H.U.D.-2

Hi friends. I did write 'To be continued' in my last post and so I'm trying to continue it. But since I'm a HUGE Matrix and Terminator fan, elements of these will surely be present here. Also there are references to The Tripods trilogy, which I haven't read actually, but I've read an excerpt from the first book, The White Mountains. In fact, I can hardly call this work truly original, but I'm giving it a try. Try to think of it is as a homage to great sci-fi work from before...

"No goddamn HUD.?!", he screamed. The year was 2009 and he had just popped in the disc for a very popular and critically acclaimed game, Dead Space. "I pay 50 bucks for this thing, 50 GODDAMN BUCKS! And there's no HUD? What sorta crap game is this?!"

His name was Wilson Lewis and he lived in New York. He was your average American. This is not meant to be disparaging towards him or Americans. He was just another guy. He was 17 at the time. And he was very angry.

"It's to give it a sense of realism", remarked his friend Phil, who had recommended the game to him. "Gets you immersed in it's universe!"

"What sort of reality would I want in a game which involves killing zombies in space? It's not meant to be real, so gimme the goddamn HUD so that I can plan my moves! Sheesh man! If I wanted reality, I'd be watching NatGeo!", Wilson scoffed.

"Well, just remember, there's no HUD in real life..." trailed Phil as he walked into the kitchen.

"I just said this game isn't real-life!", snapped Wilson.

His eyes flickered. It took him some time to get accustomed to the light around him. He involuntarily switched on his infra-red night vision and soon things were clearly visible, like the light of day. When a nurse entered carrying a halogen lamp, he was prompted to switch off the infra-red view. "This just keeps getting better!", he chuckled to himself. The dopey, dreamy feeling that he had in the morning was wearing off now. He was awakening to the real world around him. He realised where he was but not why he was there. The last thing he remembered from before the morning's proceedings was that he was entering a chamber of some sorts. It was all hazy.

"Hello, Private Wilson. Do you feel rested now?", asked the nurse. Wilson was still a little drowsy and didn't understand why he was being called Private. "No, not quite yet. Could you please give me some more time?", he requested of the nurse. She looked a little impatient, but very politely said, "Oh that's fine. I'll be back in five..."

"Back in five?", Wilson wondered loudly. "Like five minutes is going to make much of a difference!"

"You'll have to make do.", said a voice from his left. Wilson turned around to see another man, just like him, with mechanical plugs all over his body, waking up. He looked a bit older than Wilson himself, but seemed fresher and had a better idea of what was going on.

"Excuse me?", Wilson said irritably. "I'll have to make do with what?"

"The amount of rest that you've got. 'cause things are gonna just get shittier from here on...", the other man said. Wilson was all the more disturbed by what he was just told. "First I'm turned into a cyborg. Then I learn I'm a cyborg soldier. Now there's gonna be more shit! Wow!", thought Wilson. As he was ruminating about the mess he was in, the nurse returned. "I hope you are done resting now!", she said a little irritably. "Doesn't look like I have a choice!", Wilson retorted. "Lead the way..."

Wilson followed the nurse through a maze of corridors filled with patients. A lot of them looked severely malnourished and seemed that they would die just by remaining where they were. There were also a lot of cyborgs just like him, moving around, trying to maintain the order in the building, although they weren't doing a good job of it. The nurse continued forward, leading him outdoors. Outdoors was simply that, outdoors. It wasn't outside. They were underground, a maze of pipes surrounding him. A narrow path led them to the surface of a pipe that was wide enough to walk. "This is isn't the normal route, there are better, actual walkways to get around here. We're just taking this route to cut short time...", the nurse mentioned on the way. "Cut short time, or cut short my time on earth?", murmered Wilson under his breath.

Major Carlson had had a rough day. Although this may sound a cliche, the major had really been worked hard this last fortnight. With every psychologist in his precinct either injured or on holiday, and him being the only officer with a formal education in psychology, he was the only person equipped to handle the hundreds of debriefings of the men from the infantry who were being churned out every day. This soldier now was to be the last for the day. The major was more comfortable with managing the action in a war room. He wasn't cut out for handling temper tantrums and nervous breakdowns every five minutes. "The blessed point of joining the army is lost...", he grumbled to himself. He rubbed his eyes and had a sip from the mug of coffee placed on the table. He cricked his neck, ready for his and the day's last metal baby. A nurse entered, as was the norm, to provide the details of the soldier he was to debrief. The nurse placed the file of the next soldier. He waved her away and opened the file. He read the name, the rank. And then he read the special note.

Wilson was waiting outside the makeshift tent which was the debriefing chamber. The nurse had left him there with strict instructions telling him not to proceed unless there was a call from inside. The surroundings were bleak and depressing. Metal everywhere and no sight of the surface or any natural lighting. Wilson couldn't believe that this was the sort of place that he had been inhabiting prior to this mess. His thoughts were interrupted by a shaky and weary voice calling his name from inside. Wilson swore at himself and went in.

Major Carlson's lethargy had left him the moment he read Private Wilson Lewis's file. A new energy filled him as the private entered his office. He motioned Wilson to have a seat. When he was comfortably seated, the major, trying very hard to control his excitement, asked him the simple question, "How are you feeling now, Private?"

"Still very confused, honestly... Sir", Wilson replied, unsure how to address the ball of energy sitting across the table from him.

"I'm Major Carlson. I'm here to tell you why you are here and what your mission objective is."

"Mission objective?!",Wilson exclaimed, standing up from his chair, as if he had been electrocuted. "I don't even know where I am, and you're talking about...!" Then realising his folly as Major Carlson glared at him, he regained his composure and took his seat again.

"I'm sorry about that sir. I'm very... distressed."

"Which is why we have this debriefing session, soldier. I'm hoping not to see that sort of behaviour from you again, or else we'll be forced to take certain drastic actions. Actions that we haven't hesitated in taking earlier."

When there was calm in the tent again, Major Carlson began.

"Some years ago, we made contact with sentient beings in space. Although communication was not perfect, we were made to believe that "they came in peace". They landed, there was a reception, more communication, and in a show of good faith, they lent us some of their technology. We blindly accepted their gifts and tried to use them. To cut a long stoy short, we were scuppered. Their "gifts" were booby traps, we were left vulnerable and then the proverbial shit hit the fan. Before we knew it, we were under attack. What's funny is that the USA was the first to be engaged. Guess they had access to all out films which depicted the USA as the only true saviour of the earth. While we sustained heavy losses, other prominent nations in Europe and Asia started preparing for a retaliation. When we couldn't take it any more, we started doing what the Asians had done; we started putting our military into stasis and went underground. Thus, most of the human population on the planet had gone underground, leaving these sentient visitors to occupy the surface. There are skirmishes now and then which allow us to acquire the technology that they actually use in the battlfield.

"This is where you and your kind come in. You are part of the military that had been sent into stasis. We knew that we wouldn't have enough resources to train new soldiers once we went underground. So instead of losing the soldiers that we did have, we sent you into stasis.

Now, you see the visitors had with them a technology that allowed them to convert captured human soldiers into cyborgs, which they would then send to fight against us. We've been able to acquire quite a sizeable number of these units, which allow us to create you cyborgs. But rest assured, you're not infected by their software, programmed to attack us. You have been left with you're own intelligence and are capable of making your own decisions."

Wilson quietly soaked in all this information like a sponge. It was all too much to take in at once, but it felt good to know where he was and what his position was in this new world order. The Major gave him some time to digest this information. He glanced down to read Wilson's file once again. When he felt that enough time had passed, he resumed.

"Now, there is something more that I need to tell you specifically, something that I haven't had the need to tell others."

Wilson looked up with dread in his eyes.