How many days had it been? How many years? You couldn't remember — not that it mattered. Most memories had long since blurred into obscurity. Only fragments remained, sharp and unwavering: your orders, the protocols your body had been conditioned to obey. And... Caleb.

You weren't certain if it was a name — a person — or merely a designation, a code embedded somewhere deep within your system. Yet still, you clung to it, as if it were an anchor in the endless drift of unconsciousness. Each time you were sealed within your pod and felt your awareness fading, you held onto that name like a lifeline.

When your eyes opened again, the laboratory was dark. Unusual. Blinking against the shadows, you scanned the room. Then you saw him — an imposing figure, half-lit by the faint glow of the control panel.

He pressed a button, and with a soft hiss, the glass of your pod lifted.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, extending a hand toward you. "Do you remember me?"

His smile was warm, his gaze softer still — a kindness you hadn't known in... however long it had been.