WIP SciFi Story

With a hiss, the capsule lid retracted; the white mist within spilling out onto the metal floor before dissipating. Inside the capsule, a young teenage boy began to stir as the effects of cryosleep began to wear off. Just as he awoke, metal restraints around his wrists and ankles snapped open and he stumbled out of the capsule onto the floor. He picked himself up but the sudden movement caused his stomach to start performing somersaults. "Oh crud," he said, his voice croaking with misuse, as he doubled over and vomited up the contents of his stomach. The boy sat still for several minutes trying to regain the strength in his legs and the stability of his stomach. As he sat there on the floor, he noticed something written on his forearm out of the corner of eye.

"Jimmy"

For a moment, he was confused. What was that doing there, who had written that on his arm with a marker pen? Then, slowly, an unsettling thought wormed its way to the front of his brain. Was that his name? Ever since waking up, his senses had been dulled, trying to remember or recognise anything was like the mental equivalent of walking through treacle. What was here doing here? Where exactly was here? Why couldn't he remember his own name?

Panic began to set in as the questions without answers began to overwhelm him. "Okay Jimmy," he said to himself, taking a deep breath. He didn't know for sure if that was actually his name, but it would do for now. "Get a grip, you've just come out of cryosleep, you're just suffering from cryosickness. Temporary memory loss is normal ... okay, how do I know that? Did someone tell me or did I read it somewhere? ... And now I'm apparently talking to myself."

After taking several deep breaths to calm down, Jimmy got up off the floor and looked around the room. In the weak glow of the overhead lights, he could see that the walls, floor and ceiling were made from a dull grey metal that was streaked with grime and rust. On one wall by a closed door was dusty computer screen; it was currently off. The other wall was occupied by a row of cryosleep capsules. All were empty; the one that he had fallen out of seemed to be the only one that had been operational.

He walked over to the computer screen. He needed to find out where he was and what he was doing here. Something told him the answers might be found on the computer. Standing in front of the computer screen, he examined his reflection. He looked young; the clothes he was wearing barely fit him. A sleeveless white t-shirt with "7115202" printed on it, baggy blue pants and scuffed work boots. As far as he could guess, he was probably about fourteen, certainly no older than that. His black hair was cut close to the scalp, almost buzz cut and he could see that his name wasn't the only thing written on his arm. Just below his shoulder was a tattoo, a series of thick and thin vertical lines that formed a barcode. Furthermore, there was an angry bruise around his left eye, his lower lip was swollen and dried blood was encrusted under his nose. Had someone punched him in the face? It certainly looked like he had gotten into a fight prior to getting into the cryosleep capsule.

As he examined his reflection in the computer screen, he noticed that there was something stuck on the side of his temple. It looked like a suction cup made from black plastic with a blue LED at its centre. Cautiously he reached up towards it and tried to peel it off. At first, he could just about feel the sensation of something piercing his skin and tugging at the area of skull under the object. Then a blinding white pain erupted from the area, sweeping across his consciousness and sending him to the floor screaming, clutching his head. It felt like his brain was on fire and his entire body was twitching as if he was being electrocuted. As soon as the pain appeared, it vanished.