The Last Human (Mr. M & My Apocalypse Pony)

[Mr Master]

As military experiments go, it was fairly benign. The idea of long-term suspended-animation hibernation was old, and had even been used in reasonably recent comedies, but recent research into cryogenics had revealed biochemical details which made it possible. The potential for medical applications and space exploration was obvious. So the Pentagon, under the auspices of the Army, undertook some of the initial research into suspended-animation capsules. The initial test subjects, a man and a woman selected for physical hardiness (to withstand the rigors of hibernation), mental flexibility (to cope with the abrupt perceived jump forward in time), and a lack of family connections (so there wouldn't be anyone to leave behind) were placed in hibernation capsules for a 10-year test run.

The capsules, once active, only required a little power in order to keep running. For safety, wake-up procedures were automatic upon the main power being shut off. What the researchers didn't take into account was the shifting of priorities, a reassignment of personnel, and a crucial server crash which deleted only a few records, which unfortunately included the wake-up date procedures. It was nearly 30 years before the mistake was noticed, by which point the technology was already antiquated, and the legal culture was such that the authorities in charge at the time found it more of a litigation risk to rouse them than to simply foist the problem off on future generations. So they hooked up a long-term atomic-decay battery and made a note and then waited.

Soon enough, they had more to worry about.

In the fullness of time, and indeed, the exact amount of time that passed would probably never be known, the rotting concrete ceiling of the formerly-underground storage bunker finally caved in, crushing half the room with rubble and dirt and jungle plants and letting hot, bright shafts of sunlight lance through the dusty, stale air. The decayed concrete and rusty rebar smashed one of the capsules entirely and, although the casing for the atomic battery was still impregnable after all the years, it severed the battery's connection to the other capsule. The ancient onboard backup battery flickered and faded two days later, and the capsule unlocked itself, its occupant finally stirring into a world that couldn't have been imagined when the project started.

 

[My_Apocalypse_Pony]

As Calliope awoke, she heard the sound of birds chirping. She had been lost in her dreams for so long, she thought she was still asleep, and when she opened her eyes she was sure of it. Stepping forward out of the capsule, he knees buckled under her. Falling to the floor she cut her knee on the broken glass which covered the floor. This was no dream, looking around in horror Cali's breath became ragged. The room was in ruins, taken over by jungle, and the sun shone through the ceiling warming her naked body. If it had been another time, place, or situation she would have thought it beautiful. However, Calliope had no clue where she was, or why he had slept so long.

It seemed like forever as she sat on the floor her memory coming back to her a little too slowly. First she remembered who she was and then a little later she remembered why she was there. The time laps still was a mystery to her. standing up she brushed broken glass off of her naked body. She walked to her cryo unit and opened the bottom drawer, inside sat military style shirt, pants, under garments, and boots. After dressing she grabbed the pistol that sat at the bottom of the cryo drawer and sticking in the back of her pants.

 

[Mr Master]

Just as she finished dressing, there was a scream, sounding almost like a movie version of a jaguar or puma yowl, but deeper, throatier. Not a roar like a lion or bear, but still loud, and close by.

The smells of the jungle were filtering in now, past the scent of concrete and dust and age; rich scents of greenery and heavy flowers and an under-trace of rot, things decaying in the jungle earth. Somewhere out there, something large and deadly padded about, following a scent trail that very possibly would lead it straight to her.

This was a world very different from the one she knew, with its own dangers and details. Calliope was like an infant in the woods, with only her basic training and her resourcefulness to support her.