Star Crossed - Shiver Me Timbers [EN]

Chapter 10 - The Lession Of Failure (Epilogue)

Only sluggishly did her consciousness rise from the darkness that enveloped her like dreary sleep. Unconsciousness or a state of floating? Whatever it was, it still clung like sticky threads to the first thoughts. Then slowly a drone rose, followed by a whirring sound that vibrated her senses. Her eyelashes fluttered as bright light pierced through the darkness, tattering them and slowly sending her mind and perception back to the here and now.

"All status reports are in the green. Vital signs are normal. Core fusion complete." Sounded the voice of a woman who looked familiar to her.

'Simulation lead.' her mind answered her out of a fog with a memory she could not yet grasp, but was taking more shape with each increasing second. An image of a woman in a white suit came to her mind. Piercing blue eyes to raven black hair. Austere, cool, dry. A voice like a robot, matching the machines she loved to surround herself with.

Her head was heavy as she lifted it and her vision slowly cleared. The huge room was drenched in a mixture of gray and black tones. The massive floorboards possessed a dull tone, while countless cable runs stood out against it in a bluish glow. It was circular, and in capsule-shaped contraptions were more people with connections to machines. Screens glowed and lines traced across them. Statistics and values flickered on the screens in a luminescent glow that took over the entire room. In the reflection of the capsule she was in, she saw her own reflection.

A suit of dark gray metal protected her body like armor. With a hiss, a cable now detached itself from the area of her helmet, and at last, a sense of her body returned to her fingertips. As the pressure-sealed chamber opened and the glass pane opened accompanied by brief steam, she also pushed up the helmet's visor and took a deep breath.

"Link to simulation successfully severed." Continued the female voice and now another person slid into her field of vision.

A tall man with broad shoulders and hard features, he had his arms folded behind his back."Recruit S., I hope you have an explanation for this." The look in his dark eyes was hard and critical.