Awakened by the hum of machinery, Mono curiously looks around.
The crisp, icy air formed droplets on his face.
Mono was laid on his back, in a cryo-sleeping pod, and the entire thing was freezing. He stretched out his hand and felt the cylindrical glass.
"Open!"
After a couple seconds of waiting, nothing happens. Mono let himself think momentarily, before pulling back his arm and slamming his fist against the glass. The glass made a thumping sound and showed no visible signs of damage, but Mono was persistent and pulled back his arm once more before delivering another strike to the glass. Another thump rang out. Mono pulled back his fist for the last time and struck the glass. He made it seem almost effortless as the glass shattered into what seemed to be a million little pieces. With a sigh, Mono stepped out of the pod and braced himself for what he would find outside.
After observing his surroundings and jogging his memory, Mono had concluded these three sets of information. The first was his name and how he looked. He walked towards the now empty cryo pod and glanced at the reflective glass. He had black hair and dark brown eyes. He was quite tall from his perspective, however, the reflection was slightly distorted meaning he couldn't accurately guess his actual size. The second was that the place he was in was a military base, and it was clearly under some sort of attack, as to why he was left unharmed in a cryo pod he did not know. And lastly, the fact that the military base was rich with resources he could still use, with that in mind he decided to find some things he could use before getting out of the base.
After the short reconnaissance, Mono allowed himself to rest before going out to explore.
***
Mono adjusted his jacket and walked towards the door. Looking outside of the door, the first thing he noticed was the amount of snow. Mono fidgeted with the door handle, then, he took one look back at the military base he once used to work in, trying to reminisce. But to no avail he turned around and left, leaving nothing behind but a sorrowful reminder that his life was in the past.
Trudging through the thick snow, Mono struggled to keep himself warm. The wind did not treat him too kindly, it was practically howling in his face. He felt as if the wind could blow him away at any moment. The more he walked the more exhaustion he started to build up. But still, Mono did not have the time to worry about how tired he was, after all, he was in an unfamiliar world by now.
After what felt like hours of walking Mono had come to the realization that the region he was in was completely devoid of life.
"Not a single soul in sight," he mutters under his breath.
He started walking uphill, only to catch a glimpse of a suspiciously shaped mound of snow. Curious, Mono approached the mound carefully. When it showed no reaction at all to the advancements he reached his hand out to uncover it. Mono braced himself, anxious to know what he would find.
Uncovering the mound of snow, Mono was shocked to find a young boy. The boy's clothes were a tattered mess, and he had left his coat wide open. Mono's fingers reached for his neck, searching for a pulse. A faint beat ran through his fingers. After confirming the child's condition Mono contemplated what he should do.
Mono thought about it for a moment and then decided to take the boy with him. The boy had the same look as him when he was younger, throwing the child over his shoulder, Mono kept advancing hoping to find shelter.
In the distance, huge shadows loomed over the two. Upon seeing what he assumed to be the shadow of buildings, Mono wasted no time and broke into a sprint. With each step, he could see lights from a city shining brightly at him. But as Mono finally entered the "city" his illusion was broken. All that lay was the ruined remains of an ancient civilization.
***
As the fire crackled in front of him, Mono cursed his past self from… how long ago had he picked up this child? No matter, Mono had put himself in a predicament this time. He wasn't sure he was fit to take care of a child.
Sitting across from him, the unfamiliar child gazed at him with his piercing blue eyes.
It gave Mono the chills. It felt so creepy to be observed by the kid. His bright blue eyes made Mono break out into a cold sweat.
Mono didn't hate children; in fact, he preferred their presence over that of adults. However, there was something different about this kid, as if he couldn't wait to stab you in the back or strangle you in your sleep.
'Of course, that's just the vibe I'm getting, he's probably just a normal kid.'
Finally breaking the silence, Mono asks for the boy's name.
The boy sat there dejectedly as if he was expecting more, before finally answering,
"My name is Grey."
Mono was surprised at how clearly he spoke. Now that he knew for sure that the people spoke his language, he could ask more questions.
Gripping a sleek firearm he found in one of the kid's pockets, Mono responds with a question.
"Grey, do you know what this is?"
Grey shakes his head.
Mono decided to tell him because… well, keeping secrets wouldn't be beneficial. However… He couldn't tell him the complete truth just yet, after all, it is a dangerous weapon.
"This is an Ion Disperser," Mono lied.
Grey looked in awe and then replied with possibly the dumbest thing Mono had heard in forever. In truth, the weapon was known as an ion redirector, a powerful cannon in a compact form, Mono had not expected the boy to know this but it struck him as odd that he did not know what an ion disperser was.
"What's that?"
Dumbstruck, it was Mono's turn to stare in awe, finally, he decided to answer with another lie,
"A compact energy rifle, used to radicalize surrounding ions and blast them away.
Grey what were you doing with this?"
Grey shrugged and said, "I honestly can't remember much other than my own name, I do remember where I was going though."
"Where were you heading?" Mono asks.
Grey grimaced just by thinking about it, the young boy clenched his fist, before hesitantly answering.
"I was heading to… En, the imperial capital"
***
Leaving the warm respite of the buildings, and walking through the cold expanse of the tundra, Grey and Mono reluctantly advance. If it were just winter, then maybe, Grey and Mono could wait it out and leave once spring comes. However due to the data Mono collected he had come to believe that they were in fact, stranded in a tundra. Funnily enough, Mono didn't seem to have a drastic drop in temperature when leaving the building, so he gave his jacket to Grey, a frail child, who would need it.
In the distance, a loud roar could be heard. Immediately alerted to danger Mono told Grey to stay put and pulled the ion pistol out of his pocket. Carefully plowing through the snow, Mono scouted his surroundings. Not far in the distance, he could see what looked like a bear. Normally he would feel fear however, the young man had no time to fear if he was to protect the boy. Without wasting a second he pressed his finger down on the trigger while aiming his sights on the bear. The pistol charged audibly and the bear was alerted to his position. It rushed towards him at terrifying speeds.
'I don't think it's supposed to be that fast!'
Startled but alert, Mono did not allow himself to lose focus. The bear was just upon him before he released the trigger. As he did, a translucent green beam emitted from the barrel and pierced through the bear's head. He dashed backward both from the recoil and because the corpse of the bear was going to crush him if he didn't move. As his back hit the cold snow the bear landed at his feet. Mono sighed with relief, surviving an encounter with a bear… actually what even had he killed? It resembled a bear but it was easily twice the size of a polar bear, it had thicker fur, sharper curved claws, and a wide jaw. Mono was sure that he had killed a bear, but this wasn't the type of bear he had seen back in the past. With that thought Mono had wondered how far into the future had he gone?
***
Dragging the corpse of the bear over his shoulder, Mono had confirmed his worst fear yet… Mono wasn't human, at least not completely. He spotted Grey sitting almost completely covered in snow.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Grey looked at Mono and smiled,
"Waiting for you."
Sighing in exhaustion, Mono pointed towards the bear on his shoulder,
"You hungry?"
This time Grey's grin grew even wider,
"Yeah, I'm so hungry I could eat a bear!"
Mono allowed himself to smile for the first time in… well that part didn't really matter, it was just a really long time.