Chapter 5: The Awakening
Darkness surrounded me.
I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed—everything existed in the same impenetrable black void that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions.
"You can save them, Ryan."
I spun around, searching for its source, but found only more emptiness. My heart hammered against my ribs as I strained to see something, anything, in the overwhelming darkness.
"Who’s there?" I called out, my voice echoing strangely in the void. "Where are you?"
"You can save them with your seed."
The words seemed to emanate from everywhere at once—above, below, beside me. They reverberated through my bones, filling the hollow space around me with an otherworldly presence that made my skin crawl.
"What are you talking about?" I shouted, spinning in circles as panic began to claw at my chest. "Save who? What seed?"
The silence that followed was deafening. I could hear my own ragged breathing, the frantic beating of my heart, but nothing else. The darkness seemed to pulse with life, breathing around me like the inside of some massive creature.
Then the voice returned, softer"Your seed is the vaccine and the future of humanity."
"What are you talking about?!" I screamed into the void, my voice cracking with desperation. "I don’t understand! Please, just tell me what you mean!"
But even as the words left my lips, I felt the darkness beginning to dissolve around me. The voice faded to nothing, and with it, the strange dream world collapsed entirely.