The Base

This world looked nothing like any place I know of, It didn't resembled the world I lived in nor did it resembled the world of 'The King's grave'. Just where am I? I pinched myself. Nope, definitely not a dream. Then how did I get here?

I looked at the 'MAP', it was a 3D projection of my surroundings with a large blue area blinking at the centre. This area was supposed to be 'THE BASE', about which the system kept informing about.

*PING*

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PLEASE PREPARE FOR THE STANDARD ENTRY PROTOCOL.

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"Woah! Woah! Woah! What's this 'standard entry protocol' you're talking about?"

*PING*

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YOU'LL HAVE TO STATE YOUR RANK AND ABOUT YOUR MISSION.

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"Don't keep talking about stuff as if I'm supposed to know about it!" I was frustrated at this point. I didn't know why the hell was going on, and this goddamn system keep spitting stuff like I'm supposed to know what it means.

*PING*

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I'M SORRY IF I'VE CAUSED YOU ANY INCONVENIENCE,

ZEROLL.

YOU WERE ASSIGNED THE MISSION TO GET RID OF THE INCOMING CERBERUS HORDE.

THE MISSION WAS SUCCESSFUL. YOU HAVE AN ID IN YOUR INVENTORY.

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"I- I'm a STAFF SERGEANT!" This world kept getting weirder and weirder. Then it struck me, "System, which year is this?"

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WE ARE APPROACHING THE GATE.

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Finally here.

"Please state your rank and update us about the status of your mission." A feminine voice said.

"Um... Staff sergeant Zeroll, reporting back after successfully completing the mission."

"Thanks for the good work, Sir! Sergeant Major is waiting for you in his office. Please undo your summoning before entering the premises."

It was then, I realised that Bruno was standing behind me looking intently at me.

"Oh right! Return." The black ring on my left forefinger got illuminated for a brief second and Bruno disappeared.

Atmosphere of 'The Base' was pretty hectic. people running around carrying papers, packages and what not. It was like a scene out of a movie.

"Welcome back Zeroll," A seven foot tall, muscular, black guy said. "Hope you had a good time outside?"

"I'd have said so, but I don't really know who you are and what any of this is. I was hoping you could explain about what going on!"

"Nicole, run a cerebral scan on staff sergeant Zeroll." The black guy calmly said, looking right through me.

"Yes Sir." The same feminine voice, that I heard at the gate replied. "Scan completed. Staff sergeant Zeroll has regain his memories, and as a result his memory of last five years is now lost."

"About damn time you got your memories back. Congratulations Staff sergeant." The black guy roared! "Haha! It's been a good day!"

"Um... Sir? I still don't know what's happening." I asked.

"What's the last thing you remember, Staff sergeant?"

"That I died, I guess?"

"Good, good. Do you remember anything about signing a contract, according to which if you somehow die of natural causes your body would be frozen in hopes that someday you might be resurrected?"

"Wait, you mean 'that' thing was actually a real contract?" I said referring to an old website, which said about freezing the body or some crap.

"Of course it was real. The procedure is risky but worth it. Not all specimen can be resurrected and even if they did they could have a number of side effects, like visual impairment, memory loss, trauma etc. Good thing your memory came back."

"So how long was I 'frozen'?" Still confused about it.

"Nicole, could you check the records please?" The black guy ordered.

"Yes Sir!" The automated voice replied. "Staff sergeant Zeroll had a seizure in 2020, and was pronounced dead. But due to the declining world population, the Government of

United World, decided to de-freeze as many specimen as it can, in the year 4014. Thus to answer Staff Sergeant's question, He was frozen for 1994 years."

"Wh-What!" I've been frozen for almost two millennia!

"You've had it rough kid." The black guy said. "Let me reintroduce myself, I'm Sergeant Major, Leroy Smith. Nice to meet ya."

"What about those monsters? How did they came into existence?" I asked.

"You sure don't beat around the bush, do you? well to answer your question, about fifty years ago, an asteroid due to unknown reasons, changed it's course towards our planet. Even after such advancements in technology, we couldn't destroy it, the impact wiped out around 80% of the entire world's population. Another 7% died later due to famines and other reasons. But this was only the beginning. The asteroid, was mysterious, it had some weird radiation around it which soon started mutating animals, plants and humans as well. For some reason most of us were immune to this radiation, and we formed a government and an army, THE SPARTANS. To fight back against these beasts and monsters. But our numbers weren't enough so the Government decided to wake up the frozen souls to aid us in this battle. What we didn't know was that the radiation, which is called Burg's radiation, had a special effect on the 'frozen'. It seemed to have given them mysterious abilities, even our advanced technology couldn't describe what these abilities where and hence they were termed as magic. I know it sounds absurd but that's the truth. In this world Science and Magic exist together." Sergeant Major explained.

"But then how can I summon beasts to help me? And what's the constant voice that I keep hearing?"

"Another blessing of the asteroid. The chosen ones were not able to use normal weapons like us. So we did the obvious thing and made weapons out of the minerals that the asteroid contained and Viola! Not only did it provide usable weapons they also amplified their abilities. And as far as the voice is concerned, it's Nicholas. An Entity who was engraved in your brain to help you out. Every person who was once frozen, has one. It's main task is to ensure your safety at all costs, We don't have any proof but we think it's also an ability people like you got from the asteroid. Furthermore the CHOSEN, or The soldier who had special abilities, had one ability in common, they all have a multidimensional storage space which is called Inventory, in which they can store items and relics like a safe."

"What about my summons? Are they stored in this 'inventory' as well?"

"Indeed. The rings you have are made up of the minerals the asteroid had. And these Rings helps you call your summons. We were successful in making only 10 of those, and out of the 10 rings so far you've only been able to use 5 five of them... I'll. Be. Damned. You earned the sixth ring!" Leroy exclaimed. "That's about everything I know. Now go and rest in the barracks, we'll chat again tomorrow."