"Please be alive," I whispered into the glass.
The gruesome face of the, futuristic human before me, did little to scare or disgust me. Instead I felt a sense of sympathy and disbelief at how inhumane one could be, to trap someone, or worse, kill someone, that was trying to help.
"Laila," Axel called.
I turned to face him.
"I think it's not dead. It seems to be in suspended animation. Look," he said pointing to a wide control panel.
The screen displayed a few bar charts, and values. They also displayed heartbeat, oxygen levels and so on. From the looks of it, the time traveler's heart was still beating.
It was alive. I sighed in relief.
"The coffin is filled with hydrogen sulfide. It's undergoing induced hypothermia. Hydrogen sulfide decreases the metabolic rate in the body," he explained, pointing at the steady hydrogen sulfide levels, and the slow heartbeat of the time traveller.
"I'll increase the oxygen levels and decrease the hydrogen sulfide levels. It should wake up from its trance," Axel said, tapping the control panel.
I felt hope surge through me as I watched Axel slide his fingers down a touch screen lever and slide his fingers up another. For a moment, I wondered how Axel knew to do these stuff. Then I remembered how he somehow knew the password to the secret room.
It was strange, extremely strange.
He did not even hack the system, he just simply knew.
I was about to ask, when I was interrupted by him,"Done! It might take minutes. Usually it would take hours for a creature that size. But... this is advanced stuff," he said, praising the high-tech system.
I decided to ponder on the topic some other time. I rushed to the glass coffin.
Colour slowly rose into the white skin of the time traveler. Though its original colour was grey, it was a healthy grey.
I prayed silently.
Finally after a while, the grey human flickered its eyes open. I could see the large amounts of effort required for it to do even that simple action, but it tried nevertheless.
I decided not to push it and let it slowly recover from its hypothermia.
Axel studied the Grey intently. He concluded a few things while waiting for the Grey to recover. It was a male, and its current physical state seemed to weak to be alive for any longer. It was malnourished.
The time traveler began to take in deep breaths and cough a few times. Finally he stabilised his condition, and registered his surroundings. I brought my face closer to the glass, hoping it would recognize me.
I realised it did not. And moments later, the glass fogged up. The temperature inside was warmer than the outside.
"Axel what do we-" Axel stopped me mid sentence and pointed at the glass.
Slowly but surely, the Grey's dried bulbous finger began moving across the glass. I noticed a shape forming on the glass. My eyes widened. Scrawled on the glass, was a symbol. The second symbol. The infinity symbol with two vertical lines bisecting it.
"Axel is it safe to open the coffin?" I asked him hastily.
He contemplated but then shook his head.
"Don't worry I think I can regulate the internal temperature of the coffin," he said as he typed into the control panel once again.
Slowly the fog began to clear, and I could see the wrinkly Grey once again. This time he looked at me with new-found recognition.
And then I heard it. A voice. Very robotic. But the Grey's mouth was not moving. He was talking to me telepathically. Just like in my dream.
SOM5 subject 5. You have finally come.
I nodded and tried to focus my thoughts into its head. Surprisingly it worked;
What's going on? The Alien Agenda, SOM5, everything!
I began pestering the Grey with questions, that have been accumulating inside of me, ever since I found out about the alien agenda.
He replied with the same monotonous tone,
My telepathy is failing me. Let me explain without interruption. We do not have much time;
I remained silent after that careful not to interrupt him.
He took a deep breath through his thin nostrils, the glass fogged up a little and then cleared. He refocused his words into my head.
I am afraid our plans have took a terrible turn. I do not want to assume it is too late. But I have seen too much fail before me.
Subject 5, I am afraid to say this, but you are the last SOM5 alive.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
It is shocking. But I saw it happen. The state of humans in this century will lead to chaos. Fighting amongst each other. They are oblivious to the invasion yet to come. History is repeating itself Subject 5.
He paused for a moment then continued
The governments of various nations, are waging war. They need help. They are desperate to eliminate one another. They have turned to the wrong path.
We were too late. The extraterrestrials have persuaded their minds, the minds of powerful politicians, before we even sent the last subject.
His robotic tone somehow revealed a hint of sadness.
The government and the extraterrestrials are working together. Little do the they know, that they were actually spawns for the invasion to come.
They are helping the extraterestials build an ultimate weapon. It will be completed and unleashed soon.
The AHM333 activator.
As I said earlier, we were too late, as they found out about our SOM5 plan.
The government annihilated the other subjects of SOM5. Under the impression that they were a threat to mankind.
He paused again, the next few sentences came out slowly,
They killed the heroes of humanity without a hint of mercy.
They did not listen, when we introduced ourselves as one of them.
The extraterrestrials persuaded them to kill us time travelers, one by one as well.
They tortured us, to spill information on the SOM5 project. But despite the torture, we knew that you shall be kept a secret. A secret that I have kept till now, and my companions brought to their death beds.
You do not know how grateful I am to know that you are alive. I thought of the worst possible outcomes during my captivity, but I believe there is now a small spark of hope.
Questions were swarming in my head, but I did my best to remain quiet. He continued,
Before we sent you-the last subject- we installed a device to block their radar, in your implant. This is why they have yet to detect you.
I was supposed to relay vital information on the next phase of the plan to you. But I'm afraid we have miscalculated.
You coming here was a mistake.
I replied out loud instantaneously. Axel jerked a little at my sudden outburst.
"What!"
You have made it easier for them to track you. You have to escape immediately.
I will give you the necessary information, but please escape as soon as possible.
His next words were hastily transmitted into my head.
You have to travel to the secret base we have in the city you call Atlantis. It is hidden, but you can find it.
It is the only place that is securely protected and impenetrable by the government and extraterrestrials.
Though being here for too long has obstructed me from gaining any present information. I can only hope that the base still exists.
He ended our information transfer, momentarily.
I stood there slowly digesting all my new found knowledge. Somehow it wasn't as surprising as I thought it would be, what with all the crazy things that have happened so far.
Thank you, for this information. You have served us well.
I responded telepathically, choosing my words wisely. I hoped it would lift the Grey's spirits, if only a little, as I knew it would be the last positive words he would be hearing.
I knew I had no time to save the Grey. I had to escape.
Subject 5 one last night thing. You should be aware of-
The Grey was cut off mid sentence as sound of bullets ripped into the air. Followed by a screaming Lin.