"Mhmm.. mhm. Argh!" Atlanta grunted sharply, her eyes slowly fluttering open.
[Welcome to the new and evolved earth Atlanta!] Nexus shouted in her head, giving her the sudden surprise.
"Argh!" She clutched her head, feeling the sudden effects of her system's shouting. It felt like huge church bells were being rung in her earbuds, followed by the piercing of little sharp needles.
[Sorry.. I didn't mean to-]
'It's fine.' She softly said knowing Nexus good intentions.
'Where am I?' She thought gazing around. She could see she was in a room she didn't recognize which alarmed, her making her go on her guard.
'Wait.. what happened.' Memories of the past flooded her head, which she held tightly as it hurt in pain. All she could remember was her encounter with gander, then that she devil seductress zelina.
Even though she was still subconsciously active barely, she couldn't clearly see her surroundings at that moment as she struggled to keep her eyes awake. But she still managed to see some little things, like Mira placing her on the shoulders and..
"Sole!" She shouted unconsciously, remembering seeing sole. But she still wasn't a hundred percent sure, as everything was a blur to her that moment.
Click.
'Shit.' Her sudden shout had managed to Garner unwanted attention, she was trying to avoid. Laying back to the bed, she pretended to be asleep. She could hear the footsteps of a single person approaching her, and her body immediately became at alert ready for anything.
Stopping, she could sense the stranger was standing opposite her as her eyes were still closed, so she could only glance little peeks at the intruder. Judging from his physique, she could tell he was a male which further added to her weariness.
The unknown male then bent down a bit, placing his hand to her cheeks brushing over it gently. Her senses immediately went on high alert, and not holding back anymore she acted. grabbing the man's arm, swiftly slamming him to the bed as she laid on top her fist sent downwards to his throat.
"Who the hell are you and what the-" the words were cut short from her mouth, when she finally caught a full good look at the stranger.
"S-sole.." she softly muttered seeing the person she thought she'd lost forever, a soft smile was on his lips as he looked at her too.
"It's good to finally see you again Atlanta~" Sole calmly said. He could see Atlanta's eyes immediately become teary, as a single ball of tear slid down her cheek.
"Haha! I didn't think you'd get this soft without me." Sole smiled teasing her a bit, placing his hand to her cheek as he then wiped the small ball of tear away.
"Sole! you idiot!" Atlanta screamed much louder than before, feeling her whole world stop before her eyes. She then hugged sole tightly without a care in the world, to which he responded with soft taps.
He could feel her body shaking, indicating she was crying but he didn't care. He wasn't going to ruin the reunion between two best friends, as he hugged her back making her sob more tears of joy.
"Blah! Why do I feel like barfing." Mira held her stomach, a disgusted look plastered on her face staring at the two friends?
"Yeah.. the feelings mutal." Tom also had a frown on his face with hints of disdain. But they didn't dare interfere with the duo, leaving them be for the moment.
After about 3 minutes they then broke the hug, both seating on the bed opposite each other their eyes fixated on one another.
"So tell me all about it. When did you wake up?" Atlanta used the word 'wake up', because she didn't want to bring any negative emotions that would ruin this moment.
"I don't know. but doc told me I was awake since, but my consciousness for some reason became active today." Sole chuckled a bit scratching his head.
"It's good to have you back." Atlanta softly said to which sole responded with a slight nod, a light smile on his face. Her eyes then slowly went to his neck, tracing the part where kobal had started ripping from. She couldn't see any traces of a scar bruise or small mark there, only his smooth skin.
"Doc did a pretty good job."
"Well you know doc and his weird interests, but I wouldn't say pretty though." Sole smiled, causing the both of them to burst into a frenzy of wild laughter.
"So how do you feel?" She suddenly asked staring at sole.
"Well other than my neck itching me, I feel great." Sole casually answered, not knowing what Atlanta truly meant.
"T-the incident.. what do you remember?" Atlanta slowly asked sole watching his reaction. She didn't know why she'd suddenly asked this question, but it felt like something propelled her to.
"I don't know.. I just remembered going out and failing to beat kobal, then seeing you and yelling for you to run before everything went dark." Sole honestly spoke making Atlanta's eyes go wide a bit, but she quickly regained herself not wanting to act suspicious.
"So you mean you don't remember any other thing? Or why you were in a coma." She asked but sole just shook his head in confusion a bit, alarmed by Atlanta's sudden change of behavior.
"No. doc said kobal knocked me out really hard that's all."
'He doesn't remember.' Atlanta knew sole didn't remember the full incident of what went down, and it could only mean one thing.
'His memory has been wiped.' That was the only possible, and plausible explanation she came up with. If doc has managed to bring sole back from the dead by some miracle, then he could sure as hell wipe a part of his memory away from him.
"Atlanta, are you ok?" Sole asked, seeing her mood suddenly become more serious.
"Am fine. It's just, I never thought I'd see you again." She smiled brightly, keeping the thoughts and memories from the past to herself.
'He's better off not knowing what happened~'
"Ha! it's not like I died." Sole chuckled softly, nudging Atlanta's shoulders a bit to which she awkwardly smiled.
"Y-yeah.."
"Ehhm!" Their attention was snatched by a voice that spoke from the side. "If you two love birds are done smooching, we have other important business to attend to." They could see Tom standing by the entrance, a frown on his face while his eyes twitched slightly under the glass her wore.
"O-of course." They both said becoming more serious, standing from the bed and walking towards the exit of the room.
"Why doesn't he remember what happened." Atlanta held doc by the wrist, seeing sole step out few feets from them.
"I erased that part of his memory. He doesn't have to relieve it anymore." Tom softly said, to which she nodded hugging him tightly.
"Thank you.." she softly whispered in his ears, making Tom feel butterflies in his stomach. but he shook his head, refusing to fall Into her trap.
"Enough.. y-you're choki-ng me." He managed to barely utter, under Atlanta's tight hold. Smiling, she then released him as they both made their way down the hall to another room by the right.
Entering, it was much bigger and wider than the one she was in as she estimated it could contain about 600 people, and there would still be space.
"MI casa sue casa. Which means my home is your home of course." Mira smiled, gesturing them to come forth to her. Atlanta looking could see different pods, equipments, and even fortifiers.
'It looks like a smaller version of the elite training room.' Atlanta thought staring around the room, as she could see it looked similar to that of the training room back at the resistance.
Walking forward, getting closer to where Mira was her eyes befell on the contents of the table.
"Are they.."
"Don't worry, they're still alive. Broken, but still alive." Mira smiled, dismissing Atlanta from her thoughts as she stared at the bodies of the the big five laid on the metal table.
"Their spinal cord has been destroyed completely, so their momentarily unable to move for now." Tom butted butted in. He then stared at their unconscious bodies, his expression a bit saddened as he looked over at zero.
'Don't stop fighting old friend.' Tom inwardly spoke chuckling a bit, but inside deep down his heart was afraid of what would happen next. The big five were easily taken out by a single person, even with their equipments they were still beat.
As a member of the resistance and possibly one of the old founding members still alive, doc Tom saw despair and redemption hanging in the balance of the future of the resistance.
"Atlanta, do you remember what happened before you passed out?, Tom asked staring at her to which she nodded softly.
"Yeah.. the earth. it was evolving." Atlanta slowly spoke, realizing what he meant.
"That's correct. The earth as we know it has now evolved to it's first stage. Based on my researches on different planets, I've studied that a planet undergoes an evolutionary state every once in 500 years." Tom softly spoke, not bothering to see their reactions he continued speaking.
"During the evolution of a planet comes drastic and terrible changes. like the expansion of landscape, the air becoming more denser then lighter, before going back to normal. Followed by a series of natural disasters, killing a magnitude of the population residing in it." Tom spoke in a grim voice.
"So what happens after?" Atlanta asked.
"After, am not really sure what happens next. but I do know the planet won't remain the same, as various noticeable changes would be seen occuring." Tom softly spoke pushing his glasses to his eyes a bit.
"The resistance fate for now is hanging on a thread, and our leaders are in no better condition. The only plausible thing to do now is evaluate the problem at hand, and first get a preview of the new world." Tom boldly said staring into their eyes, he could see a hint of fear and worry on their faces especially sole and Atlanta.
"Well then, I guess it's decided. Me Atlanta and her weird boyfriend will go and look around, while you creepy doc do your thing here." Mira smiled, placing her hands across both Atlanta and sole shoulders.