Chapter 1: Hard Reset

Chapter 1 Hard Reset

As I awoke a feeling of vertigo hit me, it felt like either a large rock or small boulder.  Then cognizance started. Next I began to feel a sensation annoyingly similar to having a foot fall asleep except in this instance it was spread around my entire body.

After a few moments of this I had an epiphany. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not stupid, however In the present circumstances such a thought is instead of par for the course, it is more a novel and revolutionary idea. So being the innovator I am,  opening my eyes the sight that awaited me was a little bit terrifying. A blood encrusted operating room.  The room stunk of dried blood plus the ever welcome smell of rubbing alcohol. The good news was that although I seemed to be in a hospital operating room, I did not feel anything wrong with me.

In the act of sitting up a small torrent of information hit my beleaguered consciousness. Little unimportant tidbits but lots of them. I’ll give an example; my name  Jake Embry. That and a lot of irrelevant information most of it in the field of particle physics for some reason.  I ruminated about why the first things to be brought to the front of my mind would be something so fundamentally esoteric. Perhaps as a sort of acid test for my brain.

I looked down at myself I was wearing a faded hospital gown with the main thing of interest being a strange device attached to my left forearm. The damned thing was made of a sturdy metal. A large black and it seemed blue screen on the top of the device displayed the word (INITIALIZING…). “ Well shit”  I said out loud.

It seemed that my habit of saying my thoughts out loud came back with a vengeance. I heard a Whirring noise concurrent with a synthesized Voice “ Subject Z-34 is conscious *pause* Subject is agitated commence sedation protocols” . My first thought was is that a fuckin’ robot? Secondly I wasn't agitated until whoever this is said they were going to sedate me. I frantically searched the room for something I could use to defend myself. quickly my eyes settled on a lead pipe  that was laying on the grimy floor.

I went over and picked the pipe up. “Feels like 8 pounds.”  Said out loud by me.

“Subject talks to self. Note added for additional psychological evaluation” The voice says again.

I respond in  the eloquent way I am known for. “ That's hypocritical as shit!” My voice is the very paragon of pissed off.

I hid myself behind the door waiting for what's his face to appear.  The robot... did I just say robot?  The automaton stepped through the doorway vindicating my current position.  I saw that the thing looked top heavy therefore one sloppily done kick later the robot was on the floor trying its hardest to get back up. I took the opportunity to tactically abuse the robot with the pipe hitting anything that looked sensitive.

The robot was rendered non functioning in short order.  I stood up and caught my breath because beating metal creatures to death is a decent workout.

---===*===---

Leaving the immediate scene seemed like a prudent idea. Pipe in hand, I walked into the hallway. The previous decrepit feeling washing over me. The hallway extended about 10ft. There was a perpendicular hallway that extended outward on both ways. The side on my right was an unlocked doors  I walked into the room, in it was a mirror and bed. I guessed this was a bedroom, the pictures of people in frames supported this conclusion. I sauntered over to the mirror and seeing an opportunity took a look at myself. The figure looking back at me was of moderate height and average build.  My blonde hair was a mess; my face had a little bit of stubble on it.  After a little bit of deserved narcissism I looked at the closet. I had never seen myself that way before now, almost a grown male.

I moved close to the knob of the closet and pulled it open. Inside rested a set of orange clothing with the name Icarus emblazoned upon them.  On the breast pocket of the shirt was the name of the owner of the utilitarian orange jumpsuit. The name in question was JOHNSON “Had to be the most generic name in the universe.” Upon uttering these words I thought to myself, “Fuck it. I’ll put it on; can’t be worse than what I’m wearing now,”  I thought in a matter-of-fact tone.

I was lucky to find out that me and this johnson person wore basically the same sized clothing.  Whilst putting on the clothing, I had a moment to think:  “Ok, I must be in an experimental facility: hence the crazy robots,” I ruminated.  “On another note...  why would you name a facility Icarus?” I pondered. “Even this insane amnesiac remembers fucking middle school mythology.”  When I finally finished  putting on the orange shirt and khakis, I found a dresser in the closet. It had a pair of wool, bleached white socks. Upon removing the sock from the dresser, I felt an immediate amount of mass settled within the bottom of their soles. Reaching inside of the socks, I felt the metallic yet warm silhouette of ammunition, kept warm inside the confines of these peculiar white pieces of cloth.

The idea of having bullets stayed present within my mind as I placed them on top of the dresser, moving the socks onto my feet. The warmth was near instantaneous, the concrete flooring having previously kept my feet within their cold embrace.

After studying the bullets, I stashed them in my pocket. Apparently the bullets were 10mm. Further futile searching resulted in uncovering a footlocker under a pile of dirty clothing. Inside was a pair of military steel toed boots, a 10mm pistol and two loaded magazines. A synthetic leather holster for the pistol and two weird injection needles, also present in this stack of odds and ends. I pocketed the syringes, put on the boots, and affixed the holster to my pants. I exited the room; a majority of the feelings of fear and anxiety having been released from my psyche.

Next on the agenda was the hunt for food and water. Figuring out where I lie in this peculiar realm was secondary although equally as important.

---===*===---

I searched a few more rooms within the facility. Returning to the operating room where I had awoken, I found nothing more than a bottle of water and a few bandages. My mental torpor was broken by a beeping coming from the device on my forearm.  The display told me it was ready to... activate?  “Why not give it a try?”  I responded dryly. Upon activation of the queer device, my vision blurred for a moment. A Heads Up Display was projected directly into my vision.  Holy fucking shit, this thing must be directly interfacing with my brain and central nervous system. A recollection came into my mind. A thought about how “awesome” it would be to have a computer interface in my mind. Conversely when such a hookup is actually established with the added bonus of being  given no warning that it would happen. Ambivalence was the prevalent attitude towards my new found enhancement.

When I looked at the device now it showed three main tabs Stats,Items,Data.  OK maybe on second thought a pip-boy(what I now figured out was the name of the device) is pretty cool. The Pip-boy displayed my health, I wondered how it knew that it must quantify subconscious sensory impulses.  I flipped it to the stats tab then onto the skills tab? As was made exceedingly apparent by the GUI, Science was really my forte; as was the Firearms skill along with Explosives.

As I moved the knob right once again a new flashing light opened up on the Data tab. “I’ll examine that later.” When I saw my perks I Stared dumbstruck at the screen

Agility Implant- +1 to Agility

Spineless- Having No spine has some advantages. Chest cannot be crippled

+1 Damage Threshold

+1 Strength

Strength Implant- +1 to strength

Mad Scientist- +10 science +10 Explosives +10 Medicine

Automatic dislike from all factions except Enclave, Steel Rangers and followers of the apocalypse.

“Why Did These Assholes replace my body parts?”

  I slowly reached around and touched my back it felt the same as last time I felt my spine through my skin. Which was somewhere back in the hazy past.

The thought of having a part of my body replaced without my consent was horrifying. In the best possible move for my future mental health I suppressed my feelings of violation. I switched to the Quests sub-tab.Contained within in it was the Quest Named:

Hard Reset- Find out about your new augmentations. COMPLETED

End of chapter one

Perk Added

Rapid Reload

All of your weapon reloads are 25% faster than normal.

Tag Skills-  Guns, Explosives, and Science