Andromeda

Prologue

~Somewhere deep in the Rocky Mountains~

The light fixtures along the ceiling flickered sporadically. A lone man sat at a desk in a confined office space, hunched over and focused intently on what he was writing. He appeared to be around forty, with thinning dark hair combed over his bald spot. He wore a lab coat that was worn and covered in black smudges. Behind his glasses, his eyes were unblinking and weary with exhaustion.

The lights flickered again over his head, followed by a rumbling that lightly shook the desk. The man glanced up at the lights with a look of hard suspicion. The rumbling ceased as quickly as it had begun, and the only sound to be heard was a faint buzzing coming from the fixtures. The man looked over at a landline phone that was sitting on the desk. Next to it sat a digital clock which read 3:17 am. The man winced as the exhaustion crept over him at the sight of the time. Everything was silent for a moment, but as if on cue, the telephone rang with a loud and persistent tone that enveloped the entire office. Without hesitation, he snatched up the phone and pulled it to his ear.

"This is Park," he answered in a stern and tired voice. As he listened, his expression quickly changed to one of deep concern as though a cold chill had just swept over his body. Springing to his feet, he said, "I'm on my way. Lock down the area and do NOT let the subject break containment!"

Park threw a brown leather jacket over his lab coat and hurried out of the office. On the other side of the door, he immediately stepped into a whole other atmosphere. An alarm had begun echoing throughout the hallway where people were rushing about in different directions. Park's focus was set ahead of him like a hawk as he strode briskly down the hall before rounding a corner, almost colliding with someone in the process.

Just around the corner, a woman sat at a security desk and was talking frantically on the phone. "I know! I'm just telling you what I was told; evacuate the lower sections of the facility and scramble security!"

Park walked past the desk straight toward a set of double doors. "Open the doors," he said over the noise of the commotion.

The woman at the desk looked up at him, startled and confused. "Dr. Park? You shouldn't be here right now, sir!"

"Just do it!" Park had already planted his hands against the doors and waited for her to open them. The woman hesitated before pressing a switch underneath the desk. A buzzer sounded followed by the conspicuous click of the tumblers unlocking. Park forced the doors open and stepped through the opening.

The room on the other side was large and dark. Park stepped in and was immediately greeted by the sound of dozens of people talking at once and clamoring about. Several rows of computers were on either side of the room, and everyone sitting at them was focused on the commotion ahead. At the far end of the large, open chamber, a single figure could be seen shrouded in the darkness. They stood in the center of an array of machinery, their feet anchored firmly to the ground and their arms shackled and suspended on either side. All that Park could make out from here was the figure writhing and struggling in vain against their constraints and letting out a series of shrill, angry grunts.

"Wait, Doctor!" A man was standing in the center aisle yelling out orders. As soon as he saw Park approaching, he stepped in front of him to hold him back. "It's not safe!"

"What happened, Simmons?" Park demanded.

"I don't know," the man called Simmons said frantically. "We were running additional stress tests when the subject suddenly went haywire!"

"Additional stress tests?" Park responded in disbelief. "You were supposed to be preparing to synchronize with the Machina uplink!"

Before anyone could react, their heads shot toward the subject as a series of powerful electric currents traveled through the constraints. The subject let out an agonizing scream and struggled more violently than ever.