CelticHero37
The Druid
Riar Duinn
Diamond Lab. These were the words illuminated as lights flickered on. The building had an institutional design, making it particularly uncanny in its current state. No one walked the halls or sat at lab stations. Standard workspace clutter was nowhere to be seen. The electricity and lights were all in proper working order, but there was still something that wasn't right. Where one expected there to be a sterile whiteness to the atmosphere, there was instead a haze of dust in the air. Alarms chirped to life along with a red warning light, indicating that something had gone wrong. The dust only thickened deeper into the lab in a room where six pods sat.There was a hiss of pressurized air as one of the pod doors opened. A faint dust cloud billowed up afterward, clearing away to reveal a bearded man. The man was completely still, appearing as someone who had recently died. The tranquil moment shattered as the man's eyes suddenly shot open. Shooting up and pounding himself just beneath the sternum, he coughed out a dust cloud as he fought for a proper breath. Removing a few sensors from his body, he stumbled out of the pod as another started to open. He crawled to a box next to his pod and opened it, fumbling with the items inside until he pulled out a bolt-action M40 rifle. Closing and locking the bolt, he focused on the other pod, using his own as cover. a huge pile of sand poured out of the pod and a foul stench followed. The man raised his sleeve up to his nose and lowered his rifle.
"Fuck," was all Riar could say. He still hadn't become completely conscious as the lack of oxygen had been an issue, but for some reason, instincts told him this wasn't good. Looking around, he noticed other pods had opened to the same result. Looking back to his own, Riar noticed a light blanket of sand at the bottom of his pod. He was lucky the pods opened when they did. Glancing around at the other pods, he noticed one still hadn't opened. Climbing to his feet, Riar ambled over to the unopened pod. Squinting to see inside, he could make out the distinct figure of a human, something he wouldn't be able to see if the pod was filled with sand. Glancing down, he noticed a terminal on the pod was still active, displaying normal vital signs.
***
The silhouette of something swept across Riar's field of vision, waking him from his dream. Sunlight illuminated everything, but the sun was still fairly low in the sky. Riar shielded his eyes and leaned out of the little shelter he was under to see that a bird had made the shadow. Lying back down, he took in a deep breath. He reached over for the cowboy hat he'd taken from the lab, feeling around on the ground until his hand ran into something that instantly climbed onto his hand and up his arm. It was like a snail with spider legs, teetering on his arm like a drunk. Although it was harmless, this still wasn't a pleasant experience to wake up to. Riar gently brushed it off and sat up, shaking off the jitters as he finally found his hat and set it on firmly. Then he looked around for Jameson.