52A/N - I've recently finished playing Horizon Zero Dawn for the first time, and within a few hours of starting, I was already thinking 'Wonder what would happen and how people would react if someone was frozen for a thousand years, woke up, and joined Aloy on her quest?' And that led to this story.
If you are wondering, I call most of my characters in games I play 'Shepard' as a homage to the Commander in Mass Effect.
If you read stories elsewhere, you will find this story uploaded under different usernames, but it's the same author. :-)
The greatest minds will always have that one golden idea that will change the course of history and humanity. And when that idea turns into a plan, and that plan becomes reality, the greatest minds know that you cannot just rely on that one pan, no matter how solid it may be. It is best to have a back up. And a back up to the back up. And so on and so forth…
With the looming extinction on the horizon, Elisabet Sobeck had that back up plan. Project Zero Dawn and Operation: Enduring Victory were released to the public as being the plans to save humanity from the Faro Plague. Only those at the very top, working on the Zero Dawn, knew the cold, logical truth. Humanity at that moment couldn't be saved, at least not yet, but the idea of humanity would endure.
But humans were nothing if not creative, ambitious and perhaps wishful. And while Elisabet believed in Zero Dawn and that humanity would one day again rise to walk the Earth, it's best if there was a back-up plan, just in case. But it was a plan, just like Zero Dawn, that required the utmost secrecy. The technology was still in its infancy. There was a good chance those selected might not survive, but considering what the future was for anyone alive, she figured the thousands of souls selected would likely be willing to give this a shot.
"Are you sure we should be throwing resources at this, Doctor?" General Herres asked.
As she programmed alongside her fellow scientists, she kept an eye on the news. It was wall to wall propaganda as humanity faced down the robots. Vast swathes of humanity had already been cut down and slaughtered. Pockets of resistance across the globe still battled to the last, but the last major confrontations would be fought on the American continent. The two oceans had been crossed. The plague had arrived and she knew could not be stopped.
Every victory was greeted as if the tide was on the verge of being stopped and possibly even turned. Every soldier was told of Zero Dawn, though not the truth. They simply couldn't be told. It was a necessary lie. "If something was to go wrong, General, and I do mean if, then we must have some sort of back-up. Besides, Ted is paying for it all. We have the people required, the greatest minds working on all of this. It's the knowhow of making it work."
"I thought the technology wasn't capable of sustaining human life?"
"We're working on it twenty-four-seven like everything else, General. I believe it will work. In addition to that, I've already set out the conditions of when they should be woken up and the selection process involved. It's about sustaining life more than anything else, General. Fit, young, healthy men and women only."
Before Herres could answer, another special news report appeared on the screen nearby. 'Victory in New York on Christmas Day!' the headline stated, before the screen changed to a reporter on the scene.
"Unbelievable scenes here fifty kilometres west of the smoking ruins of New York City. Brave members of the 9th Mechanised Response Brigade have just eliminated a Titan that was threatening to overrun their entire position." The camera panned to see a lone tank appearing through the smoke. "I thought there would be more…" the reporter stated.
The tank pulled up and a bloodied soldier appeared through the hatch. "Get me a fuckin' medic over here. And there are more coming behind me, all of them utterly fuckin' banged up!"
Elisabet couldn't help smirk. "Well, I know exactly where he's from," she muttered.
The report approached the soldier as he pulled himself up and out of the hatch, before leaning back in to drag out one of his fellow soldiers. "Soldier, soldier! Were you involved in the battle?"
The soldier cast the reporter with a weary glance. "What does it fuckin' look like I was doing? Driving around in fuckin' circles, trying to get a fuckin' picture?" Back on the ground, he helped lift his comrade, whose face was covered in blood, nursing what looked like numerous other wounds. "Get out of the fuckin' way! My men need attention."
"Who got in the final shot? Who took it down?"
"Don't fuckin' know, don't fuckin' care. All that matters is that I have no more shells to fire and the fuckin' thing is down, and we took a whole lot of those fuckin' Faro bots with it."
"What's your name, soldier?"
The soldier groaned, clearly annoyed by the questions. She didn't blame him as he clearly had other priorities. "Shepard. Lieutenant James Shepard. Now kindly fuck off and go film something or someone else. I've got men that need attention, and others that need putting in the fuckin' ground because of those fuckin' things."
As the lieutenant walked off with one of his men towards the nearest field tent, the reporter turned back to the camera. "The brave men and women of the United States Army continue their fight against the enemy. Operation: Enduring Victory, and the prospect of the completion of Project Zero Dawn, will result in our inevitable victory over the Faro Plague. But it is thanks to the actions of soldiers such as Lieutenant Shepard and his crew that we are holding back the swarm and will soon push them back towards the sea and beyond, leading to their final destruction."
Elisabet muted the screen. "General? You hear that?"
"I did."
"Men and women like him. We're going to need leaders in the future. I don't mean politicians. I mean people who are just going to get shit done, pardon my French."
"Let me pull up his details. Give me a second." She barely waited five before she was flooded with information as well. "James Shepard, Lieutenant of the Ninth Mechanised Response Brigade," General Herres stated, "Volunteered and enlisted the moment we made the call. Admitted he wanted to get into tanks if he was going to fight robots. Hmmm. Numerous commendations for bravery already. Single-handedly, with his crew, held off a swarm that was decimating his unit, and would have led to the collapse of his sector." He paused again. "That wasn't his first Titan either."
"How many?" she asked.
"He's been involved, one way or another, with taking down four."
"So he's good?"
"Plenty of brave men and woman out there, Doctor. But I'm guessing you liked what you saw?"
"To be honest, I liked his attitude. No nonsense. We'll need people like that in the future, should the worst happen."
"If you want him, I can make the call. Not sure he'll be happy leaving his unit nor the fight, but if he's the sort of man you want, I'll get him."
She played the video back and watched him. It was the eyes. Not just the colour, which were blue. It was the focus and determination in them. And he clearly had talent, guts, bravery, courage. "Does he have family?"
"Only child. Single. Mother deceased. Father was still alive last he knew, though with everything…"
"Add him to the list, General."
"I'll have him taken out of the line and sent to the facility in Colorado. He should arrive within forty-eight hours."
"Thank you, General."
"Think it will work?"
"It's just a back-up plan, General. My focus is plan A, B, C… this is somewhere around plan N. That's how many contingencies are being put in place for all this."
"One hundred thousand souls. Is that enough to start again?"
"All calculations suggest that is perhaps double what we need for humanity to slowly start thriving again. But the more people we have, the better."
"Ten locations?"
"Yes, of ten thousand people. Five thousand men, five thousand women. Isolated pockets around, so hopefully, slowly but surely, they'll link up once they're woken up. It will take time but they'll get it done."
"Very well. If you think it will work, Elisabet, I'm not going to start doubting you now. Those selected will start arriving immediately."
"Thank you, General."
Closing the link, she took one last look at the screen, and those eyes again. He was young, barely capable of growing a decent beard, and he'd already seen horrors she couldn't even begin to imagine. A few hundred years asleep would either be a blessing or a curse.
I came to a halt inside the tent, half a dozen paces from the table, feet together, back straight, hand to my forehead. "Sir!"
"At ease, Lieutenant," the Colonel saluted back, "You'd better take a look at this. Message received from USRC." That made my eyebrows raise in interest as I stepped forward, taking the datapad to read the message. It was quite simple and had me scratching my head in confusion. Who on earth would know about me there? "I've tried what I can to fight it, Lieutenant, but this comes from the top. Whatever they want you for, it must be big."
"Any idea what for, sir?"
"None. If it comes from the top, it can only be something to do with Zero Dawn. But you must have impressed someone for them to pick your name out."
"I thought telling a reporter to fuck off… er, respectfully, sir."
That earned a smirk, at least. "You'd just seen your entire company nearly wiped out, Lieutenant. No-one would have blamed you for shooting him. Would have had to charge you, but we would have understood."
I looked at the datapad again. "When am I going, sir?"
"Grab your bag and head towards the transport unit. You'll catch a ride to the nearest LZ. From there, you'll chopper out to base. Whoever wants you will either meet you there, or at least it'll be their representatives." He stood up and offered his hand. "Damn shame to lose you, Lieutenant. Way you handled to Titan…"
"Lost a lot of good people doing it, sir."
He nodded. "I know, but to stop the plague, we're paying in blood. But Zero Dawn will help us turn the tide. Getting close to zero hour, when even someone like me is left wondering what chance we have, but as long as we have men and women in uniform fighting, we won't be giving up."
I came to attention and saluted again, the colonel wishing me good luck as I turned and headed towards barracks. Walking in to find it relatively empty, I tried not to think about the fact most of those bunks would now remain empty until new recruits arrived. Two of my crew were dead, the third injured and would never be the same. I'd had half a dozen tanks in my command, three destroyed, the other two damaged probably beyond repair. But considering the resources being through by the United States at the enemy, they would be quickly replaced. There was perhaps more manufacturing taking place now since the middle of the twentieth. Tanks. Guns. Bullets and shells. Food. They were the only things being produced.
Managing to grab a seat on a truck departing the forward operational area, I ended up close enough to the LZ that I only needed to walk a few minutes. No idea where the truck was going, but each soldier was armoured and carrying a rifle, so being sent somewhere to fight robots.
The LZ commander was aware of my orders and I was soon sat in a chopper being carried south-west. Looking down, it was clear that the eastern seaboard of the United States was one enormous battlefield. For mile after mile, there was either devastation or the remnants of the latest battle. More resources were being thrown at the Faro Plague than at any time in United States history. Nothing compared in recent times. First time humans were being sent to fight in a decade considering the United States Army had been fully automated in 2055.
What a clusterfuck of a decision that turned out to be.
It was only a short ride before we landed at an airport. No idea which one. I wasn't told and, by the time I arrived, it was nothing but darkness. Grabbing my bag, I stepped foot onto concrete, looking around for any sign of someone who might be meeting me, when a door opened nearby and three men approached, all in uniform, and one of them was higher ranking than I thought would be meeting someone like me.
I dropped my bag immediately, came to attention and saluted. "Lieutenant Shepard reporting as ordered, sir."
He waved away my salute. "At ease… Do you prefer James? Jim?"
"Shepard, actually."
"Okay, Shepard. As of this moment, you are no longer a serving member of the United States military. Consider yourself honorably discharged."
"Um… sorry, sir?"
"Can't explain right now, Shepard. A plane will be arriving in," he looked at his watch, "Fifteen minutes to take us to where you are required. You will be one of the last to arrive. For now, I can't answer any questions. They can be asked when we arrive. I'm sure you can understand that many events taking place at the moment require secrecy. Those damned robots…" He met my eyes. "Is there anyone you'd like to speak to before we leave? Once we do, communication won't be possible."
I shook my head. "No. I got word about my dad…"
"Sorry, Shepard."
I chuckled, somewhat bitterly. "Still remember what he said while I was growing up. 'Can't trust those fuckin' robots. They'll turn on us. They'll fail because humans built them, and we can be monumentally fuckin' stupid at times'. Old man was right about that. While I'm sure he would have fought if mum was still around, losing her… I wasn't surprised when I got the news."
"No-one else?"
"No, sir. Parents are now gone. No siblings. Any other family… I wouldn't know now."
"Girlfriend?"
"She died within the first waves, rifle in hand. At least, that's what I think. Haven't heard from her since they arrived. She wanted to join the infantry."
"Shit, son," one of the men beside him stated.
I shrugged. "I didn't expect to live this long either, sir. Shame I don't believe in some big guy upstairs, otherwise I'd think he was looking out for me. No, I've just been very lucky."
We headed inside to grab a coffee, though as soon as the plane landed, the cups were left where they were as we headed out together. I was surprised to see plenty of people already on board, and many of them were not in army fatigues but appeared to be civilians, many of them looking as bewildered as I felt. Taking a seat and belting up, the plane must have taken off within five minutes, left thinking I was one of the last to be collected.
I was, as we spent perhaps an hour in the air at most before landing. Again, no idea where we landed as wherever we did was mostly in darkness, only lights highlighting the runway and then a nearby building. Once at the terminal, we were unloaded off the rear ramp, plenty of questions being raised as we were herded towards nearby buses.
The ride took place in complete darkness, but I knew we were heading into mountains as I felt the bus start to struggle up an incline, and the temperature definitely started to drop. The ride definitely took a few hours, as by the time we stopped, I checked my watch to see it was early morning. Little wonder I was starting to nod off, while nearly everyone else was fast asleep. Before we could disembark, a soldier stepped onto the bus and whistled.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to… somewhere in the United States. I'm sure you all have a million and one questions about what you are doing here. Many of them can and will be answered over the next couple of hours. What I need you to do now is follow my orders, as this is a military zone, and while most of you are civilians, it is necessary you follow our instructions to ensure your safety and ours. Now, first thing I need to do is take roll call. Please just call out when I announce your name. Want to make sure we haven't left someone waiting alone at an airport somewhere."
After that was finished, thankfully everyone being present and correct, we were herded off the bus and the chill immediately hit us to the bone. Into the side of the mountain was what looked like the blast door of a bunker. With any delay, we were lead towards the blast door, which opened immediately, walking inside to be greeted by warm air and what looked like some sort of assembly area.
I glanced around, figuring there must be a couple of hundred people in total. We were all tired and confused, though no-one was scared. I guess we had trust in everyone around us. I was intrigued as to what we were doing more than anything, still wondering who had picked me out for whatever this was and why. Silence eventually descended as an announcement was made over speakers, stating we would be broken up into groups and taken into orientation.
Good news is that I didn't have to wait long, my name announced in the first group, led towards an elevator where we descended for what felt like a couple of minutes. The door opened to reveal some sort of bunker. It was warm and illuminated brightly, and I think there was more than one sigh of relief that nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Approached by a woman in a lab coat, brunette hair, blue eyes and a warm smile, I'm sure we all felt confident that we were in good hands.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Miranda. I'm sure you all have a million questions, but I'm also sure you're exhausted and would love nothing more than a bite to eat and sleep. Before we can do any of that, I need you to follow me as there is someone that will explain why you are here. Once that is over, we will take you through for processing."
Our group followed her into a small auditorium, all of us taking a seat before the lights were switched off. A hologram quickly flickered into life. She looked somewhat familiar though I couldn't place why.
"Good morning, ladies and gentleman. For those who don't recognize me, my name is Doctor Elisabet Sobeck. Firstly, I'm sure you are all wondering where you are. Now that you're safe and secure in the bunker, I can reveal that. At this moment, you are several hundred feet underground the Colorado Rocky Mountains. There are a number of good reasons why you are underneath those mountains which will be explained in detail by myself and my colleagues who are there with you.
Before we go into details, I will give you a brief overview of the situation. Humanity is in a fight for its survival. The Faro Plague has spread across the globe, killing billions of humans already. The devastation the swarms have caused not only humans, but most animals species, is almost incalculable. At the current rate, it's possible the Faro Plague will defeat us within the space of the next few months.
Which leads us to your presence there today. To ensure that humanity prevails and survives, contingency plans have been put in place. Project Zero Dawn and Operation: Enduring Victory should ensure that the Faro Plague is defeated, but if the worst was to happen, then we need plans to ensure that humanity will once again walk the Earth.
What you are in might look like a bunker, perhaps a reminder of a fallout shelter you may have seen in old videos when nuclear armageddon was the main concern of humanity. Instead, you are currently within one of ten bunkers within the continental United States, one thousand people in each, that has been selected to be cryogenically frozen…"
I barely made out what she said after that as the uproar was immediate. I simply sank back in my seat, puffing up my cheeks and blowing out air. I hadn't expected that, at all. I honestly thought it was some sort of bunker where they hoped we might keep humanity going for a few decades or centuries. Cryogenically frozen? That suggested Doctor Sobeck and others anticipated something a hell of a lot worse lay on the horizon.
After that revelation, nothing else that was said really seemed to matter. We were not given an option, that was for sure. More than one person tried to fight their way out. They were gently subdued, which surprised me. There were plenty of tears. Most people simply sat or wandered around in shock. People in lab coats soon arrived, taking away people. I waited a couple of hours before I was collected, realizing quickly it was a joint medical and psychological examination. Neither bothered me.
"How long am I being frozen for?" I did ask.
"It depends on the outcome of the war," I was told, "Putting a human body into and then out of stasis is no easy job. Well, into stasis is far easier. We've done that before. Taking you out of stasis? That's the tricky part. I'll put it bluntly as I'm figuring you can cope with the brutal, honest truth. If Zero Dawn works, you'll be looking at a minimum of a decade, as we'll certainly want all of you awake to help start the rebuilding. But it's agreed you will need to remain under for a time as you can be monitored as we simply have no idea how the human body will react."
"So we're guinea pigs?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Fair enough. What about if it all goes to shit?"
"Minimum five hundred years."
"No shit!?"
"I must say, you're taking this remarkably well, Shepard. Does it not concern you?"
"I'm still pissed you've taken me away from my men. But considering I was staring death in the face every day fighting those fuckin' robots… What sort of situation are we looking at when waking up?"
"To be honest, that is unknown. We can make projections and estimates, but they will mean nothing compared to when you leave this bunker."
"What about those robots? Will they find us?"
"No. This bunker will be sealed completely once you are all asleep."
"Are we being assigned roles when we wake up?"
"If it's a decade, then it's likely we'll figure out what you're best at. Everyone will need to pitch in to help the rebuild. If it's longer… Well, those remaining are going to need leaders…" She glanced down at her datapad. "Seems like they have you picked out as a natural one."
"What? Leader?"
She glanced up, a slight grin. "As I said, you seem to have impressed the right people. And I've got commendations from those within your unit, company and… well, they are glowing reports."
"Doubt I'll be waking up to find us in a war though. Or I bloody hope not anyway." I sank back into the chair, sighed and ran a hand down my face. "Fuckin' hell, five hundred years…"
"It's a long time, Shepard. We all realise that. But surely the alternative is better?"
"Well, I'm either waken in a decade to a world probably still in ruins, or I'm woken up in five hundred years to find god knows only what. Either way, I doubt life will be easy. But…" I shrugged, "I'm here now and can't leave. So where do I go next?"
I was taken on a short tour with all the others, shown where we would find supplies when we woke up. No doubt they anticipated both being asleep for a decade or half a millennium, as it seemed like they were taking anything and everything into account. Massive crates contained everything we were going to need, not surprised that they were leaving us weapons, as there was every chance we'd be leaving the bunker to find a very hostile world waiting for us, and might be in a fight almost immediately. I didn't particularly relish the prospect, but had already figured out that quite a few people around me had served, either recently or otherwise.
I remembered what we'd been told though. Everyone was between the age of eighteen to twenty-five. One thousand humans, split half and half by sex. We'd all be checked medically. Everyone had to be capable of producing children, which certainly raised embarrassed grins from quite a few people. What we all noted was that we were all basically ordinary, or at least that's what I was left thinking, though I assumed we'd all been selected for a good reason.
We were split into small groups of ten and led into small waiting rooms. I was thinking I should catch some sleep, but then made myself laugh, as I was going to be sleeping for a long time shortly. So I poured myself a coffee and sat down, relaxing. I glanced at nine others, five women, four men. Most of them still looked in some sort of shock.
"You army?" one of the men asked.
"Yeah. Was serving on the front until… I think yesterday morning. Lost track of time now."
"Which unit?"
"9th MRB. To the east, near what remains of New York. Swear the bastards blew it up to taunt us."
"Seen any of those big Titans?"
"More than I care to remember."
"Bitches to take down, that's all I learned."
"Where'd you serve?"
"16th. Fought alongside those crazy bastards in the 15th. Last I heard, they were holding the line on a wide front to the west. But we could just watch and see the swarm building, aware they'd eventually just hit us with more than we could handle. When word came I was being pulled out, I didn't know whether to cry with joy and relief or cry at the fact I was leaving friends behind to die."
"What are our chances?" one of the women asked, "Of defeating the robots?"
My new friend and I shared a glance and shrugged. "Depends on Zero Dawn, to be honest. If that superweapon is what we all hope it is, then surely our chances are high. If it's not… honestly, we're kind of fucked," I replied, "But we won't go down without a fight, that's for sure. We've been fighting for time. All Sobeck and her people need is time to make sure the weapon will kill them."
"And then what?"
I shrugged again. "Somehow, we rebuild. And find Faro and put a bullet in his head. Fuckin' idiot. He's responsible for all this mess."
Silence descended as we simply waited for the call. I was starting to drift off when a blonde in a lab coat walked in, announcing it was time. We were led into what looked like a storage area, though I could look up and already see pods in place, I would assume people already or in the process of being put to sleep. There were ten pods waiting for us, one by one led towards the one assigned to us. The brunette who had talked to us early led me to mine.
"Can I keep this in?" I asked, pointing to the device in my ear.
"Of course. The freezing process won't affect it."
"How long will it take?"
"Mere seconds. We'll be freezing everyone at once, though you will be injected with something to keep you calm. Once the seal closes, that's it."
"Some would call this a coffin. Though this pod looks slightly more comfortable. What will it feel like?"
"Once you're asleep, it will pass in what feels like an instant, Shepard. You will have basic brain function at most, ensuring you remain stable and, most importantly, alive. But it's basically a way of shutting your body down."
I shrugged again. "I'm sure it's a lot of science I won't understand, and this conversation will devolve into gobbledygook and I'll look like an idiot regardless."
"Good luck, Shepard. I would say see you later but…"
"I'd ask for a kiss…" She smiled, leaning forward to kiss my cheek before I sat back and relaxed. No point stressing out about it. "Good luck to you, Miranda," I stated, earning a broader grin before she pressed a button and the lid closed, hearing it hiss shut, clamps in place. It was then picked up by a robotic arm and put in place, looking out to see numerous faces looking back at me. Some were relaxed. Others were definitely panicking.
Soothing music was soon playing through a speaker before I felt a little prick in the back of my neck. Already relaxed, I sank back into the rather comfortable chair. Leather upholstery? They'd certainly gone all out to ensure we were comfortable for however long we'd be inside.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to make history. For those who wish to know the name of this, we have dubbed this Operation: Yggdrasil. For those who know their Norse mythology, it was an immense, sacred tree through which all life was formed and existed. You are one of three roots, interconnected, that will lay the seeds for a new beginning for humanity if the worst was to happen above us."
"Well, if we're in Yggdrasil, then Ragnarok must be taking place on the surface," I muttered. Thank the heavens for my father at times and all his unusual interests. Considering he'd been a history teacher…
"When you hear the beep, please begin counting backwards from ten. You should be asleep by five…"
I counted down, feeling sleepy by seven, and by five I had closed my eyes. I never did hear three…