15 Unsealing The Stasis Unit
Cold fog streamed out of the cylinder, while a metal panel slowly began to unlock and lower. Jax could feel the blood rushing out of his face.
"What did I just wake up?" Jax worried. "What if it kills me? What if it eats me?!"
Jax could only close his eyes in fear, knowing that he couldn't escape at this point.
The cold fog continued to pour out, until the panel fully lowered down to the floor, revealing a set of stairs built internally. The dark cylinder showed nothing of its occupants, and for a minute not a sound could be heard.
Jax waited. And waited. If whatever this thing was going to kill him, could it at least hurry up? Finally, the occupant of the stasis unit reacted.
-Cough, cough, cough-
It sounded like an old man coughing. Opening his eyes suddenly, Jax saw that it WAS an old man coughing.
The old man was leaning slightly out of the stasis unit. He had a short gray beard and long unkempt gray hair. His body seemed frail and malnourished.
"Boy," the man said. "Boy! BOY! Can you hear me?!"
Jax quickly snapped out of the trance he had fallen into. The man was looking directly at him, calling for his attention.
"Good you can hear me! Boy do you have any water, I feel like someone poured sand down my throat."
"Oh uh yes sir, here!" Jax quickly said, handing over his gourd, unsure of why he was being so responsive.
The man quickly began drinking the water, not coming up for air until the entire gourd was empty.
Making sure to not get on this mans bad side, Jax quickly offered some of the fruit that he had kept for himself.
The man looked at Jax, not saying anything, but beginning to eat the red fruits at a rapid pace. Once they were all gone, the old man let out a deep sigh before speaking to Jax again.
"So who the hell are you? My great grandson or something?" The man sneered.
"Great grandson?! I just met you old man, how should I know who the hell you are???" Jax thought.
Before he could utter a word, the old man cut him off, saying "No that's not possible, you're far too ugly."
Jax could admit he wasn't the most handsome man, but even then he considered himself above average. He could only feel growing agitation towards this old man.
"Enough jokes, tell me seriously boy, who are you and how did you know to find me here?" the old man turned serious.
Jax could feel the tension in the air. This old man seemed much more dangerous now than he had a minute ago. Making sure to compose his words properly, Jax finally spoke to the old man.
"Sir, I do not know who you are and me finding you was purely by mistake, you see--" Jax said, before explaining his miraculous landing and survival.
The old man pondered for a moment, looked Jax up and down, and closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought.
"I see. You definitely aren't one of my enemies, they would never send someone as weak as you. And you seem like a decent enough, though stupid kid." The old man said, still keeping his eyes closed.
"Stupid?!" Jax thought. "You damn geezer, who just woke you up and fed you!? Why are you insulting me all of a sudden???"
The geezer opened his eyes again, asking Jax "But how on earth did you find my stasis room? I'm sure I hid it well."
At this moment, the AI girl appeared again stating flatly "I detected a hominid race and determined that the individual could be used to deactivate your stasis."
The old man glanced at the AI before speaking in a commanding voice "Iota, exit low power mode, reboot with full personality module"
The AI girl, Iota, quickly flashed, with color beginning to fill the holographic model. Her skin turned a fair white, with her hair dyeing a teal blue. Her robe and hood turned a whitish color with gray highlights. The robe was still too large for her. Finally, she opened her eyes again. Looking at the old man, Iota's eyes visibly lit up.
"Grandpa! You're awake" Iota cried out with a large smile coming to her face. She quickly teleported her holographic model over to the man, hugging the man. Her small holographic body held onto the man, seeming to cry over seeing him again.
Jax was shocked. He knew AI were highly advanced, but this was the first time he saw one modeled with so much emotion. It almost seemed like a real person!
"Iota sweetie, Grandpa is happy to see you too" The old man spoke while comforting the AI girl. "But Grandpa has a guest he needs to speak to. Do you want to stay and listen?"
The little girl nodded before sitting down on the man's shoulder.
"So then, tell me all about how you found me boy-- err sorry, what was your name?" the man asked, sitting down on the steps of the stasis unit.
"My name is Jax sir, and about how I found y-" Jax started before being cut off.
"Huh? What was your name? Max?" The old man asked, holding a hand up to his ear.
"No sir, it's Jax, J-A--"Jax began again.
"Gotcha, gotcha! So anyways Jacob let's skip all the nitty gritty boring details. What do you want from me?" The old man interrupted again.
Jax could feel a vein begin to pop as he talked with this old man. But whatever, the elderly were bad with names and their memory, so who cared if he called him Jacob or whatever.
"Sir, I am trapped on this planet. I didn't intend to find you, but would you happen to have a way of escaping Mitte?" Jax asked in the politest voice he could.
"Trapped eh? Well, you did help me out there, especially since it seems power was getting pretty low here. But I can't help you yet. I put myself in that unit to help heal from a wound I sustained a few years back. It's pretty much healed, but I'm weak from being cooped up so long" the old man said. "It will be a while before I can help you off this rock."
Jax felt slightly disheartened, but at least there was a chance at escape.
Making sure to be grateful, Jax said, "That's no worries, sir! I appreciate the help in the first place! How long do you think will it take for you to recover?"
"Hmmm, well I supposed I could help get us off this rock in about a year's time or so? I won't be fully recovered, but I should be good enough by then."
One year..... Jax would need to survive one whole year on this planet.
