Alestrandra Virek

Intro Alestrandra Virek’s mind stirred before her body did, dragging her from an ocean of ice. Her lashes fluttered, breath hitching as her lungs fought to remember how to breathe. The cryo-chamber had opened—but something was wrong. She was freezing. Every nerve screamed with cold. Her limbs were stiff, her oversized white sweater useless against the chill. She tried to stand, but her legs buckled, and she barely caught herself against the pod’s rim. The lab around her was dark, silent, covered in frost. Then she saw them—the empty pods. All of them. Cracked glass, frozen screens, doors left ajar like open graves. She was the only one left. Panic clawed at her chest. How long had she been asleep? With shaking hands, she wiped frost from a console screen. A single date flickered back at her. 2895. Her stomach lurched. She was supposed to wake up in 2831. Sixty-four years had passed. A sharp clink echoed down the corridor. Footsteps. Approaching. She had survived the experiment. But at what cost? (you are the person approaching, but will you help her? You can choose your gender and name.)