to pick himself up with his arms, but was unable to lift himself. After straining for a few seconds Dano gave up. He was breathing kind of heavy, like he just lifted something that weighed more than a few tons. Dano tried again, but this time he pulled his legs under him and lifted with all of his appendages. He stood after grunting and groaning like was lifting a bus. He was shaky on his feet, and could barely shift his weight without his legs starting to hurt. Dano sighed again and mentally cursed his bad luck.

Dano just stood for a few minutes, trying to get the hang of the whole upright thing. He took a small step, and felt pretty good about himself. He took another and was feeling even better, but then he reached the most daunting thing he had ever faced. The wall that barely reached his knee at the foot of his bed. Dano gave the little stainless wall a hard look, attempting to intimidate it. He picked up his foot and stepped over, but what he failed to realize was that the bed was raised by a couple feet. Dano fell face first out of the tank and onto the cold hard floor. Luckily his arms moved fast enough to slow him down so he didn’t break anything.

Dano just laid there. He didn't know how long, but he was comfy. He never knew tile floors could be so soft. His legs were aching from his attempts to walk, and Dano was content to let them finish complaining before getting up. Eventually he picked himself off the ground, noting it was much easier to get up when you’re on your front than when you’re on your back.

Standing once again Dano shuffled to his dresser and opened the top drawer. Inside were his keys, wallet, cell phone, a couple wrist bands, a small necklace and his watch. He closed the drawer, saving those things for later. The next drawer down contained medial gowns, and the one after that contained a set of clothes that Dano could actually see himself wearing. He pulled out and put on some boxer briefs, a grey t-shirt that read ‘Sarcasm is only one of the services I offer’, blue jeans, a pair of black socks and a light grey sweat-shirt without anything on it.

Dano got dressed slowly, making sure not to lose his balance. Everything fit except for the jeans, they were too wide for his boney body. Dano searched the drawer for a belt, but there wasn’t any. He opened the drawer with the medical gowns and pulled a thin white plastic belt out of the loops that wrapped around the waist of the light blue synthetic clothing, and ran the thin belt through his belt loops.

With his pants secure Dano moved on to his accessories. He slid the yellow Lance Armstrong and an thick orange bracelet which read ‘shit just got real’ in big black letters onto his right wrist. Next came his keys into his right pocket, his wallet into his back right pocket and his cell phone into his left pocket. Dano put the cheap gold chain on next, and picked up his watch. As he picked it up he looked it over, and found that the face was blank. All it needs is some light. He thought to himself as he shuffled over to the window.

His light sensitivity had faded, but Dano was stopped in his tracks by a reflection. It wasn’t his, at least he didn’t think it was his. The face was pale white and very boney. It’s blue eyes looked like they had receded into its skull, and had huge bags underneath them. Dano raised a hand, and a hand rose up next to the face. It was his face. Dano’s mind went into panic mode for the second time today. I look like a zombie… Dano quickly shook off his surprise, and moved closer to the window.

For the third time today Dano was dropped kicked in the brain. Sprawled out in front of him was a city, but it didn’t look like one. The sky scrapers were tilted and collapsing, streets were filled with rubble and craters, and nature was beginning to retake what was once hers. Cars laid ruined or flipped over on the streets, but that wasn’t the worst thing. The worst thing was the fact that there was no movement. None. Not even a cat or a dog. Dano’s mind was once again trying to grasp the situation, but was getting nowhere fast. The only coherent thought that it managed to produce was, I have died and been transported into the Fallout Universe.

hey bronies
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