Cloak & Laser: Episode IV

An ongoing scifi/fantasy series based in a post-apocalyptic setting in the author's WIP TTRPG. A world where you might be a master swordsman, but that orc bandit is pointing a laser rifle at you.

Episode IV: Time is Relative

The man opened his eyes once again.  Only this time, he wasn't in pain, the temperature was comfortable, and he was lying on his back.  He felt a bit groggy and went to rub his eyes and soon realized he was covered in a thick, brown-ish goo.  He sat straight up out of fear and saw his still naked body, and the goo was not missing any part of it.  He tried to wipe it off of his left arm, but the goo was incredibly viscous, and even when he did manage to wipe some off, it still felt like it was there.  The man frantically wiped as much away from his hands and face as he could, until he felt worn out.  The muscles in his arms ached and then he felt his stomach rumble.  He was famished and this brought on a pang of weakness, making him see stars momentarily.

  He stretched, arms out, and this forced a yawn.  He took a moment to get a better sense of his surroundings.  Soft yellow lights that trimmed the ceiling, dimly lit the small room.  He was on a metal table and there was a large light that wasn't on that was next to him.  It was attached to a long, folded mechanical arm.  On one side of the room were several cabinets with a sink and countertop below with more cabinets underneath.  Everything had a sleek, but dull metal finish that he could see through the plethora of cobwebs, some of which looked disturbed.

  He noted there were none on the table.  As he looked to the other side of the room, he could see that there were none around the door either.  This gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach, because it meant that someone had brought him here.  The last thing he could remember was trying to escape that horrible creature.

  Remembering that gruesome sight gave him shivers down his spine, and he was at least thankful to have been rescued from it.  Still, he was paranoid about who that someone might actually be.

He looked back at the door.  It was a glass door fitted in between two much larger panes of glass, but all the blinds had been drawn.  He mustered the courage to walk to the door and peer through the blinds.  There was a grey wall across from the door, and when he peered down either end of the hallway, one end was brighter than the other.  He moved over to that side of the door to peer through that large window's blinds, but he still couldn't see much.

  He let out a frustrated sigh as he let the blind fall back into place.  He turned back to the room and decided he had to find a weapon.  He walked over to the drawers under the countertop and each one was filled with cobwebs along with several kinds of medical items, such as rubber gloves, tongue depressors, large swabs, etc.  The last drawer he opened, though, had surgical equipment where he found a box of scalpels.  It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

  Before opening the door, he waited and listened.  The silence made him even more nervous.  He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.  Much to his delight, it opened silently and inward toward him.  His head peeked out and quickly looked both ways.  There was no one to be seen and he let out a quiet sigh through his nose.

  He focused on the brighter end that he could now see turned to the right up ahead.  As he exited the room, he made sure to shut the door quietly.  He held out the scalpel in that direction, and as he approached the corner, he began to hear some rustling noises.  It sounded like someone was searching the place.

  Then, he saw light flashing from behind him and he gasped as he turned to see one of the lights flickering a few times before coming back on permanently.  He let out another quiet, but longer sigh as he returned the scalpel and his focus back toward the source of the noise.

  The man put his back against the inside wall as he neared the corner of the hallway.  He waited a brief moment before slowly peering around it.  The hallway met the corner of a large room.  The ceiling was a bit higher and the cobweb-covered lighting struggled to light the room enough to see its extremities.

  Along the wall to his left was a bare minimum kitchen and to his right just beyond the wall was a dining table.  His eyes then focused on the kobold he could see rummaging through a desk along the opposite wall.  Its back was turned to him as it was searching through a drawer.  There's no way that little thing brought me in here alone.  There has to be someone else.

  He looked further along that wall and there were quite a few crates stacked two high, lining it beyond the bookshelf that was next to the desk.  He could vaguely make out a couch beyond the dining table, but couldn't see the extent of that part of the room, nor any evidence of another person.

  He turned his focus back on the kobold.  He could tell it was a cavian, or the kind that resemble humanoid cavies.  This one had three colors in large splotches of black, white, and a brownish orange.  Its hair looked ruffled with two rosettes that he could see on its head.  It was pulling out a small lockbox from the back of a drawer.  It laid the box on the desk and retrieved something from its vest pocket.  It then proceeded to pick the lock.  The man perused around the room once more, but still saw no one else.  When he looked back, the kobold had the box open and was pulling out a long, shiny metal object.  Then, it spoke.

  "Gresh, come check this out."  It turned its head to the right, looking toward the crates.  He looked over there and saw the head of a hammerhead maren peek over the top.  He hid behind the wall as fast as he could with a soft gasp.  He peered around the corner, but only until he could see the kobold.  He watched as it pointed the object at the maren, "Bang, bang!" he yelled, making motions with the object.

  The man was confused at that, but then slowly looked to see what the maren did in response, and it acted as though it had been hit and was pretending to be in agony.  That must be some kind of handgun.  He watched the maren motion for the other to come to him.  The kobold set the gun back into the box and went over behind the crates.

  The man felt a twinge in his stomach as he gauged his opportunity.  He waited for them to be fully out of sight and then he quickly tip-toed over to the desk.  He set the scalpel down and grabbed the gun with widened eyes.  A quick shot of memory flashed in his mind where he was holding a handgun that he recognized; a more modern pistol.  There wasn't much else to the memory, but him looking down at the gun in his hands and the pavement below his feet.  He put his free hand to his head and scrunched his eyelids together, trying to remember more, but there was nothing.

  "Hey, you're awake."

  The man was startled and quickly pointed the gun at the kobold's head.  He was scared, but as he held the gun with both hands, the pose felt natural.  Like he had done it many times before.  The kobold raised its hands.

  "Woah, careful with that.  No one needs to get hurt."

  The man didn't falter in his pose, and before he responded, he reset his aim, "Who are you?"

  Jaiko cleared his throat, "My name is Jaiko, and my mute friend here is Gresh."  The maren raised back up where the man had seen him before and he had his hands raised with a concerned look, one eye focused on Jaiko, with the other looking at the man with the gun.

  "Why did you bring me here?  Where is here?"

  "Maybe you could put the gun down?  We're not here to harm you.  We found you just outside of this bunker.  You were badly sunburned, and covered with the caustic sand from the desert outside, which is why we covered you in that basing solution.  It's my own recipe."

  The man eyed them both nervously, but they did seem relatively harmless.  After a moment of silence, he lowered the gun.

  "What's your name, Sir?"

 The man's eyes darted around as his face became more and more confused.  There has to be something.  Some kind of memory.  Yet, nothing came to him.  He began shaking his head as he looked back at Jaiko, "I... I have no idea."

Thank you so much for reading. Please consider recommending my substack. I hope you imagine having a wonderful day….[[|:-)