His office was a damn mess. The leather chair, once a symbol of prestige, lay torn apart as time etched its cruel mark on it. The oak table, a sturdy companion through the years, bore scars like a battle-hardened warrior. A thin protective layer, a testament to time's passage, covered maps and islands, revealing where the coating prevailed and where it dwindled. The wood, dry and grippy to the touch, resembled more of a workbench than a businessman's polished table.
My gaze fell upon papers scattered all over the office. Dim light spilled from the huge windows forming the back wall. One of the papers bore my name on its header. "Nathaniel Kovac."
"Why the hell would Dad have files with my name?" It wasn't just one paper; there were more. I rolled papers on the ground, picking out those with my name, a task that took more time than expected.
I moved to the side of the office, where a small sofa sat, covered in dust and papers. One swift swipe, and ta-da, I had a cushion to sit on. He never allowed me to do this, but my mind shut down as I jumped onto it. Springs squeaked under me, and a massive cloud of dust rose, leaving me coughing like a maniac.
"Okay, I get it. Don't jump onto the damn sofa," my words were muffled by heavy coughing. It was near impossible to stay in that room. So I paced out into the corridor.
In the year 2120, Nathaniel Kovac was hit by a car accident and considered deceased. By that time, Doctor Kovac and his team were evolving Biologically Enchanting Substance, shortly B.E.S. Unfortunately for Dr. Kovac's son, B.E.S. wasn't tested on humans.
Despite known risks, Dr. Kovac decided to bring his deceased son to the laboratories and inject B.E.S. into his body. Nathaniel's heart was artificially restarted, and B.E.S. spread over his body. Initially promising, external wounds healed within a few weeks.
The next anticipated stage was Nathaniel's brain returning to functioning, which happened, but even after that, he did not respond to any external stimuli. No response to pain, light, heat. His body kept self-regenerating, and his muscles didn't deteriorate. Over the years, Dr. Kovac assigned Nathaniel's body to a research laboratory under the mark B.E.S. subject 0.1. The subject's body became the main source for reproducing and evolving future B.E.S. substances.
I didn't realize how far I had paced in the corridor until I lifted my head from the document. I was in complete darkness, yet my eyes allowed me to see clearly, thanks to the lingering dim light. I connected all the dots.
"I was dead. My father tried to bring me back to life with some sort of shit he was working on, but I didn't wake up..." Silence was interrupted by my loud gulp. A massive lump in my throat refused to disappear.
"And now... I woke up who knows how long after that. Am I the only one alive?" I screamed through the corridor and looked back toward the office. I was nearly back on the stairs in complete darkness, but it felt like that dim light reached here. I could see quite well.
"Holy shit... my eyes." My footsteps were fast as I ran back into Dad's office to search for more files about B.E.S. If I was the first, there must be others like me, right?
Paper after paper went through my hands; those related to B.E.S. ended up in a pile. Invoices and all other bullshit were scattered somewhere behind me.