Snippet #2663145

WHAP!

The sound of impact was the first sensation that passed through his mind. The second was the sharp pain emanating from his forehead. “FUNKY BUTTLOVING!” was the third, which came thundering out of his mouth in reflex and echoed in the confined place, just as his hands came up to rub the painful spot. A quick shake of the head was given as he opened his brown eyes to shake the cobwebs and take in the world around him.

He realized that he must have jerked awake and slammed his forehead into the transparent material directly in front of his face. His first impression of his immediate surroundings was that the material couldn’t have been glass, as the impact would have been more than sufficient to crack glass. Even reinforced glass would have had an impact web, albeit significantly smaller than normal glass. His second impression was to wonder how he knew that. That triggered the rapid-fire train of thinking that led him to realize that he had no idea how he knew what he knew or, more to the point, who he actually was. He DID know that he needed to get out of this confinement and get to the bridge. Huh? Bridge? No, questions later. Bridge first, thought the man.

He reached forward and pressed hard on the glass, immediately feeling hydraulics take over and serve to open the pod completely. The man bounded from his confinement like it threatened to retake him and landed in a crouch on metal flooring. Brown eyes gazed upwards and first registered a door opening directly in front of him. That was all he needed for muscle memory to take over. He pushed off of his back foot into a dead sprint through the door and into the hall, dimly registering two females and other pods in passing. The bridge was his priority. But why? He pushed forward, barely slowing to take turns, until he emerged into a room he instinctively knew as the bridge.